Method of receiving compressed video signals using a latency buffer during pause and resume

• US 5,873,022 A
• Filed: 07/19/1996
• Issued: 02/16/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: De Visser, Pieter J., Bosveld, Frank, Huizer, Cornelis M., Karel, Lucas M.W.M.
• Primary Examiner(s): GRANT, CHRISTOPHER C
• Application Number:
  US08/683,993
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 348/7, 348/12, 348/13, 348/10, 348/384, 348/423, 348/714, 455/4.2, 455/5.1, 455/6.2, 455/6.3
• US Class Current: 725/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 9/007 Transform coding, e.g. discrete cosine transform
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The invention relates to the reception of MPEG encoded television signals from a Video-On-Demand server (1) via a network (3). Non-linear playback functions such as `pause` and `resume` require a very accurate control of the bit stream, taking account of typical network aspects such as network latency. The receiver (2) comprises a latency buffer (24) for storing the signal delivered while the reproduction is stalled. The pause and resume commands from the user are not forwarded to the server until the latency buffer reaches a predetermined fullness. This allows the receiver to resume flawlessly signal reproduction after a pause.

Claims

1. A method of receiving a compressed television signal from a transmitter, characterized by comprising the steps of:

storing the received signal in a latency buffer prior to decoding and reproducing said signal;

interrupting the reproduction of the signal upon a pause command;

sending a request to the transmitter to interrupt the transmission of the signal when a predetermined first occupancy of the latency buffer is reached following said pause command;

resuming the reproduction of the signal upon a resume command; and

sending a request to the transmitter to resume the transmission of the signal when a predetermined second occupancy of the latency buffer is reached following said resume command.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second occupancy substantially correspond with half the capacity of said latency buffer.

3. A receiver for receiving a compressed television signal from a transmitter, characterized by comprising a latency buffer for storing the received signal prior to decoding and reproducing said signal, and control means arranged to:

interrupt the reproduction of the signal upon a pause command;

send a request to the transmitter to interrupt the transmission of the signal when a predetermined first occupancy of the latency buffer is reached following said pause command;

resume the reproduction of the signal upon a resume command; and

send a request to the transmitter to resume the transmission of the signal when a predetermined second occupancy of the latency buffer is reached following said resume command.

4. The receiver as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first and said second occupancy substantially correspond with half the capacity of said latency buffer.