Bi-level and full-color video combination for video communication
First Claim
1. A method to for video communication, the method comprising operations for:
- estimating bandwidth conditions of a network to determine a suitable target bit rate at which to transmit bi-level and full-color video;
transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions;
periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprises sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate;
responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein decreasing the transmission bit rate further comprises calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i+1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi, (Boi+Bsi)×
γ
, Bmin},such that Bai+1 is the allowed bit rate for the next interval, Boi represents a mean data throughput in an immediately previous time interval, Bs is a redundant data bit rate of a previous probing operation, Bmin is the minimum allowed bit rate, and γ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; and
switching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for video communication are described. In one aspect, network bandwidth conditions are estimated. Bi-level or full-color video is then transmitted over the network at transmission bit rates that are controlled as a function of the estimated bandwidth conditions. To this end, network bandwidth capability is periodically probed to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth capabilities as compared to the estimated bandwidth conditions. Decisions to hold, decrease, or increase the video transmission bit rate are made based on the estimated bandwidth conditions in view of the probing operations. When the transmission bit rate is increased or decreased, the transmission bit rate is calculated to target an upper or lower bit rate, both of which are indicated by the estimated bandwidth conditions. Bi-level video communication is switched to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, when the video transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate.
62 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A method to for video communication, the method comprising operations for:
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estimating bandwidth conditions of a network to determine a suitable target bit rate at which to transmit bi-level and full-color video; transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions; periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprises sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate; responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein decreasing the transmission bit rate further comprises calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i+1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi, (Boi+Bsi)×
γ
, Bmin},such that Bai+1 is the allowed bit rate for the next interval, Boi represents a mean data throughput in an immediately previous time interval, Bs is a redundant data bit rate of a previous probing operation, Bmin is the minimum allowed bit rate, and γ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; andswitching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-program instructions for video communication, the computer-program instructions being executable by a processor and comprising instructions for:
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estimating bandwidth conditions of a network to estimate network states at which to transmit bi-level and full-color video; transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions; periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprise instructions for sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate; responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for decreasing the transmission bit rate further comprise instructions for calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i+1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi, (Boi+Bsi)×
γ
, Bmin},such that Bai+1 is the allowed bit rate for the next interval, Boi represents a mean data throughput in an immediately previous time interval, Bs is a redundant data bit rate of a previous probing operation, Bmin is the minimum allowed bit rate, and γ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; andswitching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computing device for video communication, the computing device comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor, the computer-program instructions comprising instructions for; estimating bandwidth conditions of a network; transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions; periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprise instructions for sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate; responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for decreasing the transmission bit rate further comprise instructions for calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i−
1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi, (Boi+Bsi)×
γ
, Bmin},such that Bai+1 is the allowed bit rate for the next interval, Boi represents a mean data throughput in an immediately previous time interval. Bs is a redundant data bit rate of a previous probing operation, Bmin is the minimum allowed bit rate, and γ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; andswitching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method to for video communication, the method comprising operations for:
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estimating bandwidth conditions of a network to determine a suitable target bit rate at which to transmit bi-level and full-color video; transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions; periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprises sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate; responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein increasing the transmission bit rate further comprises calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i+1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi+Bsi+λ
, Bmax}; andwherein Bai+1 is an allowed bit rate used in a next probing operation, Boi represents a mean throughput in a time interval just past, Bsi is a redundant data bit rate for a current time interval, Bmax is a maximum allowed bit rate; and
λ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; andswitching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-program instructions for video communication, the computer-program instructions being executable by a processor and comprising instructions for:
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estimating bandwidth conditions of a network to estimate network states at which to transmit bi-level and full-color video; transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions; periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprise instructions for sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate; responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for increasing the transmission bit rate further comprise instructions for calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i+1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi+Bsi+λ
, Bmax},such that Bai+1 is an allowed bit rate used in a next probing operation, Boi represents a mean throughput in a time interval just past, Bsi is a redundant data bit rate for a current time interval, Bmax is a maximum allowed bit rate; and
λ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; andswitching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A computing device for video communication, the computing device comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor, the computer-program instructions comprising instructions for; estimating bandwidth conditions of a network; transmitting bi-level or full-color video over the network at a transmission bit rate, the transmission bit rate being a function of the bandwidth conditions; periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network to identify similar, additional, or decreased bandwidth availability as compared to estimated bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for periodically probing bandwidth capability of the network further comprise instructions for sending redundant data and bi-level video data across the network at the transmission bit rate; responsive to the probing operation, holding, decreasing, or increasing the transmission bit rate, the increasing and decreasing operations respectively adjusting the transmission bit rate towards an upper or lower bit rate indicated by the bandwidth conditions, wherein the instructions for increasing the transmission bit rate further comprise instructions for calculating the transmission bit rate for a next time interval i+1 as follows;
Bai+1=min{Boi+Bsi+λ
, Bmax},such that Bai+1 is an allowed bit rate used in a next probing operation, Boi represents a mean throughput in a time interval just past, Bsi is a redundant data bit rate for a current time interval, Bmax is a maximum allowed bit rate; and
λ
is a factor to adjust the transmission bit rate in view of potential error between estimated bandwidth and actual total available bandwidth; andswitching from bi-level to full-color video transmission, or vice versa, as a function of when the transmission bit rate respectively reaches the upper bit rate or the lower bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification