Methods and systems for an efficient inter-prediction structure and signaling for low-delay video streaming

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• receiving a video at a content delivery service;
• determining a subset of candidate reference frames from a plurality of frames received of the video;
• generating an identification code, for the subset of candidate reference frames, having a multiple-bit format that includes a first bit value to indicate a corresponding candidate reference frame is a reference frame for an input frame from the video and a second bit value to indicate the corresponding candidate reference frame is not the reference frame for the input frame from the video, and, when a bit of the identification code for a first candidate reference frame is set to the first bit value to indicate the first candidate reference frame is a first reference frame for the input frame from the video, an immediately following bit of the identification code being set to the first bit value indicates the first candidate reference frame is also a second reference frame for the input frame from the video;
• performing an encode of the input frame of the video based at least in part on the identification code to generate an encoded frame by the content delivery service;
• and
• transmitting the encoded frame from the content delivery service to a viewer device.

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• receiving a bitstream of a video by a media player;
• decoding a plurality of frames received in the bitstream by a decoder of the media player;
• determining a subset of candidate reference frames from the plurality of decoded frames received in the bitstream by the media player;
• receiving an identification code in the bitstream by the media player, for the subset of candidate reference frames, having a multiple-bit format that includes a first bit value to indicate a corresponding candidate reference frame is a reference frame for an input frame from the video and a second bit value to indicate the corresponding candidate reference frame is not the reference frame for the input frame from the video, and, when a bit of the identification code for a first candidate reference frame is set to the first bit value to indicate the first candidate reference frame is a first reference frame for the input frame from the video, an immediately following bit of the identification code being set to the first bit value indicates the first candidate reference frame is also a second reference frame for the input frame from the video;
• decoding the bitstream based at least in part on the identification code by the decoder of the media player to generate a decoded frame;
• and
• displaying the decoded frame on a display coupled to the media player.