Methods and systems for managing variable delays in packet transmission

A method for substantially reducing jitter experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising:

• estimating a mean delay using a packet delay histogram representative of the delays experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver;
• deriving a first variance from a first portion of said histogram;
• deriving a second variance from a second portion of said histogram, wherein said first portion and second portion are not identical;
• setting a delay equal to a function of the mean delay and the first variance;
• setting a buffer size equal to a function of the first and second variance;
• and
• buffering data packets in accordance with said buffer size and delay.

A method for substantially reducing jitter experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising:

• estimating a mean delay using a packet delay histogram representative of the delays experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver;
• deriving a first variance from a first portion of said histogram;
• deriving a second variance as a function of the first variance;
• setting a delay equal to a function of the mean delay and the first variance;
• setting a buffer size equal to a function of the first and second variance;
• and
• buffering data packets in accordance with said buffer size and minimum delay.

A system for managing jitter experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising:

• a delay estimator for estimating a packet delay histogram and a mean delay experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver;
• and
• a playout delay evaluator in communication with the delay estimator and adapted to determine a plurality of variances based upon a plurality of portions of the packet delay histogram, wherein the calculation of a first variance is used to determine a delay and the calculation of a second variance is used to determine a buffer size;
• and
• a playout buffer monitor having the calculated buffer size wherein the playout buffer monitor buffers the data packets selected by the playout delay evaluator for the delay and then outputs the delayed data packets.

A media processing system for transmitting, receiving, and processing media across networks wherein the media processing system has substantially reduced jitter experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising:

• a plurality of media processors wherein the media processor is capable of processing media;
• a plurality of packet processors in communication with at least one of said media processors wherein the packet processor is capable of packetizing processed media;
• a host processor in communication with at least one said packet or media processors;
• and
• a playout buffer, implemented in either the media processor or packet processor, having a buffer size equal to a function of a first variance and a second variance and using a delay equal to a function of a mean delay and the first variance wherein said mean delay, first variance and said second variance are determined from a packet delay histogram representative of delays experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver.

A media processing system for transmitting, receiving, and processing media across networks, comprising:

• a plurality of media processors, each of said media processors having a plurality of processing layers wherein each processing layer has at least one processing unit, at least one program memory, and at least one data memory, each of said processing unit, program memory, and data memory being in communication with one another;
• a plurality of packet processors in communication with at least one of said media processors wherein each of said packet processors is capable of packetizing processed media;
• a host processor in communication with at least one of said plurality of packet processors or at least one of said plurality of media processors;
• and
• a playout buffer, implemented in either the at least one of said plurality of packet processors or at least one of said plurality of media processors, having a buffer size equal to a function of a first variance and a second variance wherein said first variance and said second variance are determined from a packet delay histogram representative of delays experienced by data packets in transmission from a transmitter to a receiver.