Intelligent buffering process for network conference video

An intelligent buffering process to reduce lag in a conference video stream after a data forwarding delay, the stream including a plurality of packets defining either a key frame or a delta frame, each of the key frames representing an entire screen image, each of the delta frames representing image changes relative to a previous frame, the process comprising the steps of:

• receiving a newly arrived packet;
• determining whether the newly arrived packet is a delta frame, and if so:
• detecting whether the previous packet was discarded,
• discarding the newly arrived delta frame if the previous packet was discarded;
• detecting whether a buffer have reached a predetermined limit;
• and
• discarding the newly arrived packet if the buffer has reached the predetermined limit.

A process for managing a video conference among a plurality of attendee computers, the process comprising:

• providing a plurality of buffers at a conference server, each of the buffers corresponding to a respective attendee destination;
• receiving a newly arrived packet of a video stream, the packets defining respective key frames and a delta frames, each of the key frames representing an entire screen image, each of the delta frames representing image changes relative to a previous frame;
• and for each of the buffers:
• determining whether the newly arrived packet is a key frame;
• if the packet is a key frame:
• deleting the packets in the buffer if the buffer contents have reached a predetermined limit;
• adding the key frame to the buffer;
• and
• forwarding non-deleted packets from the buffer to the corresponding attendee destination.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a process for managing a buffer, the process comprising:

• receiving packets of a video stream data, the packets defining a plurality of key frames and delta frames, each of the key frames representing an entire screen, each of the delta frames representing image changes relative to a previous frame;
• determining whether a newly arrived packet contains a key frame;
• and if the packet is a key frame:
• detecting whether the buffer contents have reached a predetermined limit and deleting packets in the buffer if the predetermined limit has been reached;
• and
• adding the key frame to the buffer.