Method and systems for dynamic hybrid packet loss recovery for video transmission over lossy packet-based network

A method for performing error recovery in a packetized video data stream transmitted over a lossy network, the method comprising:

• (a) encoding a plurality of periodic frames of video data such that each periodic frame depends temporally on an immediately preceding periodic frame;
• (b) transmitting a periodic frame Fi, i being an integer, from a sender to a receiver;
• (c) after transmitting the periodic frame Fi, transmitting forward error correction (FEC) packets for the periodic frame Fi from the sender to the receiver;
• (d) at the receiver, detecting an error in the periodic frame F1, determining whether the error can be corrected using the FEC packets, and, in response to determining that the error cannot be corrected using the FEC packets, requesting retransmission of lost or erroneously received packets associated with the frame Fi;
• and
• (e) at the sender, receiving the retransmission request, and, in response:
• (e)(i) retransmitting the lost or erroneously received packets to the receiver;
• (e)(ii) changing the periodic temporal dependency distance of a periodic frame Fj, j being an integer, such that the frame Fj depends temporally on the frame Fi rather than the immediately preceding periodic frame of Fj;
• and
• (e)(iii) encoding the frame Fj using the periodic frame Fi as a reference frame and transmitting the periodic frame Fj to the receiver.

A method for performing error recovery when transmitting a compressed video data stream across a lossy packet-based network, the method comprising:

• (a) transmitting a plurality of frames of compressed video data from a sender to a receiver;
• at the sender:
• (b) determining a number of forward error correction (FEC) packets for each frame;
• (c) transmitting the forward error correction packets for each frame from the sender to the receiver;
• (d) monitoring the number of negative acknowledgements received for each frame, and, in response to determining that the number of negative acknowledgements exceeds a predetermined value, retransmitting a packets corresponding to the negative acknowledgements;
• at the receiver:
• (e) receiving the retransmitted packets and restoring a frame in the frame buffer using the retransmitted packets;
• and
• (f) using the restored frame as a reference frame for a frame to be displayed.

A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions embodied in a computer-readable medium for performing steps comprising:

• (a) encoding a plurality of periodic frames of video data such that each periodic frame depends temporally on an immediately preceding periodic frame;
• (b) transmitting a periodic frame Fi, i being an integer, from a sender to a receiver;
• (c) after transmitting the periodic frame Fi, transmitting forward error correction (FEC) packets for the periodic frame Fi from the sender to the receiver;
• (d) at the receiver, detecting an error in the periodic frame Fi, determining whether the error can be repaired using the FEC packets, and, in response to determining that the error cannot be repaired using the FEC packets, requesting retransmission of lost or erroneously received packets associated with the frame Fi;
• and
• (e) at the sender, receiving the retransmission request, and, in response:
• (e)(i) retransmitting the lost or erroneously received packets to the receiver;
• (e)(ii) changing the periodic temporal dependency distance of a periodic frame Fj, j being an integer, such that the frame Fj depends temporally on the frame Fi rather than the immediately preceding periodic frame of Fj;
• and
• (e)(iii) encoding the frame Fj using the periodic frame Fi as a reference frame and transmitting the periodic frame Fj to the receiver.

A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:

• (a) transmitting a plurality of frames of compressed video data from a sender to a receiver;
• at the sender:
• (b) determining a number of forward error correction (FEC) packets for each frame;
• (c) transmitting the forward error correction packets for each frame from the sender to the receiver;
• (d) monitoring the number of negative acknowledgements received for each frame, and, in response to determining that the number of negative acknowledgements exceeds a predetermined value, retransmitting the packets corresponding to the negative acknowledgments;
• at the receiver:
• (e) receiving the retransmitted packet and restoring a frame in a frame buffer using the retransmitted packets;
• and
• (f) using the restored frame as a reference frame for a frame to be displayed.