Prioritized retransmission of internet protocol television (IPTV) packets

Abstract

A method and system for improved error resiliency in Internet protocol Television (IPTV) are provided. Received media stream is encoded in a real-time protocol. The RTP media stream is then reordered in a homogeneous arrangement (e.g., video packets together, audio packets together) such that each RTP packet, which contains video contains data from a single video frame. Furthermore, each RTP packet contains a RTP header extension, which specifies the priority of the data. Audio frame and intra-coded frames (I-frames) are marked as highest priority frames, predictably coded frames (P-frames) are marked as high priority frames, bidirectionally coded frames (B-frames) are marked as lower priority frames with anything else occupying the lowest priority. The media stream is forwarded to the plurality of users, in accordance with the priority of each packet. A subscriber's device requests retransmission of any missing packets.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.