Long Term Reference Frame Transport via Reliable UDP Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
In large-scale media conferences, unreliable transport mechanisms like UDP can lead to packet loss, causing degradation in user experience, especially when some endpoints experience network issues, resulting in unnecessary bandwidth consumption and reduced video quality for all participants.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a reliable transport mechanism for long-term reference frames, such as I-frames or refresh P-frames, followed by a sequence of regular frames using an unreliable transport mechanism, where frames are derived from the prior frame, with a wait time ensuring the reference frame's delivery, allowing decoders to resynchronize without additional repair signaling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If unreliable transport mechanism (UDP) is used for media session data, then processing speed and bandwidth efficiency are improved, but packet delivery reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video stream into different frame types (long term reference frames and regular frames) and applies different transport mechanisms to each segment. Long term reference frames are sent via reliable transport (TCP) while regular frames use unreliable transport (UDP), optimizing both reliability and efficiency for different criticality levels.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality levels of transport are applied to different parts of the video stream based on their specific requirements. Reference frames receive high-quality reliable transport to ensure delivery, while regular frames use lower-quality but faster unreliable transport, matching the transport quality to the local needs of each frame type.
2Reliability
If reliable transport mechanism is used for all frames, then packet delivery reliability is improved, but bandwidth consumption and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the video stream into critical reference frames requiring reliable transport and non-critical regular frames using unreliable transport. This segmentation ensures that only the necessary portion of the data (reference frames) consumes the additional bandwidth and time overhead of reliable transport mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying reliable transport to all frames (excessive action), the patent applies it only partially to reference frames where it is truly needed. This partial application reduces the overall bandwidth consumption and latency while still achieving the necessary reliability for critical data.
3Reliability
If reference frames are resent to all endpoints when loss is detected, then delivery reliability is improved for affected endpoints, but bandwidth consumption increases for all participants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent sends preliminary reliable transport reference frames before the unreliable transport regular frames. This preliminary reliable delivery ensures that endpoints have the necessary reference data before receiving subsequent frames, reducing the need for retransmission requests and repair signaling.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where endpoints can signal when they have successfully received reference frames, allowing the sender to adjust subsequent transmissions. This feedback reduces unnecessary retransmissions and optimizes bandwidth usage by avoiding redundant sends to endpoints that already have the required data.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a device in a network sends a long term reference frame of a video stream to one or more nodes in the network using a reliable transport mechanism. Subsequent to sending the long term reference frame, the device sends a sequence of regular frames of the video stream to the one or more nodes using an unreliable transport mechanism, whereby a frame in the sequence is derived from a directly prior frame in the sequence. The device identifies an expiration of a wait time from when the long term reference frame was first sent. The device sends a regular frame derived from the long term reference frame via the unreliable transport mechanism after the expiration of the wait time and subsequent to sending the sequence of regular frames.