Patent ID: 9307199
Filing Date: 2016-04-05
CPC Classification: H04N

Claim Text:
1. A video communication system comprising: a communication network, a conferencing server disposed in the network and linked to at least one receiving and at least one transmitting endpoint by at least one communication channel each over the communication network, at least one endpoint with a transmitter that transmits coded digital video using a scalable video coding format, and at least one receiving endpoint with a receiver for decoding a digital video signal coded in a scalable video coding format supporting temporal scalability and at least one of spatial and quality scalability, wherein the scalable video coding format for spatial scalability includes a base spatial and at least one spatial enhancement layer, for quality scalability includes a base quality layer and at least one quality enhancement layer, and for temporal scalability includes a base temporal layer and at least one temporal enhancement layer, wherein the base temporal layers and enhancement temporal layers are interlinked by a threaded picture prediction structure for at least one of the spatial or quality scalability layers, and wherein the conferencing server is configured to selectively eliminate or modify portions of the input video signals received from transmitting endpoints that correspond to layers higher than the base spatial or quality layer, prior to creating the output video signal that is forwarded to the at least one receiving endpoint, so that use of lower spatial or quality layer data is signaled or explicitly coded in the output video signal for use in decoding pictures at resolutions higher than the base spatial or quality layer.