Patent ID: 6526221
Filing Date: 2003-02-25
Classification: G09B,G10H,G11B,H04N

Abstract:
A data stream, to be processed by a compatible player, for representing a program containing audio and/or visual components; said components being represented in the form of bit streams organized in a series of data blocks, with each data block containing bits of one or more bit streams and the number of bits of each bit stream within a data block being variable such that the bit-use rates of the bit streams are independent of each other, and with the bits in the bit streams being distributed in the data blocks such that, after being processed and buffered by a compatible player, bits are at all times available as required for proper reconstruction of the respective audio and/or visual components; the same data blocks that contain bits representing said audio and/or visual components further containing commands interleaved therewith that specify how said player is to process said components, the bits in said bit streams and said commands having positions in the data blocks that are not predetermined and that may vary from one data block to another.