Patent ID: 6920179

Claim:
A method of processing a video signal for transmission over a heterogeneous network, the method comprising the steps of: coding the video signal in a progressive video coder so as to generate a progressive coded video bit stream comprising a plurality of frames of the video signal, wherein the progressive coded video bit stream is configured to be decodable at any one of a series of increasing bit rates up to a maximum bit rate, depending on which of a number of corresponding portions of the progressive coded video bit stream are received by a decoder, the portions being arranged within the progressive coded video bit stream in a predetermined sequence of increasing bit rates from an initial portion associated with a lowest one of the bit rates to a final portion associated with a highest one of the bit rates, and wherein each of the series of increasing bit rates produce progressively better reconstructed video quality at an output of the decoder; transmitting the progressive coded video bit stream over a first part of the heterogeneous network at a first one of the bit rates; and selectively transmitting one or more of the portions of the progressive coded video bit stream from the first part of the heterogeneous network to a second part of the heterogeneous network, the one or more portions being associated with a second one of the bit rates lower than the first bit rate, the one or more portions and the associated second bit rate being selected based at least in part on one or more of: (i) an error detected in the transmission over the first part of the heterogeneous network; and (ii) a characteristic of the second part of the heterogeneous network.