Patent ID: 7516243

Claim:
In an intermediate node disposed between a source node and a plurality of receiving nodes network, a method for transcoding a stream of data packets, said method comprising: a) receiving said stream of data packets from said source node, wherein said data packets contain scalable data that is encoded, wherein a data packet in said stream of data packets comprises a payload portion and a header portion, wherein said payload portion comprises said scalable data and wherein said header portion comprises information identifying points for truncating said payload portion according to attributes downstream of said intermediate node; b) performing a function on said stream of data packets, wherein said function is for configuring said stream of data packets according to said attributes downstream said intermediate node and wherein said function comprises truncating data packets in said stream of data packets at a truncation point in each data packet selected according to said attributes downstream of said intermediate node, wherein said function is performed without decoding said scalable data; c) sending to a receiving node a stream of data packets compatible with said attributes downstream of said intermediate node.