Patent ID: 7797723

Claim:
A method for transmitting video content comprising: (a) encoding said video by an application layer at a sender; (b) providing a portion of said encoded video to a lower network layer than said application layer at said sender, subject to at least one regulator that regulates the rate that data is transferred from said application layer to said lower network layer, based upon, at least in part, a timer reaching a variable threshold, where said regulator provides said portion of said encoded video upon receipt of a confirmation message of a successful transmission of a previously-sent portion of said encoded video from a receiver, and provides said portion of said encoded video upon expiration of said timer, but provides a portion of said encoded video in no other circumstance, where said portion of said encoded video is different than said previously-sent portion of said encoded video, and where said timer resets upon receipt of confirmation messages from a receiver; (c) transmitting said encoded video across a network interconnection to said receiver; (d) wherein said threshold is based upon an estimation of the amount of said encoded video in a buffer of a layer lower than said application layer and within said sender, where said estimation is based upon data stored in a virtual buffer that holds a list of the sequence numbers of packets estimated to be present in said buffer of said layer lower than said application layer.