Patent ID: 8289370

Claim:
A system for video communication between a plurality of endpoints over an electronic communications network and one or more servers, which network provides different quality of service and bandwidth channels linking the plurality of endpoints and servers, the channels including designated high reliability channels (HRCs) and low reliability channels (LRCs), the system comprising: transmitting and receiving terminals disposed at the endpoints, wherein at least one transmitting terminal is configured to prepare at least one scalably coded video signal for transmission to other terminals in a base layer and enhancement layers format, and to transmit at least the base layer over a designated HRC, and wherein at least one receiving terminal is configured to decode the scalably coded video signal layers that are received over network channels including a designated HRC, and to reconstruct a video for local use by combining the decoded video signal layers, and wherein the servers are configured to mediate the transfer of the scalably coded video signal layers transmitted by the transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal over electronic communications network channels leading to the latter terminal.