Patent ID: 6907070

Claim:
A method for coding video data according to layered coding techniques in which the video data is represented as multi-layered frames, each frame having a plurality of references in multiple layers ranging from a base layer of low quality to enhancement layers of increasingly higher quality, the method comprising: encoding macroblocks of the video data to produce a first bitstream representing a base layer; selecting a coding mode for each macroblock, the coding mode being selected from a group comprising at least three coding modes where each coding mode specifies a prediction reference and a reconstruction reference, the prediction reference determining a predicted macroblock for a current frame and the reconstruction reference determining a reference for a next frame; encoding each macroblock of the video data using the coding mode selected for the macroblock, the encoding of the macroblocks producing a second bitstream representing one or more enhancement layers the group of at least three coding modes comprising: an LPLR coding mode that specifies the prediction reference as a low quality reference in a previous frame and the reconstruction reference as the low quality reference in the previous frame; an HPHR coding mode that specifies the prediction reference as a high quality reference in a previous frame and the reconstruction reference as the high quality reference in the previous frame; and an HPLR coding mode that specifies the prediction reference as a high quality reference in a previous frame and the reconstruction reference as a low quality reference in the previous frame, wherein the high quality reference in the previous frame is not the same as the low quality reference in the previous frame, wherein at least two of the coding modes are utilized to produce the second bitstream.