Patent ID: 7729299

Claim:
A method for responding to error messages received during a video conference comprising: establishing a video conference between a plurality of endpoints; identifying an active stream comprising a plurality of packets received from a first one of the endpoints, the active stream transmitting a video image by sending a frame followed by sub-frame modifications; forwarding the active stream to a second one of the endpoints; buffering the packets received from the first endpoint in a packet buffer; receiving an error message from the second endpoint indicating that the second endpoint did not receive a set of lost packets out of the plurality of packets; determining a severity of an error indicated by the error message, wherein the severity is related to an impact on an image displayed at the second endpoint and the severity is classified as minor, moderate, or severe; based on the severity, identifying a set of correction packets to send to the second endpoint, wherein identifying the set of correction packets to send to the second endpoint comprises: if the severity is minor, locating the set of lost packets in the packet buffer; if the severity is moderate, determining whether a sub-frame is locally available and, if the sub-frame is not locally available, sending a query to the first endpoint requesting the sub-frame; and if the severity is severe, determining whether a frame is locally available and, if the frame is not locally available, sending a query to the first endpoint requesting the frame; and sending the set of correction packets to the second endpoint.