Patent ID: 7224702

Claim:
A method for handling communication errors in a communication system for distributing video, the method comprising: initiating transmission of an intended group of packets of a video signal, the intended group of packets including a set of data and error-correcting information for the set of data; receiving an indication of at least some data, of the set of data, that failed to be correctly received at a receiver among a plurality of receivers; in response to the indication, retransmitting a second group of packets, the second group of packets comprising less than all data, of the set of data, that failed to be correctly received at the receiver; wherein less than all data that failed to be correctly received at the receiver is retransmitted in the retransmitting step, and the receiver will be able to obtain the all data, of the set of data, that failed to be correctly received at the receiver by performing forward error correction with the retransmitted second group of packets, once received, and correctly received portions of the intended group of packets, as received from the transmission that was initiated in the initiating step; and buffering data at a transmission server which transmits the intended group of packets and at each receiver which receives the intended group of packets to support error correction by both retransmission at the transmission server and the forward error correction at the receiver and to allows for continuous play of the video signal at each receiver.