Patent ID: 6898313

Claim:
A method for coding compound frames of data to be sent over a transmission channel, comprising: accepting a frame of data at an input of a data coder; dividing the frame of data into one or more data blocks; classifying the one or more data blocks as either picture blocks or non-picture blocks according to a set of criteria; selecting either a picture block or a non-picture block as a next block to be coded; comparing the selected block to a block in a frame previous to the accepted frame; if the selected block is within a threshold difference of the block in the previous frame, generating a signal to use the block in the frame previous to the accepted frame, otherwise, if the selected block is a non-picture block, compressing the selected block using a first compression method, and dividing the selected block into at least two non-picture layers; and if the selected block is a picture block, compressing the selected block using a second compression method, and dividing the selected block into at least two picture layers.