Patent ID: 8483274

Claim:
An apparatus for data processing including encoding and sending, comprising: an encoder encoding data using a selected one of a plurality of encoding parameter sets: a transmitter transmitting the encoded data to a receiver via a communication network; a condition-identifying device identifying an original data set for which the data processing is to be initiated at a start time t 0 , and identifying a deadline time t L by which the data processing is to be completed, wherein the original data set is one data sub-set or a sequence of two or more data sub-sets; an assigned-time calculator calculating a length of an assigned time not exceeding a time limit (=t L −t 0 ) for the original data set, per each data sub-set; a processing-time calculator calculating an estimate of an individual processing time T P to encode and send each data sub-set using a successively-selected one of the plurality of encoding parameter sets, per each data sub-set, based on the assigned time for the each data sub-set, an estimate of an encoding time T E to encode the each data sub-set using the successively-selected one encoding parameter set, and an estimate of a sending time T T to send the encoded data sub-set at a transmission rate; and an encoding-parameter selector selecting one of the plurality of encoding parameter sets to allow a total processing time to fall within a shortened time limit (=α·t L −t 0 , 0<α<1) that is equal to the time limit (=t L −t 0 ) minus a marginal time, wherein the total processing time, if the original data set is one data sub-set, is equal to the individual processing time for the one data sub-set, or if the original data set includes a sequence of two or more data sub-sets, is equal to a total of the individual processing times for the two or more data sub-sets.