Patent ID: 8750373

Claim:
A method of determining a target number of bits for each of a plurality of coded pictures in a prediction structure having a hierarchy of temporal layers, each of the plurality of coded pictures belonging to one of the temporal layers, comprising: (a) determining a one way delay taking into account at least a network delay and glass-to-glass-delay, (b) computing a parameter maxRatio indicative of a limitation of a fluctuation of a coded picture size for at least one of the plurality of coded pictures, and (c) modulating a target coded picture size for each of the plurality of coded pictures based on the computed parameter maxRatio, the one-way delay and a position of the coded picture in the hierarchy of the temporal layers, such that the target number of bits varies for each of the plurality of coded pictures in the prediction structure but stays within the limitation of the fluctuation of the coded picture size as indicated by the parameter maxRatio.