Cisco Technology, Inc.

Paul G Bright-Thomas

Michael Anthony Ramalho

Geir Sandbakken

Greg Harald Hakonsen

Keith Griffin

Hugo Latapie

Enzo Fenoglio

Plamen Nedeltchev

Eric Chen

Manikandan Kesavan

Marcello Caramma

Conrad Bebbington

Nathan Buckles

William Geoffrey Prior

Rui Zhang

Thomas Davies

Jochen Christof Schirdewahn

Dan Tan

Sijia Chen

Mayan Fei

Deqiang Ye

Zhou Qiang

In various embodiments, a device receives a first video stream of a video conference. The device receives a second video stream of the video conference. The second video stream includes an indicated location for video of the second video stream relative to video of the first video stream. The device merges the first video stream and the second video stream into an overlapped video having the video of the second video stream located at the indicated location relative to the video of the first video stream. The device provides the overlapped video for display.

Transport mechanisms for video stream merging with overlapping video

Techniques are provided by which a receiver of a video stream signals to the sender to freeze the video input at a certain frame, and the sender responds by adapting its encoding methods to progressively improve the quality of the sent static image. A method includes receiving at a first device a first freeze-frame request initiated by the second device. The first freeze-frame request indicates that a user of the second device requests a high-fidelity freeze-frame of a first frame of the encoded video stream from the first device. A first sequence of encoded video frames of the first frame is generated for a high-fidelity freeze-frame. Each encoded video frame of the first sequence is of progressively higher fidelity of the first frame.

High-fidelity freeze-frame for precision video communication applications

Systems and methods are disclosed for anticipating a video switch to accommodate a new speaker in a video conference comprising a real time video stream captured by a camera local to a first videoconference endpoint is analyzed according to at least one speaker anticipation model. The speaker anticipation model predicts that a new speaker is about to speak. Video of the anticipated new speaker is sent to the conferencing server in response to a request for the video on the anticipated new speaker from the conferencing server. Video of the anticipated new speaker is distributed to at least a second videoconference endpoint.

Speaker anticipation

In one embodiment, a video encoder generates an encoded bitstream representing a sequence of video frames including a keyframe. The encoder generates information for use by a decoder that receives the encoded bitstream to enable the decoder to generate display frames from a pre-keyframe video frame that is prior to the keyframe in the sequence of video frames. The encoded bitstream is sent to the decoder. In another embodiment, a video decoder receives from an encoder an encoded bitstream representing a sequence of video frames including a keyframe. The keyframe includes information to enable the decoder to generate display frames from a pre-keyframe video frame that was received prior to the keyframe in the sequence of video frames. The decoder generates display frames using the pre-keyframe video frame, information included with the keyframe and information included with an encoder-determined number of decoded frames subsequent to the keyframe.

Keyframe mitigation for video streams with multiple receivers

Presented herein are downstream recovery (error correction) techniques for an aggregated/consolidated media stream. In one example, a consolidated media stream that includes source media packets from one or more sources is sent to one or more downstream receiving devices. Based on the source media packets, one or more self-describing recovery packets for downstream error correction of the source media packets are generated. The self-describing recovery packets include a mapping to the source media packets used to generate the self-describing recovery packets, thereby avoiding the addition of error correction information in the consolidated media stream. The one or more self-describing recovery packets are sent to each of the downstream receiving devices as a separate stream.

Self-describing error correction of consolidated media content

Provided are systems, methods, and computer-readable media for encoding, transmitting and decoding content having high fidelity and high motion content. In one aspect, a device includes at least one processor and at least memory having computer-readable instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to receive an encoded frame; determine whether the encoded frame includes at least one region having high fidelity content; and upon determining that the encoded frame includes at least one region having high fidelity content, perform a first decoding process for decoding the at least one region having high fidelity content, display a previous version of the high fidelity content on a display while the first decoding process is being performed, and display a decoded version of the at least one region having the high fidelity content on the display when performing the first decoding process is complete.

Encoding, transmission and decoding of combined high motion and high fidelity content

Video coding and decoding techniques are provided in which entropy coding states are stored for regions of video frames of a sequence of video frames, upon completion of coding of those regions. Entropy coding initialization states for regions of a current video frame are derived based on entropy coding states of corresponding regions of a prior video frame in the sequence of video frames. This process may be performed at a video encoder and a video decoder, though some signaling may be sent from the encoder to the decoder to direct the decoder is certain operations.

Entropy coding state segmentation and retention

Large source data packets having large packet sizes and small source data packets having small packet sizes that are smaller than the large packet sizes are received. The small source data packets and the large source data packets are sent to a receiving device without forward error correction (FEC). The small source data packets are aggregated into a container packet having a header configured to differentiate the container packet from the large source data packets and the small source data packets. The large source data packets and the container packet are encoded with forward error correction to produce FEC-encoded packets to enable forward error correction of the large source data packets and the container packet at the receiving device. The FEC-encoded packets are sent to the receiving device.

Efficient error correction that aggregates different media into encoded container packets

Techniques for video conferencing include receiving a stream of video slices from a participant, designating the video slices as a primary sub-picture of a frame of video, encoding, with a first encoder, a first secondary sub-picture of the frame of video to obtain an encoded first secondary sub-picture of a frame of video, encoding, with a second encoder, a second secondary sub-picture of the frame of video to obtain an encoded first secondary sub-picture of a frame of video, combining the primary sub-picture with the encoded first secondary sub-picture to obtain a first video stream, combining the primary sub-picture with the encoded second secondary sub-picture to obtain a second video stream, and transmitting the first and second video streams to respective recipients.

Split frame multistream encode

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory that stores executable instructions and a processor that executes the instructions in order to determine, for plural received compressed video inputs, at least one motion vector included in each of the plural compressed video inputs; calculate, based on the determined motion vectors, a motion value corresponding to each of the plural compressed video inputs, the motion values representing a level of motion over several frames for each of the plural compressed video inputs; and select, based on the calculated motion values, at least one of the plural compressed video inputs to be displayed.

Method and apparatus for motion based participant switching in multipoint video conferences

Techniques for video conferencing including receiving bandwidth and/or codec characteristics of a plurality of video conference participants, determining whether or not any of the bandwidth and/or codec characteristics are sufficiently different from others of the bandwidth and/or codec characteristics to warrant different treatment, when one or more of the bandwidth and/or codec characteristics are sufficiently different, grouping video conference participants into at least a first group and a second group according to video conference participants having same or similar bandwidth and/or codec characteristics, and establishing a video conference with at least first and second subconferences to service the first and second groups, respectively, wherein each of the video conference participants receives frames of video in which a first portion of the frames is encoded by a shared encoder, and wherein a second portion of the frames is encoded by different encoders respectively designated for each of the video conference participants.

A bitstream encoded with video information is received at a first network enabled device from a second network enabled device. The bitstream is analyzed prior to generating an image frame corresponding to the bitstream values, and visual characteristics of the video information are determined from bitstream values in the bitstream. A modified video display is determined in response to the visual characteristics.

Growing community of inventors

Wokingham, United Kingdom

Paul G Bright-Thomas