STREAMING AND BUFFERING USING VARIABLE FEC OVERHEAD AND PROTECTION PERIODS

摘要

Data is streamed from a transmitter to a receiver, wherein streaming is transferring data with an assumption that the receiver will begin using the data before it is all transmitted and received and the streamed data includes forward error correction ("FEC") and the rates of data consumption can vary. The transmitter has an input rate and a transmit rate and the two rates can be different and can change. At the receiver, there is a reception rate (at which the receiver receives data) and a consumption rate (at which the receiver uses up data for its output). The transmitter transmits using a transmit rate higher than the consumption rate and the extra bandwidth is usable for FEC protection and buffering. In some embodiments, the excess rate varies over a transmission period.