METHOD OF RECEIVING COMPRESSED VIDEO SIGNALS

摘要

THE INVENTION RELATES TO THE RECEPTION OF MPEG ENCODED TELEVISION SIGNALS FROM A VIDEO-AN-DEMAND SERVER (1) VIA A NETWORK (3). NON-LINEAR PLAYBACK FUNCTIONS SUCH AS ''PAUSE'' AND ''RESUME'' REQUIRE A VERY ACCURATE CONTROL OF THE BIT STREAM, TAKING ACCOUNT OF TYPICAL NETWORK ASPECTS SUCH AS NETWORK LATENCY. THE RECEIVER (2) COMPRISES A LATENCY BUFFER (24) FOR STORING THE SIGNAL DELIVERED WHILE THE REPRODUCTION IS STALLED. THE PAUSE AND RESUME COMMANDS FROM THE USER ARE NOT FORWARDED TO THE SERVER UNTIL THE LATENCY BUFFER REACHES A PREDETERMINED FULLNESS. THIS ALLOWS THE RECEIVER TO RESUME FLAWLESSLY SIGNAL REPRODUCTION AFTER A PAUSE.