Method and apparatus for managing a decoder buffer

摘要

The present invention relates to digital data transmission and more precisely a method and apparatus for managing a decoder buffer. In data transmission applications, such as digital video broadcasting, large amounts of data are encoded and transmitted to decoders having a decoder buffer. Management of the decoder buffer is very important as transmittal of too little data can result in the decoder buffer underflowing (becoming empty), or if too much data is transmitted the decoder buffer could overflow. Both decoder buffer overflow and underflow result in loss of data and the decoding process is adversely affected. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for managing a decoder buffer such that decoder buffer overflow and underflow are minimised.