Interactive video communication over a packet data network

Claim 3

The system as recited in claim 1 further comprising an interpolation circuit for inserting synthesized audio/video data into a designated location of said buffer to lengthen said portions of said stream of audio/video data in said buffer.

Claim 4

The system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a decimation circuit for deleting audio/video data from a designated location of said buffer to shorten said portions of said stream of audio/video data in said buffer.

Claim 5

The system as recited in claim 1 wherein said data packet comprises source and destination fields for determining a transmission route of said data packet through said computer network.

Claim 6

The system as recited in claim 1 wherein a value of said position identifier is a function of a length of a portion of said stream of digital audio/video data in a previously transmitted data packet.

Claim 7

The system as recited in claim 1 wherein a window of said buffer is about 15 to 25 milliseconds.

Claim 8

The system as recited in claim 1 wherein said data packet is capable of containing a portion having a length of about 3 to 10 milliseconds.

Claim 9

The system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a digital conversion/compression circuit, coupled to said packet assembly circuit, for digitizing and compressing said audio/video signal into said stream of digital audio/video data.

Claim 10

The system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a decompression/analog conversion circuit, coupled to said packet disassembly circuit, for decompressing and converting said stream of digital audio/video data back into said audio/video signal.

Claim 11

The system as recited in claim 1 wherein said computer network comprises a plurality of computers coupled to said backbone, said packet assembly circuit and said packet disassembly circuit located in separate ones of said computers.

Claim 14

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of inserting synthesized audio/video data into a designated location of said buffer to lengthen said portions of said stream of audio/video data in said buffer.

Claim 15

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of deleting audio/video data from a designated location of said buffer to shorten said portions of said stream of audio/video data in said buffer.

Claim 16

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of determining a transmission route of said data packet through said computer network with source and destination fields in said data packet.

Claim 17

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of assigning a value of said position identifier as a function of a length of a portion of said stream of digital audio/video data in a previously-transmitted data packet.

Claim 18

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of establishing a window of said buffer at about 15 to 25 milliseconds.

Claim 19

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of containing a portion having a length of about 3 to 10 milliseconds in said data packet.

Claim 20

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of digitizing and compressing said audio/video signal into said stream of digital audio/video data with a digital conversion/compression circuit coupled to said packet assembly circuit.

Claim 21

The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of decompressing and converting said stream of digital audio/video data back into said audio/video signal with a decompression/analog conversion circuit coupled to said packet disassembly circuit.

Claim 22

A packet-based computer network, comprising: a backbone coupling, and for communicating packeted data between, first and second computer nodes, serial transmission of data packets through said computer network requiring variable periods of transmission time; means, coupled to said first node, for receiving an original audio/video signal and generating therefrom a corresponding stream of digital audio/video data; a packet assembly circuit, associated with said first computer node, for constructing data packets from portions of said stream of digital audio/video data, each of said data packets including: one of said portions, and a position identifier indicating a temporal position of said one of said portions relative to said stream, said packet assembly circuit queuing said data packet for serial transmission to said second node through said backbone; a packet disassembly circuit, associated with said second computer node and a buffer, for serially receiving said data packets from said backbone, said packet disassembly circuit disassembling each of said data packets by: inserting said portion into an absolute location of said buffer, said position identifier determining said location, said portion synchronized with adjacent portions of said stream of digital audio/video data in said buffer to compensate for said variable periods of transmission time; and means, coupled to said second node, for generating a reconstructed audio/video signal from said stream of digital audio/video data in said buffer.

Claim 23

A packet-based computer network, comprising: a backbone coupling, and for communicating packeted data between, first and second computer nodes, serial transmission of data packets through said computer network requiring variable periods of transmission time; means, coupled to said first node, for receiving an original audio/video signal and generating therefrom a corresponding stream of digital audio/video data; a packet assembly circuit, associated with said first computer node, for constructing data packets from portions of said stream of digital audio/video data, each of said data packets including: one of said portions, and a position identifier indicating a temporal position of said one of said portions relative to said stream, said packet assembly circuit queuing said data packet for serial transmission to said second node through said backbone; a packet disassembly circuit, associated with said second computer node and a buffer, for serially receiving said data packets from said backbone, said packet disassembly circuit disassembling each of said data packets by: inserting said portion into an absolute location of said buffer, said position identifier determining said location, said portion synchronized with adjacent portions of said stream of digital audio/video data in said buffer to compensate for said variable periods of transmission time; and means, coupled to said second node, for generating a reconstructed audio/video signal from said stream of digital audio/video data in said buffer.