Method and apparatus for distributed load multiplexing of multiple encoded signals over a shared communication path

1. A method for distributed load multiplexing of multiple encoded signals over a shared communication path, the method comprises:

receiving a first encoded signal having a first varying relative bit rate;

receiving a second encoded signal having a second varying relative bit rate;

aligning multiplexing of the first and second encoded signals based on reducing cumulative peak bit rates of the first varying relative bit rate and the second varying relative bit rate by:

determining an alignment segment of a pattern of the first encoded signal based on the alignment segment having a minimal bit rate of the first varying bit rate;

monitoring the second encoded signal for an initial segment of a pattern of the second encoded signal;

upon detecting the initial segment of the pattern of the second encoded signal, storing at least a portion of the second encoded signal; and

delaying retrieval of the at least a portion of the second encoded data to align the initial segment of the pattern of the second encoded signal with the alignment segment of the pattern of the first encoded signal.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprises:

receiving a third encoded signal having a third varying relative bit rate; and

aligning the multiplexing of the first, second, and third encoded signals based on reducing the cumulative peak bit rates of the first, second, and third varying relative bit rates.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second encoded signals include Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoded signals that include a pattern of an intra frame (I frames), predicted frames (P frames), and bi-directional frames (B frames).

4. A method of multiplexing Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoded signals, the method comprises:

receiving a plurality of MPEG encoded signals, wherein each of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals includes a repetitive pattern of an intra frame (I frame), predicted frames (P frames), and bi-directional frames (B frames);

allocating a separate time interval of a repetitive set of time intervals to each of the plurality MPEG encoded signals based on minimizing cumulative bit peak requirements for any one of the repetitive set of time intervals to produce a set of allocated time intervals;

during each of the set of allocated time intervals, multiplexing the I frame of a corresponding one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals with a B frame or P frame of at least one of remaining ones of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals;

detecting removal of one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals;

deleting allocation of the separate time interval to the one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals; and

adjusting size of the separate time interval to reflect the deallocation.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the allocating the separate time interval based on minimizing cumulative bit peak requirements further comprises:

determining bit size of each I frame, B frame, and P frame within the repetitive pattern of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals;

allocating a first time interval of the set of allocated time intervals to a first one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals, wherein the I frame of the first one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals is multiplexed during the first time interval;

allocating, in a sequential order, remaining ones of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals to given time intervals of the set of allocated time intervals based on the one of the given time intervals that currently has the most bit size available.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprises:

receiving another MPEG encoded signal;

scanning the another MPEG encoded signal for an I frame of the another MPEG encoded signal;

upon detecting the I frame of the another MPEG encoded signal, storing P frames and B frames of the another MPEG encoded signal;

identifying one of the set of time intervals having most available bits; and

allocating the one of the set of time intervals having the most available bits to the another MPEG encoded signal to produce an allocated time interval, wherein the I frame of the another MPEG encoded signal is multiplexed during the allocated time interval.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the multiplexing the I frame of the corresponding one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals with a B frame or P frame of at least one of remaining ones of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals within a given time interval of the set of allocated time intervals further comprises:

determining whether bit capacity of the given time interval is sufficient to multiplex data of the I frame of the corresponding one of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals with data of a B frame or P frame of each of the remaining ones of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals; and

when the bit capacity is insufficient, replacing data of at least one of the B frames of the remaining ones of the plurality of MPEG encoded signals with a repeat previous frame instruction.

8. An apparatus for distributed load multiplexing of multiple encoded signals over a shared communication path, the apparatus comprises:

processing module; and

memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

receive a first encoded signal having a first varying relative bit rate, the first encoded signal including Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoded signals that include a pattern of an intra frame (I frame), predicted frames (P frames), and bi-directional frames (B frames);

receive a second encoded signal having a second varying relative bit rate the second encoded signal including Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoded signals that include a pattern of an intra frame (I frame), predicted frames (P frames), and bi-directional frames (B frames); and

align multiplexing of the first and second encoded signals based on reducing cumulative peak bit rates of the first varying relative bit rate and the second varying relative bit rate by at least one of:

aligning the pattern of the second encoded signal with the pattern of the first encoded signal such that the I frame of the second encoded channel is time aligned with a smallest B frame of the pattern of the first encoded signal;

aligning the pattern of the second encoded signal with the pattern of the first encoded signal such that the I frame of the second encoded channel is time aligned with one of the B frames of the pattern of the first encoded signal; and

aligning the pattern of the second encoded signal with the pattern of the first encoded signal such that the I frame of the second encoded channel is time aligned with one of the P frames of the pattern of the first encoded signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

receive a third encoded signal having a third varying relative bit rate; and

align the multiplexing of the first, second, and third encoded signals based on reducing the cumulative peak bit rates of the first, second, and third varying relative bit rates.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first and second encoded signals include Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoded signals that include a pattern of an intra frame (I frames), predicted frames (P frames), and bi-directional frames (B frames).

11. An apparatus for distributed load multiplexing of multiple encoded signals over a shared communication path, the apparatus comprises:

processing module; and

memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

receive a first encoded signal having a first varying relative bit rate;

receive a second encoded signal having a second varying relative bit rate; and

align multiplexing of the first and second encoded signals based on reducing cumulative peak bit rates of the first varying relative bit rate and the second varying relative bit rate by:

determining an alignment segment of a pattern of the first encoded signal based on the alignment segment having a minimal bit rate of the first varying bit rate;

monitoring the second encoded signal for an initial segment of a pattern of the second encoded signal;

upon detecting the initial segment of the pattern of the second encoded signal, storing at least a portion of the second encoded signal; and

delaying retrieval of the at least a portion of the second encoded data to align the initial segment of the pattern of the second encoded signal with the alignment segment of the pattern of the first encoded signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

receive a third encoded signal having a third varying relative bit rate; and

align the multiplexing of the first, second, and third encoded signals based on reducing the cumulative peak bit rates of the first, second, and third varying relative bit rates.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first and second encoded signals include Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoded signals that include a pattern of an intra frame (I frame), predicted frames (P frames), and bi-directional frames (B frames).