Method and system for communicating and processing VOIP packets using a jitter buffer

1. A method of processing Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) packets comprising:

receiving VOIP packets from a plurality of different base stations at a user equipment, the VOIP packets being related to a same VOIP transmission, wherein each of the VOIP packets includes a time stamp and a frame sequence number;

determining if a VOIP packet is received after a threshold time point based on the time stamp;

determining if the VOIP packet is a duplicate of a previously buffered VOIP packet based on a comparison of the frame sequence number of the VOIP packet and the frame sequence numbers of the previously buffered VOIP packets;

buffering the received VOIP packets if:

the VOIP packet is not received after the threshold time point, and

the VOIP packet is not the duplicate of a previously buffered VOIP packet; and

playing the buffered VOIP packets.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

discarding the VOIP packet if:

the VOIP packet is determined as received after the threshold time point, or

the VOIP packet is determined to be the duplicate of a previously buffered VOIP packet.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold time point corresponds to a playback time at which the buffered VOIP packets are to be played.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the buffering step comprises queuing the VOIP packet based on the frame sequence number; and

the playing step plays the buffered VOIP packets in an order in which the VOIP packets are queued.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the playing step comprises:

judging if a playback time is reached; and

playing the buffered VOIP packets each time a playback time is judged to have been reached.

6. A wireless communication device for processing Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) packets comprising:

a jitter buffer buffering a plurality of VOIP packets from a plurality of different base stations at the wireless communication device of a user equipment, the VOIP packets being related to a same VOIP transmission, wherein each of the plurality of VOIP packets includes a time stamp and a frame sequence number; and

a jitter buffer controller controlling the buffering of the plurality of VOIP packets and playing of the buffered packets, the jitter buffer controller includes a clock providing a clock signal, wherein the jitter buffer controller is adapted for determining if a VOIP packet is received after a threshold time point based on the time stamp and the clock signal determining if the VOIP packet is a duplicate of a previously buffered VOIP packet based on the frame sequence number of the VOIP packet and the frame sequence numbers of the VOIP packets already buffered in the jitter buffer; and instructing the jitter buffer to buffer the VOIP packet if the VOIP packet is not received after the threshold time point and is not the duplicate of a VOIP packet in the jitter buffer.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the jitter buffer controller discards the VOIP packet if the VOIP packet is determined as received after a threshold time point or is determined to be the duplicate of a previously buffered VOIP packet so the VOIP packet is not buffered in the jitter buffer.

8. The device of claim 6 , wherein the threshold time point corresponds to a playback time at which the buffered VOIP packets are to be played.

9. The device of claim 6 , wherein the jitter buffer queues the VOIP packets in an order specified by the frame sequence numbers of the VOIP packets based on instructions received from the jitter buffer controller.

10. The device of claim 6 , wherein the jitter buffer controller further comprises:

a playback mechanism playing the buffered VOIP packets each time a playback time is judged reached,

the jitter buffer controller judging the playback time is reached based on the clock signal provided by the clock.