Facilitating intelligent marking and discarding of MPEG video packets in IP packet stream

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

providing an IP (Internet Protocol) packet having MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) packets contained therein;

assigning each one of said MPEG packets a respective bit value corresponding to an importance thereof relative to decoded video quality of a video stream including said MPEG packets; and

inserting into a header of the IP packet a value computed using the respective bit value of all of said MPEG packets,

wherein said computed value is a decimal equivalent of a binary value representing an overall importance of said MPEG packets.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

accessing said computed value for assessing an impact of discarding the IP packets on said decoded video quality of the video stream; and

discarding the IP packet in response to determining that the impact does not exceed a prescribed degree of adverse impact.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein inserting said computed value into the header of the IP packet includes inserting said computed value into a source port field of a UPD header of the IP packet.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein inserting said computed value into the header of the IP packet includes inserting said computed value into a source port field of a UPD header of the IP packet.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to a respective category of MPEG packet; and

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets; and

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein inserting said computed value into the header of the IP packet includes inserting said computed value into a source port field of a UPD header of the IP packet.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

creating an IP packet containing MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) packets therein and having a header including a value computed using a respective bit value of each one of said MPEG packets; and

analyzing said computed value to determine an importance of said MPED packets relative to decoded video quality of a video stream including said MPEG packets,

wherein said computed value is a decimal equivalent of a binary value representing an overall importance of said MPEG packets.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

discarding the IP packet in response to determining that the impact does not exceed a prescribed degree of adverse impact.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein:

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein:

the header is a UPD header; and

said computed value resides in a source port field of the UPD header.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

discarding the IP packet in response to determining that the impact does not exceed a prescribed degree of adverse impact,

wherein the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

wherein each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

wherein each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

wherein the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

15. A network system, comprising

a first packet processing apparatus configured for creating an IP packet containing MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) packets therein and having a header including a value computed using a respective bit value of each one of said MPEG packets; and

a second packet processing apparatus configured for accessing contents of the header of the IP packet and for analyzing said computed value to determine an impact of dropping the IP packet relative to decoded video quality of a video stream including said MPEG packets,

wherein said computed value is a decimal equivalent of a binary value representing an overall importance of said MPEG packets.

16. The network system of claim 15 wherein:

the first packet processing apparatus is an apparatus within a video delivery network; and

the second packet processing apparatus is an apparatus external to the video delivery network.

17. The network system of claim 15 wherein the second packet processing apparatus is an IP device.

18. The network system of claim 15 wherein the second packet processing apparatus is configured for discarding the IP packet in response to determining that the impact does not exceed a prescribed degree of adverse impact.

19. The network system of claim 15 wherein:

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of Said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

20. The network system of claim 15 wherein:

the header is a UPD header; and

said computed value resides in a source port field of the UPD header.

21. The network system of claim 20 wherein:

the second packet processing apparatus is configured for discarding the IP packet in response to determining that the impact does not exceed a prescribed degree of adverse impact,

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

22. A data storage device having a set of processor-executable instructions stored thereon, the set of processor-executable instructions comprising:

instructions for providing an IP (Internet Protocol) packet having MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) packets contained therein;

instructions for assigning each one of said MPEG packets a respective bit value corresponding to an importance thereof relative to decoded video quality of a video stream including said MPEG packets; and

instructions for inserting into a header of the IP packet a value computed using the respective bit value of all of said MPEG packets,

wherein said computed value is a decimal equivalent of a binary value representing an overall importance of said MPEG packets.

23. The data storage device of claim 22 , further comprising:

instructions for accessing said computed value for assessing an impact of discarding the IP packets on said decoded video quality of the video stream; and

instructions for discarding the IP packet in response to determining that the impact does not exceed a prescribed degree of adverse impact.

24. The data storage device of claim 23 wherein:

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

25. The data storage device of claim 23 wherein inserting said computed value into the header of the IP packet includes inserting said computed value into a source port field of a UPD header of the IP packet.

26. The data storage device of claim 22 wherein inserting said computed value into the header of the IP packet includes inserting said computed value into a source port field of a UPD header of the IP packet.

27. The data storage device of claim 22 wherein:

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to a respective category of MPEG packet; and

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality.

28. The data storage device of claim 22 wherein:

the IP packet has 7 MPEG packets contained therein;

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets;

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality; and

the bit value assigned to each one of said MPEG packets is a 2-bit value.

29. The data storage device of claim 22 wherein:

each one of said MPEG packets corresponds to one of four different categories of MPEG packets; and

each one of said MPEG packet categories has a respective importance relative to said decoded video quality.

30. The data storage device of claim 29 wherein inserting said computed value into the header of the IP packet includes inserting said computed value into a source port field of a UPD header of the IP packet.