CODING AND DECODING SYNCHRONIZED COMPRESSED VIDEO BITSTREAMS

1 . A system for coding, the system comprising:

an interface configured to

receive a source video bitstream, including source frames; and

a processor configured to

determine at least one of timing information and grouping information, based on the received source frames,

prepare processed frames, including synchronizing processed frames, based on the received source frames, wherein the synchronizing processed frames are prepared based on at least one of

the determined timing information, and

the determined grouping information, and

encode the processed frames, including the synchronizing processed frames, in a synchronized compressed video bitstream.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processed frames are prepared utilizing at least one process from the processes including:

a time stamp synchronization process,

an intracoded frame synchronization process,

a clock reference synchronization process, and

a video buffering synchronization process.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the source video bitstream and the synchronized compressed video bitstream is an MPEG-4 compressed video bitstream.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the synchronizing processed frames are intracoded.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the synchronizing processed frames are coded to prohibit decoding referencing to frames encoded before the synchronizing processed frames.

6 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the timing information by identifying time stamp values associated with respective source frames.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the time stamp synchronization process includes

associating the identified time stamp values with processed frames which correspond with the respective source frames associated with the identified time stamp values, and

preparing synchronizing processed frames based on source frames and the identified time stamp values associated with the source frames.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to prepare the processed frames based on the determined timing information including identifying droppable source frames based on a source frame dropping criterion, and

excluding the identified droppable source frames from the received source frames utilized in preparing the processed frames.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the clock reference synchronization process includes

modifying clock reference values associated with the source frames based on a clock reference modification criterion,

associating the modified clock reference values with the processed frames, and

preparing synchronizing processed frames based on the modified clock reference values.

10 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the intracoded frame synchronization process includes at least one sub-process from the sub-processes including:

if the received source video bitstream is compressed, a general intracoding sub-process including

identifying the received source frames which are intracoded, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the identified intracoded source frames,

a scene change coding sub-process including

selecting scene change source frames associated with scene changes to scenes depicted by the source frames, wherein the scene change source frames are selected according to a scene change frame selection criterion, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the selected scene change source frames, and

an end group coding sub-process including

selecting end group source frames associated with the endings of fixed size frame groups within the source frames, wherein the end group source frames are selected according to an end group frame selection criterion, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the identified end group source frames.

11 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the video buffering synchronization process includes

modifying video buffer reference values associated with the source frames based on a video buffer reference modification criterion, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the modified video buffer reference values.

12 . A method for coding, the method comprising:

receiving a source video bitstream, including source frames;

determining, utilizing a processor, at least one of timing information and grouping information, based on the received source frames;

preparing processed frames, including synchronizing processed frames, based on the received source frames, wherein the synchronizing processed frames are prepared based on at least one of

the determined timing information, and

the determined grouping information; and

encoding the processed frames, including the synchronizing processed frames, in a synchronized compressed video bitstream.

13 . A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing computer readable instructions which, when executed by a computer system, perform a method for coding, the method comprising:

receiving a source video bitstream, including source frames;

determining, utilizing a processor, at least one of timing information and grouping information, based on the received source frames;

preparing processed frames, including synchronizing processed frames, based on the received source frames, wherein the synchronizing processed frames are prepared based on at least one of

the determined timing information, and

the determined grouping information; and

encoding the processed frames, including the synchronizing processed frames, in a synchronized compressed video bitstream.

14 . A system for decoding, the system comprising:

an interface configured to

receive a synchronized compressed video bitstream, including encoded processed frames and encoded synchronizing processed frames,

wherein the encoded synchronizing processed frames in the synchronized compressed video bitstream describe video chunk file boundaries of video chunk files of encoded processed frames in the synchronized compressed video bitstream; and

a processor configured to

prepare a video chunk file from the received synchronized compressed video bitstream, utilizing the encoded synchronizing processed frames to identify the video chunk file boundaries of the video chunk file, and

decode the encoded processed frames in the prepared video chunk file.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the synchronizing processed frames are based on source frames from a source video bitstream and prepared based on at least one of

timing information determined from the source frames, and

grouping information determined from the source frames, and

the synchronizing processed frames are prepared utilizing at least one process from the processes including

a time stamp synchronization process,

an intracoded frame synchronization process,

a clock reference synchronization process, and

a video buffering synchronization process.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the time stamp synchronization process includes

associating the identified time stamp values with processed frames which correspond with respective source frames associated with the identified time stamp values, and

preparing synchronizing processed frames based on source frames and the identified time stamp values associated with the source frames.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the clock reference synchronization process includes

modifying clock reference values associated with the source frames based on a clock reference modification criterion,

associating the modified clock reference values with the processed frames, and

preparing synchronizing processed frames based on the modified clock reference values.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the intracoded frame synchronization process includes at least one sub-process from the sub-processes including:

if the received source video bitstream is compressed, a general intracoding sub-process including

identifying the source frames which are intracoded, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the identified intracoded source frames,

a scene change coding sub-process including

selecting scene change source frames associated with scene changes to scenes depicted by the source frames, wherein the scene change source frames are selected according to a scene change frame selection criterion, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the selected scene change source frames, and

an end group coding sub-process including

selecting end group source frames associated with the endings of fixed size groups within the source frames, wherein the end group source frames are selected according to an end group frame selection criterion, and

preparing the synchronizing processed frames based on the identified end group source frames.

19 . A method for decoding, the method comprising:

receiving a synchronized compressed video bitstream, including encoded processed frames and encoded synchronizing processed frames,

wherein the encoded synchronizing processed frames in the synchronized compressed video bitstream describe video chunk file boundaries of video chunk files of encoded processed frames in the synchronized compressed video bitstream;

preparing a video chunk file from the received synchronized compressed video bitstream, utilizing the encoded synchronizing processed frames to identify the video chunk file boundaries of the video chunk file; and

decoding, utilizing a processor, the encoded processed frames in the prepared video chunk file.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing computer readable instructions which, when executed by a computer system, perform a method for decoding, the method comprising:

receiving a synchronized compressed video bitstream, including encoded processed frames and encoded synchronizing processed frames,

wherein the encoded synchronizing processed frames in the synchronized compressed video bitstream describe video chunk file boundaries of video chunk files of encoded processed frames in the synchronized compressed video bitstream;

preparing a video chunk file from the received synchronized compressed video bitstream, utilizing the encoded synchronizing processed frames to identify the video chunk file boundaries of the video chunk file; and

decoding, utilizing a processor, the encoded processed frames in the prepared video chunk file.