Abstract: Transform coefficients of sample blocks of a macroblock of a video picture are encoded by adaptively encoding in combination, the number of non-zero coefficients before the trailing one coefficients and the number of trailing one coefficients. The transform coefficients may be further encoded by adaptively encoding one or more of the signs of the trailing one coefficients, the level measures of the non-zero coefficients, the total number of zero coefficients interposed in the non-zero coefficients, and the respective run lengths of the zero coefficients. Adaptive encoding of the number and trailing one coefficients may be performed in view of one or more neighboring sample blocks, whereas adaptive encoding of level measures may be performed in view of quantization parameters of a macroblock and previously encoded level measures. Decoding may be performed in an inverse manner.

Abstract: A system for determining selections that a user is likely to be interested in. The determination is made based on the user's prior indicated preferences. The user designates his or her preferred selections as entries in a user's preference list. Entries in the user's list are compared with entries in the other users' lists. When a significant number of matches have been found between two lists, the unmatched entries of the other user's preference list are extracted. The unmatched entries are further processed. Those unmatched entries with a high correlation to the user's preference list are presented to the user as selections in which the user is likely to be interested.

Abstract: A system and method of the present invention conceal errors caused by lost audio in an audio transmission. A frame error detector detects audio data lost in an audio data transmission. An audio decoder generates frequency and time domain data from received audio data. A transient detector detects the presence of a transient audio signal in the received audio data. A frame synthesizer interpolates frequency domain data to generate synthetic audio data to construct audio data in place of the lost audio data.

Abstract: A system and method regulate the transmission of media data. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a header portion of a media file is encoded to include an access code. The access code corresponds to one or more permitted methods by which the media file may be transmitted over a network. In one embodiment, a user operates a web browser to access a web page including a hyperlink which references the media file and specifies a desired type of transmission. Desired types of transmission include, for example, streaming transmission and faster than real time reliable download. When the hyperlink is activated, a web server sends a URL referencing the media file to the web browser. The web browser passes the URL to the media player. The media player requests the media file from a media server. The media server transmits the header of the media file, and the media player extracts the access code to determine whether the media file may be transmitted according to the desired type of transmission.