Abstract: An interactive method that optimizes telephone usage for a call or set of calls, given the call criteria, and makes it easy for the consumer to use the carrier that achieves this minimum cost when the consumer is ready to make the call.

Abstract: In this invention streaming video data is embedded within a panoramic image for display. The invention teaches a method and system for displaying an image of a scene of interest from a stored environment map of the scene and from video data of the scene. The method includes the steps of: (A) receiving and storing the video data of the scene; (B) selecting an orientation of the scene; (C) retrieving video data according to the selected orientation of the scene; (D) rendering the environment map according to the selected orientation of the scene to generate a first image for the selected orientation; (E) synchronously combining the retrieved video data and the first image to form a composite image for the selected orientation of the scene of interest; and (F) displaying the composite image. In one embodiment the method for displaying the image of the scene of interest further includes a step of continuously receiving video data packets that include image data and sound data.

Abstract: An interactive and dynamically customizable guided tour of some portion of the World Wide Web monitors and dynamically adapts in response to like-minded users as well as provides recommendations during the traversal. The invention includes features for: electronic commerce; side trips; true visiting of Web sites; maps; pre-fetching of Web objects; insertion of interactive decision points; customized insertion of advertisements; simultaneous traversal of multiple hyperpaths; collection of and dynamic modification of a tour based on collected route information and/or touring statistics.

Abstract: A system and method for temporal synchronization of media streams in multimedia collaborative applications (i.e., a multi-user distributed applications used for interaction, both in the synchronous and asynchronous fashion among a group of users) in a wide-area distributed environment. The invention presents two abstractions; event streams and collaboration space, that together provide for coarse-grained temporal synchronization by using separate streams for different media and synchronizing the streams at the client location. VCR-like controls are also provided on groups of components in a collaborative application. The event stream provides many services such as replication, persistence, buffering, reading, and writing to archive. By implementing simple interfaces, existing collaborative applications, media players, and encoders become components that can be used to build complex multimedia collaborative applications.

Abstract: A method and system for manipulating or modifying identifiable objects in a standard broadcast or Internet-based multimedia stream according to a control specification and a content specification. Viewers and/or organizations can independently specify acceptable levels of content on multiple dimensions to satisfy the content specification while minimizing the filtering or blocking to the viewers. A “fuzz ball” control specification is provided for masking some portion of a video frame. Several fuzz ball specifications can be overlaid to address multidimensional content specifications or rating systems. The manipulation of the multimedia stream can take place at the client (set-top box or computer), intermediate node, the content server or a combination thereof. Proxy servers can modify content specifications for outgoing requests, enabling organizations to specify intranet-wide policies.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus adaptively and dynamically deliver multimedia content based on continuously monitored network conditions. Given the temporal relationships among the multimedia items in the multimedia data stream and also the current network condition, the method and apparatus compute a transmission schedule such that the transmission delay and the burstyness of the network bandwidth utilization are minimized, while maintaining the integrity of the multimedia presentation.

Abstract: A client-based system for the fault tolerant delivery of real-time or continuous data streams, such as real-time multimedia streams, e.g., live audio and video clips. Multimedia servers are grouped into two or more sets, for example wherein a first set includes one or more primary servers using odd-numbered ports and a second set includes one or more secondary servers using even-numbered ports. The client requests a multimedia stream through a control server or gateway which routes requests to the multimedia servers; and the client receives the stream directly from a selected (primary) server. The client automatically detects load imbalances and/or failures (complete or partial) and dynamically switches to a secondary server in order to continue receiving the real-time multimedia stream with minimal disruption and while maintaining a balanced load across multiple servers in a distributed network environment.

Abstract: A multimedia stream is multicasted. A request to perform the multicast is received. A plurality of distribution nodes are assigned to provide the multicast to a plurality of receivers. The assignment of a node is based on the transformation capabilities of that node. The multicast is then performed and the assigned node performs its transformation. The transformed multicast is distributed to a receiver which is suitable for receiving the transformed multicast.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for compressing video data to improve its tolerance to error, especially with a low bit rate network. With this invention video data is divided into a number of frames and each frame is divided into a number of macroblocks. A dependency count is assigned to each macroblock, and if the dependency count for the macroblock exceeds or is equal to a threshold, the dependency block is intra-coded using low bit rate coding algorithm. If the dependency count is below the threshold, the macroblock is inter-coded.