Abstract: A multimedia communication system provides two way calling between a source and a destination. The source and the destination each include a base station having a call setup and control capability. A media terminal having video/audio compression/decompression capability, video and sound capture capability and multiplexing and transmitting capability is integrated between a television set and the base station. A set-top box connected to a modem allows two way communications between the source and the destination.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for robust interactive multimedia communications without the necessity of forward error correction or re-transmission. Video data is transmitted in the form of spatial packets known as I-frames and temporal packets known as motion vectors and associated prediction errors. The I-frames are inversely coded and stored and utilized as a basis for the motion vectors until a new I-frame is successfully inversely coded. Likewise, the motion vectors are also stored and used to produce P-frames until a new set of motion vectors is successfully transmitted.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of minimizing the computation requirements involved in transmitting video images. By encrypting only a select portion of the transmitted data the transmission rate is improved without compromising privacy and still thereby reducing the compute time requirements. Wavelet-transform is repeatedly applied to a pixel matrix until a smooth coefficient matrix is achieved. The smooth coefficient matrix is necessary to regenerate the transmitted image at the receiving end. Only a single value of the smooth coefficient matrix is encrypted, thereby increasing the transmission rate of the entire image.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for providing two way video communications includes a source and destination at each location. The destination includes dual display buffers, dual I-frame buffers, a motion vectors buffer and a backup display buffer. A first I-frame is transmitted from a source to a destination via a plurality of fragmented sub-frames. The sub-frames comprising the first I frame are received in a first frame buffer. Corresponding motion vectors and associated prediction error are received in the motion vectors buffer. Once each of the sub-frames of the first I-frame have been received in the first I frame buffer, they are inversely coded into the first display buffer. At predetermined time intervals a motion vector is applied to the inversely coded I-frame to display the applied I-frame stored in the first display buffer. Each of the motion vectors stored in the motion vectors is sequentially applied to the first I-frame.

Abstract: An improved method to calculate the relative position between a plating head and an intermittently moved web of material that is to be plated wherein a nozzle directs pressurized fluid through an aperture in the web and the back pressure is monitored as an indication of the relative position of the nozzle and the aperture. Back pressure is represented digitally and a microprocessor waits an interval for the pressure to stabilize, compares the digital signal to a look up table in memory to determine the error in position, and commands movement of the plating head a distance sufficient to bring the error to zero.