Video communications innovator, Vidyo, Inc., has crossed the 50 patents mark, having recently received its 56th patent. Additional applications in 65 patent families are in various stages of the patent process in jurisdictions around the globe. Vidyo developed the first video conferencing architecture to leverage Scalable Video Coding (SVC), enabling amazing HD video conferencing and freeing users from having to physically “go to a room” to enjoy a high quality, low latency, multiparty videoconference, using the public Internet. The VidyoRouter™ – Vidyo’s core server architecture – and several key Vidyo technologies relating to or extending the H.264, H.265 HEVC and WebRTC standards, as well as numerous other innovations in video and audio communication and collaboration technologies, are protected by these patents.
“Vidyo delivers natural, affordable and reservation-less multipoint HD video conferencing to business users wherever they are, over any device or room size using basic Internet or wireless networks,” said Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo CEO and co-founder. “Since its founding, Vidyo has actively developed an extensive patent portfolio covering the VidyoRouter architecture, which eliminates the need for a transcoding MCU and QoS-enabled networks. Instead, the VidyoRouter uses selective packet-forwarding and offers not only unprecedented error resilience and low latency, but also the ability to scale to millions of users with built-in cloud readiness at costs comparable to voice calls. It is gratifying to see that virtually all relevant standards bodies have a roadmap to support this essential functionality.”
“Vidyo has continually driven game-changing innovation in the video conferencing industry and the patented VidyoRouter architecture will continue to drive visual communications and human interactions into the next generation of workflow and Internet-connected appliances,” said Andrew W. Davis, Sr. Partner and co-founder of Wainhouse Research. “The number of patents issued to a company is typically considered a testament to its drive for innovation and proof of its success in exploring the frontiers of what will be possible with today’s and tomorrow’s technology. The Vidyo team has continually been on the cutting edge, and proven to be an effective industry leader in this respect.”
In 2008, Vidyo delivered the first H.264 SVC video conferencing solution, and since then many video conferencing companies have tried to follow Vidyo’s lead by announcing or incorporating some aspects of SVC into their offerings.
In August of 2013, Vidyo announced it was collaborating with Google to develop an SVC extension for VP9 and WebRTC which will give Web developers the ability to access the improved video quality offered by the VidyoRouter, coupled with the no-install advantage. An inherent benefit of the WebRTC architecture and Vidyo’s contributions is that WebRTC developers will be able to use the scalable coding extensions of VP9 without significant changes to their code, while harnessing the power of the VidyoRouter to drive even higher quality applications at large enterprise and service provider scale. Vidyo already offers its own VidyoWorksTM API-enabled browser plug-in for multiple browsers, and Google Chrome is expected to be the first browser to support the Vidyo-enabled scalable version of WebRTC.
Vidyo has been active in the development of other industry standards for video communication applications, both in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as well as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Several of its innovations have been incorporated into the H.264 SVC and H.265 HEVC standards, as well as the IETF specifications covering the transport over the Internet of H.264 SVC, H.265 HEVC, and WebRTC’s VP8 video.
Vidyo licenses its standard essential patents under terms customary in the respective standards organizations. Vidyo participates in the MPEG-LA licensing program for H.264 AVC/SVC as both a licensor and a licensee (as an owner and a user of relevant patents, respectively), and has been involved in the ongoing formation of the new H.265 HEVC licensing program.
