Satellite radio giants sued over buffer patent

By Ed Sperling -- Electronic News, 3/1/2007

A Mississippi company claims the two satellite radio giants, XM and Sirius, are illegally using its technology for streaming media buffering.

Surfer Internet Broadcasting of Mississippi filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, claiming that XM and Sirius are infringing on a 2004 patent that covers both audio and video files sent over the Internet. Surfer Internet is seeking damages and punitive damages, as well as a permanent injunction.

Buffering allows data packets to be streamed smoothly even over limited bandwidth by storing it temporarily, but fluctuations in bandwidth can deplete the buffer and cause gaps in the transmission. The technology patented by Surfer Internet allows the data packets to be time-sequenced, and checks to make sure that all the data has been received. The invention relies on random access memory, software or firmware for buffering and computers on both sides.

Providing consistent audio data is critical to streaming video, as well. Experts say that the most important element of mobile TV is consistent sound quality rather than video image.