Systems and methods for automatically generating top level index files

• US 10,154,075 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2017
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonic IP Incorporated (Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: DivX, LLC (f/k/a DivX CF Holdings LLC) (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Braness, Jason, Wallin, Evan, Ferreira, Ederson
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaifer Harriman, Dant B
• Application Number:
  US15/658,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20170324793A1
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 713168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25825 involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone optimising the visualisation of content during browsing in the Internet G06F16/9577; processing of terminal status or physical abilities in wireless networks H04W8/22; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]

Abstract

Systems and methods for automatically generating top level index files for use in adaptive bitrate streaming in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the method of the invention includes receiving a request from a playback device at a playback server, where the request identifies a piece of content, retrieving a list of assets associated with the identified piece of content using the playback server, filtering the list of assets using at least one predetermined criterion using the playback server, generating a top level index file describing each asset in the filtered list of assets using the playback server, and sending the top level index file to the playback device using the playback server.

Claims

1. A method for streaming a piece of content at a playback server, comprising:

storing information for a plurality of alternative video streams corresponds with a specific piece of content, wherein the information comprises, for each of the plurality of alternative video streams, a width, a height, a video bitrate, an audio bitrate, and an encoding element identifying the encoding of the video stream;

receiving a request for content from a playback device, wherein the request comprises;

an electronic token to obtain access to the content, information indicative of a geographic location of the playback device, and device information related to the playback, device;

determining a set of alternative video streams from the plurality of alternative video streams to return based on the request;

generating a top level index file describing each of the set of alternative video streams, wherein the top level index the describes the assets that are best suited to playback on the playback device;

retrieving cryptographic information, where the cryptographic information is used to access protected streams described in the top level index file; and

providing the cryptographic information and the top level index file to the playback device using the playback server.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the information indicative of the geographic location is an I.P. address of the playback device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising denying access to the content based on the electronic token received from the requesting device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of alternative video streams to return further comprises filtering the plurality of alternative video streams based on business rules defined by the content owner.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of alternative video streams to return further comprises filtering the plurality of alternative video streams based on information associated with a user account.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of alternative video streams to return further comprises filtering the plurality of alternative video streams based on a country in which the playback device is located.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of alternative video streams corresponds with a piece of content are at different maximum bitrates.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of alternative video stream corresponds with a piece of content are at different resolutions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of alternative video stream corresponds with a piece of content are at different frame rates.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the device information comprises information regarding playback capabilities of the playback device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the device information comprises information selected from the group consisting of information regarding a display aspect ratio of the playback device, information regarding a network connection data rate of the playback device, information regarding playback capabilities of the playback device, information regarding a device language, and information regarding a device region.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the device information comprises a product identifier.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of alternative video streams to return based on the device information comprises determining the set of alternative video streams that are best suited to playback on the playback device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining playback capabilities of the playback device based on the device information.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the cryptographic information and the top level index file to the playback device using the playback server further comprises using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) communication to forward the top level index file.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a delivery type based on the request.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the delivery type is selected from the group consisting of a cellular data network and a high speed Internet connection.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of alternative video streams to return based on the device information comprises excluding alternative video streams that are not capable of being played back by the playback device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the alternative video streams that are not capable of being played back by the playback device are streams selected from the group consisting of streams encoded in unsupported formats, streams that use buffer sizes that are not supported by the playback device, streams with profiles not supported by the playback device, and streams that the playback device is not securely capable of playing back.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of alternative video streams to return based on the device information comprises excluding alternative video streams that are not permitted to be played back on the playback device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein an alternative video streams is not permitted to be played back on the playback device based on a specific geographic location of the playback device.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the top level index file is an XML file that includes a list of URIs describing each of the streams and the container files that contain the streams.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the URI includes information regarding a system-bitrate of the stream and Information regarding the location of specific pieces of data within the container file.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic information is provided from a digital rights management (DRM) server.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a time period during which the content can be accessed by the playback device.