System and method for optimized encoding and transmission of a plurality of substantially similar video fragments

• US 10,298,934 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2016
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visible World, LLC
• Inventors: Haberman, Seth, Niemeijer, Gerrit, Booth, Richard L., Jansen, Alex
• Primary Examiner(s): Duley, Janese
• Application Number:
  US15/155,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20160261871A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,100 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/114 Adapting the group of pictures [GOP] structure, e.g. number of B-frames between two anchor frames H04N19/107 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/124 Quantisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/174 the region being a slice, e.g. a line of blocks or a group of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/30 using hierarchical techniques, e.g. scalability H04N19/63 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/513 Processing of motion vectors

Abstract

A system and method for stitching separately encoded MPEG video fragments, each representing a different rectangular area of the screen together into one single full-screen MPEG encoded video fragment.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

dividing a full-video frame area into a plurality of non-overlapping regions;

receiving a plurality of partial-frame video segments corresponding to a selected region of the plurality of non-overlapping regions;

determining a target video buffer verification buffer size for the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region; and

encoding each of the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region using the determined target video buffer verification buffer size to generate a plurality of encoded partial-frame video segments such that an encoded partial-frame video segment of the plurality of encoded partial-frame video segments is capable of being seamlessly stitched into the selected region of the full-video frame area prior to decoding.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the encoding uses a common GOP pattern for each of the plurality of partial-frame video segments.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the target video buffer verification buffer size for the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region is proportional to a full frame video buffer verification buffer size based on a size of the selected region as compared to a full frame size.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a video buffer verification bit rate for encoding the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region, wherein the video buffer verification bit rate is proportional to a full frame video buffer verification bit rate based on a size of the selected region as compared to a full frame size.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining f-code array values for the plurality of partial-frame video segments; and

modifying, after encoding the plurality of partial-frame video segments, the f-code array values and motion vectors for the encoded plurality of partial-frame video segments according to the determined f-code array values.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assembling a row of encoded video segment macroblocks into a slice, wherein header information for each macroblock in the slice is modified for a proper format for a complete slice.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the encoded partial-frame video segments to a video display device, wherein the partial-frame video segments are merged with other partial-frame video segments for other regions to create multiple different full-video frame video segments.

8. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to;

divide a full-video frame area into a plurality of non-overlapping regions;

receive a plurality of partial-frame video segments corresponding to a selected region of the plurality of non-overlapping regions;

determine a target video buffer verification buffer size for the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region; and

encode each of the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region using the determined target video buffer verification buffer size to generate a plurality of encoded partial-frame video segments such that an encoded partial-frame video segment of the plurality of encoded partial-frame video segments is capable of being seamlessly stitched into the selected region of the full-video frame area prior to decoding.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the regions are rectangular.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the encoding uses a common GOP pattern for each of the plurality of partial-frame video segments.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the target video buffer verification buffer size for the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region is proportional to a full frame video buffer verification buffer size based on a size of the selected region as compared to a full frame size.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, the executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:

determine a video buffer verification bit rate for encoding the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region, wherein the video buffer verification bit rate is proportional to a full frame video buffer verification bit rate based on a size of the selected region as compared to a full frame size.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, the executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:

assemble a row of encoded video segment macroblocks into a slice, wherein header information for each macroblock in the slice is modified for a proper format for a complete slice.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, the executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:

send the encoded partial-frame video segments to a video display device, wherein the partial-frame video segments are merged with other partial-frame video segments for other regions to create multiple different full-video frame video segments.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing computer-readable program code that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

divide a full-video frame area into a plurality of non-overlapping regions;

receive a plurality of partial-frame video segments corresponding to a selected region of the plurality of regions;

determine a target video buffer verification buffer size for the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region; and

encode each of the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region using the determined target video buffer verification buffer size to generate a plurality of encoded partial-frame video segments such that an encoded partial-frame video segment of the plurality of encoded partial-frame video segments is capable of being seamlessly stitched into the selected region of the full-video frame area prior to decoding.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the target video buffer verification buffer size for the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region is substantially proportional to a full frame video buffer verification buffer size based on relative size of the selected region as compared to a full frame size.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each of the one or more regions is associated with a display area of a video display device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each of the one or more regions comprise a length that is a multiple of sixteen pixels and a width that is a multiple of sixteen pixels.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the encoding uses a common GOP pattern for each of the plurality of partial-frame video segments.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the computer-readable program code that, when executed by the computer, further cause the computer to:

determine a video buffer verification bit rate for encoding the plurality of partial-frame video segments for the selected region, wherein the video buffer verification bit rate is proportional to a full frame video buffer verification bit rate based on a size of the selected region as compared to a full frame size.