System for cloud streaming service, method for still image-based cloud streaming service and apparatus therefor

• US 10,462,200 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2017
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Planet Co., Ltd. (SK Telecom Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: SK Planet Co., Ltd. (SK Telecom Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Bae, Tae-Meon, Yun, Hong-seo, Na, Hyun-Sik, Kim, Dong-Gook, Jung, Yoo-Ri, Lee, Dong-Su
• Primary Examiner(s): Serrao, Ranodhi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fiorillo, James N
• Application Number:
  US15/416,307
• Publication Number:
  US 20170134454A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,006 Days
• Field of Search: 709231, 345501, 345541, 382166, 382209, 382239
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/12 Selection from among a plurality of transforms or standards, e.g. selection between discrete cosine transform [DCT] and sub-band transform or selection between H.263 and H.264
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/137 Motion inside a coding unit, e.g. average field, frame or block difference
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/146 Data rate or code amount at the encoder output
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/17 the unit being an image region, e.g. an object
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234 Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234345 the reformatting operation being performed only on part of the stream, e.g. a region of the image or a time segment
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/236 Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream multiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for a cloud streaming service, a method for a still image-based cloud streaming service and an apparatus therefor. The still image-based cloud streaming service can be provided by capturing the changed area in the changed frame by comparing same with the previous frame, selecting a still-image compression technique by considering any one or more from among the size of the changed area and image characteristics, and transmitting, to a user, the changed area encoded by the still-image compression technique. When providing a still image-based cloud streaming service, by utilizing still-image compression techniques which are appropriate to the conditions, the compression efficiency of the still image and speed of the cloud streaming service can be improved.

Claims

1. A cloud streaming server comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and to;

capture a changed region contained in a changed frame in comparison with a previous frame, wherein;

the changed region comprises a specific region changed in a screen area corresponding to the changed frame in comparison with a screen area corresponding to the previous frame; and

the changed region can be determined by at least one or more of data size, image type, number of colors, and pixel values, corresponding to the changed region;

select a still image compression technique based on one or more of a size of data of the changed region and an image type corresponding to the changed region;

perform a still image encoding of the changed region corresponding to one frame by using the selected still image compression technique; and

perform a cloud streaming service based on a still image by sending the still-image-encoded changed region to a user,

wherein the processor is configured to select the still image compression technique primarily based on the size of the data of the changed region when the size of the data of the changed region is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value and secondly based on the image type, and

wherein the processor is further configured, if the image type is a mixed image of a natural image and a synthetic image, to select the still image compression technique in accordance with the image type corresponding to a larger part in the changed region by comparing a part corresponding to the natural image with another part corresponding to the synthetic image.

2. The cloud streaming server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to compress the changed region by using one of still image compression techniques including PNG (portable network graphics), palleted PNG (portable network graphics), and JPEG (joint photography experts group).

3. The cloud streaming server of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured, if the size of the data of the changed region is smaller than a predetermined reference value, to encode the changed region by applying the PNG still image compression technique.

4. The cloud streaming server of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured, if the image type is the natural image, to encode the changed region by applying the JPEG still image compression technique.

5. The cloud streaming server of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured, if the size of the data of the changed region is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, and if the image type is the synthetic image, to encode the changed region by applying the palette PNG still image compression technique.

6. The cloud streaming server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to detect a section having a smaller frame change in all frames to be transmitted to a terminal device of the user, and to capture the changed region in the detected section.

7. The cloud streaming server of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to detect the section having a smaller frame change by sensing an event type of an application occurring at the terminal device of the user.

8. A cloud streaming server comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and to;

capture a changed region contained in a changed frame in comparison with a previous frame, wherein;

the changed region comprises a specific region changed in a screen area corresponding to the changed frame in comparison with a screen area corresponding to the previous frame; and

the changed region can be determined by at least one or more of data size, image type, number of colors, and pixel values, corresponding to the changed region;

select a still image compression technique based on an image type determined by considering one or more of the number of colors of an image corresponding to the changed region and a standard deviation of pixel values of the image;

perform a still image encoding of the changed region corresponding to one frame by using the selected still image compression technique; and

perform a cloud streaming service based on a still image by sending the still-image-encoded changed region to a user,

wherein the processor is further configured, considering the number of colors of the image corresponding to the changed region primarily, if the number of colors of the image corresponding to the changed region is equal to or smaller than a predetermined reference number, to determine the image type by considering the standard deviation of the pixel values of the image corresponding to the changed region secondly, and

wherein the processor is further configured, if the number of colors of the image corresponding to the changed region is equal to or smaller than the predetermined reference number, and if the standard deviation of the pixel values of the image corresponding to the changed region is equal to or smaller than a predetermined reference value, to determine the image type as a synthetic image.

9. The cloud streaming server of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to select the still image compression technique based on one of image types including a natural image and the synthetic image.

10. The cloud streaming server of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured, if the number of colors of the image corresponding to the changed region is greater than a predetermined reference number, to determine the image type as the natural image.

11. A cloud streaming server comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and to;

capture a changed region contained in a changed frame in comparison with a previous frame, wherein;

the changed region comprises a specific region changed in a screen area corresponding to the changed frame in comparison with a screen area corresponding to the previous frame; and

the changed region can be determined by at least one or more of data size, image type, number of colors, and pixel values, corresponding to the changed region;

select a still image compression technique by considering one or more of a load size of the cloud streaming server and a data processing rate of a network;

perform a still image encoding of the changed region corresponding to one frame by using the selected still image compression technique; and

perform a cloud streaming service based on a still image by sending the still-image-encoded changed region to a user,

wherein the processor is further configured, considering the load size of the cloud streaming server primarily, if the load size of the cloud streaming server is equal to or greater than the predetermined reference value, to select the still image compression technique by considering the data processing rate of the network secondly,

wherein the processor is further configured to encode the changed region by applying PNG (portable network graphics) still image compression technique if the data processing rate of the network is smaller than a predetermined processing rate, and to encode the changed region by applying palette PNG still image compression technique if the load size of the cloud streaming server is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value and if the data processing rate is equal to or greater than the predetermined processing rate.

12. The cloud streaming server of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to compress the changed region by using one of still image compression techniques including the PNG, the palleted PNG, and JPEG (joint photography experts group).

13. The cloud streaming server of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured, if the load size of the cloud streaming server is smaller than a predetermined reference value, to encode the changed region by applying the JPEG still image compression technique.