System and method for accounting for variations in client capabilities in the distribution of a media presentation

• US 20010029523A1
• Filed: 01/22/2001
• Published: 10/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Adam Nemitoff, Altay Murat, Brennan J. Mcternan, Steven Giangrasso, Vishal Bangia
• Original Assignee: Adam Nemitoff, Altay Murat, Brennan J. Mcternan, Steven Giangrasso, Vishal Bangia
• Inventors: Giangrasso, Steven, Bangia, Vishal, Mcternan, Brennan J., Nemitoff, Adam, Murat, Altay
• Application Number:
  US09/767,268
• Publication Number:
  US 20010029523A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1836 with heterogeneous network architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1877 Measures taken prior to transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1881 with schedule organisation, e.g. priority, sequence management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0442 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2871 Implementation details of single intermediate entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 : Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 : Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 : Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 : In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/164 : Adaptation or special uses of UDP protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/165 : Combined use of TCP and UDP protocols; selection criteria therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/194 : Transmission of image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 : for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 : involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234318 : by decomposing into objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 : involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented that allow the efficient distribution of rich media to clients by maximizing the use of available bandwidth and client processing capabilities. A rich media presentation is divided into discrete components, and a producer of the presentation specifies how a presentation is to be assembled and where resources needed for the presentation are to be found. This information is packaged into a data structure and sent to clients. Clients use this data structure to retrieve the necessary resources for the presentation. Producers are able to prioritize the particular resources that form part of the ultimate presentation according to their importance in the presentation, and clients can retrieve the resources most suitable for their capabilities, including processing power, graphics production speed, and bandwidth. A benchmarker routine running on the client helps identify these capabilities just before retrieval of the presentation components, to more closely assess the conditions under which the client will retrieve, assemble and present the desired show.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a multimedia presentation for transmission to a client over a network, the method comprising:

allowing a producer of the presentation to identify elements of software which process data representing resources used in the presentation;

allowing the producer to specify connections between two or more elements, wherein a connection represents a flow of data from one element to another element;

allowing the producer to specify a plurality of resources to be processed by the identified elements and location data indicating the locations of the resources on one or more servers connectable to the network; and

generating a set of presentation data structures, including the identified elements, connections, and resources, for transmission to a client to thereby enable the client to reproduce the multimedia presentation from the presentation data structures by retrieving at least some of the resources and processing the retrieved resources with the identified elements in accordance with the specified connections.

2. The method of

claim 1

, wherein generating the set of presentation data structures comprises generating a show graph representing a plurality of identified elements and the connections extending therebetween.

3. The method of

claim 1

, wherein generating the set of presentation data structures comprises generating a table listing all or some of the specified resources and corresponding locations.

4. The method of

claim 1

, comprising allowing the producer to replace a first identified element with a second element while retaining for the second element any connection and resources associated with the first element.

5. The method of

claim 1

, comprising allowing the producer to specify an encoder to tap a signal on a selected connection and encode the data flowing at the selected connection.

6. The method of

claim 5

, wherein allowing the producer to specify the encoder comprises allowing the producer to associate the specified encoder with a given set of client processing capabilities or available bandwidth for transmission to a client.

7. The method of

claim 6

, comprising:

receiving data indicating the processing capabilities of a client requesting the presentation or available bandwidth for transmission of the presentation to the client; and

traversing a series of identified elements via their connections until a tapped encoder is located being associated with the client'"'"'s processing capabilities or available bandwidth.

8. The method of

claim 7

, comprising encoding the data at the tapped connection using the specified encoder.

9. The method of

claim 8

, comprising transmitting the encoded data to the requesting client.

10. The method of

claim 9

, comprising the client:

receiving the presentation data structures;

traversing the series of identified elements via their connections until a tapped encoder is located being associated with the client'"'"'s processing capabilities, available bandwidth, or both; and

decoding the data at the tapped connection using a decoder corresponding to the specified encoder.

11. A system for delivering a multimedia presentation from a server to a client, the system comprising:

a presentation-authoring tool for use by a producer of the presentation to

identify software elements for processing data representing resources used in the presentation,

specify connections between two or more elements representing a flow of data from one element to another element,

specify a plurality of resources to be processed by the identified elements and location data indicating the locations of the resources on one or more servers connectable to the network, and

specify an encoder to tap a signal on a selected connection and encode the data flowing at the selected connection;

and

a first agent for traversing a series of identified elements via their connections until a tapped encoder is located and encoding the data at the tapped connection using the specified encoder.

12. The system of

claim 11

, wherein the authoring tool allows the producer to associate a specified encoder with a given set of client processing capabilities or available bandwidth for transmission to a client.

13. The system of

claim 12

, comprising a plurality of first agents, each associated with a different set of client processing capabilities or available bandwidth.

14. The system of

claim 13

, comprising means for receiving data indicating the processing capabilities or available bandwidth for a client requesting the presentation and selecting one of the first agents associated with the indicated capabilities or bandwidth for traversing the series of identified elements.

15. The system of

claim 11

, comprising a second agent for traversing a series of identified elements via their connections until a tapped decoder is located and decoding the data at the tapped connection using the specified decoder.

16. A method for customizing a multimedia presentation based upon processing capabilities of a client requesting the presentation or available bandwidth for transmission to the client, the method comprising:

storing data structures identifying a series of software elements for processing a resource representing data, forming part of the presentation and connections between the software elements in the series on which resource data flows from one element to another;

specifying a plurality of encoders to tap various connections within the series of software elements, the encoders each being associated with a given set of client processing capabilities, available bandwidth for transmission to a client, or both; and

based upon the client'"'"'s processing capabilities, available bandwidth, or both, selecting one of the encoders and encoding the data flowing along the connection tapped by the selected encoder using the selected encoder.