Method ane system for streaming media data in heterogeneous environments
First Claim
1. A method for streaming media data by a streaming system which contains at least a Stream Server resided on a server system for reading and sending media data in parallel to a Media Player, the Media Player residing on a client system for receiving and rendering media data in parallel and a Stream Server Portal for preparing streaming, whereby media data is stored in a datastore, comprising at least the steps of:
- receiving address information of the media data to be streamed by the Stream Server Portal;
selecting suitable Stream Server for the Media Player by the Stream Server Portal;
initiating transfer of the media data from the datastore to a server system on which the Stream Server selected by the Stream Server Portal is installed;
generating streaming meta data containing at least address information of the media data stored in the server system selected by the Stream Server Portal and address information of the Stream Server; and
passing the streaming mete data to the Media Player.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention discloses a new method and system for streaming media data in a heterogeneous network environment. In addition to existing standard streaming products, e.g. standard Media Player and Stream Server, a Stream Server Portal which controls a set of Stream Servers is provided by the present invention. The Stream Server Portal offers a service called prepareStreaming to applications which returns the streaming meta data necessary to initiate streaming for given media instances.
The Stream Server Portal enables generation of streaming meta data necessary to initiate streaming on the fly as part of executing a prepareStreaming request. This completely removes the need to store and maintain the streaming streaming meta data and solves the problems associated with it. Furthermore, the Stream Server Portal allows transfer of media data to a stream server machine transparently as part of executing a prepareStreaming request. This removes the constraint of maintaining media data on the same machine as the stream server software and solves the problems this creates for certain server platforms. The Stream Server Portal can minimize additional network traffic by maintaining a cache of media data already transferred. The Stream Server Portal also allows a choice among available stream servers, to stream a particular media as part of executing a prepareStreaming request. This removes the need for companies to maintain proprietary stream server software, as the Stream Server Portal shields the application requiring streaming from knowing the specifics about, and from storing and maintaining streaming meta data. A preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses the use of an additional Stream Server Controller when the Stream Server Portal may choose among several Stream Servers.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for streaming media data by a streaming system which contains at least a Stream Server resided on a server system for reading and sending media data in parallel to a Media Player, the Media Player residing on a client system for receiving and rendering media data in parallel and a Stream Server Portal for preparing streaming, whereby media data is stored in a datastore, comprising at least the steps of:
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receiving address information of the media data to be streamed by the Stream Server Portal;
selecting suitable Stream Server for the Media Player by the Stream Server Portal;
initiating transfer of the media data from the datastore to a server system on which the Stream Server selected by the Stream Server Portal is installed;
generating streaming meta data containing at least address information of the media data stored in the server system selected by the Stream Server Portal and address information of the Stream Server; and
passing the streaming mete data to the Media Player. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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17. A system for streaming media data comprising:
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a Stream Server for reading and sending media data in parallel to a Media Player;
a Media Player for receiving and rendering the media data in parallel;
a Stream Server Portal for receiving at least address information of media data to be streamed and choosing a suitable Stream Server for Media Player to be selected; and
a Stream Server Controller for initiating transfer of the media data from a datastore to a server system where the Stream Server is installed and for generating a streaming meta data containing at least address information of the media data stored in the Stream Server system and address information of the Stream Server selected by the Stream Server Portal. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification