Video client with dynamically allocable video buffer for efficiently streaming video

• US 20020194609A1
• Filed: 06/18/2001
• Published: 12/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Eagle Wireless International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Eagle Wireless International, Inc.
• Inventors: Tran, Thanh T.
• Application Number:
  US09/883,766
• Publication Number:
  US 20020194609A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42692 for reading from or writing on a volatile storage medium, e.g. Random Access Memory [RAM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44004 involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4424 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6112 involving terrestrial transmission, e.g. DVB-T
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 directed to client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6375 for requesting retransmission , e.g. of data packets lost or corrupted during transmission from serverARQ protocols H04L1/18; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/654 Transmission by server directed to the client

Abstract

A video streaming network having a server and a client and the client includes a buffer that can be dynamically changed in response to changing communication channel conditions. The client initially allocates a portion of its system memory to be a video buffer based on a test procedure. During transmission of a video work from the server to the client, the server sends a plurality of video packets to fill the client'"'"'s buffer. The client then retrieves the video data from its buffer and plays the video content on the display. The server, at appropriate times in a coordinated fashion, sends more video packets to top off the video buffer so that the buffer does not run dry. If the amount of data to be played fails to comport with a given set of criteria indicative of communication problems, the client increases the size of its buffer. The size of the buffer also can be dynamically reduced.

Claims

1. A video distribution network, comprising:

a video server; and

a video client operatively coupled to said server and receives video packets from the server, said video client including a video buffer in which said video packets received from the server are stored and whose capacity can be dynamically adjusted.

2. The video distribution network of claim 1 wherein the capacity of said video buffer can be dynamically increased.

3. The video distribution network of claim 1 wherein the capacity of said video buffer can be dynamically decreased.

4. The video distribution system of claim 1 wherein said client includes memory and said video buffer comprises a portion of said memory.

5. The video distribution system of claim 4 wherein the capacity of said video buffer can be dynamically increased by allocating more of said memory for use by the video buffer.

6. The video distribution system of claim 4 wherein the capacity of said video buffer can be dynamically decreased by de-allocating a portion of said video buffer.

7. The video distribution system of claim 1 wherein said server and said client are operatively coupled together via a wireless transmission link.

8. The video distribution system of claim 1 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed video packets stored in said video buffer and based on the amount of unplayed video packets, increases the capacity of said video buffer.

9. The video distribution system of claim 8 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed video packets stored in said video buffer to determine if said the amount of unplayed video packets falls below a threshold A, B times in period of C seconds, where A indicates a portion of the capacity of the buffer, B is an integer greater than 0, and C is greater than 0.

10. The video distribution system of claim 8 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed video packets stored in said video buffer to determine if said the amount of unplayed video packets falls below a threshold A, where A indicates a portion of the capacity of the buffer.

11. The video distribution system of claim 1 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed video packets stored in said video buffer and based on the amount of unplayed video packets, decreases the capacity of said video buffer.

12. The video distribution system of claim 11 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed video packets stored in said video buffer to determine if the amount of unplayed video packets falls below a threshold D over E period of time, where D indicates a portion of the capacity of the buffer and E indicates a time period, and the amount of unplayed video packets does not fall below threshold D over E period of time, then the client reduces the capacity of said video buffer.

13. The video distribution system of claim 1 wherein said client transmits a test data packet to said server which returns the test data packet back to said client and said client determines the size of said video buffer based on the round trip time that the test data packet took to go from the client to the server and back to the client.

14. The video distribution system of claim 13 wherein, while receiving video packets from said server, said client transmits a test data packet to said server which returns the test data packet back to said client and said client adjusts the size of said video buffer based on the round trip time that the test data packet took to go from the client to the server and back to the client.

16. The client of claim 15 wherein the capacity of said buffer can be dynamically increased.

17. The client of claim 15 wherein the capacity of said buffer can be dynamically decreased.

18. The client of claim 15 wherein said processor allocates a portion of said system memory before receiving multimedia data into said buffer.

19. The client of claim 15 wherein the capacity of said video buffer can be dynamically increased by allocating more of said memory for use by the buffer.

20. The client of claim 15 wherein the capacity of said video buffer can be dynamically decreased by de-allocating a portion of said buffer.

21. The client of claim 15 wherein said client receives said multimedia data via wireless communication.

22. The client of claim 15 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed multimedia data stored in said buffer and based on the amount of unplayed multimedia data, increases the capacity of said buffer.

23. The client of claim 22 wherein said processor monitors the amount of unplayed multimedia data stored in said buffer to determine if said the amount of unplayed multimedia data falls below a threshold A B times in period of C seconds, where A indicates a portion of the capacity of the buffer, B is an integer greater than 0, and C is greater than 0.

24. The client of claim 22 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed multimedia data stored in said buffer to determine if said the amount of unplayed multimedia data falls below a threshold A, where A indicates a portion of the capacity of the buffer.

25. The client of claim 15 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed multimedia data stored in said buffer and based on the amount of unplayed multimedia data, decreases the capacity of said buffer.

26. The client of claim 25 wherein said client monitors the amount of unplayed multimedia data stored in said buffer to determine if the amount of unplayed multimedia data falls below a threshold D over E period of time, where D indicates a portion of the capacity of the buffer and E indicates a time period, and the amount of unplayed multimedia data does not fall below threshold D over E period of time, then the client reduces the capacity of said buffer.

27. The client of claim 15 wherein said client receives said multimedia data from a server, and wherein said client transmits a test data packet to said server which returns the test data packet back to said client and said processor determines the size of said buffer based on the round trip time that the test data packet took to go from the client to the server and back to the client.

28. The client of claim 27 wherein, while receiving video packets from said server, said client transmits a test data packet to said server which returns the test data packet back to said client and said processor adjusts the size of said buffer based on the round trip time that the test data packet took to go from the client to the server and back to the client.

30. The method of claim 29 further including retrieving said video packets from said video buffer and playing said packets on a monitor.

31. The method of claim 29 further including dynamically changing the size of said video buffer after said client has performed (d) and has begun receiving video packets from said server.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein dynamically changing the size of said video buffer includes allocating more memory to make the size larger.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein dynamically changing the size of said video buffer includes making the size of the video buffer smaller.

15. A client which received multimedia data, comprising:

a processor;

a system memory coupled to said processor; and

a communication unit coupled to said processor and said system memory, said communication unit receives the multimedia data;

wherein said processor allocates a portion of system memory as a buffer to receive the multimedia data, said buffer having a capacity that can be changed while the client receives the multimedia data.

29. A method for streaming video from a server to a client across a network, comprising:

(a) sending a test packet across the network from the client to the server;

(b) receiving the test packet from the server back to the client;

(c) measuring the amount of time the test packet took to travel from the client to the server and back to the client;

(d) allocating a portion of memory to be a video buffer based on the time measure in (c);

(e) receiving video packets from the server; and

(f) storing said video packets in said video buffer.