Communicating via a connection between a streaming server and a client without breaking the connection

• US 20030236907A1
• Filed: 06/24/2002
• Published: 12/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wynn, Tong L., Bhatt, Sanjay, Stewart, James C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,644,172 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• 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 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Data can be streamed from a server to a client via an established connection. Commands (e.g., commands to navigate the streamed data) can be communicated to the server and streaming can continue (possibly from a different location) without breaking the connection. In one implementation, the connection is an HTTP 1.1 (HyperText Transfer Protocol version 1.1) connection.

Claims

1. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data representing a type of the data structure; and

a second portion containing data identifying a directive for the data structure that indicates streaming of data from a server to a client is to be stopped without breaking a connection between the server and the client, the second portion further functioning to delimit an end of the data structure.

2. A computer readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the type of the data structure comprises a HyperText Transfer Protocol Pragma header.

3. A computer readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the directive for the data structure comprises:

xStopStrm=1.

4. A computer readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the data structure is a header of a HyperText Transfer Protocol message.

5. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data identifying a message type;

a second portion containing data identifying one or more headers, the one or more headers including a stop stream header to indicate that streaming of data from a server to a client via a connection is to be stopped while maintaining the connection; and

a third portion containing data identifying an end of the second portion in the data structure.

6. A computer readable media as recited in claim 5, wherein the data structure is a HyperText Transfer Protocol 1.1 message.

7. A computer readable media as recited in claim 5, wherein the stop stream header comprises:

Pragma;

xStopStrm=1.

8. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data representing a type of the data structure; and

a second portion containing data identifying a directive for the data structure that indicates a client has begun rendering a new play list item, the second portion further functioning to delimit an end of the data structure.

9. A computer readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the type of the data structure comprises a HyperText Transfer Protocol Pragma header.

10. A computer readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the directive for the data structure comprises:

xPlayNextEntry=1.

11. A computer readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the data structure is a header of a HyperText Transfer Protocol message.

12. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data identifying a message type;

a second portion containing data identifying one or more headers, the one or more headers including a play next entry header to indicate that a client has started to render a next item in a play list; and

a third portion containing data identifying an end of the second portion in the data structure.

13. A computer readable media as recited in claim 12, wherein the data structure is a HyperText Transfer Protocol 1.1 message.

14. A computer readable media as recited in claim 12, wherein the stop stream header comprises:

Pragma;

xPlayNextEntry=1.

15. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data representing a type of the data structure; and

a second portion containing data identifying a directive for the data structure that indicates a current server side play list item being played by a client, the second portion further functioning to delimit an end of the data structure.

16. A computer readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the type of the data structure comprises a HyperText Transfer Protocol Pragma header.

17. A computer readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein a value generationid represents an identifier of the current server side play list item, and wherein the directive for the data structure comprises:

playlist-seek-id=generationid.

18. A computer readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the data structure is a header of a HyperText Transfer Protocol message.

19. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data representing a type of the data structure; and

a second portion containing data identifying a directive for the data structure that indicates whether a next item to be played back from a server side play list is a subsequent item in the server side play list or a previous item in the server side play list, the second portion further functioning to delimit an end of the data structure.

20. A computer readable media as recited in claim 19, wherein the type of the data structure comprises a HyperText Transfer Protocol Pragma header.

21. A computer readable media as recited in claim 19, wherein the directive further indicates how many entries in the server side play list should be jumped.

22. A computer readable media as recited in claim 19, wherein a value direction represents a value indicating forward or backward, and wherein the directive for the data structure comprises:

pl-offset=direction.

23. A computer readable media as recited in claim 19, wherein the data structure is a header of a HyperText Transfer Protocol message.

24. A computer readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a first portion containing data identifying a message type;

a second portion containing data identifying one or more headers, the one or more headers including,

a play list seek header to indicate a current server side play list item being played by a client, and

a play list offset header to indicate whether a next item to be played back from a server side play list is a subsequent item in the server side play list or a previous item in the server side play list; and

a third portion containing data identifying an end of the second portion in the data structure.

25. A computer readable media as recited in claim 24, wherein the data structure is a HyperText Transfer Protocol 1.1 message.

26. A computer readable media as recited in claim 24, wherein:

a value generationid represents an identifier of the current server side play list item;

a value direction represents a value indicating forward or backward;

the play list seek header comprises;

Pragma;

playlist-seek-id=generationid; and

the play list offset header comprises;

Pragma;

pl-offset=direction.

27. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a client, causes the one or more processors to:

receive an indication of a navigation action to be performed;

send, via a connection opened between the client and a server for streaming data from the server to the client in chunks in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a stop stream header;

receive, via the connection, an end of data stream indication;

send, via the connection, an indication of a location where the server should resume streaming data to the client; and

receive, via the connection, streaming data beginning with the location.

28. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the navigation action comprises one or more of:

fast forward, seek, scan, and rewind.

29. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the stop stream header is part of a HyperText Transfer Protocol GET request.

30. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the stop stream header comprises:

Pragma;

xStopStrm=1.

31. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the end of data stream indication comprises a zero-length chunk.

32. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the connection passes through one or more proxies between the client and the server.

33. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the connection is in accordance with HTTP 1.1.

34. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the plurality of instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

check whether streaming of the data to the client has been paused for at least a threshold amount of time; and

send, via the connection, a keep alive message if the streaming has been paused for at least the threshold amount of time.

35. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 34, wherein the threshold amount of time is less than a particular amount of time used by the server in determining whether the connection should be closed due to inactivity.

36. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 34, wherein the keep alive message includes a HyperText Transport Protocol Options * header.

37. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the plurality of instructions further causes the one or more processors to:

begin playback of a next item in a play list; and

send, via the connection, an indication to the server that the client has begun playback of the next item in the play list.

38. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 37, wherein the indication comprises a HyperText Transfer Protocol message including a header, the header comprising:

Pragma;

xPlayNextEntry=1.

39. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a server, causes the one or more processors to:

receive, via a connection opened between a client and the server for streaming data of an indefinite length from the server to the client in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a stop stream header;

send, via the connection, an end of data stream indication;

receive, via the connection, an indication of a new location where the server should resume streaming data to the client; and

resume streaming, via the connection, data beginning with the new location.

40. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 39, wherein the new location comprises a location in a same stream for which the end of data stream indication was sent.

41. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 39, wherein the new location comprises a location in a different stream than the stream for which the end of data stream indication was sent.

42. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 39, wherein the stop stream header is part of a HyperText Transfer Protocol GET request.

43. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 39, wherein the stop stream header comprises:

Pragma;

xStopStrm=1.

44. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 39, wherein the end of data stream indication comprises a zero-length chunk.

45. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 39, wherein the connection is in accordance with HTTP 1.1.

46. A method comprising:

having a connection opened between a client and a server for communicating messages in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP);

requesting data be streamed from the server to the client via the connection;

receiving a user request to perform a navigation action within the data being streamed; and

re-starting the streaming of the data, via the connection, in accordance with the user request.

47. A method as recited in claim 46, further comprising:

checking whether any HTTP 1.0 proxies exist in the path between the server and the client; and

using HTTP 1.0 if any HTTP 1.0 proxies exist in the path, otherwise using HTTP 1.1.

48. A method as recited in claim 46, further comprising:

sending, after beginning rendering of a next item in a play list, an indication to the server that rendering of the next item in the play list has begun.

49. A method as recited in claim 46, further comprising:

checking, whether streaming of the data from the server has been paused for more than a threshold amount of time; and

sending, via the connection, a keep alive message to the server if the streaming has been paused for more than the threshold amount of time.

50. A method as recited in claim 46, further comprising:

sending, via the connection, a playback log if playing of the streamed data has been stopped.

51. A method as recited in claim 46, wherein re-starting the streaming of the data comprises communicating a stop stream header as part of a HyperText Transfer Protocol GET request to the server.

52. A method as recited in claim 51, wherein the stop stream header comprises:

Pragma;

xStopStrm=1.

53. A method as recited in claim 46, wherein the connection is in accordance with HTTP 1.1.

54. A method as recited in claim 46, wherein the navigation action comprises jumping to a new server side play list item, and wherein re-starting the streaming of the data comprises communicating, to the server, both a play list seek header to indicate a current server side play list item being played by the client and a play list offset header to indicate whether the new server side play list item is a subsequent item in the server side play list or a previous item in the server side play list.

55. A method comprising:

having a connection opened between a client and a server for communicating messages in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP);

receiving, from a client via a connection opened between the client and a server for communicating messages in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a request for data be streamed from the server to the client;

streaming the requested data to the client via the connection;

receiving, via the connection, an indication that a user has requested a navigation action within the data being streamed; and

re-starting the streaming of the data, via the connection, in accordance with the user request.

56. A method as recited in claim 55, wherein the receiving an indication that a user has requested a navigation action comprises receiving a stop stream header as part of a HyperText Transfer Protocol GET request.

57. A method as recited in claim 56, wherein the stop stream header comprises:

Pragma;

xStopStrm=1.

58. A method as recited in claim 55, wherein the connection is in accordance with HTTP 1.1.

59. A method as recited in claim 55, wherein the navigation action comprises jumping to a new server side play list item, and wherein the indication that the user has requested the navigation action comprises both a play list seek header to indicate a current server side play list item being played by the client and a play list offset header to indicate whether the new server side play list item is a subsequent item in the server side play list or a previous item in the server side play list.