Server in a media system

• US 20040024580A1
• Filed: 12/05/2002
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Zoran Corporation (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Oak Technology Partners (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Salmonsen, Daniel R., Cerchio, Gerard J.
• Application Number:
  US10/314,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20040024580A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/283 Processing of data at an internetworking point of a home automation network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2836 Protocol conversion between an external network and a home network controlling appliance services of a home automation network from a device located outside the home and the home network H04L12/2818; protocol conversion H04L69/08; adaptation of digital video signals for transport over a specific home network H04N7/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• 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 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4363 Adapting the video stream to a specific local network, e.g. a Bluetooth® network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440218 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion of standards in analogue television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44227 Monitoring of local network, e.g. connection or bandwidth variations; Detecting new devices in the local network configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; monitoring connectivity in data switched networks H04L43/0811
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

In a media system that includes an emulator-enabled client media device, a server comprises a media directory, a control point, and a server application. The media directory contains a list of all available media content and at least a portion of the media content that can be accessed by the server. The control point is capable of communicating with the media directory using communication control actions that manage media system interactions. The server application is capable of communicating with the control point to select a content source and that communicates with an emulator-enabled client media device to manage processing of media content including emulation selection.

Claims

1. A server for a media system that includes an emulator-enabled client media device comprising:

a media directory that contains a list of available media content and at least a portion of the media content that can be accessed by the server;

a control point that is capable of communicating with the media directory using communication control actions that manage media system interactions; and

a server application that is capable of communicating with the control point to select a content source and that communicates with an emulator-enabled client media device to manage processing of media content including emulation selection.

2. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the media directory is capable of storing Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) that identify content resources including WWW addresses, Universal Document Identifiers, Universal Resource Identifiers, and combinations of Uniform Resource Locators (URL) and Names (URN).

3. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the control point is capable of functioning as a user interface that enables a user to locate and select content from the media directory and to select a target renderer.

4. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the control point is capable of communicating with a media source and a media renderer using communication control actions that select, enable, initiate, and manage emulated interactions.

5. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the control point is capable of initializing the media source to supply media content, setting transfer parameters, and commencing media content delivery.

6. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the control point is capable of examining the media directory, specifying menuing, initializing the media source to supply media content, setting transfer parameters, and commencing media content delivery.

7. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of managing multiple interactions among devices and controllers.

8. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of virtualizing media content into a volume of data that is navigable.

9. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of accessing characteristics of source media and modifying media characteristics for use on a target rendering device.

10. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of managing data streaming to one or more of multiple clients connected to the server.

11. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of controlling information transfer entities and processing type.

12. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of determining and selecting devices that are to function as content source and content renderer, type of processing performed on the content, and control and management functionality.

13. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of generating a graphical user interface display indicative of types of content available on a menu and classes of processes that can be performed on the content.

14. A server according to claim 1 wherein:

the server application is capable of generating and sending control signals to a selected content source and a selected renderer that commence content accessing, transmission, rendering, and display.

15. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a media scanner capable of tracking the media directory that enables media content and manages mutability of the media directory, mutability management comprising recurrently accessing media directory access, determining content changes during the access, and changing virtual structures in storage links to track media changes.

16. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a media renderer capable of obtaining selected media content from a media source and directing transfer of the selected media content to a target rendering device.

17. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a transcoder capable of transcoding content to and from one or more of a plurality of formats selected from among MPEG video, Digital Video (DV), MPEG elementary (ES) or program streams (VOB), YUV4MPEG streams, JPEG, power-point (PPT), NuppelVideo file format and raw or compressed (passthrough) video frames and export modules for writing DivX, OpenDivX, DivX 4.xx or uncompressed AVI files with MPEG, AC3, and PCM audio.

18. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a transcoder capable of executing one or more of a plurality of transformations selected from among video and audio frame transformations, fast resizing, external filter loading, demultiplexing, extracting, and decoding of source content into raw video/audio streams for import, and probing and scanning of source content to enable post-processing of files, setting file header information, merging multiple files or splitting files for storage.

19. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a transcoder capable of executing one or more of a plurality of functions selected from among activating a response to a user command, initializing content transfer, activating modules that commence transfer and buffering of audio and video streams, encoding frames, creating a navigation logfile containing frame and a related group of picture lists and file offsets, loading export modules for audio/video encoding, commencing encoder loop operations at selected frames, and selectively manipulating video/audio frames or passing through raw data without manipulation.

20. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a transcoder capable of executing one or more of a plurality of video frame manipulations selected from among removing an arbitrary frame region for processing, de-interlacing a video frame, enlarging or reduction of video width or height, filtering for image resizing, removing an arbitrary frame region for encoding, downsampling of video width/height, video frame flipping or mirror imaging, gamma correction, anti-aliasing, or color manipulations.

21. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a transcoder capable of executing one or more of a plurality of audio frame manipulations selected from among changing volume, audio stream resampling, and synchronizing video and audio frames.

22. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a virtual logical block address (LBA) manager that is capable of controlling definition and accessing of virtual logical block addresses in media that relate virtual logical block addresses to physical media storage addresses, enabling access to content from multiple different content sources in the manner of a particular physical source.

23. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a virtual logical block address (LBA) manager; and

a virtual content manager that is capable of forming a map of physical addresses to virtual block addresses, tracking content data elements and maintaining links among associated data including local data links and remote data links.

24. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a storage for a map of linked lists;

a virtual logical block address (LBA) manager; and

a virtual content manager that is capable of managing a configuration of multiple cross-referenced linked lists in the storage, maintaining links among files, identifying and positioning files on one or more media volumes.

25. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a storage for a map of linked lists;

a virtual logical block address (LBA) manager; and

a virtual content manager that is capable of managing storage and accessing of media content in the manner that a virtual memory manager operates in a computer, the virtual content manager tracking media chunks stored with overlapping addressing.

26. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a renderer capable of creating selection trees in a configuration of cascading menus, the menus being a selection presentation for clusters of media.

27. A server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a standard media server capable of executing one or more of a plurality of functions selected from among;

accessing multiple media content including local and externally-stored media content;

accessing content and transferring the accessed content to another device via a network using standard transfer protocol; and

locating content available on a network from a plurality of devices and device types and communicating with the control point to enable browsing and searching for available content items.

28. A server for a media system comprising:

a storage for a map of linked lists;

a virtual logical block address (LBA) manager; and

a virtual content manager that is capable of managing a configuration of multiple cross-referenced linked lists in the storage, maintaining links among files, identifying and positioning files on one or more media volumes.

29. A server according to claim 28 wherein:

the virtual content manager is capable of managing storage and accessing of media content in the manner that a virtual memory manager operates in a computer, the virtual content manager tracking media chunks stored with overlapping addressing.

30. A server according to claim 28 wherein:

the virtual logical block address (LBA) manager is capable of controlling definition and accessing of virtual logical block addresses in media that relate virtual logical block addresses to physical media storage addresses, enabling access to content from multiple different content sources in the manner of a particular physical source.

31. A server according to claim 28 wherein:

the virtual content manager is capable of forming a map of physical addresses to virtual block addresses, tracking content data elements and maintaining links among associated data including local data links and remote data links.

34. A server according to claim 31 wherein:

the transcoder is capable of executing one or more of a plurality of functions selected from among activating a response to a user command, initializing content transfer, activating modules that commence transfer and buffering of audio and video streams, encoding frames, creating a navigation logfile containing frame and a related group of picture lists and file offsets, loading export modules for audio/video encoding, commencing encoder loop operations at selected frames, and selectively manipulating video/audio frames or passing through raw data without manipulation.

35. A server according to claim 31 further comprising:

the transcoder is capable of executing one or more of a plurality of video frame manipulations selected from among removing an arbitrary frame region for processing, de-interlacing a video frame, enlarging or reduction of video width or height, filtering for image resizing, removing an arbitrary frame region for encoding, downsampling of video width/height, video frame flipping or mirror imaging, gamma correction, anti-aliasing, or color manipulations.

36. A server according to claim 31 further comprising:

the transcoder is capable of executing one or more of a plurality of audio frame manipulations selected from among changing volume, audio stream resampling, and synchronizing video and audio frames.

32. A server for a media system comprising:

a media directory that contains a list of available media content and at least a portion of the media content that can be accessed by the server;

a control point that is capable of communicating with the media directory using communication control actions that manage media system interactions; and

a transcoder capable of executing one or more of a plurality of transformations selected from among video and audio frame transformations, fast resizing, external filter loading, demultiplexing, extracting, and decoding of source content into raw video/audio streams for import, and probing and scanning of source content to enable post-processing of files, setting file header information, merging multiple files or splitting files for storage.

33. A server according to claim 32 wherein:

the transcoder is capable of transcoding content to and from one or more of a plurality of formats selected from among MPEG video, Digital Video (DV), MPEG elementary (ES) or program streams (VOB), YUV4MPEG streams, JPEG, power-point (PPT), NuppelVideo file format and raw or compressed (pass-through) video frames and export modules for writing DivX, OpenDivX, DivX 4.xx or uncompressed AVI files with MPEG, AC3, and PCM audio.

37. A method of handling media content comprising:

storing information for locating media content in a map of linked lists;

managing a configuration of multiple cross-referenced linked lists in the store information;

maintaining links among files; and

identifying and positioning files on one or more media volumes.

38. A method according to claim 37 further comprising:

managing storage and accessing of media content in the manner that a virtual memory manager operates in a computer; and

tracking media chunks stored with overlapping addressing.

39. A method according to claim 37 further comprising:

controlling definition and accessing of virtual logical block addresses in media that relate virtual logical block addresses to physical media storage addresses; and

accessing content from multiple different content sources in the manner of a particular physical source.

40. A method according to claim 37 further comprising:

forming a map of physical addresses to virtual block addresses;

tracking content data elements; and

maintaining links among associated data including local data links and remote data links.

41. A audio-visual system comprising:

server capable of communicatively coupling to an optical media player on an out-of-band transfer protocol, the optical media player including an emulator including a communication controller capable of coupling to an out-of-band communication link and an emulation controller capable of converting information between an out-of-band communication link format and a native device internal format;

the server further comprising;

a processor;

a media content search process capable of executing on the processor, searching one or more media sources for media content and capable of determining a format convention of found media content; and

a media transcoding process executable on the processor and capable of transcoding the media content to the native internal format.

42. A server comprising:

a server application capable of coupling to a network interface that can send and receive media content via the network interface;

a media directory capable of storing information for accessing content from one or more media sources;

a renderer capable of conforming content in a nonnative format to a format native to a content sink for supplying the content to the content sink, the renderer conforming the content using logical block addressing.

43. A server comprising:

means for storing information for locating media content in a map of linked lists;

means for managing a configuration of multiple cross-referenced linked lists in the store information;

means for maintaining links among files; and

means for identifying and positioning files on one or more media volumes.

44. A server according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for managing storage and accessing of media content in the manner that a virtual memory manager operates in a computer; and

means for tracking media chunks stored with overlapping addressing.

45. A server according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for controlling definition and accessing of virtual logical block addresses in media that relate virtual logical block addresses to physical media storage addresses; and

means for accessing content from multiple different content sources in the manner of a particular physical source.

46. A server according to claim 43 further comprising:

means for forming a map of physical addresses to virtual block addresses;

means for tracking content data elements; and

means for maintaining links among associated data including local data links and remote data links.