Method and apparatus for applying receiving attributes using constraints

• US 20040139212A1
• Filed: 11/26/2003
• Published: 07/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Mukherjee, Debargha, Kuo, Geraldine
• Granted Patent: US 8,244,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A method and apparatus for applying at least one receiving attribute at a receiving destination is provided. The design specifies receiving attributes based on constraints on definable multivariate functions, the definable multivariate functions including either linear combinations of products of univariate functions of attribute values or stack functions. The method may process predetermined specified functions at a format independent adaptation engine in a network using XML syntax by specifying an expression for the function using an ordered list of numeric constants, variables, arguments, and operators pushed into an expression stack to evaluate the expression.

Claims

1. A method for applying at least one receiving attribute at a receiving destination, comprising:

specifying receiving attributes based on constraints on definable multivariate functions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said definable multivariate functions comprise linear combinations of products of univariate functions of attribute values.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said definable multivariate functions comprise stack functions.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving attributes specified comprise limit constraints applicable to functions of said receiving attributes.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving attributes specified comprise optimization constraints applicable to functions of said receiving attributes.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the products comprise product terms, and wherein definable multivariate functions comprise at least one from a group comprising:

number of product terms in the linear combination;

number of elements in each product term;

attribute codes for attributes in each product term;

function codes for univariate functions on attribute values; and

multipliers for at least one linear combination.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the limit constraints comprise at least one from a group comprising:

maximum supportable values for the receiving destination for at least one constraint on the definable multivariate functions; and

minimum supportable values for the receiving destination for at least one constraint on the definable multivariate functions.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein optimization constraints comprise specify at least one from a group comprising:

minimization of attribute measures; and

maximization of attribute measures.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving attributes specified comprise limit constraints applicable to functions of said receiving attributes.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving attributes specified comprise optimization constraints applicable to functions of said receiving attributes.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein measures of the attributes comprise a linear combination of products of univariate functions of attribute values.

11. A method for enabling comparison between scaling attributes and receiving attributes at a receiving destination, comprising:

specifying receiving attributes based on measures of the attributes; and

imposing constraints on the measures of the attributes.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein measures of the attributes further comprise at least one constraint on definable multivariate functions.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving attributes specified comprise limit constraints applicable to functions of said receiving attributes.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving attributes specified comprise optimization constraints applicable to functions of said receiving attributes.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the products comprise product terms, and wherein definable multivariate functions comprise at least one from a group comprising:

number of product terms in the linear combination;

number of elements in each product term;

attribute codes for attributes in each product term;

function codes for univariate functions on attribute values; and

multipliers for at least one linear combination.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the limit constraints comprise at least one from a group comprising:

maximum supportable values for the receiving destination for at least one measure; and

minimum supportable values for the receiving destination for at least one measure.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein optimization constraints comprise specify at least one from a group comprising:

minimization of attribute measures; and

maximization of attribute measures.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein measures of the attributes comprise stack functions.

20. A method of processing functions at a format independent adaptation engine in a network using XML syntax, the method comprising:

specifying an expression for the function using an ordered list of numeric constants, variables, arguments, and operators pushed into an expression stack to evaluate the expression;

wherein said functions comprise at least one from a group comprising constraints applied by the adaptation engine, sequence field operations, and offset length calculations.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising evaluating the expression for the function after said specifying.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein evaluating the expression for the function comprises serializing the desired expression into a serialized expression and applying elements of the serialized expression to a stack in order.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein applying elements of the serialized expression to the stack in order comprises applying numeric constants to the stack and applying any operators to at least one topmost stack element.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein applying elements of the serialized expression further comprise setting variables to appropriate numeric constants and applying the numeric constants to the stack.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein unary operators operate on a topmost numeric stack element and binary operators apply operate on two topmost numeric stack elements.

26. A method of processing at least one predetermined function at a format independent adaptation engine, the method comprising:

specifying an expression for the function using an ordered list of numeric constants, variables, arguments, and operators pushed into an expression stack to evaluate the expression;

wherein said method employs a markup language.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising evaluating the expression for the function after said specifying.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein evaluating the expression for the function comprises serializing the desired expression into a serialized expression and applying elements of the serialized expression to a stack in order.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein applying elements of the serialized expression to the stack in order comprises applying numeric constants to the stack and applying any operators to at least one topmost stack element.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein applying elements of the serialized expression further comprise setting variables to appropriate numeric constants and applying the numeric constants to the stack.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein unary operators operate on a topmost numeric stack element and binary operators apply operate on two topmost numeric stack elements.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the predetermined function comprises at least one from a group comprising a constraint function, a sequence field function, and an offset function.

33. A transcoder for comparing between scaling attributes and receiving attributes, comprising:

a specification apparatus for specifying receiving attributes based on measures of the attributes; and

a constraint imposing apparatus for imposing constraints on the measures of the attributes.

34. A system for applying receiving attributes, comprising:

a transcoder for comparing between scaling attributes and receiving attributes, comprising;

a specification apparatus for specifying receiving attributes based on measures of the attributes; and

a constraint imposing apparatus for imposing constraints on the measures of the attributes.

35. A transcoder for processing at least one predetermined function, comprising:

a function expression specifier for specifying an expression for the function using an ordered list of numeric constants, variables, arguments, and operators pushed into an expression stack to evaluate the expression;

wherein said transcoder employs a markup language.

36. A system for processing functions, comprising:

a transcoder for processing at least one predetermined function, comprising;

a function expression specifier for specifying an expression for the function using an ordered list of numeric constants, variables, arguments, and operators pushed into an expression stack to evaluate the expression;

wherein said transcoder employs a markup language.