Scheduling scheme for distributed sending of media data
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a sender associated with at least one media data block, the sender including a block usage counter corresponding to the at least one media data block;
wherein the sender does not swap out the at least one media data block when the corresponding block usage counter indicates that the at least one media data block is locked; and
a scheduler associated with at least one client, the scheduler capable of scheduling delivery of media data blocks to the at least one client;
wherein the scheduler is adapted to transmit to the sender a look ahead request identifying the at least one media data block;
wherein the sender is adapted to increment the block usage counter corresponding to the at least one media data block in response to receiving from the scheduler the look ahead request identifying the at least one media data block.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Media data is distributed across multiple devices, and the media data is sent therefrom by multiple senders under control of multiple schedulers. For media data blocks in a look-ahead region, schedulers transmit look ahead requests to senders in order to reserve upcoming media data blocks. In a described implementation, a look ahead request identifies a media data block. The receiving sender increments a block usage counter corresponding to the identified media data block responsive to the look ahead request. As part of a look ahead operation, if the media data block is not already in RAM, the sender preloads the media data block into RAM. While the block usage counter indicates that the corresponding media data block is locked, the sender maintains the media data block in RAM. A look ahead cancel message transmitted from the scheduler to the sender prompts the sender to decrement the block usage counter.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a sender associated with at least one media data block, the sender including a block usage counter corresponding to the at least one media data block;
wherein the sender does not swap out the at least one media data block when the corresponding block usage counter indicates that the at least one media data block is locked; and
a scheduler associated with at least one client, the scheduler capable of scheduling delivery of media data blocks to the at least one client;
wherein the scheduler is adapted to transmit to the sender a look ahead request identifying the at least one media data block;
wherein the sender is adapted to increment the block usage counter corresponding to the at least one media data block in response to receiving from the scheduler the look ahead request identifying the at least one media data block. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. One or more processor-accessible media comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed, direct at least one device to perform actions comprising:
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formulating a look ahead request to identify a media data block that provides media data for a media data stream being sent to a client, the media data provided by the media data block to be used by the client in a future timeslot; and
transmitting the look ahead request to a sender in order to precipitate incrementation of a block usage counter corresponding to the media data block. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. One or more processor-accessible media comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed, direct at least one device to perform actions comprising:
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receiving a look ahead request identifying a media data block;
incrementing a block usage counter corresponding to the media data block in response to receiving the look ahead request;
receiving a look ahead cancel message identifying the media data block; and
decrementing the block usage counter corresponding to the media data block in response to receiving the look ahead cancel message;
wherein the media data block corresponding to the block usage counter is maintained in random access memory (RAM) while the block usage counter indicates that the media data block is locked. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An arrangement for a scheduling scheme to facilitate the distributed sending of media data, the arrangement comprising:
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reservation means for looking ahead along a media data stream to reserve media data blocks for subsequent sending to clients; and
sender means for locking the media data blocks responsive to the reservation means until after the locked media data blocks have been sent to the clients. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A system comprising:
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a media data segment including a plurality of media data blocks;
a plurality of senders, each sender of the plurality of senders associated with at least one media data block of the plurality of media data blocks and capable of sending the associated at least one media data block to clients; and
a scheduler that is associated with a client, the scheduler adapted to divide the plurality of media data blocks of the media data segment into three regions comprising a current region, an alternative send request region, and a look-ahead region. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification