MEDIA DELIVERY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSPORTING MEDIA TO DESIRED TARGET DEVICES

• US 20070078948A1
• Filed: 09/12/2006
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm Atheros Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc. (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Julia, Luc, Cortina, Rafael, Serghine, Maklouf, Le Nerriec, Yohan, Grundback, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,787,164 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]

Abstract

A media delivery system and technique are described to enable a media stream to be received at one end on a user'"'"'s computer, and then re-streamed to a target device in a form that is suitable for that target. As an example of an implementation of such an embodiment, a streaming video and/or audio feed may be received on a user'"'"'s media center, then re-streamed to a user'"'"'s designated target device. The target device may correspond to, for example, another computer, a cell phone, or some other media output device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for delivering media across one or more networks to a target device, the method comprising:

from within a network enabled system of a user, performing steps comprising;

receiving an instruction for delivery of target data generated from a media source to the target;

analyzing at least one of the media source or data provided from the media source to determine one or more native characteristics of data provided by the media source;

determining one or more characteristics for the target data based at least in part on a stored profile associated with the target device;

responsive to receiving the instruction, generating the target data from the media source, the generated target data having the determined one or more characteristics; and

transmitting the target data to the target device over the one or more networks.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the target data includes generating the target data to have the one or more characteristics that are different than the one or more native characteristics.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more characteristics for the target data includes determining a transmission size and at least one or more characteristics of (i) a data format for the target data, and (ii) a display size for the target data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the target is a roaming device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the target corresponds to a mobile computing device, and wherein transmitting the target data to the target includes causing the target data to be transmitted to the target over a cellular communication network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the target data to the target device includes streaming the target data to the mobile computing device.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein determining one or more characteristics for the target data includes programmatically identifying one or more capabilities of the mobile computing device to handle data from the media source.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying one or more capabilities of the mobile computing device to handle data from the media source includes accessing the stored profile to determine at least one of (i) a display size of the mobile computing device, and (ii) a data format used by a media player that resides on the mobile computing device.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying one or more capabilities of the mobile computing device to handle data from the media source includes determining a transmission size for the target data based on a bandwidth characteristic of the cellular communication network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an instruction for delivery of target data includes receiving a request generated from a remote device that is also the target.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more characteristics for the target data includes programmatically determining one or more characteristics based on one or more capabilities of a device that is the target.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining one or more characteristics based on one or more capabilities of a device includes programmatically determining a format for the target data based at least in part on a media player type on the device that is the target.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein programmatically determining one or more characteristics for the target data include determining a transmission size for the target data based at least in part on a data reception capability of the target.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein generating the target data includes generating the target data to be a reduction of data otherwise available from the media resource.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein determining a transmission size for the target data based on a data reception capability of the target device includes determining the data reception capability based on one or more of the (i) a network bandwidth to transmit data to the target device, (ii) processing resources of the target device to handle the target data, and (iii) memory resources of the target device to handle the target data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the target is a mobile computing device, and wherein transmitting the target data includes causing the target data to be transmitted at least in part across a cellular network, and wherein determining the data reception capability of the mobile cellular device includes determining the data reception capability based on one or more of the (i) the network bandwidth of the cellular network, (ii) processing resources of the mobile cellular device to handle data from the media source, and (iii) memory resources of the mobile cellular device to handle data from the media source.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the media source includes image or video data, and wherein determining one or more characteristics includes identifying profile information corresponding to a screen size of the device, and wherein the step of generating the target data includes generating the target data to include image data that is sized for the screen size of the device.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the media source corresponds to one or more media files that are stored within the network enabled system.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the media source corresponds to a media feed that is accessible from within the network enabled system.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by one or more modules within the network enabled system, and wherein the media source corresponds to a streaming media source that is external to the network enabled system and which provides a media stream to the network enabled system, and wherein transmitting the target data to the target includes streaming the target data corresponding to the media stream from within the network enabled system to the target.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein streaming the target data corresponding to the media stream includes (i) buffering the media stream, and (ii) transmitting the target data corresponding to the media stream to the target concurrently with buffering the media stream.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein determining one or more characteristics for the target data includes determining one or more characteristics of the media stream while the target data is streamed to the network enabled system.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein determining one or more characteristics for the target data includes making a determination from the stored profile as to whether the one or more characteristics of the media stream correspond to one or more desired characteristics for the target data while the media stream is being received by the network enabled system.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein making a determination from the stored profile as to whether the one or more characteristics of the streamed media data correspond to one or more desired characteristics includes determining that any of the one or more characteristics of the streamed media data does not correspond to any of the one or more desired characteristics for the data that is streamed to the target device, and wherein generating the target data from the media source includes providing the streamed target data with the any of the one or more desired characteristics and not the any of the one or more characteristics of the streamed media data.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein:

determining one or more characteristics of the media stream includes determining a native data format of the media stream; and

providing the streamed target data with the any of the one or more desired characteristics includes converting the media stream from the native data format to a desired data format specified by the profile information.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein:

determining one or more characteristics of the media stream includes determining a transmission size for streaming the target data; and

providing the streamed target data with the any of the one or more desired characteristics includes reducing the target data when the transmission size determined for the target device is determined to be less than a transmission size of the media stream being received by the network enabled system.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein:

determining one or more characteristics of the media stream includes determining a suitable display size of image data in the media data;

providing the streamed target data with the any of the one or more desired characteristics includes configuring image data contained in the target data to accommodate the display size of the device that is the target.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises identifying one or more native characteristics of the media source, and wherein determining one or more characteristics for the target data includes:

determining whether the one or more native characteristics are in conflict with the one or more characteristics;

if any of the one or more native characteristics are in conflict with any given characteristic in the one or more desired characteristics, configuring the target data to include the given characteristic over the conflicting native characteristic; and

if each of the one or more native characteristics are in accord with the one or more characteristics, maintaining the one or more native characteristics in the target data.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein a computer-readable medium stores instructions for performing the method, and wherein the method is performed through execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the network enabled system.

30. A computer-implemented method for delivering media across one or more networks to a target device, the method comprising:

receiving a media stream;

analyzing the media stream to determine one or more native characteristics of the media stream;

identifying a target for the media stream;

accessing profile information associated with the target to determine one or more desired characteristics for target data that is to be transmitted to the target;

generating the target data to correspond to the media stream and to include the one or more desired characteristics, wherein if any of the one or more native characteristics are in conflict with a given characteristic of the one or more desired characteristics, generating the target data includes performing one or more processes on the media stream to generate the target data with the given desired characteristic and not the conflicting native characteristic;

transmitting the target data to the target using the Internet.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein receiving the media stream includes buffering the media stream, and wherein transmitting the target data to the target device includes streaming the target data with the one or more desired characteristics concurrently while buffering the media stream.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein transmitting the target data to the target includes streaming the target data to the target.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein receiving a media stream includes receiving the media stream from a website.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein receiving the media stream includes streaming media source data from one or more sources selected from a group consisting of:

(i) a website, (ii) a cable television feed, and (iii) a satellite media feed.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein receiving the media stream includes buffering the media stream, and wherein analyzing the media stream is performed concurrently while the media stream is being buffered.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein analyzing the media stream includes determining a transmission size of the media stream, and wherein generating the target data includes streaming the target data with a transmission size that is specified by the profile information, and wherein if the transmission size specified by the profile information is less than the transmission size of the media stream, then generating the target data includes providing the transmission size of the streamed target data is less than the transmission size of the media stream.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein analyzing the media stream includes determining a data format of the media stream, and wherein generating the target data includes generating the streamed target data to have a data format specified by the profile information, and wherein if the data format specified by the profile information is incompatible with the data format of the media stream, then generating the target data includes performing one or more conversion processes to convert the media stream to the data format specified by the profile information.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein generating the target data includes performing one or more operations to replace or alter the one or more native characteristics with the one or more desired characteristics selected from a group consisting of (i) a data format, (ii) a transmission size, and (iii) an image data display size.

39. The method of claim 30, wherein the target is a mobile computing device, and wherein transmitting the target data to the target device includes causing the data set to be transmitted to a mobile computing device over one or more networks that includes a cellular data network.

40. A system for providing media to one or more target devices of a user'"'"'s network enabled system, the method comprising:

a stream handling module configured to receive a media stream from one or more streaming sources over a network;

one or more data structures that store profile information for one or more designated devices, the profile information specifying one or more desired characteristics of target data that is to be transmitted to each of the designated devices; and

a media delivery system that is configured to (i) access the profile information and generate, for a given target device, target data having the one or more desired characteristics; and

(ii) transmit the target data to the given target device.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the media delivery system includes a determination module that (i) identifies one or more native characteristics of the media stream, and (ii) if any of the one or more native characteristics are in conflict with a given characteristic of the one or more desired characteristics, identifies or performs one or more processes to be performed in order to generate the target data to include the given desired characteristic and not the conflicting native characteristic.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the media delivery system includes a formatting component that performs a process of configuring the target data to have a data type specified for the given target device in response to the determination module determining that a native data format of the media stream is incompatible with the data type specified for the given target device.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the media delivery system includes a reducer component that performs a process of configuring a transmission size of the target data to be less than a transmission size of the media stream, in response to the determination module determining from the profile information that a reduction in the transmission size is desired for the given target device.

44. The system of claim 41, wherein the media delivery system includes a sizer component that performs a process of configuring image data identified from the media stream to be of a particular dimension or resolution, in response to the determination module determining from the profile information that image data in the media stream needs to be re-sized.

45. The system of claim 40, wherein the stream handling module includes a buffer that buffers the media stream, and wherein the media delivery system transmits the target data to the given target device concurrently with the buffer receiving the media stream from the one or more streaming sources.

46. The system of claim 40, wherein the media delivery system streams the target data to the given target data.

47. The system of claim 40, wherein the media delivery system streams the target data to the given target data, so that the target data generated from a portion of a given media stream is streamed to the given target device while another portion of the given media stream is received by the stream handling module.