Media Article Adaptation to Client Device

• US 20070168542A1
• Filed: 01/05/2007
• Published: 07/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gupta, Manish, Harding, John, Lacy, Stephen, Rusch, Willard
• Granted Patent: US 8,060,641 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application

Abstract

Systems and methods provide for on-the-fly adaptation of a send rate for content sent to a client based on a detected read rate of the client system for data previously sent. The system and method work within the bounds of simple, existing, open protocols and the media files served are playable by standard media playback clients. The method is driven by a request for media content from a client, in response to which the server provides portions of the media content and monitors the reception rate of the content as it is sent to the client. This method allows for dynamic modification of the send rate of the content after the server has calculated an adjustment to correct for the difference between the reading rate and sending rate, thereby allowing for a send rate most compatible with the client.

Claims

1. A method of serving content from a content server to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the content, the decoder having a reading rate, the method, performed on a server, comprising:

receiving a request for content from the client device;

determining a reading rate of the client;

altering a sending rate for the requested content from the server to the client to substantially correct for the difference between the reading rate of the client and a default sending rate; and

transmitting at least a portion of the altered content to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the reading rate of the client further comprises:

transmitting a first portion of the requested content from the server to the client at the default sending rate; and

monitoring a reception rate of the first portion at the client.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the reading rate of the client further comprises:

transmitting a test packet from the server to the client at the default sending rate, the test packet comprising non-requested content; and

monitoring a reception rate of the first portion at the client.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a remaining portion of the content is capable of being served prior to formation of the requested content as a whole.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein altering remaining portions of the content comprises adding frames to an original frame count for the content to produce an increased frame count, thereby decreasing an apparent playback rate.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein altering remaining portions of the content comprises removing frames from an original frame count for the content to produce an decreased frame count, thereby increasing an apparent playback rate.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein altering remaining portions of the content comprises selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the reading rate divided by the sending rate.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein altering a sending rate for the requested content comprises altering the number of frames by removing frames from the content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein altering a sending rate for the requested content comprises altering the number of frames by adding duplicate frames to the content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein altering a sending rate for the requested content comprises altering the number of frames by inserting format-specific markers into the content that direct the client to duplicate a previous frame.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises at least video.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises at least audio content, the method further comprising replacing the audio content with silence.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the instructions further comprise a content transformation instruction.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream.

17. A method of serving content from a content server to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the content, the decoder having a reading rate, the method, performed on a server, comprising:

receiving a request for content from the client device, wherein the content comprises at least video and the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier, the instructions further comprising a content transformation instruction;

determining a reading rate of the client, comprising;

transmitting a first portion of the requested content from the server to the client at a default sending rate; and

monitoring a reception rate of the first portion at the client;

storing a reading rate for a client host domain;

altering a sending rate for the requested content from the server to the client to substantially correct for the difference between the reading rate of the client and the default sending rate, wherein altering remaining portions of the content comprises selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the reading rate divided by the sending rate;

transmitting at least a portion of the altered content to the client; and

wherein a remaining portion of the content is capable of being served prior to formation of the requested content as a whole.

18. A computer program product for serving content from a content server to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the content, the decoder having a reading rate, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

receiving a request for content from the client device;

determining a reading rate of the client;

altering a sending rate for the requested content from the server to the client to substantially correct for the difference between the reading rate of the client and a default sending rate; and

transmitting at least a portion of the altered content to the client.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein determining the reading rate of the client further comprises:

transmitting a first portion of the requested content from the server to the client at the default sending rate; and

monitoring a reception rate of the first portion at the client.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein determining the reading rate of the client further comprises:

transmitting a test packet from the server to the client at the default sending rate, the test packet comprising non-requested content; and

monitoring a reception rate of the first portion at the client.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein a remaining portion of the content is capable of being served prior to formation of the requested content as a whole.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein altering remaining portions of the content comprises selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the reading rate divided by the sending rate.

23. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein altering a sending rate for the requested content comprises altering the number of frames by inserting format-specific markers into the content that direct the client to duplicate a previous frame.

24. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising computer program code for storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

25. A system for serving content from a content server to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the content, the decoder having a reading rate, the system comprising:

means for receiving a request for content from the client device;

means for determining a reading rate of the client;

means for altering a sending rate for the requested content from the server to the client to substantially correct for the difference between the reading rate of the client and a default sending rate; and

means for transmitting at least a portion of the altered content to the client.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the means for determining the reading rate of the client further comprises:

means for transmitting a first portion of the requested content from the server to the client at the default sending rate; and

means for monitoring a reception rate of the first portion at the client.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein a remaining portion of the content is capable of being served prior to formation of the requested content as a whole.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the means for altering remaining portions of the content comprises means for selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the reading rate divided by the sending rate.

29. The system of claim 25, further comprising means for storing a reading rate for a client host domain.