Method and apparatus for receiving, storing, and presenting multimedia programming without indexing prior to storage

• US 20080056682A1
• Filed: 08/29/2006
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies Corporation (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Novoa, Manuel, Hamrick, John D., Ding, Rui, Byerley, Seth, Carlson, Jay P., Cavanaugh, Michael, Yang, Yunfeng, Templeman, Mark, Minnick, Dan
• Granted Patent: US 7,826,712 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/112
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/005 Reproducing at a different information rate from the information rate of recording for television signals H04N5/783
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence

Abstract

A method and apparatus for improved digital recording and presentation of broadcast information is disclosed. Received broadcast data, which may include video, audio, private, or other data, relating to one or more particular content programs, is presented from an input section to a buffer and recorded directly onto a storage device without any intelligent parsing, such as indexing, and without any manipulation by intermediate hardware or software functions. Upon normal presentation, statistics are generated to determine the ideal number of frames to skip, the number of bytes to seek, and the size of data files to read from storage during time-shifted presentation. Algorithms and processes are provided to dynamically optimize time-shifted presentation. In this way, data may be captured to the storage device more efficiently and economically, and the time-shifted presentation operations can easily be performed in a smoother, more nuanced manner with the application of appropriate probabilistic algorithms.

Claims

1. A method for receiving, storing, and presenting video programming without indexing the programming prior to storage, the method comprising:

a) receiving into an input buffer a Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) stream from an input section, wherein the received MPEG stream comprises video packets from a video programming event;

b) storing the received MPEG stream from the input buffer onto a storage device without, prior to storage, analyzing data in the video packets to generate indexing information from the received MPEG stream;

c) receiving a seek input;

d) determining a data read size and a starting read position in the stored MPEG stream based on the seek input;

e) loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

i) the size of the loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

ii) the position of the loaded portion is based on the starting read position;

f) analyzing the loaded portion to determine if the loaded portion includes a complete MPEG intra-coded frame; and

g) if the loaded portion includes a complete MPEG intra-coded frame, decoding the MPEG intra-coded frame to provide a video frame for presentation on a display device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing video frame statistics for video data encoded in the stored MPEG stream, prior to determining a data read size or determining a starting read position.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the video frame statistics are provided by:

outputting video data encoded in the MPEG stream sequentially at the broadcasted frame rate; and

generating the video frame statistics based on the normal display of the MPEG stream.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the video frame statistics are provided by:

looking up the video frame statistics from a static table.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the received MPEG stream comprises the video frame statistics data and the method further comprises:

retrieving the video frame statistics from the stored MPEG stream.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the data read size is further based on the video frame statistics.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the starting read position is further based on the video frame statistics.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the starting read position is a function of at least a current read position in the stored MPEG stream and the video frame statistics.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the data read size is a function of at least a time required to perform a read operation and a probability of not loading a complete MPEG intra-coded frame when loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream equal to the data read size.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the loaded portion is a first loaded portion that does not include a complete MPEG intra-coded frame, the method further comprises:

loading a second portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

the size of the second loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

the position of the second loaded portion is based on the starting read position and the data read size.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the seek input is based on a user input and determines at least one of a frame skip value and a presentation speed value.

12. A method for receiving, storing, and presenting programming without indexing the programming prior to storage, the method comprising:

a) receiving into an input buffer a Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) stream from an input section, wherein the received MPEG stream comprises audio packets from a programming event;

b) storing the received MPEG stream from the input buffer onto a storage device without, prior to storage, analyzing data in the audio packets to generate indexing information from the received MPEG stream;

c) receiving a seek input;

d) determining a data read size and a starting read position in the stored MPEG stream based on the seek input;

e) loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

i) the size of the loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

ii) the position of the loaded portion is based on the starting read position;

f) analyzing the loaded portion to determine if the loaded portion of the stored MPEG stream includes a complete audio frame; and

g) if the loaded portion includes a complete audio frame, decoding the complete audio frame to provide an audio frame for presentation on a presentation device.

13. A method for storing of multimedia data, the method comprising:

a) providing an input section;

wherein the input section is configured to accept broadcast data and output at least video data relating to a single broadcast event to a record buffer; and

b) providing a record application, wherein the record application is configured to record the video data from the record buffer to a storage device without transferring any of the video data into a second buffer before storing the video data on the storage device;

wherein the input section and record application are configured to function asynchronously and the input section and record application are configured to access the record buffer simultaneously.

14. A method for presentation of an MPEG stream stored on a storage device, the method comprising:

a) providing video frame statistics for video data encoded in the stored MPEG stream;

b) receiving a seek input;

c) determining a data read size and a starting read position in the stored MPEG stream based on the seek input;

d) loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

i) the size of the loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

ii) the position of the loaded portion is based on the starting read position.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the video frame statistics are provided by the steps of:

outputting video data encoded in the MPEG stream sequentially at the broadcasted frame rate; and

generating the video frame statistics based on the normal display of the MPEG stream.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the video frame statistics are provide by:

looking up the video frame statistics from a static table.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the data read size is further based on the video frame statistics.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the starting read position is further based on the video frame statistics.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the starting read position is a function of at least a current read position in the stored MPEG stream and the video frame statistics.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the data read size is a function of at least a time required to perform a read operation and a probability of not loading a complete MPEG intra-coded frame when loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream equal to the data read size.

21. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

determining that the loaded portion includes a complete MPEG intra-coded frame; and

decoding the complete MPEG intra-coded frame to provide a video frame for display on a display device.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the loaded portion is a first loaded portion and the method further comprises:

determining that the loaded portion does not include a complete MPEG intra-coded frame;

loading a second portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

the size of the second loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

the position of the second loaded portion is based on the starting read position and the data read size.

23. A computer-readable medium that stores a computer program for presentation of an MPEG stream stored on a storage device, wherein the computer program includes computer instructions for:

a) providing video frame statistics for video data encoded in the stored MPEG stream;

b) receiving a seek input;

c) determining a data read size and a starting read position in the stored MPEG stream based on the seek input; and

d) loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

i) the size of the loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

ii) the position of the loaded portion is based on the starting read position.

24. A digital video recorder device for receiving, storing, and presenting video programming comprising:

a tuner configured to receive an MPEG stream comprising the video programming;

a storage device configured to store the MPEG stream;

a computer processor configured to execute a computer program;

an MPEG video decoder configured to decode MPEG video data;

a computer-readable medium that stores the computer program, wherein the computer program includes computer instructions for;

a) providing video frame statistics for video data encoded in the stored MPEG stream;

b) receiving a seek input;

c) determining a data read size and a starting read position in the stored MPEG stream based on the seek input;

d) loading a portion of the stored MPEG stream from the storage device, wherein;

i) the size of the loaded portion is based on the data read size; and

ii) the position of the loaded portion is based on the starting read position

e) analyzing the loaded portion to determine if the loaded portion includes a complete MPEG intra-coded frame; and

f) if the loaded portion includes a complete MPEG intra-coded frame, decoding the MPEG intra-coded frame with the MPEG video decoder to provide a video frame for presentation on a display device.