METHOD TO FACILITATE TRICK-MODES FOR STREAMING VIDEO

• US 20090049186A1
• Filed: 03/12/2008
• Published: 02/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Candelore, Brant, Agnihotri, Davender
• Application Number:
  US12/047,282
• Publication Number:
  US 20090049186A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A method for navigating multimedia content comprising receiving an index list comprising a plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of portions of multimedia content, wherein the index list facilitates navigation through the multimedia content, selecting one of the plurality of index points from the index list, transmitting a request, after selecting one of the plurality of index points, to a service provider for one of the portions of multimedia content, wherein the request comprises the corresponding one of the plurality of index points, and receiving one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request.

Claims

1. A method for streaming multimedia content comprising:

pre-processing multimedia content, wherein the multimedia content comprises a plurality of frames;

creating an index list from the pre-processed multimedia content comprising a plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of portions of the multimedia content, wherein the index list facilitates navigation through the multimedia content; and

transmitting the index list to a client device configured to view the multimedia content.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a request for one of the portions of multimedia content, wherein the request comprises one of the plurality of index points; and

transmitting one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request to the client device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request further comprises transmitting one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request to the client device, wherein one of the portions of multimedia content comprises at least one of the plurality of frames.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the index list comprising the plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of the portions of the multimedia content and further comprising time codes associated with the portions of the multimedia content.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the index list from the pre-processed multimedia content comprising the plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of the portions of the multimedia content, the portions of multimedia content comprising at least one of the plurality of frames.

6. A method for navigating multimedia content comprising:

receiving an index list comprising a plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of portions of multimedia content, wherein the index list facilitates navigation through the multimedia content;

selecting one of the plurality of index points from the index list;

transmitting a request, after selecting one of the plurality of index points, to a service provider for one of the portions of multimedia content, wherein the request comprises the corresponding one of the plurality of index points; and

receiving one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, before selecting one of the plurality of index points from the index list:

displaying selections corresponding to the plurality of index points.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting a the request for one of the portions of multimedia content prior to receiving all the portions of multimedia content.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving the index list comprising the plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of the portions of multimedia content and further comprising time codes associated with the portions of multimedia content.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request further comprises receiving one of the portions of multimedia content corresponding to the request, wherein one of the portions of multimedia content comprises at least one frame.

11. A method for navigating content comprising:

receiving multimedia content and a corresponding transfer rate and content size of the multimedia content, wherein the multimedia content comprises a plurality of frames;

receiving a command to navigate to a portion of the multimedia content;

determining an offset associated with the command, wherein the offset corresponds to the time difference between a current time position of the multimedia content and a time position of the portion of the multimedia content determined by at least one of the transfer rate, content size, and the portion of the multimedia content;

transmitting a request for the portion of the multimedia content, wherein the request comprises the offset; and

receiving the portion of the multimedia content.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the portion of the multimedia content further comprises receiving the portion of the multimedia content, wherein the portion of multimedia content comprises at least one of the plurality of frames.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the portion of the multimedia content further comprises receiving the next one of the plurality of frames after the time position of the portion of the multimedia content.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting the request for the portion of the multimedia content prior to receiving the entire multimedia content.

15. A device for navigating content, comprising:

a communication unit configured to receive multimedia content and an index list comprising a plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of portions of the multimedia content, wherein the index list facilitates navigation through the multimedia content;

a display unit coupled to the communication unit configured to display selections corresponding to the plurality of index points and the multimedia content;

a user interface unit coupled to the display unit configured to receive user inputs corresponding to the selections; and

a selection unit coupled to the user interface unit configured to select one of the plurality of index points associated with the user inputs.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the communication unit is further configured to transmit a request for one of the portions of the multimedia content and receive one of the portions of the multimedia content corresponding to the request, wherein the portions of the multimedia content comprises at least one frame.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive the index list comprising the plurality of index points corresponding to timing information of the portions of the multimedia content and the time codes associated with the portions of the multimedia content.

18. A device for navigating content, comprising:

a communication unit configured to receive multimedia content and corresponding transfer rate and content size of the multimedia content, wherein the multimedia content comprises a plurality of frames;

a display unit coupled to the communication unit configured to display the multimedia content;

a user interface unit coupled to the display unit configured to receive commands associated with navigating to a portion of the multimedia content; and

a determination unit coupled to the user interface unit configured to determine an offset associated with the commands, wherein the offset corresponds to the time difference between a current time position of the multimedia content and a time position of the portion of the multimedia content determined by at least one of the transfer rate, content size, and the portion of the multimedia content.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the communication unit is further configured to transmit a request for the portion of the multimedia content and receive the portion of the multimedia content.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive the portion of the multimedia content, wherein the portion of the multimedia content comprises at least one of the plurality of frames.

21. The device of claim 19, wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive the next one of the plurality of frames after the time position of the portion of the multimedia content.