Method and Apparatus for Processing Video Stream in a Digital Video Broadcasting System

• US 20090138931A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Yuan, Yu, Lin, Guo Hui, Lin, Yonghua, Yang, Yudong
• Application Number:
  US12/163,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20090138931A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/115
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4384 involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17354 in an intermediate station common to a plurality of user terminals

Abstract

A novel method and system for enhancing user experience when switching channel in digital video broadcasting system is proposed. The invention proposes a server-based cache mechanism which caches all channels simultaneously in a cache server near from the video playing terminal. The channel switch latency could be heavily reduced since the initial part of the current GOP of any channel could be retrieved from the cache server, therefore the user experience is improved greatly.

Claims

1. A method for processing content streams in a digital video broadcasting system, wherein the digital video broadcasting system includes a broadcasting frond-end, a cache server and at least one video playing terminal, and wherein the content streams constitute image group structures for the video playing terminal to play, the method comprising the steps of:

in response to the selection of the channel by a user, requesting a cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the cache server which is used to cache content streams corresponding to at least one channel come from the broadcasting frond-end;

receiving the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the cache server, wherein the cached content stream comprises at least the initial part of the current image group structure; and

decoding and playing the content stream corresponding to the selected channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the decoded and played content stream corresponding to the selected channel is the cached content stream comes from the cache server.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of, in response to the selection of the channel by the user, obtaining the broadcasting frond-end content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the broadcasting frond-end,

wherein, the decoded and played content stream corresponding to the selected channel is comprised of the cached content stream coming from the cache server and the obtained broadcasting frond-end content stream.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel is transmitted from the cache server to the video playing terminal in the way of unicast.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, the video playing terminal decodes the content stream corresponding to the selected channel with a speed which is higher than the normal playing speed until the content stream that can be played in the video playing terminal is synchronized with the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end, wherein, the content stream corresponding to the selected channel is comprised of the cached content stream coming from the cache server when the channel is selected and the broadcasting frond-end content stream coming from the broadcasting frond-end after the channel is selected, or is comprised of the cached content stream coming from the cache server only;

and

after the content stream that can be played in the video playing terminal is synchronized with the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end, the video playing terminal decodes and plays the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end with the normal playing speed.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein, when the video playing terminal is decoding the content stream corresponding to the selected channel with a speed which is higher than the normal playing speed, the decoded content stream is displayed on the screen.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein, when the video playing terminal decodes the content stream corresponding to the selected channel with a speed which is higher than the normal playing speed, a blank image is displayed on the screen, until the content stream that can be played in the video playing terminal is synchronized with the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end.

8. A method for processing content streams in a digital video broadcasting system, wherein said digital video broadcasting system includes a broadcasting frond-end, a cache server and at least one video playing terminal, and wherein the content streams constitute image group structures for the video playing terminal to play, the method comprising the steps of:

the cache server receiving the content stream corresponding to at least one channel from the broadcasting frond-end;

caching the content stream in the cache server; and

in response to the selection of the channel by a user from a video playing terminal, the cache server sending the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel to the video playing terminal.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the content stream cached by the cache server for each channel is comprised of at least the initial part of current image group structure.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, the cache server sends the content stream to the video playing terminal in the way of unicast.

11. A video playing terminal for processing content streams in a digital video broadcasting system, wherein the digital video broadcasting system includes a broadcasting frond-end, a cache server and the video playing terminal, and wherein the content streams constitute image group structures for the video playing terminal to play, the video playing terminal comprising:

means for, in response to selection of the channel by a user, requesting a cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the cache server which is used to cache content streams corresponding to at least one channel coming from the broadcasting frond-end;

means for receiving the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the cache server, wherein the cached content stream comprises at least the initial part of the current image group structure; and

means for decoding and playing the content stream corresponding to the selected channel.

12. The video playing terminal of claim 11, wherein, the decoded and played content stream corresponding to the selected channel is the cached content stream from the cache server.

13. The video playing terminal of claim 11, further comprising means for, in response to the selection to the channel by the user, obtaining the broadcasting frond-end content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the broadcasting frond-end,

wherein, the decoded and played content stream corresponding to the selected channel is comprised of the cached content stream come from the cache server and the obtained broadcasting frond-end content stream.

14. The video playing terminal of claim 11, wherein, the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel is transmitted from the cache server to the video playing terminal in the way of unicast.

15. The video playing terminal of claim 13, wherein, the video playing terminal decodes the content stream corresponding to the selected channel with a speed which is higher than the normal playing speed until the content stream that can be played in the video playing terminal is synchronized with the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end, wherein, the content stream corresponding to the selected channel is comprised of the cached content stream coming from the cache server when the channel is selected and the broadcasting frond-end content stream coming from the broadcasting frond-end after the channel is selected, or is comprised of the cached content stream coming from the cache server only;

and

after the content stream that can be played in the video playing terminal is synchronized with the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end, the video playing terminal decodes and plays the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end with the normal playing speed.

16. The video playing terminal of claim 13, wherein, when the video playing terminal is decoding the content stream corresponding to the selected channel with a speed which is higher than the normal playing speed, the decoded content stream is displayed on the screen.

17. The video playing terminal of claim 13, wherein, when the video playing terminal decodes the content stream corresponding to the selected channel with a speed which is higher than the normal playing speed, a blank image is displayed on the screen, until the content stream that can be played in the video playing terminal is synchronized with the content stream broadcasted from the broadcasting frond-end.

18. A device for processing content streams in a digital video broadcasting system, wherein said digital video broadcasting system includes a broadcasting frond-end and at least one video playing terminal, and wherein the content streams constitute image group structures for the video playing terminal to play, the device comprising:

means for receiving the content stream corresponding to at least one channel from the broadcasting frond-end;

means for caching the content stream, wherein the content stream cached for each channel is comprised of at least the initial part of a current image group structure; and

means for, in response to the selection of the channel by a user from a video playing terminal, sending the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel to the video playing terminal.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein, the means for receiving the content stream sends the content stream to the video playing terminal in the way of unicast.

20. A computer program product comprising computer readable codes stored on a computer readable storage medium for executing a method for processing content streams in a digital video broadcasting system, wherein the digital video broadcasting system includes a broadcasting frond-end, a cache server and at least one video playing terminal, and wherein the content streams constitute image group structures for the video playing terminal to play, the method comprising the steps of:

in response to the selection of the channel by a user, requesting a cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the cache server which is used to cache content streams corresponding to at least one channel come from the broadcasting frond-end;

receiving the cached content stream corresponding to the selected channel from the cache server, wherein the cached content stream comprises at least the initial part of the current image group structure; and

decoding and playing the content stream corresponding to the selected channel.