UPDATABLE REAL-TIME OR NEAR REAL-TIME STREAMING

• US 20100169453A1
• Filed: 06/05/2009
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Batson, James David, Biderman, David, Tseng, Alan, May, William JR., Pantos, Roger
• Granted Patent: US 8,099,476 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/34 ensuring sequence integrity, e.g. using sequence numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234363 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for clients with a lower screen resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4394 involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44004 involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for real-time or near real-time streaming of content using transfer protocols such as an HTTP compliant protocol. In one embodiment, a method includes dividing a stream of data, representing the contiguous time based content of a program (e.g. a live video broadcast), into a plurality of distinct media files, and generating a playlist file having a plurality of tags and Universal Resource Indicators (URIs) indicating an order of presentation of the plurality of distinct media files. The plurality of media files and the playlist file can be made available for transmission to a client device which can retrieve the media files using the playlist file.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method comprising:

dividing, at a server device, a stream of data into multiple media files, each of the multiple media files to be stored as individual files in a memory in a transfer protocol compliant format;

generating a playlist file having a plurality of tags and a plurality of Universal Resource Indicators (URIs), the plurality of URIs indicating an ordering of the multiple media files to recreate the stream of data; and

generating an updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the multiple media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of updated multiple media files to recreate a representation of the stream of data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises adding one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the multiple media files and the added one or more media files.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises modifications to the one or more media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the multiple media files, and one or more of the tags in the plurality of tags is updated to reflect the modifications to the one or more media files.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises removal of one or more selected media files from the multiple media files and adding one or more further media files to result in one or more remaining media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the remaining media files and wherein the stream of data is a contiguous time based stream of content for a single program and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the updated playlist is generated at the expiration of a selected period of time.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the selected period of time is based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining an approximate duration of a next media file to be added to the playlist file;

causing the playlist file to include a tag indicating the approximate duration.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the tag comprises an EXT-X-TARGETDURATION tag.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining sequence numbers for one or more of the URIs in the playlist file; and

causing the playlist file to include one or more tags indicating one or more of the sequence numbers.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the one or more tags comprise one or more EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE tags.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether a client device to receive the media files is authorized to store the media files after playback;

causing the playlist to include a tag that indicates whether the client device is authorized to store the media files after playback.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the tag comprises an EXT-X-ALLOW-CACHE tag.

13. An article comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

divide, at a server device, a stream of data into multiple media files, each of the multiple media files to be stored as individual files in a memory in a transfer protocol compliant format;

generate a playlist file having a plurality of tags and a plurality of Universal Resource Indicators (URIs), the plurality of URIs indicating an ordering of the multiple media files to recreate the stream of data; and

generate an updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the multiple media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of updated multiple media files to recreate a representation of the stream of data.

14. The article of claim 13 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises adding one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the multiple media files and the added one or more media files.

15. The article of claim 13 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises modifications to the one or more media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the multiple media files, and one or more of the tags in the plurality of tags is updated to reflect the modifications to the one or more media files.

16. The article of claim 13 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises removal of one or more selected media files from the multiple media files and adding one or more further media files to result in one or more remaining media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the remaining media files and wherein the stream of data is a contiguous time based stream of content for a single program and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

17. The article of claim 13 wherein the updated playlist is generated at the expiration of a selected period of time.

18. The article of claim 17 wherein the selected period of time is based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file.

19. The article of claim 13 further comprising:

determining an approximate duration of a next media file to be added to the playlist file;

causing the playlist file to include a tag indicating the approximate duration.

20. The article of claim 19 wherein the tag comprises an EXT-X-TARGETDURATION tag.

21. The article of claim 13 further comprising:

determining sequence numbers for one or more of the URIs in the playlist file; and

causing the playlist file to include one or more tags indicating one or more of the sequence numbers.

22. The article of claim 21 wherein the one or more tags comprise one or more EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE tags.

23. The article of claim 13 further comprising:

determining whether a client device to receive the media files is authorized to store the media files after playback;

causing the playlist to include a tag that indicates whether the client device is authorized to store the media files after playback.

24. An apparatus comprising:

means, at a server device, for dividing a stream of data into multiple media files, each of the multiple media files to he stored as individual files in a memory in a transfer protocol compliant format;

means for generating a playlist file having a plurality of tags and a plurality of Universal Resource Indicators (URIs), the plurality of URIs indicating an ordering of the multiple media files to recreate the stream of data; and

means for generating an updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the multiple media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of updated multiple media files to recreate a representation of the stream of data.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the chances to the multiple media files comprises adding one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the multiple media files and the added one or more media files.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises modifications to the one or more media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the multiple media files, and one or more of the tags in the plurality of tags is updated to reflect the modifications to the one or more media files.

27. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises removal of one or more selected media files from the multiple media files and adding one or more further media files to result in one or more remaining media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the remaining media files and wherein the stream of data is a contiguous time based stream of content for a single program and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol and wherein the updated playlist is generated at the expiration of a selected period of time and wherein the selected period of time is based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file.

28. A machine implemented method comprising:

storing multiple media files as individual files in a memory in a transfer protocol compliant format, the multiple media files having been divided out of a contiguous time based stream of data;

transmitting a playlist file to a client device using the transfer protocol, the playlist file having a plurality of tags and a plurality of Universal Resource Indicators (URIs), the plurality of URIs indicating an ordering of the multiple media files to recreate the stream of data;

transferring one or more of the multiple media files to the client device using the transfer protocol in response to one or more requests from the client device utilizing one or more of the plurality of URIs;

transmitting an updated playlist file to the client device, the updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the multiple media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of updated multiple media files to recreate a representation of the stream of data.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises at least one of:

(a) the addition of one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the multiple media files and the added one or more media files;

(b) modifications to the one or more media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the multiple media files, and one or more of the tags in the plurality of tags is updated to reflect the modifications to the one or more media files;

or (c) removal of one or more selected media files from the multiple media files and the addition of one or more further media files to result in one or more remaining media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the remaining media files and wherein the stream of data is a contiguous time based stream of content for a single program and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the updated playlist is generated at the expiration of a selected period of time and wherein the selected period of time is based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

31. An article comprising a computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed, case one or more processors to:

store multiple media files as individual files in a memory in a transfer protocol compliant format, the multiple media files having been divided out of a contiguous time based stream of data;

transmit a playlist file to a client device using the non-streaming transfer protocol, the playlist file having a plurality of tags and a plurality of Universal Resource Indicators (URIs), the plurality of URIs indicating an ordering of the multiple media files to recreate the stream of data;

transfer one or more of the multiple media files to the client device using the transfer protocol in response to one or more requests from the client device utilizing one or more of the plurality of URIs;

transmit an updated playlist file to the client device, the updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the multiple media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of the updated multiple media files to recreate a representation of the stream of data.

32. The article of claim 31 wherein the changes to the multiple media files comprises at least one of:

(a) the addition of one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the multiple media files and the added one or more media files;

(b) modifications to the one or more media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the multiple media files, and one or more of the tags in the plurality of tags is updated to reflect the modifications to the one or more media files;

or (c) removal of one or more selected media files from the multiple media files and the addition of one or more further media files to result in one or more remaining media files and the updated playlist file comprises URIs to the remaining media files and wherein the stream of data is a contiguous time based stream of content for a single program and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

33. The article of claim 31 wherein the updated playlist is generated at the expiration of a selected period of time and wherein the selected period of time is based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

34. An apparatus comprising:

means for storing multiple media files as individual files in a memory in a transfer protocol compliant format, the multiple media files having been divided out of a continuous time based stream of data;

means for transmitting a playlist file to a client device using the transfer protocol, the playlist file having a plurality of tags and a plurality of Universal Resource Indicators (URIs), the plurality of URIs indicating an ordering of the multiple media files to recreate the stream of data;

means for transferring one or more of the multiple media files to the client device using the transfer protocol in response to one or more requests from the client device utilizing one or more of the plurality of URIs;

means for transmitting an updated playlist file to the client device, the updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the multiple media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of the updated multiple media files to recreate a representation of the stream of data.

35. A machine implemented method comprising:

requesting, with a client device, a playlist file using a transfer protocol;

receiving, in response to the requesting, the playlist file having (1) Universal Resource Indicators (URIs) indicating a plurality of media files for a contiguous time based stream of data of a program and (2) a plurality of tags having parameters related to the plurality of media files;

requesting and receiving one or more of the media files in an order indicated in the playlist;

receiving an updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of an updated plurality of media files.

36. The method as in claim 35 further comprising:

generating a presentation of the program from the updated plurality of media files.

37. The method as in claim 36 wherein the changes to the media files comprises at least one of:

(a) the addition of one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the updated plurality of media files;

(b) modifications of one or more of the plurality of media files;

or (c) removal of a first set of media files from the playlist file and the addition of one or more further media files to the playlist file and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

38. The method as in claim 37 wherein the updated playlist is requested by the client device at the expiration of a time based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file.

39. A machine readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

requesting, with a client device, a playlist file using a transfer protocol;

receiving, in response to the requesting, the playlist file having Universal Resource Indicators (URIs) indicating a plurality of media files for a contiguous time based stream of data of a program and a plurality of tags having parameters related to the plurality of media files;

requesting and receiving one or more of the media files in an order indicated in the playlist;

receiving an updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of an updated plurality of media files.

40. The storage medium as in claim 39 wherein the method further comprises:

generating a presentation of the program from the updated playlist.

41. The storage medium as in claim 40 wherein the changes to the media files comprises at least one of:

(a) the addition of one or more media files and the updated playlist file includes URIs to the updated plurality of media files;

(b) modifications of one or more of the plurality of media files;

or (c) removal of a first set of media files from the playlist file and the addition of one or more further media files to the playlist file and wherein the transfer protocol is an HTTP compliant protocol.

42. The storage medium as in claim 41 wherein the updated playlist is requested by the client device at the expiration of a time based on an attribute of one of the tags in the playlist file.

43. A data processing system comprising:

means for requesting, with a client device, a playlist file using a transfer protocol;

means for receiving, in response to the requesting, the playlist file having Universal Resource Indicators (URIs) indicating a plurality of media files for a continuous time based stream of data of a program and a plurality of tags having parameters related to the plurality of media files;

means for requesting and receiving one or more of the media files in an order indicated in the playlist;

means for receiving an updated playlist file corresponding to changes to the media files, the updated playlist file comprising a plurality of updated URIs indicating an ordering of an updated plurality of media files.