Method and Apparatus for Distributing Digitized Streaming Video over a Network

• US 20100198983A1
• Filed: 04/09/2010
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: David A Monroe, Raymond R. Metzger
• Original Assignee: David A Monroe, Raymond R. Metzger
• Inventors: Metzger, Raymond R., Monroe, David A.
• Application Number:
  US12/757,318
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198983A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4344 Remultiplexing of multiplex streams, e.g. by modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Continuous streaming video is conditioned for display at a remote monitor adapted for receiving and playing a streaming video file of a discrete length. The continuous streaming video has no known beginning of data signal and no known end of data signal, and an arbitrary beginning of data signal is assigned to the streaming video in mid-stream and an arbitrary end of data signal is assigned to the streaming video for identifying the length of the video stream and for making it compatible with the display platform. The continuous streaming video may be time stamped, and the beginning of data signal may be arbitrarily assigned a zero value for identifying an artificial beginning of the file. Specifically, the each time stamp received may be calculated by resetting each time stamp received time stamp with a value of the current time stamp minus first time stamp received, whereby the first time stamp received is set to zero and additional time stamps are counted from the first time stamp received. The encoded video signal may be viewed by more than one user, wherein the streaming video signal is sent to a multicast group address for forwarding the stream identified recipients, with a multicast routing technique used for determining that multiple recipients are located on one specific network path or path segment, wherein only one copy of the video signal is sent along that path.

Claims

1-12. -12. (canceled)

13. A method for transmitting video data from a camera over an internet protocol network to a recipient, the recipient including an executable media player application embodied in suitable media, the recipient including a processor suitable to execute the media player application, the recipient including a media player time counter, the media player time counter being incremented in relation to a media player time source, the media player application being executable upon receipt of video data including both of the following:

a Beginning of File marker, and

a file length identifier,

execution of the media player application with video data after receipt of both a Beginning of File marker and a file length identifier causing video data to be displayed, the method comprising;

in the camera compressing collected video data in an MPEG compressor to provide a compressed bit stream;

in the camera embedding with the compressed bit stream an embedded time stamp value, the embedded time stamp value including one of the following;

a Presentation Time Stamp (PTS), and

a Decoding Time Stamp (DTS),

the embedded time stamp value being incremented in relation to a camera time counter;

transmitting from the camera over the network to the recipient the compressed bit stream including a sequence of video data headers, each video data header including the embedded time stamp value;

at the recipient executing a front-end filter application with the compressed bit stream including the sequence of video data headers, the front-end filter application being embodied in suitable media, the recipient including a processor suitable to execute the front-end filter application;

replacing the sequence of video data headers with a sequence of dummy video file headers, at least one of the dummy video file headers including a Beginning of File marker provided at the recipient in the at least one dummy video file header, the Beginning of File marker being a dummy marker, at least the dummy video file header including a file length identifier, the file length identifier being provided at the recipient, the file length identifier having a dummy value not greater than a maximum file length of the media player application, the dummy value being at least sufficient to enable execution of the media player with the compressed bit stream to cause video data to be displayed while the media player time counter is incremented toward the dummy value; and

at the recipient providing to the media player application the compressed bit stream including the sequence of dummy video file headers, execution of the media player application with the compressed bit stream being enabled by the sequence of dummy video file headers, the media player time counter being initialized to an initial counter value upon receipt of the Beginning of File marker, the media player time counter incrementing from the initial counter toward the dummy value in relation to the media player time source, execution of the media player causing the video data to be displayed in sequence from the compressed bit stream, the sequence being established by the replacement time stamp value.