Dynamic Variable Rate Media Delivery System

• US 20100235542A1
• Filed: 03/18/2010
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Sundarrajan, Prabakar, Narayanan, Kumar, Kohli, Jaspal, Mukundan, Sunil, Visharam, Zubair
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,711 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234354 by altering signal-to-noise ratio parameters, e.g. requantization
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23805 Controlling the feeding rate to the network, e.g. by controlling the video pump
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/85406 involving a specific file format, e.g. MP4 format

Abstract

A method and apparatus for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media files delivers media files to client systems. The media server dynamically transcodes a content file to a bit rate requested by a client using an original content file or other transcoded content files. The media server can dynamically select a segment of a content file to transcode. The file format required by the client is determined and the transcoded segment is formatted to the file format. The formatted segment is delivered to the client.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media content across a network to a plurality of client systems, comprising:

receiving, by a server, a content file encoded for a first bit rate;

receiving, by the server, a client'"'"'s request for the content file encoded for a second bit rate that is different from the first bit rate;

in response to receiving the request, determining, by the server, a segment of the content file to be transcoded to the second bit rate;

transcoding, by the server, the segment to the second bit rate;

delivering the transcoded segment to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the server, a file format required by the client;

formatting, by the server, the transcoded segment to the file format required by the client.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting, by the server, the transcoded segment after the transcoded segment has been delivered to the client.

4. A method for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media content across a network to a plurality of client systems, comprising:

receiving, by a server, a content file encoded for a first bit rate;

transcoding, by the server, the content file to a plurality of content files of differing bit rates;

storing the plurality of content files of differing bit rates in at least one storage device in communication with the server;

receiving, by the server, a client'"'"'s request for the content file encoded for a second bit rate that is different from the first bit rate and the bit rates of the plurality of content files of differing bit rates;

in response to receiving the request, determining, by the server, a segment of one of the plurality of content files of differing bit rates to be transcoded to the second bit rate;

transcoding, by the server, the segment to the second bit rate;

delivering the transcoded segment to the client.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining, by the server, a file format required by the client;

formatting, by the server, the transcoded segment to the file format required by the client.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

deleting, by the server, the transcoded segment after the transcoded segment has been delivered to the client.

7. An apparatus for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media content across a network to a plurality of client systems, comprising:

a content file receiver, on a server, that receives a content file encoded for a first bit rate;

a content file request receiver, on the server, that receives a client'"'"'s request for the content file encoded for a second bit rate that is different from the first bit rate;

a segment determination subsystem, on the server, that, in response to receiving the request, determines a segment of the content file to be transcoded to the second bit rate;

a transcoding subsystem, on the server, that transcodes the segment to the second bit rate;

a segment delivery subsystem that delivers the transcoded segment to the client.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a file format determination subsystem, on the server, that determines a file format required by the client;

a file formatting subsystem, on the server, that formats the transcoded segment to the file format required by the client.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a transcoded segment deletion subsystem, by the server, that deletes the transcoded segment after the transcoded segment has been delivered to the client.

10. An apparatus for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media content across a network to a plurality of client systems, comprising:

a content file receiver, on a server, that receives a content file encoded for a first bit rate;

a transcoding subsystem, on the server, that transcodes the content file to a plurality of content files of differing bit rates;

a storage subsystem that stores the plurality of content files of differing bit rates in at least one storage device in communication with the server;

a content file request receiver, on the server, that receives a client'"'"'s request for the content file encoded for a second bit rate that is different from the first bit rate and the bit rates of the plurality of content files of differing bit rates;

a segment determination subsystem, on the server, that, in response to receiving the request, determines a segment of one of the plurality of content files of differing bit rates to be transcoded to the second bit rate;

a segment transcoding subsystem, on the server, that transcodes the segment to the second bit rate;

a segment delivery subsystem that delivers the transcoded segment to the client.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a file format determination subsystem, on the server, that determines a file format required by the client;

a file formatting subsystem, on the server, that formats the transcoded segment to the file format required by the client.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a transcoded segment deletion subsystem, by the server, that deletes the transcoded segment after the transcoded segment has been delivered to the client.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media content across a network to a plurality of client systems, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving, by a server, a content file encoded for a first bit rate;

receiving, by the server, a client'"'"'s request for the content file encoded for a second bit rate that is different from the first bit rate;

in response to receiving the request, determining, by the server, a segment of the content file to be transcoded to the second bit rate;

transcoding, by the server, the segment to the second bit rate;

delivering the transcoded segment to the client.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:

determining, by the server, a file format required by the client;

formatting, by the server, the transcoded segment to the file format required by the client.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:

deleting, by the server, the transcoded segment after the transcoded segment has been delivered to the client.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for dynamically transcoding and delivering variable bit rate media content across a network to a plurality of client systems, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving, by a server, a content file encoded for a first bit rate;

transcoding, by the server, the content file to a plurality of content files of differing bit rates;

storing the plurality of content files of differing bit rates in at least one storage device in communication with the server;

receiving, by the server, a client'"'"'s request for the content file encoded for a second bit rate that is different from the first bit rate and the bit rates of the plurality of content files of differing bit rates;

in response to receiving the request, determining, by the server, a segment of one of the plurality of content files of differing bit rates to be transcoded to the second bit rate;

transcoding, by the server, the segment to the second bit rate;

delivering the transcoded segment to the client.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising:

determining, by the server, a file format required by the client;

formatting, by the server, the transcoded segment to the file format required by the client.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising:

deleting, by the server, the transcoded segment after the transcoded segment has been delivered to the client.