TRANSMISSION CAPACITY PROBING USING ADAPTIVE REDUNDANCY ADJUSTMENT

• US 20100328528A1
• Filed: 06/30/2009
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Eggert, Lars René
• Granted Patent: US 8,964,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/425.2
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/13 Linear codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/23 using convolutional codes, e.g. unit memory codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/2957 Turbo codes and decoding
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/356 Unequal error protection [UEP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876

Abstract

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus configured to instruct a redundancy encoder to increase a level of redundancy of a media stream, an error rate determination to determine an error rate of a communication path conveying the media stream with increased redundancy, a comparator configured to compare a bandwidth used to convey the encoded media stream at the increased redundancy level with a bandwidth for conveying the encoded media stream at a second quality level greater than the first quality level, the apparatus being further configured to provide a switching signal to a media encoder to start encoding the media stream at the second quality level responsive to the used bandwidth being sufficient for conveying the media stream encoded at the second quality level and the determined error rate being less than a predetermined threshold value.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

an encoding control unit configured to instruct a redundancy encoder to increase a level of redundancy of an encoded media stream;

an error rate determination unit configured to determine an error rate of a communication path conveying the encoded media stream with increased redundancy; and

a bandwidth comparator configured to compare a bandwidth used to convey the encoded media stream at the increased redundancy level with a bandwidth for conveying the encoded media stream at a second quality level greater than the first quality level;

the encoding control unit being further configured to provide a switching signal to a media encoder to start encoding the media stream at the second quality level responsive to the used bandwidth being sufficient for conveying the media stream encoded at the second quality level and the determined error rate being less than a predetermined threshold value.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the redundancy encoder and media encoder are the same unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the redundancy encoder and media encoder are separate units.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the quality level is a level of at least one of:

video frame rate, sampling rate and resolution.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the error rate is determined from at least one of:

bit error rate, frame error rate and distribution of positive and negative acknowledgements.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the error control unit is configured to increase the level of redundancy in stages, wherein the redundancy is increased more than once to increase the bandwidth used to a level which exceeds the minimum needed to convey the media stream at the second quality level.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the increasing is done by effecting a change in an encoding parameter in the redundancy encoder, whereby the redundancy level is increased.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the increasing is done by effecting a change in an encoding parameter in a media transport protocol.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein changing the quality level is done in a way that does not increase a used bandwidth.

10. An encoder comprising an apparatus according to claim 1.

21. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein increasing the level of redundancy is done in stages, wherein the redundancy is increased more than once to increase the bandwidth used to a level which exceeds the minimum needed to convey the media stream at the second quality level.

11. A method, comprising:

instructing a redundancy encoder to increase a level of redundancy of an encoded media stream;

determining an error rate of a communication path conveying the encoded media stream with increased redundancy;

comparing a bandwidth used to convey the encoded media stream at the increased redundancy level with a bandwidth for conveying the encoded media stream at a second quality level greater than the first quality level;

responsive to the used bandwidth being sufficient for conveying the media stream encoded at the second quality level and the determined error rate being less than a predetermined threshold value, providing a switching signal to a media encoder to start encoding the media stream at the second quality level.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the redundancy encoder and media encoder are the same unit.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the redundancy encoder and media encoder are separate units.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the quality level is a level of at least one of:

video frame rate, sampling rate and resolution.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the error rate is determined from at least one of:

bit error rate, frame error rate and distribution of positive and negative acknowledgements.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the level of redundancy is increased in stages, wherein the redundancy is increased more than once to increase the bandwidth used to a level which exceeds the minimum needed to convey the media stream at the second quality level.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the increasing is done by effecting a change in an encoding parameter in the redundancy encoder, whereby the redundancy level is increased.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the increasing is done by effecting a change in an encoding parameter in a media transport protocol.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein changing the quality level is done in a way that does not increase a used bandwidth.

23. The method of claim 12, further comprising that the redundancy level is decreased responsive to the data rate increasing.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with a computer, the computer program code comprising:

code for instructing a redundancy encoder to increase a level of redundancy of an encoded media stream;

code for determining an error rate of a communication path conveying the encoded media stream with increased redundancy;

code for comparing a bandwidth used to convey the encoded media stream at the increased redundancy level with a bandwidth for conveying the encoded media stream at a second quality level greater than the first quality level and

code for providing a switching signal to a media encoder to start encoding the media stream at the second quality level responsive to the used bandwidth being sufficient for conveying the media stream encoded at the second quality level and the determined error rate being less than a predetermined threshold value.

22. A method, comprising

detecting a change in a data rate output by a codec;

responsive to the change in data rate, modifying a redundancy level, wherein the redundancy level is increased responsive to the data rate declining.