ADAPTIVELY STREAMING MULTIMEDIA

• US 20110093605A1
• Filed: 10/13/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Choudhury, Sayeed Zaman, Mir, Idreas, Vijayakumar, Rajiv K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,124,642 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program for adaptively streaming multimedia content is disclosed. An adaptive stream manager monitors at least one parameter of a user terminal. The adaptive stream manager monitors at least one parameter of the user terminal and predicting a future value of at least one parameter of the user terminal. The adaptive stream manager also selects a target characteristic, based on the predicted future value of the at least one parameter of the user terminal, and requests a multimedia segment having the target characteristic from a media server.

Claims

1. A method of adaptively streaming multimedia content over a network, comprising:

receiving, at a user terminal, a multimedia stream comprising a plurality of multimedia segments, each multimedia segment having at least one multimedia characteristic;

monitoring at least one parameter of the user terminal;

selecting a target characteristic based on the at least one monitored parameter of the user terminal; and

requesting a multimedia segment having the target characteristic.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing historical parameter values of the at least one parameter of the user terminal;

correlating recent parameter data with the historical parameter values;

predicting a future value of the at least one parameter of the user terminal based on the historical parameter values and the recent parameter data; and

selecting a target characteristic based on the predicted future value of the at least one parameter of the user terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring at least one network parameter, wherein selecting a target characteristic comprises selecting a target bitrate based on the at least one network parameter.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one network parameter is based on one or more of:

media player buffer conditions, network connection bandwidth, network connection latency, network connection type, radio signal strength, a number of IP socket data connections available, an estimated multimedia clip length, user terminal geospatial location, user terminal ground speed, user terminal geospatial direction, or user terminal acceleration.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring at least one media quality parameter, wherein selecting a target characteristic comprises selecting a quality characteristic based on the at least one media quality parameter.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one media quality parameter is based on one or more of:

a user requested quality level, estimated video quality, and estimated sound quality.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring at least one power parameter, wherein selecting a target characteristic comprises selecting a target codec efficiency based on the at least one power parameter.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one power parameter is based on one or more of:

mobile terminal power consumption, remaining battery life, or mobile terminal power source.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user terminal comprises a cellular device.

10. An apparatus capable of adaptively streaming multimedia content over a network, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a multimedia stream comprising a plurality of multimedia segments, each multimedia segment having at least one multimedia characteristic; and

an adaptive stream manager configured to monitor at least one parameter of the apparatus, configured to select a target characteristic based on the at least one monitored parameter of the apparatus, and configured to request a multimedia segment having the target characteristic.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the adaptive stream manager is further configured to store historical parameter values of the at least one parameter of the apparatus, to correlate recent parameter data with the historical parameter values, to predict a future value of the at least one parameter of the apparatus based on the historical parameter values and the recent parameter data, and to select a target characteristic based on the predicted future value of the at least one parameter of the user terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the adaptive stream manager is further configured to monitor at least one network parameter and to select a target bitrate based on the at least one network parameter.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one network parameter is based on one or more of:

media player buffer conditions, network connection bandwidth, network connection latency, network connection type, radio signal strength, a number of IP socket data connections available, an estimated multimedia clip length, apparatus geospatial location, apparatus ground speed, apparatus geospatial direction, or apparatus acceleration.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the adaptive stream manager is further configured to monitor at least one media quality parameter and to select a quality characteristic based on the at least one media quality parameter.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one media quality parameter is based on one or more of:

a user requested quality level, estimated video quality, and estimated sound quality.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the adaptive stream manager is further configured to monitor at least one power parameter and to select a target codec efficiency based on the at least one power parameter.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one power parameter is based on one or more of:

mobile terminal power consumption, remaining battery life, or mobile terminal power source.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein apparatus comprises a cellular device.

19. An apparatus capable of adaptively streaming multimedia content over a network, comprising:

means for receiving a multimedia stream comprising a plurality of multimedia segments, each multimedia segment having at least one multimedia characteristic;

means for monitoring at least one parameter of the apparatus;

means for selecting a target characteristic, based on the at least one monitored parameter of the apparatus; and

means for requesting a multimedia segment having the target characteristic.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that when executed perform a method comprising:

receiving a multimedia stream comprising a plurality of multimedia segments, each multimedia segment having at least one multimedia characteristic;

monitoring at least one parameter of the apparatus;

selecting a target characteristic, based on the at least one monitored parameter of the apparatus; and

requesting a multimedia segment having the target characteristic.