Media Article Adaptation To Client Device

• US 20110314095A1
• Filed: 08/25/2011
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gupta, Manish, Harding, John, Lacy, Stephen Michael, Rusch, Willard II
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,397 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• 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 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application

Abstract

Systems and methods provide for on-the-fly adaptation of a send rate for content sent to a client based on a detected read rate of the client system for data previously sent. The system and method work within the bounds of simple, existing, open protocols and the media files served are playable by standard media playback clients. The method is driven by a request for media content from a client, in response to which the server provides portions of the media content and monitors the reception rate of the content as it is sent to the client. This method allows for dynamic modification of the send rate of the content after the server has calculated an adjustment to correct for the difference between the reading rate and sending rate, thereby allowing for a send rate most compatible with the client.

Claims

1. A method of serving media content from a content server device to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the media content, the decoder having a frame reading rate, the method, performed on the server device, comprising:

receiving at the server device a request for the media content from the client device;

determining by the server device a frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device, wherein the frame reading rate of the decoder is the rate at which the decoder is reading frames;

altering by the server device a frame sending rate from the server device to the client device by altering the media content to correct for the difference between the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device and a default frame sending rate of the server device; and

transmitting from the server device at least a portion of the altered media content to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device further comprises:

transmitting from the server device a first portion of the requested media content from the server device to the client device at the default frame sending rate of the server device; and

monitoring by the server device a reception rate of the first portion at the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device further comprises:

transmitting from the server device a test packet from the server device to the client device at the default frame sending rate of the server device, the test packet comprising non-requested media content; and

monitoring by the server device a reception rate of the first portion at the client device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the altered media content is served prior to formation of the requested media content as a whole.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises adding frames to an original frame count for the media content to produce an increased frame count, thereby decreasing an apparent playback rate.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises removing frames from an original frame count for the media content to produce a decreased frame count, thereby increasing an apparent playback rate.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the media content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device divided by the frame sending rate of the server device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises altering the number of frames by removing frames from the media content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises altering the number of frames by adding duplicate frames to the media content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises altering the number of frames by inserting format-specific markers into the media content that direct the client device to duplicate a previous frame.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing at the server device a frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device for a client host domain.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least video.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least audio content, the method further comprising replacing by the server device the audio content with silence.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises at least one media content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one media content identifier.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the instructions further comprise a media content transformation instruction.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein altering comprises altering an amount of data in the media content.

18. A computer program product for serving media content from a content server device to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the media content, the decoder having a frame reading rate, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

receiving at the server device a request for media content from the client device;

determining by the server device a frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device, wherein the frame reading rate of the decoder is the rate at which the decoder is reading frames;

altering by the server device a frame sending rate from the server device to the client device by altering the media content to correct for the difference between the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device and a default sending rate of the server device; and

transmitting from the server device at least a portion of the altered media content to the client device.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein determining the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device further comprises:

transmitting a first portion of the requested media content from the server device to the client device at the default frame sending rate of the server device; and

monitoring by the server device a reception rate of the first portion at the client device.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein determining the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device further comprises:

transmitting a test packet from the server device to the client device at the default frame sending rate of the server device, the test packet comprising non-requested media content; and

monitoring by the server device a reception rate of the first portion at the client device.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the portion of the altered media content is served prior to formation of the requested media content as a whole.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein altering comprises selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the media content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device divided by the frame sending rate of the server device.

23. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein altering comprises altering the number of frames by inserting format-specific markers into the media content that direct the client device to duplicate a previous frame.

24. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising computer program code for storing at the server device a frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device for a client host domain.

25. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein altering comprises altering an amount of data in the media content.

26. A system for serving media content from a content server device to a client device, the client device having a decoder for decoding the media content, the decoder having a frame reading rate, the system comprising:

means for receiving at the server device a request for media content from the client device;

means for determining by the server device a frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device, wherein the frame reading rate of the decoder is the rate at which the decoder is reading frames;

means for altering by the server device a frame sending rate from the server device to the client device by altering the media content to correct for the difference between the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device and a default frame sending rate of the server device; and

means for transmitting from the server device at least a portion of the altered media content to the client device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the means for determining by the server device the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device further comprises:

means for transmitting a first portion of the requested media content from the server device to the client device at the default frame sending rate of the server device; and

means for monitoring at the server device a reception rate of the first portion at the client device.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the portion of the altered media content is served prior to formation of the requested content as a whole.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the means for altering comprises means for selectively adding or removing frames from an original frame count for the media content to produce an altered frame count in response to the request, the altered frame count determined by the product of the original frame count and the frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device divided by the frame sending rate of the server device.

30. The system of claim 26, further comprising means for storing at a server device a frame reading rate of the decoder of the client device for a client host domain.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein altering comprises altering an amount of data in the media content.