Methods and Apparatus for Media Navigation

• US 20120216121A1
• Filed: 02/16/2012
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VID SCALE Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Lin, Kui, Yu, Hong Heather
• Granted Patent: US 9,288,511 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/721
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8583 by creating hot-spots

Abstract

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for streaming a media includes a server side receiver for receiving a request to stream a media from a media player. The apparatus further includes a content generator, a server side transmitter, and a media stream generator. The content generator is configured to generate content information providing a plurality of presentation options to consume the media. The server side transmitter is configured to send the content information. The server side receiver is further configured to receive a selected presentation option from amongst the plurality of presentation options. The media stream generator is configured to generate a media stream comprising the media based on the selected presentation option.

Claims

1. A method of playing a media, the method comprising:

receiving content information that provides a plurality of options to consume the media;

displaying the content information of a media player;

sending a request to stream the media based on one option selected from the plurality of options;

receiving a first media stream; and

displaying the first media stream, the first media stream being displayed in accordance with the selected option.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a second media stream before sending the request to stream the media; and

stopping the second media stream after receiving the first media stream.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content information is displayed outside a player main window displaying the first media stream.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the content information comprises:

receiving an index file describing a structure of spatial features within the media;

receiving a descriptor data file comprising descriptors for the spatial features, the descriptor data file being received sequentially using a multiple layered scheme; and

receiving a manifest file comprising description of the descriptor data file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the content information comprise information for objects, regions, scenes, or stories within the media.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the objects comprise people, things, animals.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the content information is displayed in a play control box.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the request to stream the media comprises sending the request to stream the media based on a selection from a clickable option.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of options for consuming the media comprises a option selected from the group consisting of highlight based media consumption, summary based media consumption, object based media consumption, scene based media consumption, and heat map based media consumption.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of options further comprises an option selected from the group consisting of video frame rate, video resolution, audio bit depth, audio bit rate, and audio channels.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of options for consuming the media comprises highlight and heat map based media consumption.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the content information comprises information relating to temporal portions of the media stream.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the content information comprises information relating to spatial portions of the media stream.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of options of consuming the media comprises consuming additional media related to temporal portions of the media stream.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the additional media comprise a media selected from the group consisting of cut-out scenes, related interviews, critiques, synopsis, editorials, ratings, and reviews.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the first media stream comprises navigable parts configured to be selected for further streaming.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

sending a request to stream a selected navigable part of the first media stream;

receiving a second media stream with the selected navigable part; and

displaying the second media stream, wherein a resolution of the selected navigable part in the second media stream is higher than a resolution of the selected navigable part in the first media stream.

18. An apparatus for playing a media, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to receive content information that provides a plurality of options to consume the media;

a display configured to display the content information of a media player; and

a transmitter configured to send a request to stream the media based on one option selected from the plurality of options,

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a media stream, and wherein the display is further configured to display the media stream in accordance with the selected option.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the receiver is configured to receive an index file describing a structure of spatial features within the media, wherein the receiver is configured to receive a descriptor data file comprising descriptors for the spatial features, wherein the descriptor data file is received sequentially using a multiple layered scheme, and wherein the receiver is configured to receive a manifest file comprising description of the descriptor data file.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the content information comprise information for objects, regions, scenes, or stories within the media.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the objects comprise people, things, animals.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the display is further configured to display the content information outside a player main window displaying the media stream.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the display is further configured to display the content information in a play control box.

24. A method of displaying a media, the method comprising:

receiving a request to stream a media;

generating content information providing a plurality of presentation options to consume the media;

sending the content information;

receiving a selected presentation option from amongst the plurality of presentation options; and

generating a first media stream comprising the media based on the selected presentation option.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein generating the content information comprises:

generating spatial features within the media;

generating a descriptor data file comprising descriptors for the spatial features;

generating an index file describing a structure of the spatial features; and

generating a manifest file comprising a description of the descriptor data file.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein sending the content information comprises:

sending the manifest file and the index file; and

sending the descriptor data file sequentially using a multiple layered scheme.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein sending the content information comprises sending the content information along with a second media stream.

28. The method of claim 24, further comprising sending the first media stream.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality of presentation options for consuming the media comprises a presentation option selected from the group consisting of highlight based media consumption, summary based media consumption, object based media consumption, scene based media consumption, and heat map based media consumption.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the plurality of presentation options further comprises a presentation option selected from the group consisting of video frame rate, video resolution, audio bit depth, audio bit rate, and audio channels.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality of presentation options comprises highlight and heat map based media consumption.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the content information comprises information relating to temporal portions of the first media stream.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the content information comprises information relating to spatial portions of the first media stream.

34. An apparatus for streaming a media, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a request to stream a media;

a content generator configured to generate content information providing a plurality of presentation options to consume the media;

a transmitter configured to send the content information, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a selected presentation option from amongst the plurality of presentation options; and

a media stream generator configured to generate a first media stream comprising the media based on the selected presentation option.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the content generator comprises:

a spatial feature generator configured to generate spatial features within the media;

a descriptor data file generator configured to generate a descriptor data file comprising descriptors for the spatial features;

an index file generator configured to generate an index file describing a structure of the spatial features; and

a manifest file generator configured to generate a manifest file comprising a description of the descriptor data file.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the transmitter is configured to send the manifest file and the index file, and wherein the transmitter is further configured to send the descriptor data file sequentially using a multiple layered scheme.