SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMBINING VARIABLE BIT RATE DATA STREAMS

• US 20130003800A1
• Filed: 06/28/2011
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Finkelstein, Jeffrey L., Kim, Sung-eun, Bing, Benny K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,641,876 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23655 Statistical multiplexing, e.g. by controlling the encoder to alter its bitrate to optimize the bandwidth utilization

Abstract

Systems and methods for combining variable bit rate data streams are provided. A plurality of data streams may be identified by a service provider system that includes one or more computers. Each data stream may be a variable bit rate data stream. Based upon an analysis of the respective variable bit rates, the service provider system may determine a subset of the plurality of data streams to be combined. The subset of data streams may then be combined and output by the service provider system for transmission to one or more consumer devices.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying, by a service provider system comprising one or more computers, a plurality of data streams, each data stream comprising a variable bit rate;

determining, by the service provider system based upon an analysis of the respective variable bit rates, a subset of the plurality of data streams to be combined;

combining, by the service provider system, the subset of data streams; and

outputting, by the service provider system, the combined subset of data streams for transmission to one or more consumer devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the subset of data streams to be combined comprises:

identifying, by the service provider system, an available bandwidth for combining data streams;

calculating, by the service provider system for each data stream, a respective threshold bandwidth; and

determining, by the service provider system based at least in part on the calculated respective threshold bandwidths and the available bandwidth, the subset of data streams.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating a threshold bandwidth for a data stream comprises:

calculating, by the service provider system, an average bit rate for the data stream;

calculating, by the service provider system, a standard deviation for the variable bit rate associated with the data stream; and

calculating, by the service provider system, the threshold bandwidth based at least in part on the average bit rate and the standard deviation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein calculating the threshold bandwidth further comprises:

determining, by the service provider system, a weighting factor associated with a desired delay for transmitting the data stream; and

calculating the threshold bandwidth based at least in part on the determined weighting factor.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying an available bandwidth comprises identifying an available bandwidth associated with a plurality of bonded channels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a subset of the plurality of data streams to be combined comprises determining a subset for a predetermined time period.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a subset of the plurality of data streams to be combined comprises determining a subset comprising data streams having different resolutions.

8. A system, comprising:

at least one memory configured to store computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to;

identify a plurality of variable bit rate data streams;

determine, based upon an analysis of the variable bit rates associated with the data streams, a subset of the data streams to be combined;

direct the combination of the subset of data streams; and

direct the transmission of the combined subset of data streams to one or more consumer devices.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the subset of data streams to be combined by executing the computer-executable instructions to:

identify an available bandwidth for combining data streams;

calculate, for each data stream, a respective threshold bandwidth; and

determine, based at least in part on the calculated respective threshold bandwidths and the available bandwidth, the subset of data streams.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate a threshold bandwidth for each data stream by executing the computer-executable instructions to:

calculate an average bit rate for the data stream;

calculate a standard deviation for the variable bit rate associated with the data stream; and

calculate the threshold bandwidth based at least in part on the average bit rate and the standard deviation.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to calculate the threshold bandwidth based at least in part upon a weighting factor associated with a desired delay for transmitting the data stream.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the identified available bandwidth comprises an available bandwidth associated with a plurality of bonded channels.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the subset of data streams for a predetermined time period.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the subset of data streams to be combined comprises data streams having different resolutions.

15. A method, comprising:

identifying, by a service provider system comprising one or more computers, a data stream comprising a variable bit rate;

calculating, by the service provider system, a threshold bandwidth for the data stream; and

determining, by the service provider system based at least in part on the calculated threshold bandwidth, whether the data stream should be added to a combined group of data streams.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining whether the data stream should be added to a combined group of data streams comprises:

identifying, by the service provider system, an available bandwidth associated with the combined group of data streams; and

determining, by the service provider system, whether the threshold bandwidth exceeds the available bandwidth.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein determining a threshold bandwidth for the data stream comprises:

calculating, by the service provider system, an average bit rate for the data stream;

calculating, by the service provider system, a standard deviation for the variable bit rate associated with the data stream; and

calculating, by the service provider system, the threshold bandwidth based at least in part on the average bit rate and the standard deviation.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein calculating the threshold bandwidth further comprises:

determining, by the service provider system, a weighting factor associated with a desired delay for transmitting the data stream; and

calculating the threshold bandwidth based at least in part on the determined weighting factor.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein identifying an available bandwidth comprises identifying an available bandwidth associated with a plurality of bonded channels.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein determining whether the data stream should be added to a combined group of data streams comprises determining whether the data stream should be added for a predetermined period of time.