Systems and Methods for Estimating Available Bandwidth and Performing Initial Stream Selection When Streaming Content

• US 20130007263A1
• Filed: 12/30/2011
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonic IP Incorporated (Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: DivX, LLC (f/k/a DivX CF Holdings LLC) (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Inventors: Soroushian, Kourosh, Braness, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 8,812,662 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining available bandwidth and performing initial stream selection when commencing adaptive bitrate streaming using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention includes measuring network bandwidth using a playback device, determining an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements, selecting an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the initial bandwidth estimate; and commencing streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the initial streams using the playback device.

Claims

1. A method of selecting an initial stream of encoded media from a plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates, the method comprising:

measuring network bandwidth using a playback device;

determining an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements;

selecting an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the initial bandwidth estimate; and

commencing streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the initial streams using the playback device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the playback device performs the initial bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the network bandwidth measurements to a performance server;

wherein the performance server determines the initial bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring network bandwidth comprises requesting a block of data and measuring the time taken to download the data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring network bandwidth comprises associating a timestamp with the network bandwidth measurement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring network bandwidth comprises associating a content distribution network identifier with the network bandwidth measurement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring network bandwidth comprises associating a server IP address with the network bandwidth measurement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring network bandwidth comprises associating a server hostname with the network bandwidth measurement.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring bandwidth comprises associating a video maximum bitrate with the network bandwidth measurement.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements comprises determining an average network bandwidth using the network bandwidth measurements.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the average network bandwidth is determined by filtering the network bandwidth measurements based upon at least one piece of information associated with the network bandwidth measurements selected from the group consisting of time of day, day of week, content distribution network, server, and maximum bitrate.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements further comprises determining the accuracy of the initial bandwidth estimate.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the initial stream is selected for use in the adaptive bitrate streaming of the encoded media.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the initial stream is selected by initially allocating available bandwidth to streams which have no alternative and allocating the remaining bandwidth to the selection from the plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising selecting a stream from each of a number of sets of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the user can instruct the playback device concerning allocation of bandwidth to at least one of the selections subject to the remaining available bandwidth.

17. A playback device configured to select an initial stream from a plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates, the playback device comprising:

a processor configured, via a client application, to request portions of files from a remote server;

wherein the client application further configures the processor to;

measure network bandwidth using a playback device;

obtain an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements;

select an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the initial bandwidth estimate; and

commence streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the initial streams using the playback device.

18. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to measure network bandwidth by requesting a block of data and measuring the time taken to download the data.

19. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to associate a timestamp with the network bandwidth measurement.

20. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to associate a content distribution network identifier with the network bandwidth measurement.

21. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to associate a server IP address with the network bandwidth measurement.

22. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to associate a server host name with the network bandwidth measurement.

23. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to associate a video maximum bitrate with the network bandwidth measurement.

24. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to associate the playback device IP address with the network bandwidth measurement.

25. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to perform an initial bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements.

26. The playback device of claim 25, wherein the client application further configures the processor to determine an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements by determining an average network bandwidth using the network bandwidth measurements.

27. The playback device of claim 25, wherein the client application further configures the processor to determine the average network bandwidth by filtering the network bandwidth measurements based upon at least one piece of information associated with the network bandwidth measurements selected from the group consisting of time of day, day of week, content distribution network, server and maximum bitrate.

28. The playback device of claim 25, wherein the client application further configures the processor to determine the accuracy of the initial bandwidth estimate.

29. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to:

provide the network bandwidth measurements to a performance server; and

receive an initial bandwidth estimate from the performance server.

30. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the initial stream is selected for use in the adaptive bitrate streaming of the encoded media.

31. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to select the initial stream by initially allocating available bandwidth to streams which have no alternative and allocating the remaining bandwidth to the selection from the plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates.

32. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the client application further configures the processor to select a stream from each of a number of sets of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates.

33. A machine readable medium containing processor instructions, where execution of the instructions by a processor causes the processor to perform a process comprising:

measuring network bandwidth using a playback device;

obtaining an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements;

selecting an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the initial bandwidth estimate; and

commencing streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the initial streams using the playback device.

34. The machine readable medium of claim 33, where execution of the instructions by a processor causes the process to obtain an initial network bandwidth estimate by calculating an initial bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements.

35. The machine readable medium of claim 33, where execution of the instructions by a processor causes the process to obtain an initial network bandwidth estimate by:

transmitting the network bandwidth measurements to a server; and

receiving an initial bandwidth estimate from the server.

36. A method of verifying that a playback device can support playback of a piece of content, the method comprising:

recording performance data concerning playback of streamed content by a playback device;

obtaining a maximum bitrate of a piece of content;

comparing the maximum bitrate of the piece of content to recorded performance data for playback of streamed content by the playback device; and

verify that the playback device can support playback of content based upon the comparison of the maximum bitrate of the piece of content and the recorded performance data for playback of streamed content by the playback device.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the performance data comprises information concerning the amount of time spent buffering streamed content.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein comparing the maximum bitrate of the piece of content to recorded performance data for playback of streamed content by the playback device comprises comparing an amount of time spent buffering streamed content encoded at a maximum bitrate corresponding to the maximum bitrate of the piece of content to a predetermined threshold.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the performance data comprises information concerning the amount of time spent streaming content streams encoded at different maximum bitrates during adaptive bitrate streaming.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein comparing the maximum bitrate of the piece of content to recorded performance data for playback of streamed content by the playback device comprises comparing the proportion of time spent streaming content streams encoded at a maximum bitrate corresponding to the maximum bitrate of the piece of content to a predetermined threshold.