BIDIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION ON LIVE MULTIMEDIA BROADCASTS

• US 20130054743A1
• Filed: 08/22/2012
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ustream Incorporated (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Farkas, Gabor, Feher, Gyula, Biro, Zsolt, Nyerges, Gabor
• Granted Patent: US 9,185,152 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/103 with adaptive polling, i.e. dynamically adapting the polling rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A bidirectional connection between a multimedia stream distribution system and a user is used to communicate operational data to and from the user. The bidirectional connection is separate from a multimedia connection that transfers a multimedia stream from the multimedia stream distribution system to the user. Providing a bidirectional connection separate from the multimedia connection is advantageous, among other reasons, because the operational data can be collected effectively at the multimedia stream distribution system independent of any limitations in the multimedia connection. To organize users and reduce processing load, the multimedia stream distribution system assigns users to user groups based on shared characteristics. Groups may be used to propagate information to the users as well as analyze information collected from the users in an efficient manner.

Claims

1. A method for remotely exchanging data over a network comprising:

establishing a first connection between a user and a computing device, wherein the computing device is configured to transmit multimedia items to a plurality of users, the first connection configured to bidirectionally transmit operational data representing data associated with at least one of content, quality, and process of reproducing a multimedia item at the user;

establishing a second connection with the user, the second connection configured to transmit the multimedia item from the computing device to the user; and

at the computing device, sending a multimedia item to the user through the second connection responsive to establishing the second connection between the computing device and the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request for a multimedia item, the computing device establishing the first connection responsive to receiving the request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmissions of operational data over the first connection are initiated at a source of the operational data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the operational data comprises at least one of information describing a network connection quality associated with the user, client device information, and user interaction data.

5. A method for remotely communicating with a user over a network comprising:

at a computing device for transmitting multimedia items to a plurality of users, creating a user profile for each of a plurality of users, the user profile describing characteristics of a corresponding user;

assigning a first subset of the plurality of users to a first user group and a second subset of the plurality of users to a second user group based on user profiles of the plurality of users, each of the first and second subsets of the plurality of users sharing at least one common characteristic; and

communicating with the plurality of users by propagating a communication to the first user group or the second user group.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user profile comprises characteristics collected from the user.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein communicating with the plurality of users comprises:

responsive to propagating the communication to the first user group or the second user group, receiving feedback data from members of the first user group or the second user group;

processing the feedback data into a set of aggregate statistics; and

updating the aggregate statistics responsive to receiving additional feedback data from additional members of the first user group or the second user group.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein communicating with the plurality of users comprises sending the updated aggregate statistics to the members of the first user group or the second user group.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein creating the user profile comprises copying the user profiles from a first component of the computing device to a second component of the computing device to reduce a computation load at the first component.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

establishing a first connection between a user and the computing device, the first connection configured to bidirectionally transmit operational data representing data associated with at least one of content, quality and process of reproducing a multimedia item at the user;

establishing a second connection with the user, the second connection configured to transmit the multimedia items from the computing device to the user; and

sending a multimedia item to the user through the second connection responsive to establishing the second connection between the computing device and the user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein transmissions of operational data over the first connection are initiated at a source of the operational data.

12. A computing system for transmitting multimedia items to a plurality of users over a network comprising:

a connection handling component configured to establish a first connection between a user and the computing system, the first connection configured to bidirectionally transmit operational data representing data associated with at least one of content, quality, and process of reproducing a multimedia item at the user; and

a streaming component configured to establish a second connection with the user, the second connection configured to send the multimedia item from the computing system to the user.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the connection handling component is configured to establish the first connection responsive to receiving a request for a multimedia item.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the operational data comprises at least one of information describing a network connection quality associated with the user, client device information, and user interaction data.

15. The computing system of claim 12, further comprising an application component configured to:

create a user profile for each of the plurality of users, the user profile describing characteristics of a corresponding user;

assign a first subset of the plurality of users to a first user group and a second subset of the plurality of users to a second user group based on user profiles of the plurality of users, each of the first and second subsets of the plurality of users sharing at least one common characteristic; and

communicate with the plurality of users by propagating a communication to the first user group or the second user group.

16. The computing system of claim 15, wherein the user profile comprises characteristics collected from the user.

17. The computing system of claim 15, wherein the application component is further configured to:

responsive to propagating the communication to the first user group or the second user group, receive feedback data from members of the first user group or the second user group;

process the feedback data into a set of aggregate statistics; and

update the aggregate statistics responsive to receiving additional feedback data from additional members of the first user group or the second user group.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

establish a first connection between a user and a computing device, wherein the computing device is configured to transmit multimedia items to a plurality of users, the first connection configured to bidirectionally transmit operational data representing data associated with at least one of content, quality, and process of reproducing a multimedia item at the user;

establish a second connection with the user, the second connection configured to transmit the multimedia item from the computing device to the user; and

send a multimedia item to the user through the second connection responsive to establishing the second connection between the computing device and the user.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to receive a request for a multimedia item and establish the first connection responsive to receiving the request.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein transmissions of operational data over the first connection are initiated at a source of the operational data.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operational data comprises at least one of information describing a network connection quality associated with the user, client device information, and user interaction data.

22. A computer readable medium configured to store instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

create a user profile for each of a plurality of users, the user profile describing characteristics of a corresponding user;

assign a first subset of the plurality of users to a first user group and a second subset of the plurality of users to a second user group based on user profiles of the plurality of users, each of the first and second subsets of the plurality of users sharing at least one common characteristic; and

communicate with the plurality of users by sending a communication to the first user group or the second user group.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the user profile comprises characteristics collected from the user.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to communicate with the plurality of users comprise instructions to:

responsive to propagating the communication to the first user group or the second user group, receive feedback data from members of the first user group or the second user group;

process the feedback data into a set of aggregate statistics; and

update the aggregate statistics responsive to receiving additional feedback data from additional members of the first user group or the second user group.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein communicating with the plurality of users comprises sending the updated aggregate statistics to the members of the first user group or the second user group.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein creating the user profile comprises copying the user profiles from a first component of the computing device to a second component of the computing device to reduce a computation load at the first component.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 22, further comprising instructions to:

establish a first connection between a user and the computing device, the first connection configured to bidirectionally transmit operational data representing data associated with at least one of content, quality and process of reproducing a multimedia item at the user;

establish a second connection with the user, the second connection configured to transmit the multimedia items from the computing device to the user; and

send a multimedia item to the user through the second connection responsive to establishing the second connection between the computing device and the user.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein transmissions of operational data over the first connection are initiated at a source of the operational data.