Media Processor

• US 20130166580A1
• Filed: 09/19/2012
• Published: 06/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Quickplay Media Inc (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maharajh, Kavi, MacNeil, Bart, Walker, Torin, Perov, Dennis, Rao, Girish Govind
• Application Number:
  US13/622,681
• Publication Number:
  US 20130166580A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/26 Arrangements for switching distribution systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/91 Mobile communication networks for accessing the Internet H04H60/85
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• 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 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 : Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 : embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6112 : involving terrestrial transmission, e.g. DVB-T
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 : involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 : Unicasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

In embodiments, the present invention provides method and system for determining if an existing pass log may be reused. The method may include associating an existing pass log with an encoding profile. The method may further include computing with a processor a signature for the encoding profile and for a target encoding profile. The method may include comparing with the processor at least a portion of the two signatures and based on a result of the comparing, storing in a processor accessible memory at least one of an indication that the pass log file may be used in conjunction with the target encoding profile and an indication that the pass log file cannot be used in conjunction with the target encoding profile.

Claims

1. A method of determining if an existing pass log can be reused, comprising:

associating an existing pass log with an encoding profile;

computing with a processor a signature for the encoding profile and for a target encoding profile;

comparing with the processor at least a portion of the two signatures; and

based on a result of the comparing, storing in a processor accessible memory at least one of an indication that the pass log file can be used in conjunction with the target encoding profile and an indication that the pass log file cannot be used in conjunction with the target encoding profile.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the two signatures is based on at least bit rate and resolution values of the encoding profile.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein at least one of the bit rate values are not equal to each other and the resolution values of each signature are not equal to each other.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the two signatures are based on a plurality of variables and wherein an indication that the pass log file can be used in conjunction with the target encoding profile is independent of whether the bit rate and resolution value are equal to each other.

53. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more signatures is based on a consumption profile.

5-9. -9. (canceled)

10. A method of determining if a pass log file should be stored in a processor accessible memory, comprising:

accessing with a processor in a processor accessible memory a signature of an encoding profile for which a pass log is generated;

comparing with the processor the signature of the encoding profile for which the pass log was generated to a signature of at least one other encoding profile; and

based on a result of the comparing, storing the pass log in a processor accessible memory for use with the at least one other encoding profile.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the signatures of the encoding profiles are based on a plurality of variables, and wherein the comparing yields that all but two of said variables are equal to each other.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the signatures of the encoding profiles are based on a plurality of variables, and wherein the comparing yields that at least three of the variables are not equal to each other.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the signatures of the encoding profiles are based on a plurality of variables, and wherein the comparing yields that a majority of the variables are equal to each other.

55. The method of claim 10 wherein the processor accessible memory is an NFS.

56. The method of claim 10 wherein the pass log is generated from at least one of a source file and mezzanine file that is transferred from the NFS to the server.

14. A method of selecting between performing pass log generation and pass log reuse, comprising:

analyzing with a processor an existing pass log file that was generated during encoding of a source media file with an encoding profile;

analyzing with the processor a signature for the encoding profile and a signature for a target encoding profile;

receiving a request with the processor for processing the source media file with the target encoding profile; and

comparing at least a portion of the two signatures to produce an indication of the pass log being reusable for processing the source media file with the target encoding profile and updating the request with the indication.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the signatures are based on a plurality of variables of an encoding profile and the request is updated to indicate generating a first pass log file when a threshold number of variables on which the signatures are based are not equal to each other.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the threshold number is three or more.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the signatures are based on a plurality of variables of an encoding profile and wherein the request is updated to indicate using the existing pass log file when a threshold number of signature variables are equal to each other.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the threshold number is fourteen or more.

19-32. -32. (canceled)

33. A method of generating a plurality of pass logs to efficiently provide a plurality of differently encoded formats of a source file, comprising:

analyzing a media file meta data with a processor to identify a set of candidate encoding profiles for transcoding the media file;

grouping with the processor the set of candidate encoding profiles into pass log reuse groups, wherein a single pass log is useable in a multi-stage encoding process for each encoding profile in a pass log reuse group; and

generating a pass log file for each group of encoding profiles.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the meta data comprise values related to a bit rate.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein the meta data comprise values related to resolution.

36. The method of claim 33 wherein the grouping is based on said meta data.

37-52. -52. (canceled)

54. (canceled)

57-58. -58. (canceled)

59. A method of determining if a mezzanine file should be created for a media file, comprising:

identifying with a processor the cost of computing a mezzanine file from a source file based on at least one of computing time, processing time and data costs;

identifying the number of encoding profiles that may reuse a pass log file of the mezzanine file;

identifying the expected savings of use of the mezzanine file based on a cost of computing the mezzanine file and the number of encoding profiles that may reuse a pass log file of the mezzanine file;

comparing the cost of mezzanine file generation with the expected savings; and

if the expected savings reaches a threshold, generating a mezzanine file from the media file.

60. (canceled)