CONTENT NETWORK OPTIMIZATION UTILIZING SOURCE MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS
First Claim
1. A method of preparing content for segmented delivery to a user device over a network, comprising:
- creating a plurality of encodings of a content item and storing the encodings in a content delivery network, the encodings ranging from a minimum-rate encoding to a maximum-rate encoding, the encodings being created on a segment basis and resulting in a set of different-rate encoded segments for each segment of the content item;
for each segment of the content item, comparing a dynamics metric for the segment to a set of thresholds defining intervals of a dynamic range of the content, the intervals ranging from a minimum-dynamics interval to a maximum-dynamics interval, the maximum-dynamics interval representing a maximum level of dynamics and being mapped to a corresponding one of the encodings, successively lower-dynamics intervals representing successively lower levels of dynamics in the content and being mapped to successively lower-rate ones of the encodings, the comparing resulting in selection of an encoding to which an interval containing the dynamics metric is mapped; and
creating download control data and making it available to the user device for use in downloading the content from the content delivery network for local rendering, the download control data including an identification of the selected encoding for each of the segments of the content item.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Content is prepared for delivery to a user device by creating multiple encodings that are then stored in a content delivery network. Encodings range from a minimum-rate encoding to a maximum-rate encoding. For each segment of the content, a dynamics metric is compared to thresholds defining intervals of a dynamic range. The intervals, ranging from a minimum-dynamics interval to a maximum-dynamics interval, represent corresponding levels of dynamics and are mapped to corresponding encodings. The comparing results in selection of an encoding based on the dynamics metric, which may be a scene change count that reflects the number of independently renderable frames in the segment, available in MPEG encoding. Selections are included in download control data used by the user device to download the content. The user device selectively retrieves different encodings of segments, achieving lower bandwidth usage without sacrificing fidelity.
42 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of preparing content for segmented delivery to a user device over a network, comprising:
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creating a plurality of encodings of a content item and storing the encodings in a content delivery network, the encodings ranging from a minimum-rate encoding to a maximum-rate encoding, the encodings being created on a segment basis and resulting in a set of different-rate encoded segments for each segment of the content item; for each segment of the content item, comparing a dynamics metric for the segment to a set of thresholds defining intervals of a dynamic range of the content, the intervals ranging from a minimum-dynamics interval to a maximum-dynamics interval, the maximum-dynamics interval representing a maximum level of dynamics and being mapped to a corresponding one of the encodings, successively lower-dynamics intervals representing successively lower levels of dynamics in the content and being mapped to successively lower-rate ones of the encodings, the comparing resulting in selection of an encoding to which an interval containing the dynamics metric is mapped; and creating download control data and making it available to the user device for use in downloading the content from the content delivery network for local rendering, the download control data including an identification of the selected encoding for each of the segments of the content item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer program storage apparatus comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium with a set of computer program instructions recorded thereon, the computer program instructions being operative, when executed by one or more computers of a computer system, to cause the computer system to perform a method of preparing content for segmented delivery to a user device over a network, the method including:
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creating a plurality of encodings of a content item and storing the encodings in a content delivery network, the encodings ranging from a minimum-rate encoding to a maximum-rate encoding, the encodings being created on a segment basis and resulting in a set of different-rate encoded segments for each segment of the content item; for each segment of the content item, comparing a dynamics metric for the segment to a set of thresholds defining intervals of a dynamic range of the content, the intervals ranging from a minimum-dynamics interval to a maximum-dynamics interval, the maximum-dynamics interval representing a maximum level of dynamics and being mapped to a corresponding one of the encodings, successively lower-dynamics intervals representing successively lower levels of dynamics in the content and being mapped to successively lower-rate ones of the encodings, the comparing resulting in selection of an encoding to which an interval containing the dynamics metric is mapped; and creating download control data and making it available to the user device for use in downloading the content from the content delivery network for local rendering, the download control data including an identification of the selected encoding for each of the segments of the content item. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer system, comprising:
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processing circuitry; memory; input/output circuitry; and interconnect circuitry functionally interconnecting the processing circuitry, memory and input/output circuitry, the memory storing a set of computer program instructions being operative, when executed by the processing circuitry, to cause the computer system to perform a method of preparing content for segmented delivery to a user device over a network, the method including; creating a plurality of encodings of a content item and storing the encodings in a content delivery network, the encodings ranging from a minimum-rate encoding to a maximum-rate encoding, the encodings being created on a segment basis and resulting in a set of different-rate encoded segments for each segment of the content item; for each segment of the content item, comparing a dynamics metric for the segment to a set of thresholds defining intervals of a dynamic range of the content, the intervals ranging from a minimum-dynamics interval to a maximum-dynamics interval, the maximum-dynamics interval representing a maximum level of dynamics and being mapped to a corresponding one of the encodings, successively lower-dynamics intervals representing successively lower levels of dynamics in the content and being mapped to successively lower-rate ones of the encodings, the comparing resulting in selection of an encoding to which an interval containing the dynamics metric is mapped; and creating download control data and making it available to the user device for use in downloading the content from the content delivery network for local rendering, the download control data including an identification of the selected encoding for each of the segments of the content item. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification