Systems and Methods for Communicating a Live Event to Users using the Internet
First Claim
1. A portable system for distributing an audio/visual feed of a live event, comprising:
- a first ambient microphone positioned at a first position relative to the live event;
a second ambient microphone positioned at a second position relative to the live event;
a sound mixer, the sound mixer configured to receive and mix together (i) a first ambient audio signal from the first ambient microphone, (ii) a second ambient audio signal from the second ambient microphone, and (iii) a sound board feed from a public address system associated with the live event, thereby forming a mixed audio signal;
a plurality of video cameras positioned and configured to record the live event;
a video board comprising a plurality of video inputs, each respective video input in the plurality of video inputs receiving a video input signal from a corresponding video camera in the plurality of video cameras, the video board further comprising a selection mechanism for selecting the video input signal received by a video input in the plurality of video inputs as a video output from the video board;
a recorder, wherein the recorder comprises (i) an audio input for receiving the mixed audio signal from the sound mixer and (ii) a video input for receiving the video output from the video board, and wherein the recorder is configured to combine the mixed audio signal with the video output from the video board, thereby producing an audio/visual signal and wherein the recorder is configured to output the audio/visual signal as a composite serial digital interface signal;
an encoder having an input port for receiving the composite serial digital interface signal, the encoder encoding the composite serial digital interface signal using (i) a first video codec at each of a first plurality of bitrates and (ii) a first audio codec, thereby forming a first plurality of bitrate streams, each respective bitrate stream in the first plurality of bitrate streams comprising the video portion of the composite serial digital interface signal encoded at a corresponding bitrate in the first plurality of bitrates by the first video codec; and
a satellite uplink router configured to;
receive the first plurality of bitrate streams using an HTTP protocol, andtransmit the first plurality of bitrate streams to a satellite for distribution to one or more downlink servers for distribution on the Internet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for distributing an audio/visual feed of a live event include mixing ambient audio signals, from ambient microphones monitoring the live event, with sound board feed from the event public address system, thereby forming a mixed audio signal. A video input signal is received at each video input in a plurality of video inputs at a video board from corresponding cameras recording the event. One such video input signal is selected as the video board output and is combined with the mixed audio signal thereby producing an audio/visual signal. This signal is encoded using a video codec, at each of several bitrates, and an audio codec, thereby forming bitrate streams each comprising the video portion of the audio/visual signal at a unique bitrate. The streams are received by a satellite router and transmitted to a satellite which sends them to one or more downlink servers for Internet distribution.
52 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A portable system for distributing an audio/visual feed of a live event, comprising:
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a first ambient microphone positioned at a first position relative to the live event; a second ambient microphone positioned at a second position relative to the live event; a sound mixer, the sound mixer configured to receive and mix together (i) a first ambient audio signal from the first ambient microphone, (ii) a second ambient audio signal from the second ambient microphone, and (iii) a sound board feed from a public address system associated with the live event, thereby forming a mixed audio signal; a plurality of video cameras positioned and configured to record the live event; a video board comprising a plurality of video inputs, each respective video input in the plurality of video inputs receiving a video input signal from a corresponding video camera in the plurality of video cameras, the video board further comprising a selection mechanism for selecting the video input signal received by a video input in the plurality of video inputs as a video output from the video board; a recorder, wherein the recorder comprises (i) an audio input for receiving the mixed audio signal from the sound mixer and (ii) a video input for receiving the video output from the video board, and wherein the recorder is configured to combine the mixed audio signal with the video output from the video board, thereby producing an audio/visual signal and wherein the recorder is configured to output the audio/visual signal as a composite serial digital interface signal; an encoder having an input port for receiving the composite serial digital interface signal, the encoder encoding the composite serial digital interface signal using (i) a first video codec at each of a first plurality of bitrates and (ii) a first audio codec, thereby forming a first plurality of bitrate streams, each respective bitrate stream in the first plurality of bitrate streams comprising the video portion of the composite serial digital interface signal encoded at a corresponding bitrate in the first plurality of bitrates by the first video codec; and a satellite uplink router configured to; receive the first plurality of bitrate streams using an HTTP protocol, and transmit the first plurality of bitrate streams to a satellite for distribution to one or more downlink servers for distribution on the Internet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for distributing an audio/visual feed of a live event, the method comprising:
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mixing together (i) a first ambient audio signal from a first ambient microphone monitoring the live event, (ii) a second ambient audio signal from a second ambient microphone monitoring the live event, and (iii) a sound board feed from a public address system associated with the live event, thereby forming a mixed audio signal; receiving a respective video input signal at each respective video input in a plurality of video inputs at a video board from a corresponding camera in a plurality of video cameras, wherein the plurality of video cameras are positioned and configured to record the live event; selecting a video input signal received by a video input in the plurality of video inputs as a video output from the video board; receiving the mixed audio signal at an audio input of a recorder; receiving the video output from the video board at a video input of the recorder; combining, at the recorder, the mixed audio signal with the video output thereby producing an audio/visual signal formatted as a composite serial digital interface signal; receiving the composite serial digital interface signal at an encoder; encoding, at the encoder, the composite serial digital interface signal using (i) a first video codec at each of a plurality of bitrates and (ii) a first audio codec, thereby forming a first plurality of bitrate streams, each respective bitrate stream in the first plurality of bitrate streams comprising the video portion of the composite serial digital interface signal encoded at a corresponding bitrate in the first plurality of bitrates by the first video codec; receiving the first plurality of bitrate streams at a satellite uplink router using an HTTP protocol; and transmitting, using the satellite uplink router, the first plurality of bitrate streams to a satellite for distribution to one or more downlink servers for distribution on the Internet. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification