DEVICE, METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MEDIA DISTRIBUTION

• US 20140289371A1
• Filed: 03/11/2014
• Published: 09/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Europe (Amsterdam) BV (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Europe Limited (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Moore, Nigel Stuart
• Application Number:
  US14/203,712
• Publication Number:
  US 20140289371A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation

Abstract

A media distribution system comprises a client device and a server device connected by a data link, in which the server device is operable to provide respective versions of successive contiguous segments of a media presentation, each segment being encoded as at least two versions at different respective data rates and the client device is operable to request, from the server device, a version of each successive segment so as to stream the media presentation from the server device to the client device; the server device being configured to provide a data file to the client device defining the available versions of the segments according to their respective data rates and an indication of their respective encoding quality; and the client device being configured to select, in respect of a segment of the media presentation, a version having a data rate which does not exceed the data capacity of the data link and which has the highest indication of encoding quality.

Claims

1. A media distribution system comprising client device circuitry and server device circuitry connected by a data link, in which the server device circuitry is configured to provide respective versions of successive contiguous segments of a media presentation, each segment being encoded as at least two versions at different respective data rates and the client device circuitry is configured to request, from the server device circuitry, a version of each successive segment so as to stream the media presentation from the server device circuitry to the client device circuitry;

the server device circuitry being configured to provide a data file to the client device circuitry defining the available versions of the segments according to their respective data rates and an indication of their respective encoding quality; and

the client device circuitry being configured to select, in respect of a segment of the media presentation, a version having a data rate which does not exceed the data capacity of the data link and which has the highest indication of encoding quality.

2. A system according to claim 1, in which, amongst the versions available in respect of a segment, the relationship between encoding quality and data rate is not monotonic.

3. A system according to claim 1, in which the client device circuitry comprises:

a data buffer circuitry configured to buffer media data received via the data link; and

a buffer occupancy detector circuitry configured to detect the occupancy of the data buffer circuitry;

the client device circuitry being configured to select a lower data rate version if the detected buffer occupancy falls below a lower occupancy limit.

4. A system according to claim 1, in which:

the versions are encoded according to a group of two or more different media encoders; and

the indication of the respective encoding quality comprises an indication of an equivalent data rate of a version if that version were encoded using a different media encoder of the group.

5. A system according to claim 1, in which, for two versions of a similar encoding quality, the server data file defines that one of the two versions which has a lower data rate as having a higher quality than the other of the two versions.

6. A system according to claim 1, in which the data file is a media presentation description file in an XML format.

7. A system according to claim 1, in which the server device circuitry is configured to supply the data file to the client device circuitry prior to the client device circuitry streaming the media data.

8. Media distribution server device circuitry connectable by a data link to client device circuitry, in which the server device circuitry is operable to provide respective versions of successive contiguous segments of a media presentation, each segment being encoded as at least two versions at different respective data rates and a data file to the client device circuitry defining the available versions of the segments according to their respective data rates and an indication of their respective encoding quality.

9. A media distribution method for a client device and a server device connected by a data link, comprising:

the server device providing respective versions of successive contiguous segments of a media presentation, each segment being encoded as at least two versions at different respective data rates;

the server device providing a data file to the client device defining the available versions of the segments according to their respective data rates and an indication of their respective encoding quality;

the client device requesting, from the server device, a version of each successive segment so as to stream the media presentation from the server device to the client device; and

the client device selecting, in respect of a segment of the media presentation, a version having a data rate which does not exceed the data capacity of the data link and which has the highest indication of encoding quality.

10. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which is stored computer software which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of claim 9.