VIRTUAL ASSETS FOR ON-DEMAND CONTENT GENERATION

• US 20150106472A1
• Filed: 10/10/2013
• Published: 04/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Viveganandhan, Mahesh Vittal, Friedrich, Eric Colin, Caulfield, Matthew Francis, Labrozzi, Scott C., Iturralde, Carol Etta
• Granted Patent: US 9,923,945 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2183 Cache memory caches in web servers or browsers G06F16/9574; intermediate storage and caching in data networks H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234309 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or from Quicktime to Realvideo conversion of standards in analog television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2347 involving video stream encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/237 Communication with additional data server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes generating a key associated with a virtual asset associated with content to be provided to a client device, where the key indicates at least one parameter for accessing the content; generating the virtual asset; receiving a request for the content; identifying a format being requested for the content; using the virtual asset to identify common format content to be retrieved and to identify the key; using the key to retrieve the common format content; and transforming the common format content such that it can be delivered to the client device in the format that was requested.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

generating a key associated with a virtual asset associated with content to be provided to a client device, wherein the key indicates at least one parameter for accessing the content;

generating the virtual asset;

receiving a request for the content;

identifying a format being requested for the content;

using the virtual asset to identify common format content to be retrieved and to identify the key;

using the key to retrieve the common format content; and

transforming the common format content such that it can be delivered to the client device in the format that was requested.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the key is associated with encryption of the content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual asset contains pre-created metadata and parameters that facilitate on-demand encapsulation and that optimize at least one on-demand encapsulation process.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual asset includes a virtual asset description, which includes metadata for at least one policy for corresponding encapsulation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the virtual asset further comprises:

communicating a notification that the content has been generated; and

moving the content to a storage system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual asset includes a virtual asset description, which includes pre-created manifest files for a video on-demand (VOD) activity.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual asset includes a virtual asset description, which includes one or more pre-created lookup-tables to assist in determining common intermediate format data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of virtual asset descriptions for plurality of virtual assets are created dynamically on a per-client device basis.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

invoking an on-demand encapsulation framework, wherein the on-demand encapsulation framework uses policies and settings to create a manifest file.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the on-demand encapsulation framework uses a source information block to determine a source media presentation description (MPD) that should be used for the transforming of the common format content.

11. One or more non-transitory tangible media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor operable to perform operations comprising:

generating a key associated with a virtual asset associated with content to be provided to a client device, wherein the key indicates at least one parameter for accessing the content;

generating the virtual asset;

receiving a request for the content;

identifying a format being requested for the content;

using the virtual asset to identify common format content to be retrieved and to identify the key;

using the key to retrieve the common format content; and

transforming the common format content such that it can be delivered to the client device in the format that was requested.

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the key is associated with encryption of the content.

13. The media of claim 11, wherein the virtual asset contains pre-created metadata and parameters that facilitate on-demand encapsulation and that optimize at least one on-demand encapsulation process.

14. The media of claim 11, wherein the virtual asset includes a virtual asset description, which includes metadata for at least one policy for corresponding encapsulation.

15. A network element, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

an on-demand encapsulation engine; and

a virtual asset module, wherein the network element is configured for;

generating a key associated with a virtual asset associated with content to be provided to a client device, wherein the key indicates at least one parameter for accessing the content;

generating the virtual asset;

receiving a request for the content;

identifying a format being requested for the content;

using the virtual asset to identify common format content to be retrieved and to identify the key;

using the key to retrieve the common format content; and

transforming the common format content such that it can be delivered to the client device in the format that was requested.

16. The network element of claim 15, wherein the key is associated with encryption of the content.

17. The network element of claim 15, wherein the virtual asset contains pre-created metadata and parameters that facilitate on-demand encapsulation and that optimize at least one on-demand encapsulation process.

18. The network element of claim 15, wherein a plurality of virtual asset descriptions for plurality of virtual assets are created dynamically on a per-client device basis.

19. The network element of claim 15, wherein the network element is further configured for:

invoking an on-demand encapsulation framework, wherein the on-demand encapsulation framework uses policies and settings to create a manifest file.

20. The network element of claim 15, wherein the on-demand encapsulation framework uses a source information block to determine a source media presentation description (MPD) that should be used for the transforming of the common format content.