OPTIMIZED IMAGE DELIVERY OVER LIMITED BANDWIDTH COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
First Claim
1. A method of communicating images for display to a plurality of wireless portable devices, the method comprising steps of:
- pre-processing a source image to obtain a series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) of related images of progressively lower image resolution, wherein each related image of the series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) comprises pixel data and is subdivided into a regular array of image parcels, and each image parcel of each regular array of the image parcels forms a discrete portion of the source image;
storing the image parcels of the series for serving by one or more servers;
providing client software to a wireless portable device;
receiving a first request at the one or more servers from the first wireless portable device over a network communication channel, wherein the network communication channel is at least in part wireless, and the first request being for a first image parcel of the series, wherein the first image parcel is selected based on a first user-controlled image viewpoint on the first wireless portable device relative to the source image;
sending the first image parcel from the one or more servers to the first wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the first request;
receiving a second request at the one or more servers from the first wireless portable device over the network communication channel, the second request being for a second image parcel of the series, wherein the second image parcel is selected based on the first user-controlled image viewpoint on the first wireless portable device relative to the source image, the step of receiving the second request being performed after the step of receiving the first request; and
sending the second image parcel from the one or more servers to the first wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the second request;
wherein;
the first wireless portable device renders at least a portion of the first image parcel before finishing receiving the second image parcel;
the first wireless portable device issues the first request and the second request according to a priority order;
priority of the second request in the priority order is not higher than priority of the first request in the priority order;
the first wireless portable device stores the first image parcel and the second image parcel in a local parcel storage at the first wireless portable device;
before issuing the first request, the first wireless portable device determines that a third image parcel is usable for the first user-controlled image viewpoint and the third image parcel is already stored in the local parcel storage, and the first wireless portable device renders the third image parcel before issuing the first request without requesting the third image parcel over the network communication channel;
the first wireless portable device handles download operations of at least the first image parcel and the second image parcel in parallel, thereby enabling efficient use of network bandwidth in conditions of network latency; and
the local parcel store is configured as a server to provide access to the at least some image parcels received by the first wireless portable device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Large-scale images are retrieved over network communications channels for display on a client device by selecting an update image parcel relative to an operator controlled image viewpoint to display via the client device. A request is prepared for the update image parcel and associated with a request queue for subsequent issuance over a communications channel. The update image parcel is received from the communications channel and displayed as a discrete portion of the predetermined image. The update image parcel optimally has a fixed pixel array size, is received in a single and or plurality of network data packets, and were the fixed pixel array may be constrained to a resolution less than or equal to the resolution of the client device display.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of communicating images for display to a plurality of wireless portable devices, the method comprising steps of:
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pre-processing a source image to obtain a series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) of related images of progressively lower image resolution, wherein each related image of the series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) comprises pixel data and is subdivided into a regular array of image parcels, and each image parcel of each regular array of the image parcels forms a discrete portion of the source image;storing the image parcels of the series for serving by one or more servers; providing client software to a wireless portable device; receiving a first request at the one or more servers from the first wireless portable device over a network communication channel, wherein the network communication channel is at least in part wireless, and the first request being for a first image parcel of the series, wherein the first image parcel is selected based on a first user-controlled image viewpoint on the first wireless portable device relative to the source image; sending the first image parcel from the one or more servers to the first wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the first request; receiving a second request at the one or more servers from the first wireless portable device over the network communication channel, the second request being for a second image parcel of the series, wherein the second image parcel is selected based on the first user-controlled image viewpoint on the first wireless portable device relative to the source image, the step of receiving the second request being performed after the step of receiving the first request; and sending the second image parcel from the one or more servers to the first wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the second request; wherein; the first wireless portable device renders at least a portion of the first image parcel before finishing receiving the second image parcel; the first wireless portable device issues the first request and the second request according to a priority order; priority of the second request in the priority order is not higher than priority of the first request in the priority order; the first wireless portable device stores the first image parcel and the second image parcel in a local parcel storage at the first wireless portable device; before issuing the first request, the first wireless portable device determines that a third image parcel is usable for the first user-controlled image viewpoint and the third image parcel is already stored in the local parcel storage, and the first wireless portable device renders the third image parcel before issuing the first request without requesting the third image parcel over the network communication channel; the first wireless portable device handles download operations of at least the first image parcel and the second image parcel in parallel, thereby enabling efficient use of network bandwidth in conditions of network latency; and the local parcel store is configured as a server to provide access to the at least some image parcels received by the first wireless portable device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computing system comprising one or more servers, wherein the one or more servers are coupled to a wireless portable device by a network communication channel, the network communication channel being at least in part wireless, the one or more servers being configured to:
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pre-process a source image to obtain a series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) of related images of progressively lower image resolution, wherein each related image of the series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) comprises pixel data and is subdivided into a regular array of image parcels, and each image parcel of each regular array of the image parcels forms a discrete portion of the source image;store the image parcels of the series for serving by the one or more servers; provide client software to the wireless portable device; receive a first request from the wireless portable device over the network communication channel, the first request being for a first image parcel of the series, wherein the first image parcel is selected based on a first user-controlled image viewpoint on the wireless portable device relative to the source image; send the first image parcel from the one or more servers to the wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the first request; receive a second request from the wireless portable device over the network communication channel, the second request being for a second image parcel of the series, wherein the second image parcel is selected based on the first user-controlled image viewpoint on the wireless portable device relative to the source image, the second request being received by the one or more servers after the first request is received by the one or more servers; and send the second image parcel from the one or more servers to the wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the second request; wherein; the wireless portable device renders at least a portion of the first image parcel before finishing receiving the second image parcel; the wireless portable device issues the first request and the second request according to a priority order; priority of the second request in the priority order is not higher than priority of the first request in the priority order; the wireless portable device stores the first image parcel and the second image parcel in a local parcel storage at the first wireless portable device; before issuing the first request, the first wireless portable device determines that a third image parcel is usable for the first user-controlled image viewpoint and that the third image parcel is already stored in the local parcel storage, and the wireless portable device renders the third image parcel before issuing the first request without requesting the third image parcel over the network communication channel; the wireless portable device handles download operations of at least the first image parcel and the second image parcel in parallel, thereby enabling efficient use of network bandwidth in conditions of network latency; and the local parcel store is configured as a server to provide access to the at least some image parcels received by the wireless portable device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A wireless portable device, wherein:
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the wireless portable device is coupled to one or more servers over a network communication channel, the network communication channel being at least in part wireless, the one or more servers storing a series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) of related images of progressively lower image resolution, each related image of the series (K0, K−
1 . . . K1-N) comprising pixel data and being subdivided into a regular array of image parcels, each image parcel of each regular array of the image parcels of the series forming a discrete portion of a source image, the series being obtained by processing the source image, the one or more servers being configured to serve the related images of the series;the wireless portable device is configured to; determine a first image parcel of the series based on a first user-controlled image viewpoint on the wireless portable device relative to the source image; send a first request for the first image parcel of the series to the one or more servers over the network communication channel; receive the first image parcel from the one or more servers over the network communication channel, in response to the first request; determine a second image parcel based on the first user-controlled image viewpoint on the wireless portable device relative to the source image; send a second request for the second image parcel to the one or more servers, the second request being sent after the first request; and receive the second image parcel from the one or more servers to the wireless portable device over the network communication channel, in response to the second request; render at least a portion of the first image parcel before finishing receiving the second image parcel; store the first image parcel and the second image parcel in a local parcel storage at the first wireless portable device; before sending the first request, determine that a third image parcel is usable for the first user-controlled image viewpoint and the third image parcel is already stored in the local parcel storage, and render the third image parcel without requesting the third image parcel over the network communication channel; handle download operations of at least the first image parcel and the second image parcel in parallel, thereby enabling efficient use of network bandwidth in conditions of network latency; configure the local parcel store as a server to provide access to at least some image parcels received by the wireless portable device; the first request and the second request are issued according to a priority order; priority of the second request in the priority order is not higher than priority of the first request in the priority order. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification