Differential Media Presentation Descriptions For Video Streaming

• US 20190313150A1
• Filed: 04/08/2019
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Cava, Zachary
• Granted Patent: US 11,039,206 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• 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 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/278 Content descriptor database or directory service for end-user access details of content or meta data based information retrieval of video data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80

Abstract

In some embodiments, a method sends a first instance of a media presentation description to a client for a first set of segments of a media presentation. The first instance of the media presentation description includes status information based on the first set of segments in the media presentation. A request is received for an update to the media presentation description where the request includes the status information. The method uses the status information to identify a latest segment that the client has already received in the media presentation. Then, the method sends a second instance of the media presentation description for a second set of segments that occur after the latest segment in the media presentation as an update to the first instance of the media presentation description. The second instance of the media presentation description excludes at least a portion of information for first set of segments.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sending, by a computing device, a first instance of a media presentation description to a client for a first set of segments of a media presentation, the first instance of the media presentation description including status information based on the first set of segments in the media presentation;

receiving, by the computing device, a request for an update to the media presentation description, the request including the status information;

using, by the computing device, the status information to identify a latest segment that the client has already received in the media presentation; and

sending, by the computing device, a second instance of the media presentation description for a second set of segments that occur after the latest segment in the media presentation as an update to the first instance of the media presentation description, wherein the second instance of the media presentation description excludes at least a portion of information for the first set of segments that was sent in the first instance of the media presentation description.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the client stores a representation of the media presentation description for the first set of segments of the media presentation.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the client updates the representation of the media presentation description with information for the second set of segments upon receiving the second instance of the media presentation description.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the client appends information for the second set of segments to the representation of the media presentation description upon receiving the second instance of the media presentation description.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the client replaces information in the representation of the media presentation description with information from the second instance of the media presentation description.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the second instance of the media presentation description includes a new period for playback of the media presentation, and

the client generates the new period in the representation.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the client appends the second set of segments to a first period,

the second instance of the media presentation description includes a second period for playback of the media presentation,

the client generates the second period in the representation of the media presentation description.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

wherein the status information comprises first status information, and

the second instance of the media presentation description to the media presentation description includes second status information based on the second set of segments.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a second request for a second instance of the media presentation description to the media presentation description, the second request including the second status information;

using the second status information to identify the latest segment the client has already received in the media presentation; and

sending a third instance of the media presentation description to the media presentation description for a third set of segments that occur after the latest segment in the media presentation as another update to the media presentation description, wherein the third instance of the media presentation description excludes at least a portion of information for the first set of segments and the second set of segments.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information comprises a link to request the second set of segments.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

multiple segments are available for the media presentation after the latest segment, and

the second set of segments includes the multiple segments.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

a single segment is available for the media presentation after the latest segment, and

the second set of segments includes the single segment.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second instance of the media presentation description is cached and used to respond to the request from the client and respond to requests for the second instance of the media presentation description from other clients.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information is included in a supplemental property of the first instance of the media presentation description and the second instance of the media presentation description, wherein the supplemental property is an optional property that indicates the client optionally can use the status information.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions, that when executed, control a computer system to be configured for:

sending a first instance of a media presentation description to a client for a first set of segments of a media presentation, the first instance of the media presentation description including status information based on the first set of segments in the media presentation;

receiving a request for an update to the media presentation description, the request including the status information;

using the status information to identify a latest segment that the client has already received in the media presentation; and

sending a second instance of the media presentation description for a second set of segments that occur after the latest segment in the media presentation as an update to the first instance of the media presentation description, wherein the second instance of the media presentation description excludes at least a portion of information for the first set of segments that was sent in the first instance of the media presentation description.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, a first instance of a media presentation description for a first set of segments of a media presentation, the first instance of the media presentation description including status information based on the first set of segments in the media presentation;

storing, by the computing device, information for the first set of segments in a representation of the media presentation description in storage;

sending, by the computing device, a request for an update to the media presentation description, the request including the status information;

receiving, by the computing device, a second instance of the media presentation description as an update to the first instance of the media presentation description, the second instance of the media presentation including a second set of segments that occur after a latest segment in the media presentation that the client has already received, wherein the second instance of the media presentation description excludes at least a portion of information for the first set of segments that was sent in the first instance of the media presentation description; and

updating, by the computing device, the representation of the media presentation description in the storage with information for the second set of segments.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

appending information for the second set of segments to the representation of the media presentation description upon receiving the second instance of the media presentation description.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

replacing information in the representation of the media presentation description with information from the second instance of the media presentation description.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein:

wherein the status information comprises first status information, and

the second instance of the media presentation description to the media presentation description includes second status information based on the second set of segments.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

sending a second request for a third instance of the media presentation description to the media presentation description, the second request including the second status information;

receiving a third instance of the media presentation description as an update to the second instance of the media presentation description, the third instance of the media presentation including a third set of segments that occur after a latest segment in the media presentation that the client has already received, wherein the third instance of the media presentation description excludes at least a portion of information for the first set of segments and the second set of segments.