Frame sampling scheme for video scanning in a video-on-demand system
First Claim
1. A method of performing variable speed scanning operations in a video server wherein at least one data stream is provided from a mass storage media, comprising the steps of:
- receiving, by the video server, a performance request from a viewer for showing a particular video;
transmitting a first data stream carrying the particular video from the video server to reception equipment at the viewer'"'"'s location;
receiving, by the video server, a scanning request including control data indicative of the viewer'"'"'s selection of a scanning speed from a selectable range of scanning speeds faster than a normal playout speed;
based at least in part on the control data and a number of storage devices included in the mass storage media, identifying particular frames of the video to be retrieved from the mass storage media; and
,transmitting, to the viewer'"'"'s location, a second data stream including the particular frames instead of the frames that would have been transmitted had the video continued at a normal playout speed.
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Abstract
A system and method for performing variable speed scanning or browsing, wherein a user controls the playout speed of a movie, which does not require additional disk or network bandwidth resources. In a preferred embodiment, the method provides for scanning operations for an Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video stream. The method satisfies the constraints of the MPEG decoder (in the users set-top box) and require a minimum of additional system resources. The embodiments of the present invention include (a) a storage method, (b1) a segment sampling method, (b2) a segment placement method, and (c) a playout method, where (b1) and (b2) are two alternatives for segment selection. Thus, two sets of solutions are provided to support variable speed scanning in a disk-array-based video server: One using (a), (b1) and (c), and the other using (a), (b2) and (c).
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method of performing variable speed scanning operations in a video server wherein at least one data stream is provided from a mass storage media, comprising the steps of:
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receiving, by the video server, a performance request from a viewer for showing a particular video; transmitting a first data stream carrying the particular video from the video server to reception equipment at the viewer'"'"'s location; receiving, by the video server, a scanning request including control data indicative of the viewer'"'"'s selection of a scanning speed from a selectable range of scanning speeds faster than a normal playout speed; based at least in part on the control data and a number of storage devices included in the mass storage media, identifying particular frames of the video to be retrieved from the mass storage media; and
,transmitting, to the viewer'"'"'s location, a second data stream including the particular frames instead of the frames that would have been transmitted had the video continued at a normal playout speed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of performing scanning operations, comprising the steps of:
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storing a video as blocks of data distributed among a plurality of storage devices; performing the video for a user at a normal playout speed; receiving a scanning request from the user; responsive to the scanning request, identifying particular blocks of the data to be retrieved from the storage devices and provided to the user; and
,retrieving the particular blocks of the data from the storage devices in parallel groups, wherein the quantity of the blocks retrieved in parallel for provision to the user in response to the scanning request is the same as the quantity of blocks retrieved in parallel for performance of the video at the normal playout speed. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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Specification