Method and apparatus to create encoded digital content

• US 6,263,313 B1
• Filed: 11/30/1998
• Issued: 07/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sandpiper CDN, LLC (Theseus LF Asset Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gong, Qing, Nguyen, Kha Dinh, Milsted, Kenneth Louis
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hayes, John W.
• Application Number:
  US09/201,622
• Time in Patent Office: 960 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/25, 370/390, 846/09, 846/15, 379/93, 382/232, 382/233, 382/239, 382/244, 382/246, 341/51, 341/63, 704/500, 704/504, 704/230, 704/218, 395/200.77
• US Class Current: 705/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/16 Program or content traceability, e.g. by watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2135 Metering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0617 Representative agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/102 applying security measure for e-commerce
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0822 using key encryption key
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0825 using asymmetric-key encryption or public key infrastructure [PKI], e.g. key signature or public key certificates
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method of automatically selecting processing parameters for encoding digital content. Metadata containing the genre of the digital content, receiving the compression level selected for encoding the digital content is received. An algorithm selected for encoding the digital content is received. And a previously defined table to select the processing parameters for encoding the digital content based on the genre of the content, the compression level selected and the algorithm selected is indexed and the processing parameters are retrieved. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is described to carry out the above method

Claims

1. A method of automatically selecting encoding parameters for encoding digital content, the method comprising the steps of:

acquiring a genre of the digital content to be encoded;

receiving a compression level for encoding the digital content;

automatically selecting a set of encoding parameters based on the genre of the digital content and the compression level; and

encoding the digital content using the set of encoding parameters that was selected based on the genre of the digital content and the compression level,

wherein the encoding step produces compressed digital content.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the step of automatically selecting encoding parameters includes the sub-step of

setting parameters for dynamic adjustments for the digital content to be encoded.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the step of automatically selecting encoding parameters includes the sub-step of

setting equalization levels for the digital content to be encoded.

4. The method as defined in claim 1,

wherein the step of receiving the compression level desired includes the sub-step of receiving the compression algorithm to be used, and

wherein the step of automatically selecting the encoding parameters is also based on the compression algorithm for encoding the digital content.

5. The method as defined in claim 4, wherein the step of receiving the compression algorithm includes the sub-step of:

receiving at least one of an MPEG algorithm, AC3 algorithm, and ATRAC algorithm.

6. A method of automatically selecting encoding parameters for encoding digital content, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving metadata that includes a genre of the digital content;

receiving a selected compression level for encoding the digital content;

receiving a selected algorithm for encoding the digital content;

indexing into a previously defined table based on the combination of the genre of the digital content, the selected compression level, and the selected algorithm in order to automatically select encoding parameters for encoding the digital content from the table; and

encoding the digital content using the automatically selected encoding parameters so as to produce compressed digital content.

7. A system for automatically selecting encoding parameters for encoding digital content, the system comprising:

means for acquiring a genre of the digital content to be encoded;

means for receiving a compression level selected for encoding the digital content;

a table containing predetermined encoding parameters for encoding digital content;

means for indexing into the table based on the combination of the genre of the digital content and the compression level in order to automatically select a set of the encoding parameters from the table; and

means for encoding the digital content using the set of encoding parameters that was selected based on the genre of the digital content and the compression level, the means for encoding producing compressed digital content.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said encoding parameters include dynamic adjustment settings.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein said encoding parameters include equalization settings.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein said encoding parameters include normalization settings.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein said encoding parameters include peak amplitude settings.

12. The system according to claim 7, further comprising:

means for receiving the compression algorithm selected for encoding the digital content, and wherein the means for indexing further includes means for indexing into the table based on the compression algorithm.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the compression algorithm includes one of an MPEG algorithm. AC3 algorithm, and ATRAC algorithm.

14. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for automatically selecting encoding parameters for encoding digital content, the program instructions comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

acquiring a genre of the digital content to be encoded;

preceiving a compression level for encoding the digital content;

automatically selecting a set of encoding parameters based on the genre of the digital content and the compression level; and

encoding the digital content using the set of encoding parameters that was selected based on the genre of the digital content and the compression level, so as to produce compressed digital content.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of automatically selecting encoding parameters includes the sub-step of setting an equalization level for the digital content to be encoded.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of automatically selecting encoding parameters includes the sub-step of setting parameters for dynamic adjustments for the digital content to be encoded.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions for performing the step of:

receiving the compression algorithm,

wherein selection of the encoding parameters is also based on the compression algorithm for encoding the digital content.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the step of receiving the compression algorithm includes the sub-step of receiving at least one of an MPEG algorithm, AC3 algorithm and ATRAC algorithm.