System and related interfaces supporting the processing of media content

• US 6,834,390 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2000
• Issued: 12/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Rudolph, Eric H., Miller, Daniel J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Viet D.
• Application Number:
  US09/732,084
• Publication Number:
  US 20020099840A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,476 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226, 709/231, 709/238, 719/321, 719/322, 719/323, 717/156, 717/163, 717/165, 345/302, 345/433
• US Class Current: 719/322
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols

Abstract

A software enabled, matrix switch is presented wherein a scalable plurality of inputs, coupled to media content sources, provide media content which is recursively routed through select media processing object(s) coupled to a scalable plurality of matrix switch outputs in accordance with a user-defined media processing project.

Claims

1. A software enabled, matrix switch comprising:

a scalable plurality of inputs, dynamically coupled to select source(s) to receive media content; and

a scalable plurality of outputs, dynamically coupled to select object(s), wherein the software enabled, matrix switch recursively routes media content through the select object(s) to manipulate the received media content in accordance with a user-defined media processing project, wherein the matrix switch is generated by a render engine in a media processing filter graph to selectively couple one or more inputs to one or more outputs recursively processing media content through a plurality of software objects in accordance with a user-defined media processing project; and

a programming grid, generated by the render engine in accordance with the user-defined media processing project, to control routing of the media content from the scalable plurality of one or more inputs to the scalable plurality of one or more outputs, wherein modifications to the user-defined media processing project are dynamically reflected in an updated version of the programming grid, eliminating the need to tear down and reconstitute an entire filter graph to effect the modification.

2. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 1, wherein the scalable plurality of inputs are implemented as software objects dedicated to communicating information from a software object to the switch.

3. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 2, wherein the software objects are component object model (COM) objects.

4. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 2, wherein the scalable plurality of outputs are implemented as software objects such as, for example, component object model (COM) objects.

5. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 1, further comprising:

a memory space, shared among the plurality of inputs an outputs to receive and buffer media content from various sources until presentation to one of the plurality of outputs.

6. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 5, wherein the memory space is comprised of two segments, first segment dedicated to the scalable plurality of inputs and a second segment dedicated to the scalable plurality of outputs.

7. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 6, wherein the second segment is dedicated to a primary output which is coupled to a rendering object.

8. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 7, wherein the second segment is dedicated to an independent output processing thread supporting the rendering object.

9. A software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 1, wherein said a programming grid is configured to dynamically couple select ones of the scalable plurality of inputs to select ones of the scalable plurality of outputs.

10. A storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed, implement the software enabled, matrix switch according to claim 1.

11. A computing device comprising:

a storage device having a plurality of executable instructions; and

an execution unit, coupled to the storage device, to execute at least a subset of the plurality of executable instructions to implement the software enabled matrix switch of claim 1.

12. A media processing system comprising:

a source to provide media content;

a software enabled, matrix switch filter, coupled to the source, to receive the media content on one or more of a scalable plurality of inputs an selectively route the content to object(s) coupled to one or more of a scalable plurality of output(s), to recursively transform the received content prior to rendering;

a render engine, exposing the source and the software enabled, matrix switch filter to higher-level applications, to enable a user to generate a media processing project, wherein the render engine automatically generates a filter graph reflecting a user-defined media processing project; and

wherein the matrix switch filter comprises a programming grid, automatically generated by the render engine, to define which of the scalable plurality of inputs are coupled to each of the scalable plurality of outputs during execution of the media processing project, wherein modifications to the user-defined media processing project are dynamically reflected in an updated version of the programming grid, eliminating the need to tear down and reconstitute an entire filter graph to effect the modification.

13. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the programming grid is configured to recursively route media content from one or more of the scalable plurality of inputs to the objects coupled to one or more of the scalable plurality of outputs, in accordance with a user defined media processing project.

14. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the objects coupled to the scalable plurality of outputs include one or more of a transition filter, an effects filter and/or a render filter.

15. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the matrix switch filter includes memory space to buffer content received from one or more input(s) for routing to one or more of the output(s).

16. A media processing system according to claim 15, wherein the memory space includes a buffer segment dedicated to an independent output thread, wherein the matrix switch filter insulates upstream processing from downstream processing, and vice versa.

17. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the media processing system invokes an instance of the software enabled, matrix switch filter for each type of media sourced in the media processing project.

18. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the software enabled, matrix switch filter is implemented in software as an object of an operating system executing on a computing system implementing the media processing system.

19. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the matrix switch filter is implemented as a component object model (COM) object of an operating system executing on a computing system implementing the media processing system.

20. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the scalable plurality of inputs and the scalable plurality of outputs are implemented as software objects of an operating system executing on a computing system implementing the media processing system.

21. A media processing system according to claim 12, wherein the dynamic routing of media content from source(s) to output object(s) is facilitated by a plurality of object calls performed by the matrix switch in accordance with a user-defined media processing project.

22. A system according to claim 12, wherein the objects are media processing filters.

23. A storage medium comprising a plurality of computer executable instructions which, when executed, implement a media processing system according to claim 12.

24. A computing system comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of computer executable instructions; and

an execution unit, coupled to the storage medium, to execute at least a subset of the plurality of computer executable instructions to implement the media processing system according to claim 12.

25. A computing system implementing a media processing system, the computing system comprising:

a media content source; and

a render engine, coupled to the media content source, to generate a filter graph of media processing objects including a matrix switch filter to recursively process media content through the media processing objects in accordance with a user-defined media processing project, wherein the render engine dynamically generates a programming grid to control routing of media content through the matrix switch filter, wherein modifications to the user-defined media processing project are dynamically reflected in an updated version of the programming grid, eliminating the need to tear down and reconstitute an entire filter graph to effect the modification.

26. A computing system according to claim 25, wherein the media content source is one or more of a media file, an audio/video device coupled to the computing system, and the like.