Method and apparatus for producing demand real-time television

• US 7,024,678 B2
• Filed: 11/30/1998
• Issued: 04/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Sedna Patent Services LLC
• Inventors: Goode, Christopher, Gordon, Donald F., Ludvig, Ted
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, Christopher
• Assistant Examiner(s): Koenig, Andrew Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/201,530
• Publication Number:
  US 20030163824A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,682 Days
• Field of Search: 725/87, 725/88, 725/91, 725/92, 725/93, 725/94, 725/103, 386/68, 386/83, 386/82, 386/70, 386/125, 709/219, 709/231, 709/233
• US Class Current: 725/88
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/114 Adapting the group of pictures [GOP] structure, e.g. number of B-frames between two anchor frames H04N19/107 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/177 the unit being a group of pictures [GOP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/587 involving temporal sub-sampling or interpolation, e.g. decimation or subsequent interpolation of pictures in a video sequence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/231 Content storage operation, e.g. caching movies for short term storage, replicating data over plural servers, prioritizing data for deletion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234381 by altering the temporal resolution, e.g. decreasing the frame rate by frame skipping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/236 Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream multiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/434 Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream demultiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4344 Remultiplexing of multiplex streams, e.g. by modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream

Abstract

A demand television system comprising a broadcast encoder and a storage encoder. The broadcast encoder encodes a real-time video frame sequence to form a broadcast bitstream and broadcasts the broadcast bitstream to a plurality of subscriber equipment, while simultaneously the storage encoder encodes the real-time video frame sequence to form a storage bitstream that is stored in an information server. The subscriber equipment decodes the broadcast bitstream to display the broadcast program. At any time, the subscriber equipment may request to review the information previously displayed in the broadcast bitstream. As such, the storage bitstream is transmitted to the subscriber equipment. The storage bitstream facilitates standard play of the previously broadcast information as well as trick play such as fast forward and fast reverse functions.

Claims

1. Apparatus for providing demand television comprising:

a broadcast encoder for receiving and encoding a real-time video frame sequence to form a broadcast bitstream; and

a storage encoder for receiving and encoding the real-time video frame sequence to form a plurality of storage bitstreams, wherein said storage encoder comprises;

a first encoder for producing a play bitstream that contains information that, when decoded, produces a forward play video frame sequence, said first encoder receiving and encoding the real-time video frame sequence contemporaneously with said broadcast encoder receiving and encoding said real-time video frame sequence;

a frame subsampler for receiving and subsampling the real-time video frame sequence contemporaneously with said broadcast encoder and first encoder receiving and encoding said real-time video frame sequence;

a buffer, for storing subsampled frames of the real-time video frame sequence;

a second encoder for producing, contemporaneously with said broadcast encoder receivng and encoding said real-time video frame sequence, both (i) a fast forward bitstream that contains information that, when decoded, produces a fast-forward video frame sequence, and (ii) a fast-reverse bitstream that contains information that, when decoded produces a fast-reverse video frame sequence; and

a controller that selects subsampled frames from the buffer and couples selected frames to the second encoder in such a manner that said producing of said fast forward bitstream and said fast reverse bitstream is muitiplexed over time.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said broadcast encoder is a high data rate encoder.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first encoder is an MPEG encoder that encodes N frames of the video sequence.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said second and third encoders are MPEG encoders that encodes N subsampled frames.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller multiplexes selection of the frames from the buffer to apply a plurality of subsampled frames to said second encoder to form said fast forward bitstream and then apply a plurality of subsampled frames to said third encoder to form said fast reverse bitstream.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a transmission system for transmitting the broadcast bitstream to subscriber equipment.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

a storage device for storing the plurality of storage bitstreams, wherein the storage device stores the plurality of storage bitstreams contemporaneously to the transmission system transmitting the broadcast bitstream.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said fast forward bitstream contains an indicator that delimits an end of available data such that a transition from said fast forward bitstream to at least one of said broadcast bitstream and said play bitstream is appropriate.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller couples a plurality of video frames, which form a group of pictures (GOP), to the second encoder to form the fast forward bitstream, and then couples the same plurality of frames, having the frames organized in reverse order, to the second encoder to form the fast reverse bitstream.

10. A method for providing demand television comprising the steps of:

encoding in real-time, using a broadcast encoder, a broadcast video frame sequence to form a broadcast bitstream, while contemporaneously encoding the broadcast video frame sequence to form a plurality of storage bitstreams, wherein said plurality of storage bitstreams are contemporaneously formed by the steps of;

encoding, using a first storage encoder, said frames to form a play bitstream contemporaneously with said encoding, in real-time, said broadcast video frame sequence to form said broadcast bitstream;

subsampling said broadcast video frames contemporaneously with respect to said encoding said frames to form said broadcast bitstream and said play bitstream;

buffering said subsampled frames;

generating a fast forward bitstream and a fast reverse bitstream in a time multiplexed manner, said generating comprising;

recalling said buffered frames in a forward time sequence order;

encoding, using a second storage encoder, said recalled buffered frames to form a fast forward bitstream;

recalling said buffered frames in a reverse time sequence order; and

encoding, using said second storage encoder, said recalled buffered frames to form a fast reverse bitstream.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said broadcast bitstream is a high data rate bitstream.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said play bitstream when decoded forms a standard play frame sequence.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein said fast forward bitstream, when decoded, forms a fast forward frame sequence.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said fast reverse bitstream, when decoded, forms a fast reverse frame sequence.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein said transmitting step further comprises the steps of:

recalling from said storage device a particular bitstream in response to a request for a particular bitstream type from a subscriber terminal;

addressing the requested bitstream to said requesting subscriber;

transmitting said requested bitstream to said subscriber equipment.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

broadcasting the broadcast bitstream to subscriber equipment while contemporaneously storing the plurality of storage bitstreams within a storage device.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein upon a subscriber selecting to view information previously broadcast by the broadcast bitstream, transmitting to the subscriber the storage bitstream.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein said fast forward bitstream contains an indicator that delimits the end of available data such that a transition from said fast forward bitstream to at least one of said broadcast bitstream and said play bitstream is appropriate.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said storage bitstream comprises at least a play bitstream and a fast forward bitstream, and upon said fast forward bitstream being exhausted of data, automatically switching from said storage bitstream to said broadcast bitstream.

20. The method of claim 10, comprising coupling a plurality of video frames, which form a group of pictures (GOP), to the second encoder to form the fast forward bitstream, and then coupling the same plurality of frames, having the frames organized in reverse order, to the second encoder to form the fast reverse bitstream.

21. The method of claim 10 wherein the method further comprises a step of switching from transmitting a fast forward bitstream to transmitting said broadcast bitstream upon reaching the indicator.