Managing timeline modification and synchronization of multiple media streams in networked client/server systems
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a master control component to maintain a master timeline for a multimedia presentation having a plurality of individual data streams; and
for each of the plurality of individual data streams, an individual stream control corresponding to the individual data streams of the multimedia presentation, wherein each individual stream control is to maintain a timeline for the corresponding individual data stream and wherein an individual stream control determines when the master timeline is modified by the master control so that the individual stream controls can modify the corresponding individual data streams to accommodate the modified master timeline;
wherein the master control component is also to receive a user request for a new playback speed and communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual stream controls, and the master control component is to communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual stream controls by sending a message to each of the plurality of individual stream controls.
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Abstract
In a client/server network system, multimedia content is streamed from one or more servers to the client. The multimedia content includes multiple media streams that can be streamed to the client from the same server or from different servers. The user is able to modify the playback speed of the multimedia content, allowing the playback to be either speeded up or slowed down.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a master control component to maintain a master timeline for a multimedia presentation having a plurality of individual data streams; and for each of the plurality of individual data streams, an individual stream control corresponding to the individual data streams of the multimedia presentation, wherein each individual stream control is to maintain a timeline for the corresponding individual data stream and wherein an individual stream control determines when the master timeline is modified by the master control so that the individual stream controls can modify the corresponding individual data streams to accommodate the modified master timeline; wherein the master control component is also to receive a user request for a new playback speed and communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual stream controls, and the master control component is to communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual stream controls by sending a message to each of the plurality of individual stream controls. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method in a network client for synchronizing streams of a multimedia presentation having a plurality of streams, the streams located at one or more network servers, the method comprising:
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maintaining a presentation timeline using a master control; receiving from the one or more network servers the plurality of streams, each stream of the plurality of streams having a slave control; detecting an event that causes a change in the presentation timeline; modifying the master control'"'"'s presentation timeline in response to the event; and notifying each slave control of the plurality of streams that the presentation timeline has been modified, so that the slave controls can alter their corresponding streams to accommodate the modified presentation timeline; wherein the master control is also to receive a user request for a new playback speed and communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual slave controls, and the master control is to communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual slave controls by sending a message to each of the plurality of individual slave controls. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to perform a method in a network client for synchronizing a plurality of streams of a presentation, the method comprising:
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maintaining a presentation timeline for the presentation using a master control; receiving the plurality of streams from network servers, each of the plurality of streams having a slave control; detecting an event that causes a change in the presentation timeline of the presentation; and modifying the master control'"'"'s presentation timeline in response to the event wherein the master control notifies the slave controls for the plurality of streams that the presentation timeline has been modified so that the slave controls can alter their streams to accommodate the modified presentation timeline; wherein the master control is also to receive a user request for a new playback speed and communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual slave controls, and the master control is to communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual slave controls by sending a message to each of the plurality of individual slave controls. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A system for synchronizing streams of a presentation having a plurality of streams comprising:
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a master control component located at a network client for maintaining a presentation timeline; a first slave control component located at a first network server for controlling a stream being transmitted by the first network server; and a second slave control component located at a second network server for controlling a stream being transmitted by the second network server; wherein the master control detects an event that causes a change in the presentation timeline, modifies the presentation timeline in response to the event, and notifies the slave control components that the presentation timeline has been modified so that the slave control components can alter their streams to accommodate the modified presentation timeline; and wherein the master control component is also to receive a user request for a new playback speed and communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual slave control components, and the master control component is to communicate the new playback speed to the plurality of individual slave control components by sending a message to each of the plurality of individual slave control components. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification