Session description message extensions

• US 7,162,533 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2004
• Issued: 01/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Klemets, Anders E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu; Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US10/836,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20050262187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/201, 709/230, 709/231, 709/207, 713/181, 713/318, 719/318, 370/327, 707/10, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 directed to client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6437 Real-time Transport Protocol [RTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

Session description message extensions include information describing a multimedia presentation or a single media presentation. The session description message is typically sent from one device to another device to which the multimedia or single media presentation will be streamed. Several extensions are described that extend the information that can be included in the session description message.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having;

a mutual exclusivity extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies which of the plurality of media streams are mutually exclusive;

a marker extension that is separate from the ASF file header and that specifies an index into the multimedia presentation;

a script command extension that is separate from the ASF file header and that specifies data that is to be presented during playback of the multimedia presentation;

a leaky bucket extension that is separate from the ASP file header and that specifies how much data of the multimedia presentation to buffer when playing the multimedia presentation at a particular bit rate;

a caching information extension that is separate from the ASF file header and that specifies information about caching of the multimedia presentation;

an encapsulation extension that is separate from the ASF file header and that specifies codec parameters for one or more of a plurality of different codecs;

a bandwidth sharing extension that is separate from the ASF file header and that specifies media streams of the plurality of media streams that share bandwidth;

a stream prioritization extension that is separate from the ASF file header and that specifies which of the plurality of media streams should have priority over which other of the plurality of media steams; and

include, as part of data streamed to the client device, the session description message.

2. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions for generating a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the plurality of instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to:

access an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

identify a subset of a plurality of objects of the ASF file header;

generate, for each object in the subset of the plurality of objects, a different one of a plurality of extensions for the session description, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a leaky bucket extension that specifies how much data of the multimedia presentation to buffer when playing the multimedia presentation at a particular bit rate; and

for each object in the subset of the plurality of objects;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object, and

use the retrieved parameters as the parameters for one of the plurality of extensions.

3. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a mutual exclusivity extension that specifies which of a plurality of media streams of the multimedia presentation are mutually exclusive.

4. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a marker extension specifies an index into the multimedia presentation.

5. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a script command extension that specifies data that is to be presented during playback of the multimedia presentation.

6. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a caching information extension that specifies information about caching of the multimedia presentation.

7. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises an encapsulation extension that specifics codec parameters for one or more of a plurality of different codecs.

8. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a bandwidth sharing extension that specifies media streams of a plurality of media streams of the multimedia presentation that share bandwidth.

9. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of extensions comprises a stream prioritization extension that specifies which of a plurality of media streams of the multimedia presentation should have priority over which other of the plurality of media streams.

10. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

generate a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having a mutual exclusivity extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies which of the plurality of media streams are mutually exclusive, and wherein a value ExclusionType represents a type of mutual exclusivity, a value StreamNumbers represents the media streams that are mutually exclusive, and the mutual exclusivity extension comprises;

a=group;

ExclusionType StreamNumber; and

include, as part of data streamed to the client device, the session description message.

11. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the session description message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

12. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate the session description message further cause the one or more processors to:

identify an object of an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object; and

analyze the retrieved one or more parameters to determine the parameters for the mutual exclusivity extension.

13. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the plurality of media streams are mutually exclusive based on bit rate.

14. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the plurality of media streams are mutually exclusive based on language.

15. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

generate a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having a marker extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies an index into the multimedia presentation, and wherein a value name represents a name of a marker, a value time represents a presentation time of the marker, a value desc represents the index, and the marker extension comprises;

a=marker;

name time;

desc; and

include, as part of data streamed to the client device, the session description message.

16. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the session description message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

17. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate the session description message further cause the one or more processors to:

identify an object of an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object; and

analyze the retrieved one or more parameters to determine the parameters for the marker extension.

18. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

generate a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having a script command extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies data that is to be presented during playback of the multimedia presentation, and wherein a value type represents a type of command, a value time represents a presentation time of the multimedia presentation when the data is to be presented, a value command represents data to be displayed at the presentation time and the script command extension comprises;

a=script;

type time;

command; and

include, as part of streaming data to be streamed to the client device, the session description message.

19. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein the session description message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

20. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate the session description message further cause the one or more processors to:

identify an object of an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object; and

analyze the retrieved one or more parameters to determine the parameters for the script command extension.

21. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein the script command extension specifies the data by including an identifier of a web page that has the data.

22. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

generate a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having a caching information extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies information about caching of the multimedia presentation, and wherein a value rights represents the information about caching of the multimedia presentation, and the caching information extension comprises;

a=cachectrl;

Rights; and

include, as part of data streamed to the client device, the session description message.

23. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 22, wherein the session description message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

24. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 22, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate the session description message further cause the one or more processors to:

identify an object of an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object; and

analyze the retrieved one or more parameters to determine the parameters for the caching information extension.

25. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 22, wherein the information about caching of the multimedia presentation comprises information specifying whether the client device is allowed to cache the multimedia presentation.

26. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 22, wherein the information about caching of the multimedia presentation comprises information specifying whether the client device is allowed to rebroadcast the multimedia presentation.

27. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

generate a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having an encapsulation extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies codec parameters for one or more of a plurality of different codecs, and wherein a value pt represents a payload type number, a value MIME represents an identifier of one of the plurality of different codecs, a value config-info represents initialization data for the one of the plurality of different codecs, and the encapsulation extension comprises;

a=fmtp;

pt MIME config=config-info; and

include, as part of data streamed to the client device, the session description message.

28. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the session description message includes a plurality of encapsulation extensions, each of the plurality of encapsulation extensions having the same syntax but being for a different one of the plurality of different codecs.

29. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the session description message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

30. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate the session description message further cause the one or more processors to:

identify an object of an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object; and

analyze the retrieved one or more parameters to determine the parameters for the encapsulation extension.

31. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the codec parameters include an identifier of a type of a media stream of the multimedia presentation that is to be decoded by the one or more codecs.

32. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the codec parameters include an indication of whether the one or more codecs uses fixed size packets.

33. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 32, wherein the codec parameters include an indication of the size of the fixed size packets.

34. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the codec parameters include an indication of whether a media stream of the multimedia presentation that is to be decoded by the one or more codecs uses temporal compression.

35. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 27, wherein the codec parameters include initialization data for the one or more codecs.

36. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 35, wherein the codec parameters include a format of the initialization data in the session description message.

37. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

generate a session description message that describes properties of a multimedia presentation to be streamed to a client device, the multimedia presentation having a plurality of media streams, and the session description message having a stream prioritization extension that is separate from an ASF file header and that specifies which of the plurality of media streams should have priority over which other of the plurality of media streams, and wherein the stream prioritization extension comprises a=prio followed by a list of media streams in priority order; and

include, as part of data streamed to the client device, the session description message.

38. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 37, wherein the session description message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

39. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 37, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to generate the session description message further cause the one or more processors to:

identify an object of an ASF file header of the multimedia presentation;

retrieve one or more parameters from the object; and

analyze the retrieved one or more parameters to determine the parameters for the stream prioritization extension.