Steaming media quality assessment system

• US 7,216,165 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2003
• Issued: 05/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Dalal, Amy, Perry, Edward H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley; David
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENGLAND, DAVID E
• Application Number:
  US10/358,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20040153561A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,554 Days
• Field of Search: 709224-226, 709231-232, 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS

Abstract

A streaming media assessment system comprises assessment servers, media clients, data collection points, helper agents, and report servers. An assessment tool is downloaded or otherwise installed on an end-user client machine and associated with its media player. An assessment server is in communication with the assessment tool over the network and can send control messages to conduct tests and gather information from the assessment tool. The client machine media player is controlled to stop and start by the assessment tool and it will provide measurements that can be forwarded to the assessment servers. Analyses are then produced by the assessment servers of the actual media streams that were received by many such client machine media players. The report servers issue various formatted reports for the system'"'"'s sponsors and subscribers.

Claims

1. A method for streaming media assessment, the method comprising the steps of:

collocating a media-player wrapper application with a streaming-media player at a client machine, wherein said streaming-media player can be controlled by said media-player wrapper application, and can provide quality metrics related to streaming media programs it receives over a network connection from a streaming media server;

remotely controlling said media-player wrapper application to gather and report said quality metrics in a reply message to an assessment server; and

assessing the quality of said network connection between said streaming media server and said streaming-media player from data included in said reply message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

downloading said media-player wrapper application from said streaming media server for automatic installation and operation at said client machine with said streaming-media player.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

forwarding an analysis of said quality of said network connection from said assessment server to a report server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

selling an analysis of said quality of said network connection from said assessment server to a one-time purchaser or information subscriber.

5. A method for streaming media assessment, the method comprising the steps of:

collocating a plurality of media-player wrapper applications with a plurality of corresponding streaming-media players at client machines, wherein said each streaming-media player can be independently controlled by each said media-player wrapper application, and all can provide quality metrics related to streaming media programs they individually receive over network connections from streaming media servers;

remotely controlling individual said media-player wrapper applications to gather and report corresponding said quality metrics in reply messages to an assessment server; and

assessing the quality of respective said network connections between said streaming media servers and said streaming-media players from data reported in said reply messages.

6. A streaming media assessment tool, comprising:

a client-side wrapper application software application for collocation within a remote client and providing for the control and reading of a remote-client software-media player;

a server-side controller software application for collocation within an assessment server and providing for the generation of remote-client test control messages to said client-side wrapper application software application; and

a client-side listener software application for collocation within said remote client and for responding to said remote-client test control messages, and further providing for on/off control of and the gathering of quality data from said remote-client software-media player;

wherein, said assessment server is able to gather information on the quality of streaming media data received by said remote-client software-media player.

7. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side listener software application provides for its program execution in the host background of said test client, and lies dormant until it receives a UDP-message from the server-side controller.

8. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side listener software application authenticates and parses UDP-messages from the server-side controller software application, and invokes the client-side wrapper application with command line arguments, and then listens for output from the client-side wrapper application, and logs whether command execution was successful.

9. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side wrapper application communicates through an application programming interface (API) with the client-side listener software application, and provides for polling of playback metrics at predetermined intervals.

10. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side wrapper application has an application programming interface (API) connected to the client-side listener software application, and provides a means to abort a running test.

11. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side listener software application and the client-side wrapper application communicate through an application programming interface (API) to open the remote-client software-media player, sets its initialization parameters, and shut it down at the end of a test or file playback.

12. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side wrapper application accesses initialization parameters from a configuration file every time it starts up and writes them to the remote-client software-media player.

13. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the client-side wrapper application forwards initialization parameters from a command line to the remote-client software-media player.

14. The tool of claim 6, wherein:

the remote-client software-media player is an unmodified commercial product; and

the client-side wrapper application communicates through a standardized application programming interface (API) with the remote-client software-media player.

15. A streaming media assessment system, comprising:

a plurality of media-player wrapper applications collocated with a plurality of corresponding streaming-media players at client machines, wherein said each streaming-media player can be independently controlled by each said media-player wrapper application, and all said streaming-media players can provide quality metrics related to streaming media program that said streaming-media players individually receive over network connections from streaming media servers;

a server-side controller for remotely controlling individual said media-player wrapper applications to gather and report corresponding said quality metrics in reply messages to an assessment server; and

an assessment server analyzing the quality of respective said network connections between said streaming media servers and said streaming-media players from data reported in said reply messages.