Methods and systems for scalable streaming of images with client-side control

• US 7,260,614 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2001
• Issued: 08/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Deshpande, Sachin G., Thomas, Renjit Tom
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar; Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): WANG, LIANG CHE A
• Application Number:
  US09/897,383
• Publication Number:
  US 20020087728A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,241 Days
• Field of Search: 709/232, 709/224, 709217-219, 709/226, 345/765, 345/641, 345/760
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for managing and transmitting image data. Some embodiments are particularly suited to streaming JPEG 2000 images from a web server.

Claims

1. A method for customized image display, said method comprising the acts of:

receiving an initial portion of a scalable image file, defining an image, at a client device, said scalable image file being hosted on a server and wherein said initial portion comprises parts of a main header, and at least one of a tile-part header and a packet header, said initial portion also comprising initial graphical image data defining at least a portion of said image with a reduced image characteristic;

receiving a user-selected image customization selection, related to said scalable image file, from a user interface at said client device, wherein said selection designates an more detailed image characteristic than said reduced image characteristic;

determining at said client device, based on information in at least one of said headers in said initial portion, the bitstream location of at least one additional portion of said scalable image file that is required to render said user-selected image customization, wherein said additional portion is non-cumulative to said initial portion;

sending a request from said client device to said server requesting data at said bitstream location;

receiving said data at said bitstream location in response to said request; and

rendering said user-selected image customization at said client device.

2. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said reduced image characteristic is image quality.

3. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said reduced image characteristic is image resolution.

4. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said server is an HTTP server initial portion comprises metadata comprising data selected from the group consisting of image quality data, scalability data, resolution data and ROI data.

5. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said scalable image file is a JPEG 2000 image file.

6. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said scalable image file comprises packets interleaved in a progression order selected from the group consisting of layer-resolution-component-position progressive, resolution-layer-component-position progressive, resolution-position-component-layer progressive, position-component-resolution-layer progressive and component-position-resolution-layer progressive.

7. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said request comprises an identification of said image file and at least one byte range identifying said bitstream location.