System and method for providing an enhanced enterprise streaming media server capacity and performance

• US 7,260,640 B1
• Filed: 02/13/2003
• Issued: 08/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Inventors: Nissen, Laura M., McBreen, James R., Sherren, Thomas P., Kramer, James P., Qingyan, Chen, Burch, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne; Aride
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nano; Sargon N.
• Application Number:
  US10/365,790
• Time in Patent Office: 1,650 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/232, 709/233, 370/229, 370/235
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level

Abstract

Streaming media servers are used to provide data streams of streaming media data to network devices across a communications network. In order to allow the servers to scale its processing as the number of data streams increases, these servers use a delay timer determination module for determining when a given CPU is to transfer its streaming media data corresponding to its group of data streams, a CPU wake up module for initiating an acceleration process for each CPU upon receipt of a signal from the delay timer determination module, and a plurality of CPU processing modules for transferring streaming media data corresponding to its group of data streams. The delay timer determination module uses a stagger and interval parameter where these parameters are calculated from a set of system parameters, including a number of processors available to support data streams, CPU_num, a size for the smallest data buffer within all of the network devices, Mem_ReceiverMin, and the maximum bit data transfer rate, BR_max, supported.

Claims

1. A method for providing an enhanced streaming media server and network system, the system comprising a streaming media server, a communications network, and a plurality of network devices, the method comprises:

determining a stagger delay time period and an interval delay time period using a set of system parameters;

initiating a first data transfer for a first one of multiple groups of data streams using a first processor from the streaming media server to a first group of network devices over a communications network;

initiating a next data transfer for a next one of the groups of data streams using a next available processor after passage of a time period corresponding to the stagger delay time period;

repeating

waiting a time period corresponding to the stagger delay time period step and

initiating of a next data transfer for a group that has yet to be transferred

until all of the groups of data streams are transferred, each by a different corresponding processor; and

waiting a time period corresponding to an interval delay time period since the first data transfer occurred and repeating both of the initiating steps and the repeating step until transfer of all data streams is completed.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the set of system parameters comprises a number of processors available to support data streams, CPU_num, a size for the smallest data buffer within all of the network devices, Mem_ReceiverMin, and the maximum bit data transfer rate, BR_max, supported.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the interval time delay is defined:

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the stagger time delay is defined:

Stagger=Interval/CPU_num.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data streams comprises an audio data stream.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data streams comprises a video data stream.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data streams comprises a combined video and audio data stream.

8. A computer program product stored on a computer readable medium and readable by a computing system and encoding a set of computer instructions for implementing a method for providing an enhanced streaming media server and network system, the system comprising a streaming media server, a communications network, and a plurality of network devices, the method comprises:

determining a stagger delay time period and an interval delay time period using a set of system parameters;

initiating a next data transfer for a first one of multiple groups of data streams using a first processor from the streaming media server to a first group of network devices over a communications network;

initiating a next data transfer for a next one of multiple groups streams using the next available processor after passage of a time period corresponding to the stagger delay time period;

repeating waiting a time corresponding to the stagger delay time period step

and initiating a next data transfer for any group of data streams that remains to be transferred until all of the groups of data streams are transferred, each by a different corresponding processor; and

waiting a time period corresponding to an interval delay time period since the first data transfer occurred and repeating both of the initiating steps and the repeating step until transfer of all data streams are completed.

9. The computer data product according to claim 8, wherein the set of system parameters comprises a number of processors available to support data streams, CPU_num, a size for the smallest data buffer within all of the network devices, Mem_ReceiverMin, and the maximum bit data transfer rate, BR_max, supported.

10. The computer data product according to claim 9, wherein the interval time delay is defined as

11. The computer data product according to claim 10, wherein the stagger time delay is defined as Stagger=Interval/CPU_num.

12. The computer data product according to claim 8, wherein the data streams comprises an audio data stream.

13. The computer data product according to claim 8, wherein the data streams comprises a video data stream.

14. The computer data product according to claim 8, wherein the data streams comprises a combined video and audio data stream.

15. The computer data product according to claim 11, wherein the computer data product comprises a computer readable storage media.

16. The computer data product according to claim 11, wherein the computer data product comprises a sequence of encoded data superimposed upon a carrier wave transmitted between computing devices.