System and related interfaces supporting the processing of media content

• US 7,302,689 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2004
• Issued: 11/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Rudolph, Eric H., Miller, Daniel J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomson; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Seye; Abdou K
• Application Number:
  US10/980,514
• Publication Number:
  US 20050097215A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,120 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols

Abstract

A software enabled, matrix switch is presented wherein a scalable plurality of inputs, coupled to media content sources, provide media content which is recursively routed through select media processing object(s) coupled to a scalable plurality of matrix switch outputs in accordance with a user-defined media processing project.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

one or more computer-readable media;

one or more processors; and

computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable media which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement a software enabled matrix switch comprising;

a scalable plurality of inputs, dynamically coupled to select source(s) to receive media content; and

a scalable plurality of outputs, dynamically coupled to select software object(s), wherein the software enabled, matrix switch recursively routes media content through the select software object(s) to manipulate the received media content in accordance with a user-defined media processing project, wherein the software enabled matrix switch is generated by a render engine in a media processing filter graph to selectively couple one or more inputs to one or more outputs recursively processing media content through a plurality of software objects in accordance with a user-defined media processing project; and

a programming grid, generated by the render engine in accordance with the user-defined media processing project, to control routing of the media content from the scalable plurality of one or more inputs to the scalable plurality of one or more outputs, wherein modifications to the user-defined media processing project are dynamically reflected in an updated version of the programming grid, eliminating the need to tear down and reconstitute an entire filter graph to effect the modification,

wherein the scalable plurality of inputs are implemented as software objects dedicated to communicating information from a software object to the switch.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the software objects are component object model (COM) objects.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the scalable plurality of outputs are implemented as software objects comprising component object model (COM) objects.

4. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory space, shared among the plurality of inputs and outputs to receive and buffer media content from various sources until presentation to one of the plurality of outputs.

5. The computing device of claim 4, wherein the memory space is comprised of two segments, first segment dedicated to the scalable plurality of inputs and a second segment dedicated to the scalable plurality of outputs.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the second segment is dedicated to a primary output which is coupled to a rendering object.

7. The computing device of claim 6, wherein the second segment is dedicated to an independent output processing thread supporting the rendering object.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the matrix is configured to dynamically couple select ones of the scalable plurality of inputs to select ones of the scalable plurality of outputs.

9. A computing device comprising:

one or more computer-readable media;

one or more processors; and

computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable media which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement a media processing system comprising;

a source to provide media content;

a software enabled, matrix switch filter, coupled to the source, to receive the media content on one or more of a scalable plurality of inputs and selectively route the content to software object(s) coupled to one or more of a scalable plurality of output(s), to recursively transform the received content prior to rendering;

a render engine, exposing the source and the software enabled, matrix switch filter to higher-level applications, to enable a user to generate a media processing project, wherein the render engine automatically generates a filter graph reflecting a user-defined media processing project; and

wherein the matrix switch filter comprises a programming grid, automatically generated by the render engine, to define which of the scalable plurality of inputs are coupled to each of the scalable plurality of outputs during execution of the media processing project, wherein modifications to the user-defined media processing project are dynamically reflected in an updated version of the programming grid, eliminating the need to tear down and reconstitute an entire filter graph to effect the modification,

wherein the software objects coupled to the scalable plurality of outputs include one or more of a transition filter, an effects filter and/or a render filter.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the programming grid is configured to recursively route media content from one or more of the scalable plurality of inputs to the objects coupled to one or more of the scalable plurality of outputs, in accordance with a user defined media processing project.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the matrix switch filter includes memory space to buffer content received from one or more input(s) for routing to one or more of the output(s).

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the memory space includes a buffer segment dedicated to an independent output thread, wherein the matrix switch filter insulates upstream processing from downstream processing, and vice versa.

13. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the media processing system invokes an instance of the software enabled, matrix switch filter for each type of media sourced in the media processing project.

14. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the software enabled, matrix switch filter is implemented in software as an object of an operating system executing on a computing system implementing the media processing system.

15. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the matrix switch filter is implemented as a component object model (COM) object of an operating system executing on a computing system implementing the media processing system.

16. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the scalable plurality of inputs and the scalable plurality of outputs are implemented as software objects of an operating system executing on a computing system implementing the media processing system.

17. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the dynamic routing of media content from source(s) to output object(s) is facilitated by a plurality of object calls performed by the matrix switch in accordance with a user-defined media processing project.

18. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the objects are media processing filters.