Fast-start streaming and buffering of streaming content for personal media player

• US 7,921,446 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2009
• Issued: 04/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sling Media LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sling Media Incorporated (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Shah, Bhupendra, Gurzhi, Alexander, Krikorian, Jason, Krikorian, Blake, Iyer, Satish
• Primary Examiner(s): Lonsberry; Hunter B
• Application Number:
  US12/643,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20100100915A1
• Time in Patent Office: 470 Days
• Field of Search: 725/80, 725/97, 725 93- 94, 725/110
• US Class Current: 725/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/087 Jitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/129 at the destination endpoint, e.g. reservation of terminal resources or buffer space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/102 characterised by the element, parameter or selection affected or controlled by the adaptive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/107 between spatial and temporal predictive coding, e.g. picture refresh
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/117 Filters, e.g. for pre-processing or post-processing sub-band filter banks H04N19/635
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/132 Sampling, masking or truncation of coding units, e.g. adaptive resampling, frame skipping, frame interpolation or high-frequency transform coefficient masking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/137 Motion inside a coding unit, e.g. average field, frame or block difference
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/14 : Coding unit complexity, e.g. amount of activity or edge presence estimation H04N19/146 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 : by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 : User input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/164 : Feedback from the receiver or from the transmission channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 : the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/182 : the unit being a pixel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/188 : the unit being a video data packet, e.g. a network abstraction layer [NAL] unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 : using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 : in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/80 : Details of filtering operations specially adapted for video compression, e.g. for pixel interpolation H04N19/635, H04N19/86 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/85 : using pre-processing or post-processing specially adapted for video compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23406 : involving management of server-side video buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 : by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 : Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 : Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 : Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4384 : involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4398 : involving reformatting operations of audio signals details of audio signal transcoding G10L19/173
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44004 : involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 : involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 : by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 : for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 : using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 : Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection

Abstract

A personal media broadcasting system enables video distribution over a computer network and allows a user to view and control media sources over a computer network from a remote location. A personal broadcaster receives an input from one or more types of media sources, digitizes and compresses the content, and streams the compressed media over a computer network to a media player running on any of a wide range of client devices for viewing the media. The system may allow the user to issue control commands (e.g., “channel up”) from the media player to the broadcaster, causing the source device to execute the commands. The broadcaster and the media player may employ several techniques for buffering, transmitting, and viewing the content to improve the user'"'"'s experience.

Claims

1. A method for playing a media stream received from a source over a network, the method comprising:

receiving the media stream from the source via the network;

storing the media stream in a buffer prior to rendering of the media stream;

playing the media stream from the buffer;

receiving a user command to change the content of the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, providing an instruction to the source via the network to change the media stream, and flushing the buffer prior to receiving the changed content in the media stream from the source via the network.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising initially providing the changed content from the buffer for rendering as the changed content is received from the source.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein playback of the changed content from the buffer is initiated at a decreased playback speed.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein playback of the changed content continues at the decreased playback speed until the buffer fills to a predetermined threshold.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the decreased playback speed is about 85% of a normal playback speed.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the playing of the changed content further comprises playing the received media stream at a normal playback speed once the buffer is filled to the predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises time-stretching an audio portion of the media stream while maintaining a pitch level of the audio portion when the playback speed is decreased.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user command navigates a menu displayed in the media stream.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user command changes a channel associated with the media stream.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises, after flushing the buffer, reducing the playback speed of the media stream to allow the buffer to accumulate data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the media stream comprises receiving the media stream in real time.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the buffer fills at a rate slower than the media stream is received after the buffer is flushed.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the media stream is a live media stream received from the source for immediate playback.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the instruction provided to the source to change the media stream causes to the source to change the content of the live media stream and to immediately provide an I-frame representing the changed content.

23. The method of claim 21 further comprising playing the changed content from the buffer upon receipt of the I-frame representing the changed content, without waiting for the buffer to fill to a predetermined threshold.

13. A method for playing a media stream at a receiving device, the method comprising:

receiving the media stream from a source over a network at the receiving device;

storing the media stream in a buffer at the receiving device prior to rendering of the media stream;

playing the media stream from the buffer;

receiving a user command at the receiving device to change the content of the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command;

flushing the buffer;

providing an instruction to the source via the network to change the content of the media stream;

refilling the buffer with the changed content of the media stream; and

subsequently playing the changed content from the buffer without waiting for the buffer to fill to a predetermined threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the changed content is initially played back at a reduced speed.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the user command changes a television channel received by the source to a new channel, wherein the changed content comprises programming received on the new channel.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the subsequent playing comprises playing the changed content from the new channel at a reduced speed until the buffer fills to the predetermined threshold, and thereafter playing the changed content from the new channel at a normal playback speed.

17. A system for playing a media stream for a user, wherein the media stream is received over a network from a source, the system comprising:

an interface configured to receive the media stream;

a buffer configured to store the media stream as the media stream is received from the network prior to rendering of the media stream;

an input device configured to receive an input representing a user command to control the content of the media stream; and

a processor configured to receive the media stream from the buffer, to render the media stream received from the buffer for playback to the user and, in response to receiving the input, to flush the buffer, to direct the source via the network interface to adjust the content of the media stream received from the source, and, upon receiving the adjusted media stream via the network interface, to render the adjusted media stream from the buffer without waiting for the buffer to fill to a predetermined threshold.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is further configured to initially playback the adjusted media stream from the buffer at a decreased playback speed until the buffer fills to a predetermined threshold, and then to subsequently playback the received media stream from the buffer at the normal rate after the buffer has filled to the pre-determined threshold.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the user command represents an instruction to change a programming channel in the media stream from a previous channel to a newly-selected channel.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the user command represents navigation of a menu displayed in the media stream.