Method and system for real-time seeking during playback of remote presentation protocols

• US 8,145,777 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2005
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Ryman, Paul, Croft, Richard, Low, Tony
• Primary Examiner(s): DONAGHUE, LARRY D
• Application Number:
  US11/035,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20060161959A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,629 Days
• Field of Search: 703/231, 703/232, 703/225, 703/226, 703/203
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/326 used signal is a video-frame or a video-field (P.I.P.)
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; 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 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• 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 5/783 Adaptations for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate

Abstract

A foreground protocol engine receives a request for rendering the contents of a packet in a recording of a protocol data stream, the protocol data stream comprising a plurality of packets. The foreground protocol engine identifies a state-snapshot having an associated timestamp previous to that of the requested packet. The foreground protocol engine displays the requested packet responsive to the identified state-snapshot.

Claims

1. A method for real-time seeking during playback of a remote presentation layer protocol data stream transmitted from an application server (i) executing an application for a client and (ii) streaming the output display generated by the application to the client, the method comprising:

receiving, by a background protocol engine executing on a first computing machine, a first request for playback of a remote presentation layer protocol data stream;

rendering, by a foreground protocol engine executing on the first computing machine, the received presentation layer protocol data stream responsive to the first request;

generating, by the background protocol engine, a state-snapshot of the presentation layer protocol data stream while the foreground protocol engine renders the received presentation layer protocol data stream, wherein the state-snapshot comprises data representing a state of the background protocol engine rendering the presentation layer protocol data stream;

receiving, by the foreground protocol engine, a second request for real-time seeking of the presentation layer protocol data stream comprising a packet associated with a time-stamp;

identifying, by the foreground protocol engine, a state-snapshot having an associated timestamp not later than the time stamp associated with the requested packet,

re-rendering, by the foreground protocol engine, the presentation layer protocol data stream using the state-snapshot received from the buffer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, by the background protocol engine, the state-snapshot while reading at least one packet of the presentation layer protocol data stream.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising rendering, by the background protocol engine, the state-snapshot to a storage device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising reading, by the foreground protocol engine, the state-snapshot from the storage device to use in re-rendering the presentation layer protocol data stream.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising rendering, by the foreground protocol engine, the presentation layer protocol data stream substantially simultaneously as the background protocol engine generating the state-snapshot.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, by the background protocol engine, the state snapshot comprising a data structure containing a state of the presentation layer protocol data stream rendered by the foreground protocol engine.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising adaptive generation of state-snapshots comprising:

monitoring, by the background protocol engine, user-generated events of the presentation layer protocol data stream;

developing, by the background protocol engine, an activity profile responsive to the monitoring of the user-generated events; and

generating, by the background protocol engine, a state-snapshot responsive to the activity profile.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising including, by the background protocol engine, an identified level of activity in the activity profile.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising including, by the background protocol engine, an identified area of interest in the activity profile.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising identifying, by the background protocol engine, a predicted statistical distribution of seek probabilities comprising

collecting, by the background protocol engine, seek request data generated responsive to user activity;

generating, by the background protocol engine, a seek probability distribution graph; and

generating, by the background protocol engine, a plurality of state snapshots responsive to the graph, wherein areas of higher seek probability comprise a higher state-snapshot density.

11. A system for real-time seeking during playback of a remote presentation layer protocol data stream transmitted from an application server (i) executing an application for a client and (ii) streaming the output display generated by the application to the client comprising:

a background protocol engine executing on a computer processor

receiving a first request for playback of remote presentation layer protocol data stream;

generating a state-snapshot of the presentation layer protocol data stream while a foreground protocol engine renders a received presentation layer protocol data stream, wherein the state-snapshot comprises data representing a state of the background protocol engine rendering the presentation layer protocol data stream; and

storing the state-snapshot to a buffer; and

the foreground protocol engine executing on the computing computer processor

rendering the received presentation layer protocol data stream responsive to the first request;

receiving a second request for real-time seeking of the presentation layer protocol data stream comprising a packet associated with a time-stamp;

identifying a state-snapshot having an associated timestamp not later than the time stamp associated with the requested packet,

re-rendering the presentation layer protocol data stream using the state-snapshot received from the buffer.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the background protocol engine generates the state-snapshot while reading at least one packet of the presentation layer protocol data stream.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the background protocol engine renders the state-snapshot to an storage device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the foreground protocol engine renders the presentation layer protocol data stream substantially simultaneously as the background protocol engine generating the state-snapshot.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the background protocol engine generating the state snapshot comprising a data structure containing a state of the protocol data stream rendered by the foreground protocol engine.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein adaptive generation of state-snapshots comprises:

the background protocol engine monitoring user-generated events of the presentation layer protocol data stream;

the background protocol engine developing an activity profile responsive to the monitoring of the user-generated events; and

the background protocol engine generating a state-snapshot responsive to the activity profile.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the background protocol engine includes an identified level of activity in the activity profile.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the background protocol engine includes an identified area of interest in the activity profile.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the background protocol engine

collects seek request data generated responsive to user activity;

generates a seek probability distribution graph; and

generates a plurality of state snapshots responsive to the graph, wherein areas of higher seek probability comprise a higher state-snapshot density.

20. A system for real-time seeking during playback of a remote presentation layer protocol data stream transmitted from an application server (i) executing an application for a client and (ii) streaming the output display generated by the application to the client comprising:

means for receiving, by a background protocol engine executing on a first computer processor, a first request for playback of remote presentation layer protocol data stream;

means for rendering, by a foreground protocol engine executing on the first computer processor, a received presentation layer protocol data stream responsive to the first request;

means for generating, by the background protocol engine, a state-snapshot of the presentation layer protocol data stream while the foreground protocol engine renders a received presentation layer protocol data stream, wherein the state-snapshot comprises data representing a state of the background protocol engine rendering the presentation layer protocol data stream;

means for receiving, by the foreground protocol engine, a second request for real-time seeking of the presentation layer protocol data stream comprising a packet associated with a time-stamp;

means for identifying, by the foreground protocol engine, a state-snapshot having an associated timestamp not later than the time stamp associated with the requested packet;

means for re-rendering, by the foreground protocol engine, the presentation layer protocol data stream using the state-snapshot received from the buffer.