Imparting real-time priority-based network communications in an encrypted communication session

• US 8,205,076 B1
• Filed: 11/24/2011
• Issued: 06/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Shetty, Pritham, Whillock, Asa, Chan, Edward, Manapragada, Srinivas, Kaufman, Matthew, Thornburgh, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): REZA, MOHAMMAD W
• Application Number:
  US13/304,308
• Time in Patent Office: 208 Days
• Field of Search: 713/150, 713/151, 713/153, 713/154, 713/160, 370/328, 370/352, 370/474
• US Class Current: 713/160
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0869 for achieving mutual authentication cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for mutual authentication H04L9/3273
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3271 using challenge-response

Abstract

This specification describes technologies relating to imparting real-time priority-based network communications in an encrypted session. In general, aspects of the subject matter described can be embodied in methods that include establishing, based on cryptographic information in a reserved, random-data portion of a handshake communication, a session, receiving parameter values relating to a sub media stream, included in a header of a network communication, storing the parameter values, obtaining state information and a data payload included in a second network communication, identifying, from the state information, a purpose of the second network communication, and whether a header of the second network communication includes one or more new values corresponding to one or more of the parameters, updating one or more of the stored values based on the one or more new values, and processing the data payload based on the identified purpose and the stored parameter values.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a server system, establishing, based at least in part on cryptographic information placed in a predefined portion of a handshake network communication, a communication session with a client system to stream one or more streams from the server system to the client system, the predefined portion being reserved for random data;

processing the one or more streams, wherein the processing comprises;

dividing each of the one or more streams into a plurality of network communications, wherein each network communication of the plurality of network communications has an associated data payload and an associated header, and

writing to a header of a network communication from the plurality of network communications rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the network communication and one or more subsequent network communications of the plurality of network communications; and

streaming the processed one or more streams to the client system via the established communication session, wherein said streaming of the processed one or more streams comprises

queuing the plurality of network communications for transmission based on a media type of each of the plurality of network communications, wherein said queuing comprises

assigning a priority to each of the processed one or more streams,

totaling a priority for each stream,

calculating a desired transmission rate for each of the processed one or more streams using the assigned priority and the totaled priority,

counting a sub-total of the plurality of associated network communications transmitted per the processed one or more streams during a preset period,

counting a total number of the plurality of associated network communications transmitted during the preset period,

calculating an actual transmission rate for each stream of the processed one or more streams using the sub-total and the total, and

calculating a ratio between the desired transmission rate and the actual transmission rate, and

transmitting ones of the queued plurality of network communications to the client system based on a scheduling algorithm.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein

if the network communication is associated with a new stream from among the one or more streams,

the method further comprises writing to a control portion of the new stream network communication a new stream network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, and

said writing to the header of the new stream network communication comprises writing rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the new stream network communication, the new stream network communication rendering information comprising a plurality of new parameter values, wherein the media rendering state associated with the new stream network communication uses no parameter values from a previous network communication of the one or more streams,

if the network communication is associated with a new media of the new stream,

the method further comprises writing to the control portion of the new media network communication a new media network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, and

said writing to the header of the new media network communication comprises writing rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the new media network communication, the new media network communication rendering information comprising a plurality of new parameter values, wherein the media rendering state associated with the new media network communication uses at least one other parameter value from a previous network communication of the new stream,

if the network communication is associated with a new time of the new stream,

the method further comprises writing to the control portion of the new time network communication a new time network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, and

said writing to the header of the new time network communication comprises writing rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the new time network communication, the new time network communication rendering information comprising at least one new parameter value, wherein the media rendering state associated with the new time network communication uses a plurality of other parameter values from a previous network communication of the new stream,

else, the method further comprises writing to the control portion of the network communication a continuation network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, wherein a media rendering state associated with the continuation network communication uses rendering information from one or more previous network communications, and

the parameters include one or more of a stream ID parameter, a length parameter, a media type parameter, or a time delta parameter.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising writing, to an associated control portion of each of the plurality of network communications, an associated network communication identifier to indicate whether the associated data payload includes low-level protocol instructions or media content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said establishing the communication session comprises

determining a cryptographic key based at least in part on the cryptographic information, and

initiating the communication session as an encrypted communication session based at least in part on the cryptographic key.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising encrypting, based at least in part on the cryptographic information and prior to said streaming the processed one or more streams via the encrypted communication session to the client system, data payloads of the plurality of network communications corresponding to the one or more streams.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said establishing the communication session comprises

generating the handshake network communication, such that the predefined portion of the handshake network communication comprises the random data and the cryptographic information,

transmitting, to the client system, the generated handshake network communication,

receiving, from the client system, a responsive handshake network communication, and

authenticating the responsive handshake network communication based on the cryptographic information.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, in response to said authenticating of the responsive handshake communication, altering said streaming the processed one or more streams to the client system via the established communication session.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said altered streaming comprises encrypting data payloads of the plurality of network communications corresponding to the one or more streams.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said queuing further includes staging the plurality of network communications according to a media type of the network communication, wherein the media type comprises one of an audio format network communication, a video format network communication, or a data format network communication.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitting the ones of the queued plurality of network communications based on the scheduling algorithm comprises

determining a stream having a lowest calculated ratio from among the processed one or more streams,

identifying ones of the queued plurality of network communications that are associated with the determined stream, and

transmitting the ones identified to be associated with the determined stream from among the queued plurality of network communications.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the rendering information that remains unchanged from the network communication to the one or more subsequent network communications is written to the header of the network communication but omitted from a header of the one or more subsequent network communications, such that the headers have variable lengths.

12. A media streaming server system comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

one or more hardware processors communicatively coupled with the computer readable medium,

the non-transitory computer readable medium encoding instructions that when executed by the one or more hardware processors cause the media streaming server system to perform operations comprising;

establishing, based at least in part on cryptographic information placed in a predefined portion of a handshake network communication, a communication session with a client system to stream one or more media streams, the predefined portion being reserved for random data,

processing the one or more streams, wherein the processing comprises;

dividing each of the one or more streams into a plurality of network communications, wherein each network communication of the plurality of network communications has an associated data payload and an associated header, and

writing to a header of a network communication from the plurality of network communications rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the network communication and one or more subsequent network communications of the plurality of network communications, and

streaming the processed one or more streams to the client system via the established communication session, wherein the operation of streaming the processed one or more streams comprises

queuing the plurality of network communications for transmission based on a media type of each of the plurality of network communications, wherein the operation of queuing comprises

assigning a priority to each of the processed one or more streams

totaling a priority for each stream,

calculating a desired transmission rate for each of the processed one or more streams using the assigned priority and the totaled priority,

counting a sub-total of the plurality of associated network communications transmitted per the processed one or more streams during a preset period,

counting a total number of the plurality of associated network communications transmitted during the preset period,

calculating an actual transmission rate for each stream of the processed one or more streams using the sub-total and the total, and

calculating a ratio between the desired transmission rate and the actual transmission rate, and

transmitting ones of the queued plurality of network communications to the client system based on a scheduling algorithm.

13. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein

if the network communication is associated with a new stream from among the one or more streams,

the operations further comprise writing to control portion of the new stream network communication a new stream network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, and

the operation of writing to the header of the new stream network communication comprises writing rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the new stream network communication, the new stream network communication rendering information comprising a plurality of new parameter values, wherein the media rendering state associated with the new stream network communication uses no parameter values from a previous network communication of the one or more streams,

if the network communication is associated with a new media of the new stream,

the operations further comprise writing to the control portion of the new media network communication a new media network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, and

the operation of writing to the header of the new media network communication comprises writing rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the new media network communication, the new media network communication rendering information comprising a plurality of new parameter values, wherein the media rendering state associated with the new media network communication uses at least one other parameter value from a previous network communication of the new stream,

if the network communication is associated with a new time of the new stream,

the operations further comprise writing to the control portion of the new time network communication a new time network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, and

the operation of writing to the header of the new time network communication comprises writing rendering information relating to a media rendering state associated with the new time network communication comprising, the new time network communication rendering information comprising at least one new parameter value, wherein the media rendering state associated with the new time network communication uses a plurality of other parameter values from a previous network communication of the new stream,

else, the operations further comprise writing to the control portion of the network communication a continuation network communication type identifier as the network communication type identifier, wherein a media rendering state associated with the continuation network communication uses rendering information from one or more previous network communications, and

the parameters include one or more of a stream ID parameter, a length parameter, a media type parameter, or a time delta parameter.

14. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise writing, to an associated control portion of each of the plurality of network communications, an associated network communication identifier to indicate whether the associated data payload includes low-level protocol instructions or media content.

15. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein the operation of establishing the communication session comprise,

determining a cryptographic key based at least in part on the cryptographic information, and

initiating the communication session as an encrypted communication session based at least in part on the cryptographic key.

16. The media streaming server system of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise encrypting, based at least in part on the cryptographic information and prior to said streaming the processed one or more streams via the encrypted communication session to the client system, data payloads of the plurality of network communications corresponding to the one or more streams.

17. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein the operation of establishing the communication session comprises

generating the handshake network communication, such that the predefined portion of the handshake network communication comprises the random data and the cryptographic information,

transmitting, to the client system, the generated handshake network communication,

receiving, from the client system, a responsive handshake network communication, and

authenticating the responsive handshake network communication based on the cryptographic information.

18. The media streaming server system of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to said authenticating of the responsive handshake communication, altering said streaming the processed one or more streams to the client system via the established communication session.

19. The media streaming server system of claim 18, wherein the operation of altered streaming comprises encrypting data payloads of the plurality of network communications corresponding to the one or more streams.

20. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein the operation of queuing further includes staging the plurality of network communications according to a media type of the network communication, wherein the media type comprises one of an audio format network communication.

21. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein the operation of transmitting the ones of the queued plurality of network communications based on the scheduling algorithm comprises

determining a stream having a lowest calculated ratio from among the processed one or more streams,

identifying ones of the queued plurality of network communications that are associated with the determined stream, and

transmitting the ones identified to be associated with the determined stream from among the queued plurality of network communications.

22. The media streaming server system of claim 12, wherein a portion of the rendering information that remains unchanged from the network communication to the one or more subsequent network communications is written to the header of the network communication but omitted from a header of the one or more subsequent network communications, such that the headers have variable lengths.