Media container file management

• US 8,225,164 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2007
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Westerlund, Magnus, Fröjdh, Per, Lohmar, Thorsten
• Primary Examiner(s): DUNCAN, MARC M
• Application Number:
  US12/160,155
• Publication Number:
  US 20100023525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,021 Days
• Field of Search: 714/752, 714/776, 714/781
• US Class Current: 714/752
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/004 by using forward error control H04L1/0618 takes precedence; coding, decoding or code conversion, for error detection or correction H03M13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0084 Formats for payload data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1819 with retransmission of additional or different redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1877 Measures taken prior to transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/66 involving data partitioning, i.e. separation of data into packets or partitions according to importance
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/67 involving unequal error protection [UEP], i.e. providing protection according to the importance of the data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2381 Adapting the multiplex stream to a specific network, e.g. an Internet Protocol [IP] network transmission of MPEG streams over ATM H04L12/5601
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6131 involving transmission via a mobile phone network wireless downlink channel access H04W74/006
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6181 involving transmission via a mobile phone network arrangements for providing broadcast or conference services to substation in data switching networks in combination with wireless systems H04L12/189; wireless uplink channel access H04W74/004
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6375 for requesting retransmission , e.g. of data packets lost or corrupted during transmission from serverARQ protocols H04L1/18; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6377 directed to server one-way streaming services wherein the source is controlled by the destination H04L65/613
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64315 DVB-H
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/658 Transmission by the client directed to the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/85406 involving a specific file format, e.g. MP4 format

Abstract

The invention teaches a media container file comprising media data organized into media source blocks. Forward error correction (FEC) redundancy data is pre-calculated for the different source blocks and organized into the container file as different FEC reservoirs. The container file also comprises meta data providing an association between the media source blocks and the respective FEC reservoirs. The container file can be employed by a media server in a media session for compiling media data packets to be transmitted to requesting clients without the need of extensive data processing and FEC calculation.

Claims

1. A method of generating a media container file, said method comprising the steps of:

organizing at least one media source block in said media container file;

pre-calculating forward error correction, FEC, redundancy data based on said at least one media source block;

organizing said FEC redundancy data in at least one FEC reservoir in said media container file; and

providing, in said media container file, meta data providing an association between said at least one media source block and said at least one FEC reservoir.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing a media source file; and

dividing said media source file into said at least one media source block.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said dividing step comprises dividing said media source file into said at least one media source block based at least partly on a FEC algorithm used for calculating said FEC redundancy data.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said calculating step comprises the steps of:

partitioning said at least one media source block into multiple media symbols based on a FEC algorithm to use for calculating said FEC redundancy data;

generating partitioning information of said media source block partitioning; and

calculating said FEC redundancy data based on said at least one media source block and said partitioning information.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of:

providing, in said media container file, information of said FEC algorithm and said partitioning information.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

providing, in said media container file, a property table comprising storage location information of said at least one media source block within said media container file.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating compiling instructions defining compilation, based on said meta data, of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a media stream of data packets; and

organizing said compiling instructions in said media container file.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said step of generating compiling instructions comprises the steps of:

generating a first set of compiling instructions defining compilation, based on said meta data, of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a first media stream of data packets having a first level of FEC redundancy overhead; and

generating a second set of compiling instructions defining compilation, based on said meta data, of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a second media stream of data packets having a second level of FEC redundancy overhead.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said FEC redundancy data is FEC redundancy data to be used during a media session, and said method further comprising the steps of:

calculating, based on said at least one media source block, post- session FEC redundancy data useful at a post-session repair procedure;

organizing said post-session FEC redundancy data in at least one FEC reservoir in said media container file; and

providing, in said media container file, meta data enabling identification of said at least one FEC reservoir based on an identifier associated with said at least one media source block.

10. A media content server comprising:

a media block manager arranged for organizing at least one media source block in a media container file;

a forward error correction, FEC, codec arranged for pre-calculating FEC redundancy data based on said at least one media source block;

a FEC data manager arranged connected to said FEC codec for organizing said FEC redundancy data in at least one FEC reservoir in said media container file; and

a meta data manager arranged for providing, in said media container file, meta data providing an association between said at least one media source block and said at least one FEC reservoir.

11. The media content server according to claim 10, further comprising:

a media source arranged for providing a media source file; and

a file divider arranged connected to said media source for dividing said media source file into said at least one media source block.

12. The media content server according to claim 11, wherein said file divider is arranged for partitioning said media source file into said at least one media source block based at least partly on a FEC algorithm used by said FEC codec for calculating said FEC redundancy data.

13. The media content server according to claim 10, further comprising:

a block partitioner for partitioning said at least one media source block into multiple media symbols based on a FEC algorithm to be used by said FEC codec and for generating partitioning information of said media source block partitioning, wherein said FEC, codec is arranged for calculating FEC redundancy data based on said at least one media source block and said partitioning information.

14. The media content server according to claim 13, further comprising:

an information manager arranged for providing, in said media container file, information of said FEC algorithm used by said FEC codec and said partitioning information.

15. The media content server according to claim 10, further comprising:

an information manager arranged for providing, in said media container file, a property table comprising storage location information of said at least one media source block within said media container file.

16. The media content server according to claim 10, further comprising:

an instruction manager arranged for i) generating compiling instructions defining compilation, based on said meta data provided by said meta data manager, of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a media stream of data packets and ii) organizing said compiling instructions in said media container file.

17. The media content server according to claim 16, wherein said instruction manager is arranged for i) generating a first set of compiling instructions defining compilation, based on said meta data provided by said meta data manager, of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a first media stream of data packets having a first level of FEC redundancy overhead, and ii) generating a second set of compiling instructions defining compilation, based on said meta data provided by said meta data manager, of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a second media stream of data packets having a second level of FEC redundancy overhead.

18. The media content server according to claim 10, wherein said FEC redundancy data generated by FEC codec is FEC redundancy data intended to be used during a media session, said FEC codec is arranged for calculating, based on said at least one media source block, post-session FEC redundancy data useful at a post-session repair procedure, said FEC data manager is arranged for organizing said post-session FEC redundancy data calculated by said FEC codec in at least one FEC reservoir in said media container file, and said meta data manager is arranged for providing, in said media container file, meta data enabling identification of said at least one FEC reservoir based on an identifier associated with said at least one media source block.

19. A media session managing method comprising the step of:

providing a media container file comprising at least one media source block, at least one forward error correction, FEC, reservoir comprising FEC redundancy data pre-generated based on said at least one media source block, and meta data providing an association between said at least one media source block and said FEC reservoir;

compiling data packets by extracting, based on said meta data, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir; and

transmitting said data packets to at least one user terminal during a media session.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein said media container file further comprises compiling instruction defining compilation of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a media stream of data packets, and said compiling step comprises compiling said data packets by extracting, based on said meta data and said compiling instructions, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said compiling instructions comprises multiple sets of compiling instructions, where each compiling instructions set is associated with a defined FEC redundancy overhead, said method comprising the steps of:

estimating a FEC redundancy overhead capacity for said media session; and

selecting a compiling instructions set from said multiple compiling instructions set based on said estimated FEC redundancy overhead capacity, wherein said compiling step comprises compiling said data packets by extracting, based on said meta data and said selected compiling instructions set, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein said media container file further comprises a property table comprising storage information of said at least one media source block within said media container file, and said compiling step comprises compiling said data packets by extracting, based on said meta data and said property table, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir.

23. The method according to claim 19, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a post-session repair procedure originating from a user terminal of said at least one user terminal;

extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said request; and

transmitting said extracted FEC redundancy data to said user terminal.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein said media container file further comprising post-session repair instructions useful for identifying FEC redundancy data during a post-session repair session, and said extracting step comprises extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said request and said post-session repair instructions.

25. A media session server comprising:

a media file provider for providing a media container file comprising at least one media source block, at least one forward error correction, FEC, reservoir comprising FEC redundancy data pre-generated based on said at least one media source block, and meta data providing an association between said at least one media source block and said FEC reservoir;

a data packet compiler arranged connected to said media file provider for compiling data packets by extracting, based on said meta data, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir; and

a transmitter arranged connected to said data packet compiler for transmitting, to at least one user terminal during a media session, said data packets compiled by said data packet compiler.

26. The media session server according to claim 25, wherein said media container file further comprises compiling instruction defining compilation of media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form a media stream of data packets, and said data packet compiler is arranged for compiling said data packets by extracting, based on said meta data and said compiling instructions, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir.

27. The media session server according to claim 26, wherein said compiling instructions comprises multiple sets of compiling instructions, where each compiling instructions set is associated with a defined FEC redundancy overhead, said media session server further comprises:

a FEC capacity estimator arranged for estimating a FEC redundancy overhead capacity for said media session; and

a set selector arranged connected to said FEC capacity estimator for selecting a compiling instructions set from said multiple compiling instructions sets based on said FEC redundancy overhead capacity estimated by said FEC capacity estimator, wherein said data packet compiler is arranged for compiling said data packets by extracting, based on said meta data and said compiling instructions set selected by said set selector, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir.

28. The media session server according to claim 25, wherein said media container file further comprises a property table comprising storage information of said at least one media source block within said media container file, and said data packet compiler is arranged for compiling said data .packets by extracting, based on said meta data and said property table, media data from said at least one media source block and FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir.

29. The media session server according to claim 25, further comprising:

a receiver arranged for receiving a request for a post-session repair procedure originating from a user terminal of said at least one user terminal; and

a FEC manager arranged for extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said request received by said receiver, wherein said transmitter is arranged connected to said FEC manager for transmitting said FEC redundancy data extracted by said FEC manager to said user terminal.

30. The media session server according to claim 29, wherein said media container file further comprising post-session repair instructions useful for identifying FEC redundancy data during a post-session repair session, and said FEC manager is arranged for extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said request and said post-session repair instructions.

31. A post-session repair method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for forward error correction, FEC, redundancy data from a user terminal having previously received data packets comprising media data extracted from at least one media source block, said request comprises an identifier associated with said at least one media source block;

providing, based on said request, a media container file comprising i) said at least one media source block, ii) at least one FEC reservoir comprising FEC redundancy data pre-generated based on said at least one media source block, and iii) meta data enabling identification of said at lest one FEC reservoir based on an identifier associated with said at least one media source block;

extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said received identifier; and

transmitting said extracted FEC redundancy data to said user terminal.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein said media container file further comprises post-session repair instructions defining compilation of FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form at least one data packet of FEC redundancy data, - and said extracting step comprises extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said received identifier and said post-session repair instructions.

33. A repair server comprising:

a receiver for receiving a request for forward error correction, FEC, redundancy data from a user terminal having previously received data packets comprising media data extracted from at least one media source block, said request comprises an identifier associated with said at least one media source block;

a container file provider arranged connected to said receiver for providing, based on said request received by said receiver, a media container file comprising i) said at least one media source block, ii) at least one FEC reservoir comprising FEC redundancy data pre-generated based on said at least one media source block, and iii) meta data enabling identification of said at least one FEC reservoir based on an identifier associated with said at least one media source block;

a FEC data extractor arranged connected to said container file provider for extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said received identifier; and

a transmitter arranged connected to said FEC data extractor for transmitting said extracted FEC redundancy data to said user terminal.

34. The repair server according to claim 33, wherein said media container file further comprises post-session repair instructions defining compilation of FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir to form at least one data packet of FEC redundancy data, and said FEC data extractor is arranged for extracting FEC redundancy data from said at least one FEC reservoir based on said received identifier and said post-session repair instructions.