Method and apparatus for receiving, storing, and presenting multimedia programming without indexing prior to storage
First Claim
1. A method of presenting a stored multimedia program, the method comprising:
- receiving a seek input associated with non-contiguous playback of the stored multimedia program;
based on statistical information associated with the multimedia program, determining a seek position and a data read size associated with the seek input, wherein the statistical information comprises an average frame size of the multimedia program and an average size of a group of pictures in the multimedia program, wherein each group of pictures in the multimedia program begins with a frame encoded independently of other frames;
loading a portion of the stored multimedia program into a memory, wherein the loaded portion begins at the seek position and is of the data read size;
determining whether the loaded portion of the stored multimedia program includes a complete independently-encoded frame; and
responsive to determining that the loaded portion includes a complete independently-encoded frame, outputting the loaded portion from the memory for presentation, commencing at, and including at least, the complete independently-encoded frame.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for improved digital recording and presentation of broadcast information is disclosed. Received broadcast data, which may include video, audio, private, or other data, relating to one or more particular content programs, is presented from an input section to a buffer and recorded directly onto a storage device without any intelligent parsing, such as indexing, and without any manipulation by intermediate hardware or software functions. Upon normal presentation, statistics may be generated to determine the ideal number of frames to skip, the number of bytes to seek, and the size of data files to read from the storage device during time-shifted presentation. Algorithms and processes are provided to dynamically optimize time-shifted presentation. In this way, data may be captured to the storage device more efficiently and economically, and the time-shifted presentation operations may be performed in a smoother, more nuanced manner with the application of appropriate probabilistic algorithms.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of presenting a stored multimedia program, the method comprising:
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receiving a seek input associated with non-contiguous playback of the stored multimedia program; based on statistical information associated with the multimedia program, determining a seek position and a data read size associated with the seek input, wherein the statistical information comprises an average frame size of the multimedia program and an average size of a group of pictures in the multimedia program, wherein each group of pictures in the multimedia program begins with a frame encoded independently of other frames; loading a portion of the stored multimedia program into a memory, wherein the loaded portion begins at the seek position and is of the data read size; determining whether the loaded portion of the stored multimedia program includes a complete independently-encoded frame; and responsive to determining that the loaded portion includes a complete independently-encoded frame, outputting the loaded portion from the memory for presentation, commencing at, and including at least, the complete independently-encoded frame. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A digital video recorder, comprising:
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a storage device operable to store a media content segment without indexing; a user interface operable to receive a seek input associated with non-contiguous playback of the media content segment; a processor operable, based on statistical information associated with the program, to determine a seek position and a data read size associated with the seek input, wherein the statistical information includes at least an average frame size of the media content segment and an average size of a group of pictures in the media content segment, wherein each group of pictures begins with a frame encoded independently of other frames; a read buffer operable to receive a portion of the stored media content segment, wherein the loaded portion begins at the seek position and is of the data read size; wherein the processor is operable to determine whether the loaded portion includes a complete independently-encoded frame, and responsive to determining that the loaded portion includes the complete frame, outputting the loaded portion commencing at, and including at least, the complete frame. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying instructions for enabling the presentation of a stored media content segment, the instructions comprising:
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receiving a seek input associated with non-contiguous playback of a media content segment; based on statistical information associated with the program, determining a seek position and a data read size associated with the seek input, wherein the statistical information includes at least an average frame size of the media content segment and an average size of a group of pictures in the media content segment, wherein the first frame in each group of pictures is encoded independently of other frames; extracting a portion of the stored media content segment, wherein the portion extracted begins at the seek position and is of the data read size; determining whether the extracted portion of the stored media content segment includes a complete independently-encoded frame; and responsive to determining that the extracted portion includes the complete independently-encoded frame, outputting the extracted portion commencing at, and including at least, the independently-encoded frame for presentation to a user. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification