Media stream splicer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computing device comprising:
- a media-stream transmission device; and
a processor-readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising;
transmitting, to a receiver, a unicast acquisition media-stream transmission in response to a channel change, which corresponds to a target multicast media-stream transmission, the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission further comprising content including a first series of frames configured to be decoded by a receiver;
transmitting, to the receiver, the target multicast media-stream transmission including a second series of frames, wherein the first series of frames includes the same content that is concurrently transmitting in the second series of frames; and
receiving an indication to cease transmission of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission.
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Abstract
An implementation is described herein, which facilitates a fast channel change by receiving and decoding a unicast acquisition media stream that corresponds to a soon-to-be-requested target multicast media stream. It does this before requesting the target multicast media stream of the new channel. Once the transmission of the unicast stream is caught up with the multicast stream, this implementation splices from the unicast acquisition stream to the target multicast media stream.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A computing device comprising:
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a media-stream transmission device; and a processor-readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising; transmitting, to a receiver, a unicast acquisition media-stream transmission in response to a channel change, which corresponds to a target multicast media-stream transmission, the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission further comprising content including a first series of frames configured to be decoded by a receiver; transmitting, to the receiver, the target multicast media-stream transmission including a second series of frames, wherein the first series of frames includes the same content that is concurrently transmitting in the second series of frames; and receiving an indication to cease transmission of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computing device comprising:
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a media-stream transmission device; a processor-readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising; transmitting, to a receiver, a low bit-rate unicast acquisition media-stream transmission in response to a channel change, which corresponds both in time and in content to a target normal bit-rate multicast media-stream transmission, the content of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission configured to be decoded and displayed by the receiver; transmitting, to the receiver, a normal bit-rate unicast intermediate media-stream transmission, which corresponds to the target multicast media-stream transmission and includes a first series of frames, receiving a request from the receiver for cessation of transmission of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission wherein content of the unicast intermediate media-stream transmission is configured to be decoded and displayed by the receiver; transmitting the multicast media-stream transmission including a second series of frames, wherein the first series of frames includes the same content that is concurrently transmitting in the second series of frames; and receiving a request from the receiver for cessation of transmission of the unicast intermediate media-stream transmission, wherein content of the target multicast media-stream transmission is configured to be decoded and displayed at the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A processor-readable storage medium excluding signals per se, the processor-readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:
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transmitting a target multicast media-stream transmission which includes at least a first series of frames; transmitting, in response to a channel change, a unicast acquisition media-stream transmission, where content of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission corresponds in subject matter to that of the target multicast media-stream transmission and includes a second series of frames, and wherein the second series of frames includes the same content that is concurrently transmitting in the first series of frames, where the content of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission is configured to be decoded and presented at a receiver; and receiving a request for cessation of transmission of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method facilitating fast channel-change, the method comprising:
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transmitting a target multicast media-stream transmission having a first series of frames; transmitting, in response to a channel change, a unicast acquisition media-stream transmission having a second series of frames, wherein content of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission corresponds to the target multicast media-stream transmission, and wherein the second series of frames includes the same content that is concurrently transmitting in the first series of frames, and wherein the content of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission is configured to be decoded and presented at a receiver, and receiving a request for cessation of transmission of the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A multimedia system comprising:
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one or more transmitters configured to transmit to a receiver a target multicast media-stream transmission having first frames and a unicast acquisition media-stream transmission having second frames in response to a channel change, wherein the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission corresponds to the target multicast media-stream transmission by including a series of frames in the first frames that is the same content that is concurrently transmitting in the second frames; wherein the receiver includes a decoding unit configured to decode both the unicast acquisition media-stream transmission and the target multicast media-stream transmission, and a splicing unit configured to splice from the reception of the unicast acquisition media-stream to the reception of the target multicast media-stream transmission at one of the second frames. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method of channel changing in a receiver, the method comprising:
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processing a request to change to a new channel corresponding to a target multicast media stream, the target multicast media stream including first media content; receiving, prior to commencing receiving the target multicast media-stream, a unicast media-stream including the first media content that is concurrently being transmitted in the target multicast media stream, in response to processing; receiving, after a last frame of the unicast media-stream is received, a portion of the target multicast media-stream including second media content corresponding to the new channel; displaying the first media content of the unicast media-stream; and after displaying the last frame of the unicast media-stream, switching to displaying the second media content of the target multicast media-stream. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
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42. A method of channel changing, comprising:
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transmitting a target multicast media-stream corresponding to a new channel; processing a request from a receiver to change to the new channel; in response to the processing and prior to commencing transmitting the target multicast media stream to the receiver, transmitting to the receiver a unicast media-stream including first media content corresponding to the new channel, wherein the first media content is transmitted to the receiver in the unicast stream concurrently with the first media content being transmitted in the target multicast media-stream but not yet being transmitted to the receiver; transmitting to the receiver, after a last frame of the unicast media-stream is transmitted, a portion of the target multicast media-stream including second media content; and receiving a request from the receiver to cease transmission of the first media content of the unicast media-stream, wherein the first media content of the unicast media-stream and the second media content of the multicast media-stream are configured to be displayed by the receiver.
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Specification