Polymorphic codec system and method

• US 8,675,733 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2012
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Interact Devices (Mad Catz Interactive Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Interact Devices (Mad Catz Interactive Incorporated)
• Inventors: Mabey, Danny L., Reynolds, Jodie L., Reznick, Lawrence S., Wilkinson, John E., Prock, Jack A.
• Primary Examiner(s): WONG, ALLEN C
• Application Number:
  US13/494,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20120250757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 644 Days
• Field of Search: 375/240, 375/240.01, 375/240.12, 375/240.18
• US Class Current: 375/240.1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/18 Vocoders using multiple modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/105 Selection of the reference unit for prediction within a chosen coding or prediction mode, e.g. adaptive choice of position and number of pixels used for prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/12 Selection from among a plurality of transforms or standards, e.g. selection between discrete cosine transform [DCT] and sub-band transform or selection between H.263 and H.264
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/122 Selection of transform size, e.g. 8x8 or 2x4x8 DCT; Selection of sub-band transforms of varying structure or type
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/124 Quantisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/149 by estimating the code amount by means of a model, e.g. mathematical model or statistical model
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/154 Measured or subjectively estimated visual quality after decoding, e.g. measurement of distortion use of rate-distortion criteria H04N19/147
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/164 : Feedback from the receiver or from the transmission channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 : the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 : the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/177 : the unit being a group of pictures [GOP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/192 : the adaptation method, adaptation tool or adaptation type being iterative or recursive
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 : in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23406 : involving management of server-side video buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 : involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 : for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25825 : involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone optimising the visualisation of content during browsing in the Internet G06F16/9577; processing of terminal status or physical abilities in wireless networks H04W8/22; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25858 : involving client software characteristics, e.g. OS identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 : Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4621 : Controlling the complexity of the content stream or additional data, e.g. lowering the resolution or bit-rate of the video stream for a mobile client with a small screen arrangements for using the results of monitoring on user's side in broadcast systems H04H60/65; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6131 : involving transmission via a mobile phone network wireless downlink channel access H04W74/006
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6379 : directed to encoder , e.g. for requesting a lower encoding rate

Abstract

An input module obtains a media signal to be communicated to a destination system, after which an identification module identifies a plurality of segments within the media signal. A codec includes a selection module that automatically selects different compression methods to respectively compress at least two of the segments. The compression methods are automatically selected to produce a highest compression quality for the respective segments according to a set of criteria without exceeding a target data rate. A compression module within the codec then compresses the segments using the automatically-selected compression methods, after which an output module delivers the compressed segments to the destination system with an indication of which compression method was used to compress each segment.

Claims

1. A media compression method comprising:

compressing a plurality of segments of a media signal with a codec supporting multiple compression methods, wherein the codec automatically selects different compression methods to respectively compress at least two of the segments, wherein the at least two compression methods are automatically selected to produce a highest compression quality for the respective segments according to a set of criteria without exceeding a target data rate for an output signal including the at least two compressed segments; and

transmitting the output signal to the destination system with an indication of which compression method was used by the codec to compress the at least two segments.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the compression methods are selected from the group consisting of discrete cosine transform (DCT), fractal, and wavelet compression methods.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a first automatically-selected compression method comprises a discrete cosine transform (DCT) method and a second automatically-selected compression method comprises a fractal method.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a first automatically-selected compression method comprises a discrete cosine transform (DCT) method and a second automatically-selected compression method comprises a wavelet method.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically selecting further comprises:

identifying a plurality of characteristics of a segment; and

searching for a compression method that is associated with the identified characteristics of the segment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the characteristics are selected from the group consisting of motion characteristics and color characteristics.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein searching further comprises using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to locate a compression method associated with the identified characteristics of a segment.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the AI system comprises a neural network.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the AI system comprises an expert system.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein searching further comprises searching for an association between the identified characteristics and a set of parameters to be used with the automatically-selected compression method;

wherein compressing further comprises compressing the segment using the automatically-selected compression method with the associated set of parameters; and

wherein transmitting further comprises transmitting the compressed segment to the destination system with an indication of which compression method and which set of parameters were used to compress the segment.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically selecting further comprises:

testing at least a subset of the compression methods on a segment; and

automatically selected the compression method that produces a highest compression quality for the segment according to a set of criteria without exceeding the target data rate.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein testing further comprises:

storing a baseline snapshot of the segment; and

for each compression method to be tested;

compressing the segment at or below the target data rate using one of the compression methods;

decompressing the segment using a corresponding decompression method; and

comparing the quality of the decompressed segment with the baseline snapshot according to the set of criteria.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein comparing further comprises comparing the quality according to a Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR).

14. The method of claim 12, wherein comparing further comprises comparing the quality according to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) value.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of characteristics of a segment; and

associating the identified characteristics of the segment with the automatically-selected compression method.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein testing at least a subset of the compression methods comprises testing a plurality of compressions methods concurrently using a plurality of separate processors.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the number of processors at least equals the number of compression methods to be tested.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein each compression method is tested within a separate processing thread of a multiprocessing operating system.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein testing further comprises testing compression methods on the segment using different sets of parameters and automatically selecting the compression method and set of parameters that produce a highest compression quality for the segment according to a set of criteria without exceeding the target data rate;

wherein compressing further comprises compressing the segment using the automatically-selected compression method with the automatically-selected parameters; and

wherein transmitting further comprises transmitting the compressed segment to the destination system with an indication of which compression method and set of parameters were used to compress the segment.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of characteristics of a segment; and

associating the automatically-selected compression method and the automatically-selected set of parameters with the identified characteristics of the segment.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further comprises detecting a segment change in response to one frame of the media signal being sufficiently different from a previous frame.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further comprises detecting a segment change in response to the passage of a fixed period of time.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting further comprises streaming each compressed segment to the destination system through a network.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting further comprises storing each compressed segment on a storage medium.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one compression method has an associated licensing cost, and wherein selecting further comprises automatically selecting the compression method having the least licensing cost in response to two or more compression methods producing substantially the same quality of compressed output for a segment.

26. A media compression method comprising:

automatically selecting different compression methods to respectively compress at least two segments of a media signal, wherein the compression methods are automatically selected to produce a highest compression quality for the respective segments without exceeding a target data rate for an output signal including the compressed segments;

compressing the segments using the automatically-selected compression methods; and

sending the output signal to a destination system with an indication of which compression methods were used to compress the at least two segments.

27. A method for communicating a media signal comprising:

selectively compressing at least two segments of a media signal using different compression methods available within a single codec, wherein the compression methods are automatically selected to produce a highest compression quality for the respective segments according to a set of criteria without exceeding a target data rate for an output signal including the compressed segments; and

sending the output signal to a destination system with an indication of which compression methods were used by the codec to compress the at least two segments.

28. A method comprising:

receiving a media signal comprising a first segment compressed using a first compression method of a codec and a second segment compressed using a second compression method of the same codec, the first and second codecs being automatically selected based on which compression method produced a highest compression quality for each segment according to a set of criteria without exceeding a target data rate for an output signal including the first and second compressed segments;

receiving an indication of which compression method was used to compress the first and second segments;

decompressing the first segment using the first indicated compression method; and

decompressing the second segment using the second indicated compression method.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising presenting the first and second decompressed segments to a user.

30. A media compression system comprising:

an input module configured to obtain a media signal to be communicated to a destination system;

a codec configured to automatically select different compression methods to respectively compress at least two segments of the media signal, wherein the compression methods are automatically selected to produce a highest compression quality for the respective segments according to a set of criteria without exceeding a target data rate for an output signal including the compressed segments, wherein the codec compresses the segments using the automatically-selected compression methods; and

an output module configured to deliver the compressed segments to the destination system with an indication of which compression methods were used to compress the at least two segments.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the codec is to compare the quality according to a Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR).

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the codec is further configured to test at least a subset of the compression methods on a segment and automatically select the compression method that produces a highest compression quality for the segment according to the set of criteria without exceeding the target data rate.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the codec is further configured to store a baseline snapshot of the segment and, for each compression method to be tested, compress the segment at or below the target data rate using one of the compression methods, decompress the segment using a corresponding decompression method, and compare the quality of the decompressed segment with the baseline snapshot according to the set of criteria.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the codec is configured to test at least a subset of the compression methods concurrently using a plurality of separate processors.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the number of processors at least equals the number of compression methods to be tested.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein the codec is to test each compression method within a separate processing thread of a multiprocessing operating system.