Network streaming of video data using byte range requests

• US 8,849,950 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2012
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Stockhammer, Thomas, Gillies, Donald W., Luby, Michael G., Ulupinar, Fatih
• Primary Examiner(s): Gee, Jason K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LWIN, MAUNG T
• Application Number:
  US13/439,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20120259946A1
• Time in Patent Office: 909 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1045 Proxies, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

In one example, a device for receiving information for multimedia data includes one or more processors configured to determine a byte range of a file of a representation of multimedia content to request from a source device, form a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies, in a file path portion of the URL, according to a template, the file and the byte range in accordance with requirements of the source device, and issue a GET request that specifies the formed URL to the source device.

Claims

1. A method of retrieving multimedia data, the method comprising:

determining a byte range of a file of a representation of multimedia content to request from a source device;

forming a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies, in a file path portion of the URL, according to a template, the file and the byte range in accordance with requirements of the source device; and

issuing a GET request that specifies the formed URL to the source device, wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a manifest file for the multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, wherein determining the byte range comprises selecting the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving data of the representation comprising a segment index data structure, wherein the segment index data structure specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein determining the byte range comprises selecting the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming the GET request to include an extension header that indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more selection criteria for selecting one of a plurality of content distribution networks (CDNs); and

selecting a CDN from the plurality of CDNs based on the selection criteria,

wherein issuing the GET request comprises issuing the GET request to the selected CDN, and

wherein forming the URL according to the template comprises forming the URL according to a byte range template specific to the selected CDN.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

submitting a POST message to a redirection URL to determine one of a plurality of content distribution networks (CDNs) from which to retrieve the data; and

receiving, in response to the POST message, an indication of a base URL for one of the plurality of CDNs,

wherein forming the URL comprises forming the URL to specify the received base URL for the one of the plurality of CDNs,

wherein forming the URL according to the template comprises forming the URL according to a byte range template specific to the selected CDN, and

wherein issuing the GET request comprises issuing the GET request to the one of the plurality of CDNs.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein submitting the POST message comprises submitting one or more POST messages indicating one or more of a BaseURL, selection criteria, and local information including one or more of geolocation information, hop counts, and local time of day to the redirection URL.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information indicative of the template from the source device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining comprises determining by a client device, wherein forming comprises forming by the client device, and wherein issuing comprises issuing by the client device.

10. A device for receiving information for multimedia data, the device comprising one or more processors configured to determine a byte range of a file of a representation of multimedia content to request from a source device, form a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies, in a file path portion of the URL, according to a template, the file and the byte range in accordance with requirements of the source device, and issue a GET request that specifies the formed URL to the source device, wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a manifest file for the multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein to determine the byte range, the one or more processors are configured to select the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive data of the representation comprising a segment index data structure, wherein the segment index data structure specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein to determine the byte range, the one or more processors are configured to select the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to form the GET request to include an extension header that indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive one or more selection criteria for selecting one of a plurality of content distribution networks (CDN), select a CDN from the plurality of CDNs based on the selection criteria, and issue the GET request to the selected CDN, wherein the template comprises a byte-range template that is specific to the selected CDN.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the device comprises at least one of:

an integrated circuit;

a microprocessor; and

a wireless communication device that includes the one or more processors.

16. A device for retrieving multimedia data, the device comprising:

means for determining a byte range of a file of a representation of multimedia content to request from a source device;

means for forming a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies, in a file path portion of the URL, according to a template, the file and the byte range in accordance with requirements of the source device; and

means for issuing a GET request that specifies the formed URL to the source device, wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header.

17. The device of claim 16, further comprising means for receiving a manifest file for the multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, wherein the means for determining the byte range comprises means for selecting the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

18. The device of claim 16, further comprising means for receiving data of the representation comprising a segment index data structure, wherein the segment index data structure specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the means for determining the byte range comprises means for selecting the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

19. The device of claim 16, further comprising means for forming the GET request to include an extension header that indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

20. The device of claim 16, further comprising:

means for receiving one or more selection criteria for selecting one of a plurality of content distribution networks (CDN); and

means for selecting a CDN from the plurality of CDNs based on the selection criteria,

wherein the means for issuing the GET request comprises means for issuing the GET request to the selected CDN, and

wherein the means for forming the URL according to the template comprises means for forming the URL according to a byte range template specific to the selected CDN.

21. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a device for retrieving multimedia data to:

determine a byte range of a file of a representation of multimedia content to request from a source device;

form a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies, in a file path portion of the URL, according to a template, the file and the byte range in accordance with requirements of the source device; and

issue a GET request that specifies the formed URL to the source device, wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to receive a manifest file for the multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the byte range comprise instructions that cause the processor to select the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to receive data of the representation comprising a segment index data structure, wherein the segment index data structure specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine the byte range comprise instructions that cause the processor to select the byte range of the representation from the plurality of byte ranges.

24. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to form the GET request to include an extension header that indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

25. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

receive one or more selection criteria for selecting one of a plurality of content distribution networks (CDN); and

select a CDN from the plurality of CDNs based on the selection criteria,

wherein the instructions that cause the processor to issue the GET request comprise instructions that cause the processor to issue the GET request to the selected CDN, and

wherein the instructions that cause the processor to form the URL according to the template comprise instructions that cause the processor to form the URL according to a byte range template specific to the selected CDN.

26. A method of sending information for multimedia data, the method comprising:

providing a manifest file for multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a uniform resource locator (URL) template and a byte range template, wherein the URL template and the byte range template provide a template for forming a URL to include a byte range request within the URL;

receiving a GET request including a URL constructed according to the URL template and the byte range template, wherein the URL of the request specifies a byte range of a representation of the multimedia content, wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header; and

in response to the request, outputting multimedia data of the representation corresponding to the byte range of the request.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the manifest file further comprises information that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising providing a segment index data structure that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving an extension header within the request, wherein the extension header indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein providing comprises providing by a server device, wherein receiving comprises receiving by the server device, and wherein outputting comprises outputting by the server device.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein providing comprises providing by a proxy cache device, wherein receiving comprises receiving by the proxy cache device, and wherein outputting comprises outputting by the proxy cache device.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the request comprises a first request for

the byte range of the representation of the multimedia content, the method further comprising:

requesting the byte range of the representation from a server device;

caching data for the byte range received from the server device;

receiving a second, different request for the byte range of the representation; and

outputting, in response to the second request, the cached data for the byte range of the representation.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein the request comprises a first request and

wherein the byte range comprises a first byte range, the method further comprising:

requesting the first byte range of the representation from a server device;

caching data for the first byte range, received from the server device;

receiving a second request including a second URL constructed according to the URL template and the byte range template, wherein the second URL of the second request specifies a second byte range of the representation of the multimedia content, wherein the second byte range follows the first byte range;

requesting the second byte range of the representation from the server device; and

assembling a local copy of the representation using the cached data for the first byte range and data for the second byte range received from the server device.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein the manifest file indicates that the byte range template applies globally to all content distribution networks.

35. The method of claim 26, wherein the byte range template comprises one of a plurality of byte range templates, and wherein the manifest file indicates that each of the byte range templates applies to a respective one of a plurality of content distribution networks.

36. A device for sending information for multimedia data, the device comprising one or more processors configured to provide a manifest file for multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a uniform resource locator (URL) template and a byte range template, wherein the URL template and the byte range template provide a template for forming a URL to include a byte range request within the URL, receive a GET request including a URL constructed according to the URL template and the byte range template, wherein the URL of the request specifies a byte range of a representation of the multimedia content, and wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header, and, in response to the request, output multimedia data of the representation corresponding to the byte range of the request.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the manifest file further comprises information that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

38. The device of claim 36, wherein the one or more processors are configured to provide a segment index data structure that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

39. The device of claim 36, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive an extension header within the request, wherein the extension header indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

40. The device of claim 36, wherein the device comprises at least one of a server device and a proxy cache device.

41. The device of claim 36, wherein the request comprises a first request for the byte range of the representation of the multimedia content, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to request the byte range of the representation from a server device, cache data for the byte range received from the server device, receive a second, different request for the byte range of the representation, and output, in response to the second request, the cached data for the byte range of the representation.

42. The device of claim 36, wherein the device comprises at least one of:

an integrated circuit;

a microprocessor; and

a wireless communication device that includes the one or more processors.

43. A device for sending information for multimedia data, the device comprising:

means for providing a manifest file for multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a uniform resource locator (URL) template and a byte range template, wherein the URL template and the byte range template provide a template for forming a URL to include a byte range request within the URL;

means for receiving a GET request including a URL constructed according to the URL template and the byte range template, wherein the URL of the request specifies a byte range of a representation of the multimedia content, and wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header; and

means for outputting, in response to the request, multimedia data of the representation corresponding to the byte range of the request.

44. The device of claim 43, wherein the manifest file further comprises information that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

45. The device of claim 43, further comprising means for providing a segment index data structure that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

46. The device of claim 43, further comprising means for receiving an extension header within the request, wherein the extension header indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

47. The device of claim 43, wherein the request comprises a first request for the byte range of the representation of the multimedia content, further comprising:

means for requesting the byte range of the representation from a server device;

means for caching data for the byte range, received from the server device;

means for receiving a second, different request for the byte range of the representation; and

means for outputting, in response to the second request, the cached data for the byte range of the representation.

48. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a device for providing multimedia data to:

provide a manifest file for multimedia content, wherein the manifest file specifies a uniform resource locator (URL) template and a byte range template, wherein the URL template and the byte range template provide a template for forming a URL to include a byte range request within the URL;

receive a GET request including a URL constructed according to the URL template and the byte range template, wherein the URL of the request specifies a byte range of a representation of the multimedia content, and wherein the GET request does not include a “

Range;

”

header; and

output, in response to the request, multimedia data of the representation corresponding to the byte range of the request.

49. The computer program product of claim 48, wherein the manifest file further comprises information that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

50. The computer program product of claim 48, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to provide a segment index data structure that specifies a plurality of byte ranges that can be requested for the representation, and wherein the byte range specified by the URL of the request comprises one of the plurality of byte ranges.

51. The computer program product of claim 48, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to receive an extension header within the request, wherein the extension header indicates a location of the byte range in the URL of the GET request.

52. The computer program product of claim 48, wherein the request comprises a first request for the byte range of the representation of the multimedia content, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

request the byte range of the representation from a server device;

cache data for the byte range, received from the server device;

receive a second, different request for the byte range of the representation; and

output, in response to the second request, the cached data for the byte range of the representation.