Apparatus and method for automatic realtime cloud computing processing for live multimedia content

• US 8,990,874 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2012
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jeffrey Huang
• Original Assignee: Jeffrey Huang
• Inventors: Huang, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Bruckart, Benjamin R
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TIEN M
• Application Number:
  US13/445,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20120198335A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,076 Days
• Field of Search: 725/109, 725/110, 725/11, 725/116, 725/133, 725151-153, 725/115
• US Class Current: 725/110
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• 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 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234309 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or from Quicktime to Realvideo conversion of standards in analog television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234336 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures or audio is converted into text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2405 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the server, e.g. server load allocation of resources in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/50; performance measurement of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for automatic real-time cloud computing processing of live multimedia content are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a portable electronic device can transmit live event multimedia data to a web/cloud computing storage service in real time, wherein the web/cloud computing storage service segmentizes incoming streams of the live event multimedia data into multiple media files during an ongoing transmission of the live event multimedia data. In one embodiment of the invention, the size of each segmented media file depends on a current network traffic condition and/or a bandwidth availability. By automatically segmentizing the streams of encoded multimedia data into individually-viewable segments for the web or cloud-computing storage service, a user can start viewing the currently-uploading multimedia data faster than a conventional single stream upload which requires a longer waiting time.

Claims

1. An apparatus for performing an automatic real-time cloud computing processing of live multimedia content, the apparatus comprising:

a portable electronic device capturing a live event when a record instruction is remotely triggered by a user operating a web interface remotely networked to the portable electronic device, wherein the live event is then encoded as visual and aural information in a standard multimedia format using a microprocessor and an embedded codec in the portable electronic device that specifically prevents saving a local copy of the visual and aural information to create a certified level of temper-proof authenticity of the visual and aural information for law enforcement and intelligence application, and wherein the encoded visual and aural information is instead immediately transmitted to a cloud computing service unit in real time via a data network;

the cloud computing service unit executing a multimedia data management and viewing program operating on a CPU and a memory unit in the cloud computing service unit, wherein the cloud computing service unit is configured to receive an incoming stream of the encoded visual and aural information from the portable electronic device via a data network, and wherein the multimedia data management and viewing program divides the incoming stream of the encoded visual and aural information into individually-viewable segments of variable lengths prior to data transmission to another device, and wherein each length of each individually-viewable segment is shorter when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s workload is heavy and when bandwidth availability of the cloud computing service is low, and wherein each length of each individually-viewable segment is longer when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s workload is light and when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s bandwidth availability is high;

the web user interface executed on the CPU and the memory unit of the cloud computing service unit or on an associated computer system operatively connected to the cloud computing service unit, wherein the web user interface is configured to log in a user to access one of the individually-viewable segments from the multimedia data management and viewing program in the cloud computing service unit, even while data transmission for the incoming stream of the encoded visual and aural information from the portable electronic device to the cloud computing service unit is still in progress and not fully completed;

the multimedia data management and viewing program operating on a CPU and a memory unit in the cloud computing service unit, wherein at least some of the individually-viewable segments of variable lengths are automatically stitched together as a single viewable multimedia file by the multimedia data management and viewing program, once all of the incoming stream of the encoded visual and aural information from the portable electronic device for the live event is entirely fully transmitted to the cloud computing service unit; and

the data network comprising a wireless data network and/or a wired data network which are operatively connected to the portable electronic device and the cloud computing service unit, wherein the data network is configured to transmit the encoded visual and aural information from the portable electronic device to the cloud computing service unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the encoded visual and aural information is temporarily placed in a buffer memory unit of the portable electronic device prior to transmission to the cloud computing service unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the buffer memory unit of the portable electronic device stores a particular portion of the encoded visual and aural information temporarily until the particular portion of the encoded visual and aural information is completely transmitted to the cloud computing service unit via the data network.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cloud computing service unit further comprises a computer server, a network interface unit configured to send and receive data packets via the data network, and a hard disk drive.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device is a cellular phone with a camera lens and a microphone to capture visual and aural information from the live event, wherein the captured visual and aural information is further processed to become the encoded visual and aural information using the microprocessor and the embedded codec of the portable electronic device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device is a vehicle black box system with a camera lens and a microphone to capture visual and aural information from the live event, wherein the captured visual and aural information is further processed to become the encoded visual and aural information using the microprocessor and the embedded codec of the portable electronic device.

7. A method for automatic real-time cloud computing processing of a live multimedia content, the method comprising:

registering and authenticating a portable electronic device for real-time transmission of live event multimedia data from a sensor of the portable electronic device to a cloud computing service unit;

triggering a live event to be recorded using a web interface operating on a computer or another computer-based interface which is remotely networked to the portable electronic device;

capturing the live event using the portable electronic device, wherein the live event multimedia data are encoded in a digitized data format in a buffer memory unit of the portable electronic device, wherein the portable electronic device specifically prevents saving a local copy of the visual and aural information to create a certified level of temper-proof authenticity of encoded visual and aural information for law enforcement and intelligence application;

performing a real-time transmission of the live event multimedia data in the buffer memory unit to the cloud computing service unit over a data network, wherein the real-time transmission is initiated as soon as a first stream of the live event multimedia data is placed in the buffer memory unit;

dynamically segmentizing the live event multimedia data into individually-viewable segments of variable lengths in the cloud computing service unit prior to data transmission to another device from the cloud computing service unit, wherein each length of each individually-viewable segment is shorter when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s workload is heavy and when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s bandwidth availability is low, and wherein each length of each individually-viewable segment is longer when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s workload is light and when the cloud computing service unit'"'"'s bandwidth availability is high, and wherein each individually-viewable segment is viewable by a user logged into the cloud computing service unit even before the real-time transmission of the live event multimedia data is entirely completed from the portable electronic device; and

stitching at least some of the individually-viewable segments of variable lengths as a single viewable multimedia file using a multimedia data management and viewing program executed in the cloud computing service unit, once the real-time transmission of the live event multimedia data is entirely completed from the portable electronic device to the cloud computing service unit.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of performing the real-time transmission of the live event multimedia data in the buffer memory unit of the portable electronic device to the cloud computing service unit over the data network involves a wireless network, a wired network, or both.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising a step of storing the single viewable multimedia file in the cloud computing service unit, wherein the single viewable multimedia file is categorized, searchable, and identifiable by a user ID of the portable electronic device.