System and method for providing video content associated with a source image to a television in a communication network

• US 9,077,860 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2011
• Issued: 07/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ActiveVideo Networks, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ActiveVideo Networks, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sigmon, Robert B. Jr., Pavlovskaia, Lena Y., Landau, Airan S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US13/311,203
• Publication Number:
  US 20120137337A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,310 Days
• Field of Search: 725/110, 725112-113, 725/136, 348/240.11, 348/240.25, 348/240.26, 348/571, 348/584, 348/608
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A system and method are provided for processing video content, associated with a source image, for display on a television. The source image, such as a web page, and its associated (e.g., linked) video content are retrieved and separately encoded. The encoded source image and the encoded video content are composited together to form a sequence of encoded video frames, where a frame type of the video content is used to determine a type of a composited frame. For example, if all displayed frames of the video content are MPEG I-frames, then the composited frame also may be an I-frame. However, if any displayed frame of video content is an MPEG P-frame or B-frame, then the composited frame may be a P-frame.

Claims

1. A method of processing encoded video content that includes a plurality of encoded video frames, the encoded video content being addressed by a link on a static source image, for display of the encoded video content and the static source image on a television, the television coupled to a communication network through a communication device, the method comprising:

retrieving the encoded video content addressed by the link; and

in response to receiving a request for display of the encoded video content on the television, at a server, forming a sequence of composite video frames in a format decodable by the communication device, each composite video frame being formed by compositing an encoded frame of the encoded video content with at least one portion of the static source image, wherein the compositing includes selecting a frame type, from a plurality of frame types, of the encoded video content based on the frame type of the encoded video frame and encoding the at least one portion of the static source image according to the selected frame type.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the static source image is removed, and compositing includes, when forming each composite video frame, inserting the encoded video content at a location of the static source image where the removed portion was located.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the sequence of composite video frames through the communication network to the communication device that transmitted the request.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the static source image is encoded as an MPEG frame prior to compositing and after receiving the request for display of the encoded video content.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein retrieving the encoded video content comprises:

searching a repository for a stored version of the encoded video content;

if the stored version of the encoded video content is in the repository, determining whether the encoded video content is time-sensitive; and

if the encoded video content is time-sensitive, determining whether the stored version of the encoded video content is the most recent version of the encoded video content.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein determining whether the stored version of the encoded video content is the most recent version of the encoded video content includes comparing a timestamp associated with the stored version of the encoded video content to a timestamp of the encoded video content associated with the link.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein retrieving the encoded video content includes, if the stored version of the encoded video content is the most recent version of the encoded video content, retrieving the stored version of the encoded video content from the repository.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein retrieving the encoded video content includes, if the stored version of the encoded video content is not the most recent version of the encoded video content, requesting the encoded video content from a source associated with the link.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the repository is located remotely from the content distribution platform.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a group of end users associated with the encoded video content, each user in the group of end users having a communication device associated with a television.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the group of end users consists of a single user.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the group of end users is defined using a national boundary, a city boundary, or a circle having a given center and radius.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected frame type of each encoded video frame is an I-frame or a P-frame.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

retrieving additional encoded video content, the additional encoded video content including a plurality of additional encoded video frames, wherein the additional encoded video content is to be displayed with the encoded video content and the static source image on the television; and

selecting the frame type of the composite video frame to be an I-frame if the frame type of the encoded frame and a frame type of a respective frame of the additional encoded video frames are both I-frames.

15. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

retrieving additional encoded video content, the additional encoded video content including a plurality of additional encoded video frames, wherein the additional encoded video content is to be displayed with the encoded video content and the static source image on the television; and

selecting the frame type of the composite video frame to be a P-frame if the frame type of either of the encoded video frame and a respective frame of the additional encoded video frames is a P-frame.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein selecting the frame type includes selecting based on the encoding type of one or more macroblocks of the encoded video frame.

17. A system for providing, to a decoder associated with a television, encoded video content that includes a plurality of video frames, the encoded video content being addressed by a link on a static source image, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving, from the decoder, a request for display of at least the encoded video content on the television;

a retriever for retrieving the encoded video content addressed by the link on the static source image; and

a server, comprising;

a compositor for creating a sequence of composite video frames in response to the receiver receiving the request for display of the encoded video content, wherein for each composite video frame, the compositor selects a frame type for the composite video frame, from a plurality of frame types, of the encoded video content based on the frame type of an encoded frame of the encoded video content, and combines at least a portion of the static source image with the encoded frame of encoded video content, the static source image being encoded according to the selected frame type.

18. The system according to claim 17, further comprising an encoder enabled to encode the static source image with a portion of the static source image removed, wherein the compositor creates a series of video frames that includes the encoded video content inserted into the removed portion of the encoded static source image.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the encoder is enabled to decode previously encoded video content into decoded video content.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the encoder is enabled to encode the decoded video content into the encoded video content.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the encoder is enabled to encode the decoded video content as a series of MPEG frames.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein the selected frame type of each encoded video frame is an I-frame or a P-frame.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein the retriever is further enabled to retrieve additional encoded video content, the additional encoded video content including a plurality of additional encoded video frames, and wherein the compositor is further enabled to select the frame type of the composite video frame to be an I-frame if the frame type of the encoded frame and a frame type of a respective frame of the additional encoded video frames are both I-frames.

24. The system according to claim 22, wherein the retriever is further enabled to retrieve additional encoded video content, the additional encoded video content including a plurality of additional encoded video frames, and wherein the compositor is further enabled to select the frame type of the composite video frame to be a P-frame if the frame type of either the encoded video frame or a respective frame of the additional encoded video frames is a P-frame.

25. The system according to claim 17, wherein selecting the frame type includes selecting based on the encoding type of one or more macroblocks of the encoded video frame.