Fast-start streaming and buffering of streaming content for personal media player

• US 20060095472A1
• Filed: 06/07/2005
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sling Media LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sling Media Incorporated (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Krikorian, Jason, Krikorian, Blake, Iyer, Satish, Shah, Bhupendra, Gurzhi, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 7,647,614 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/087 Jitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/129 at the destination endpoint, e.g. reservation of terminal resources or buffer space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• 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 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• 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 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/102 characterised by the element, parameter or selection affected or controlled by the adaptive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/107 between spatial and temporal predictive coding, e.g. picture refresh
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/117 Filters, e.g. for pre-processing or post-processing sub-band filter banks H04N19/635
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/132 Sampling, masking or truncation of coding units, e.g. adaptive resampling, frame skipping, frame interpolation or high-frequency transform coefficient masking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/137 Motion inside a coding unit, e.g. average field, frame or block difference
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/14 : Coding unit complexity, e.g. amount of activity or edge presence estimation H04N19/146 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 : by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 : User input
• 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 19/182 : the unit being a pixel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/188 : the unit being a video data packet, e.g. a network abstraction layer [NAL] unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 : using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 : in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/80 : Details of filtering operations specially adapted for video compression, e.g. for pixel interpolation H04N19/635, H04N19/86 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/85 : using pre-processing or post-processing specially adapted for video compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23406 : involving management of server-side video buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 : by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 : Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 : Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 : Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4384 : involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4398 : involving reformatting operations of audio signals details of audio signal transcoding G10L19/173
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44004 : involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 : involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 : by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 : for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 : using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 : Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection

Abstract

A personal media broadcasting system enables video distribution over a computer network and allows a user to view and control media sources over a computer network from a remote location. A personal broadcaster receives an input from one or more types of media sources, digitizes and compresses the content, and streams the compressed media over a computer network to a media player running on any of a wide range of client devices for viewing the media. The system may allow the user to issue control commands (e.g., “channel up”) from the media player to the broadcaster, causing the source device to execute the commands. The broadcaster and the media player may employ several techniques for buffering, transmitting, and viewing the content to improve the user'"'"'s experience.

Claims

1. A method for playing a media stream received over a network, the method comprising:

receiving a media stream in real time from a personal media broadcaster;

storing the media stream in a buffer; and

playing the received media stream from the buffer at a decreased playback speed without waiting for the buffer to fill to a predetermined threshold, whereby the buffer fills at a rate slower than the media stream is received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the decreased playback speed is about 85% of a normal playback speed.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing the received media stream at a normal playback speed once the buffer is filled to a predetermined threshold.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

upon increasing the playback speed, time-stretching an audio portion of the media stream while maintaining a pitch level therein.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user command to control content in the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, flushing the buffer and playing the received media stream.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

responsive to receiving the user command, reducing the bit rate of the media stream.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

after flushing the buffer, reducing the playback speed of the media stream to allow the buffer to accumulate data.

8. A method for playing a media stream received over a network, the method comprising:

receiving a media stream from a personal media broadcaster;

storing the media stream in a buffer;

playing the media stream from the buffer;

receiving a user command to control content in the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, entering a control mode in which the buffer is flushed and the received media stream is played.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the user command is to navigate a menu displayed in the media stream.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the user command is to change a channel associated with the media stream.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

reducing the bit rate of the media stream once the buffer is flushed.

12. A computer program product for playing a media stream received over a network, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code for performing the method comprising:

receiving a media stream from a personal media broadcaster;

storing the media stream in a buffer; and

playing the received media stream at a decreased playback speed and from the buffer without waiting for the buffer to fill to a predetermined threshold, whereby the buffer fills at a rate slower than the media stream is received.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the decreased playback speed is about 85% of a normal playback speed.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

playing the received media stream at a normal playback speed once the buffer is filled to a predetermined threshold.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

upon increasing the playback speed, time-stretching an audio portion of the media stream while maintaining a pitch level therein.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a user command to control content in the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, flushing the buffer and playing the received media stream.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

responsive to receiving the user command, reducing the bit rate of the media stream.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

after flushing the buffer, reducing the playback speed of the media stream to allow the buffer to accumulate data.

19. A computer program product for playing a media stream received over a network, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code for performing the method comprising:

receiving a media stream from a personal media broadcaster;

storing the media stream in a buffer;

playing the media stream from the buffer;

receiving a user command to control content in the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, entering a control mode in which the buffer is flushed and the received media stream is played.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the user command is to navigate a menu displayed in the media stream.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the user command is to change a channel associated with the media stream.

22. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

reducing the bit rate of the media stream once the buffer is flushed.

23. A method for playing a media stream received over a network, the method comprising:

receiving a media stream in real time;

storing the media stream in a buffer; and

playing the received media stream from the buffer at a decreased playback speed without waiting for the buffer to fill to a predetermined threshold, whereby the buffer fills at a rate slower than the media stream is received.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the decreased playback speed is about 85% of a normal playback speed.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

playing the received media stream at a normal playback speed once the buffer is filled to a predetermined threshold.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

upon increasing the playback speed, time-stretching an audio portion of the media stream while maintaining a pitch level therein.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving a user command to control content in the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, flushing the buffer and playing the received media stream.

28. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

responsive to receiving the user command, reducing the bit rate of the media stream.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

after flushing the buffer, reducing the playback speed of the media stream to allow the buffer to accumulate data.

30. A method for playing a media stream received over a network, the method comprising:

receiving a media stream;

storing the media stream in a buffer;

playing the media stream from the buffer;

receiving a user command to control content in the media stream; and

responsive to receiving the user command, entering a control mode in which the buffer is flushed and the received media stream is played.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the user command is to navigate a menu displayed in the media stream.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the user command is to change a channel associated with the media stream.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

reducing the bit rate of the media stream once the buffer is flushed.