Transcode matrix

• US 20060161538A1
• Filed: 01/19/2005
• Published: 07/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kiilerich, Dennis A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,669,121 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

A transcode architecture determines if a media source file needs to be transcoded for playback on a target playback device, and if so, the proper format needed for transcoding the source file. A transcode architecture includes a transcode manager, a transcode matrix, a transcode engine and a cache for storing transcoded media files. A media library stores media source files and device capabilities information. The transcode manager controls a transcode process in which the transcode matrix generates a profile for a media source file and accesses device capabilities that indicate playback capabilities for a target playback device. The transcode matrix compares parameters of the source profile with the device capabilities to decide whether the source file must be transcoded to enable playback of the file on the target playback device, and if so, the proper format needed for transcoding the source file.

Claims

1. A transcoding method comprising:

accessing a source file;

generating a source profile for the source file;

accessing device capabilities associated with a target device;

comparing the device capabilities with the source profile; and

determining if the source file needs to be transcoded based on the comparing.

2. A transcoding method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the source file needs to be transcoded based on the comparing; and

generating a target profile having target parameter values that fall within the device capabilities, wherein the target parameter values either match a device capability parameter or fall within a playback range of a device capability parameter.

3. A transcoding method as recited in claim 1, wherein generating a source profile is selected from the group comprising:

retrieving parameters of the source file from a media library;

examining the source file itself to determine the parameters; and

assigning an artificial profile of parameters to the source file.

4. A transcoding method as recited in claim 1, wherein comparing the device capabilities with the source profile comprises:

selecting a profile collection from the device capabilities whose format code matches the source profile;

if there is no profile collection whose format code matches the source profile, determining that the source profile is not supported by the target device;

if the profile collection contains no device profiles, determining that the source profile is supported with no restrictions by the target device; and

for each device profile in the profile collection, determining if each parameter in the source profile either matches an enumerated value specified for the parameter in the device profile or falls into a range specified for the parameter in the device profile.

5. A transcoding method as recited in claim 4, wherein each parameter in the source profile either matches an enumerated value specified for the parameter in the device profile or falls into a range specified for the parameter in the device profile, and determining if the source file needs to be transcoded comprises:

determining that the target device supports the source file and that the source file does not need to be transcoded.

6. A transcoding method as recited in claim 4, wherein at least one parameter in the source file is a non-matching parameter that either does not match an enumerated value specified for the parameter in the device profile or does not fall into a range specified for the parameter in the device profile, and determining if the source file needs to be transcoded comprises:

determining that the target device does not support the source file and that the source file needs to be transcoded.

7. A transcoding method as recited in claim 6, further comprising generating a target profile having target parameter values that fall within the device capabilities indicated by the device profile.

8. A transcoding method as recited in claim 7, wherein the generating a target profile comprises determining a target value for the non-matching parameter value that falls within the device capabilities indicated by the device profile.

9. A transcoding method as recited in claim 7, wherein determining a target value comprises selecting a target value from within the device profile that is a closest match to the non-matching parameter in the source profile.

10. A transcoding method as recited in claim 1, wherein the device capabilities indicate no restrictions for the target device, the method further comprising:

imposing artificial restrictions on the target device;

wherein the comparing comprises comparing the artificial restrictions with the source profile.

11. A transcoding method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

accessing a bitrate preference specified by a user for the target device;

substituting the bitrate preference into the source profile; and

determining if the source file needs to be transcoded based on comparing the bitrate preference with the device capabilities.

12. A transcoding method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

sending the target profile to a transcode engine;

transcoding the source file with the trascode engine according to the target parameter values in the target profile;

transferring the transcoded source file to the target device; and

maintaining a copy of the transcoded source file in a memory.

13. One or more processor-readable media having processor-executable instructions configured to perform the transcoding method of claim 1.

14. One or more processor-readable media comprising processor-executable instructions configured for:

generating a source profile from a source media file;

retrieving a device capabilities report from a target playback device;

comparing the source profile with the device capabilities report to determine whether the media file needs to be transcoded to enable playback of the media file on the target playback device.

15. One or more processor-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein generating a source profile comprises:

receiving a file path to the media file;

locating the media file in a media library according to the file path; and

obtaining parameters from the media file.

16. One or more processor-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein accessing a device profile comprises:

serializing the device capabilities report; and

selecting from the serialized device capabilities, a profile collection that matches a format code of the media file, the profile collection having a collection of profiles that are all of the same format code.

17. One or more processor-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein comparing the source profile with the device capabilities report comprises:

searching for a profile collection in the device capabilities report that matches a format code of the media file; and

if no profile collection is found that matches the format code of the media file, determining that the target playback device does not support the source profile and that the media file does not need to be transcoded.

18. One or more processor-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein comparing the source profile with the device capabilities report comprises:

finding a profile collection in the device capabilities report that matches a format code of the media file;

determining that the profile collection contains no profiles; and

determining that the target playback device supports the source profile with no restrictions and that the media file does not need to be transcoded.

19. One or more processor-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein comparing the source profile with the device capabilities report comprises:

finding a profile collection in the device capabilities report that matches a format code of the media file;

finding a device profile in the profile collection; and

comparing parameters from the source profile with like parameters from the device profile.

20. A system comprising:

a media source file;

device capabilities from a target playback device; and

a transcode matrix configured to generate a source profile from the media source file and to determine whether the media source file needs to be transcoded for playback on the target playback device based on a comparison of the source profile with the device capabilities.