ENHANCED BLOCK-REQUEST STREAMING SYSTEM USING SIGNALING OR BLOCK CREATION

• US 20110238789A1
• Filed: 09/21/2010
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Ying, Stockhammer, Thomas, Luby, Michael G., Wang, Bin, Watson, Mark, Pakzad, Payam, Vicisano, Lorenzo
• Granted Patent: US 9,432,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• 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: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23406 involving management of server-side video buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2401 Monitoring of the client buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25808 Management of client data terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44004 involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440227 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 : by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

A block-request streaming system provides for improvements in the user experience and bandwidth efficiency of such systems, typically using an ingestion system that generates data in a form to be served by a conventional file server (HTTP, FTP, or the like), wherein the ingestion system intakes content and prepares it as files or data elements to be served by the file server. The system might include controlling the sequence, timing and construction of block requests, time based indexing, variable block sizing, optimal block partitioning, control of random access point placement, including across multiple presentation versions, dynamically updating presentation data, and/or efficiently presenting live content and time shifting.

Claims

1. A method of generating blocks of media data to be electronically transmitted to client devices upon request, the method comprising:

obtaining data representing media of a presentation, wherein the presentation is a presentation over time and has a defined playout rate and portions of the presentation can be defined by time ranges;

storing the data representing media of the presentation as a plurality of blocks;

identifying, prior to transmission, correspondences between a plurality of time ranges and a plurality of positions within the blocks;

generating, prior to transmission of the blocks, stored correspondence data representing at least some of the correspondences, such that a client device can determine from the stored correspondence data and a desired time range of the presentation to be played out, which subset of the plurality of blocks to request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored correspondence data is stored as part of a file that also contains the corresponding media data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored correspondence data is a map formatted as XML metadata, wherein the time range is relative to a beginning of the presentation or relative to a beginning of a media block.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating blocks of media data and the stored correspondence data are performed by a media ingestion system and stored on a general purpose server that responds at least to file requests.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the file requests are HTTP requests.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the media blocks are of variable duration and the stored correspondence data allows client devices to determine time range and data location correspondences that can vary depending on the variable durations of media blocks.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a group of pictures (GoP) is partitioned into more than one media block.

8. A method, in a client device that is capable of presenting a media presentation over a presentation time period, of determining requests to make of a media server, the method comprising:

determining, at the client device, a desired time period of the media presentation, wherein the desired time period is less than all of the presentation time period;

obtaining, at the client device, stored correspondence data that maps time ranges of the media presentation to data ranges within blocks representing the media;

determining, at the client device, and from the stored correspondence data, which data ranges to request of the media server;

making the determined requests; and

presenting the presentation using the client device.

9. In a communication system wherein a client device requests media data from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

encoding, at the media ingestion system, a first version of a media presentation, wherein the first version is a data rate version that is to be made available;

selecting random access points within the first version to optimize compression efficiency of the encoding, subject to a minimum temporal spacing between the random access points;

encoding, a second version of the media presentation, wherein the second version is a different data rate version that is to be made available; and

selecting random access points within the second version to temporally match the random access points within the first version.

10. In a communication system wherein a client device requests media data from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

encoding, at the media ingestion system, a first version of a media presentation, wherein the first version is a data rate version that is to be made available;

selecting random access points within the first version;

encoding, a second version of the media presentation, wherein the second version is a different data rate version that is to be made available; and

selecting random access points within the second version that are temporally independent of the random access points within the first version.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the encoding of the first version of the media presentation is performed independently of the encoding of the second version of the media presentation.

12. In a communication system wherein a client device requests media data from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

receiving, at the client side, a first version of a media presentation, wherein the first version is a data rate version that is to be made available and wherein the first version has a first set of random access points; and

receiving, at the client side, a second version of a media presentation, wherein the second version is a data rate version that is to be made available and wherein the second version has a second set of random access points that are temporally independent of the first set of random access points.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

presenting the media by consuming the first version of the media presentation; and

switching to consuming the second version of the media presentation without interrupting the presenting, wherein the switching occurs between a first random access point from the first set of random access points and a second random access point from the second set of random access points.

14. In a communication system wherein a client device receives media data from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

providing, at the media ingestion system, a minimum start-up delay value to the client, wherein the start-up delay is the delay between when the client device first starts receiving the media data from the media ingestion system and when the client device can start consumption of the media data without interruption, and wherein the start-up delay is a function of transmission bandwidth available between the media ingestion system and the client.

15. In a communication system wherein a client device receives media data from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

receiving, at the client device, a minimum start-up delay value from the media ingestion system, wherein the start-up delay is a function of transmission bandwidth available between the media ingestion system and the client;

receiving media data from the media ingestion system; and

delaying start of consumption of the media data by the start-up delay.

16. In a communication system wherein a client device receives a media data stream from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

providing, at the media ingestion system, a media presentation description (MPD) file associated with the media data stream;

dynamically updating the MPD while the media data stream is being transmitted to the client; and

inserting a signal within the media data stream to indicate that the MPD has been updated.

17. In a communication system wherein a client device receives a media data stream from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

detecting, at the client side, a signal within the media data stream indicating that an MPD associated with the media data stream has been updated; and

sending a request for the updated MPD to the media ingestion system.

18. In a communication system wherein a client device receives a media data stream from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

providing, at the media ingestion system, a media presentation description (MPD) file associated with the media data stream; and

providing within the MPD a validity indicator and a time interval, wherein the indicator signals that the MPD is valid over the time interval.

19. In a communication system wherein a client device receives a media data stream from a media ingestion system, a method comprising:

receiving, at the client device, a media presentation description (MPD) file associated with the media data stream;

extracting, from the MPD, a validity indicator and a time interval, wherein the indicator signals that the MPD is valid over the time interval; and

ensuring that the MPD is valid based on a comparison of the time interval with a current presentation time.