Providing Integration of Multi-Bit-Rate Media Streams

• US 20130166765A1
• Filed: 06/26/2009
• Published: 06/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Kaufman, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 9,680,892 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, based on multi-bit-rate streaming for inserting secondary streaming media into primary streaming media are described. In some implementations, the secondary streaming media, also referred to as insertion-media, may be advertisements. In other implementations, the secondary streaming media may be breaking news, emergency notifications or public service announcements. The systems and methods disclosed in this specification enable seamless integration of insertion-media streams with a primary media stream for providing a viewer a high-quality online video experience.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a client computer system from a media streaming provider via a communication channel, a single data item comprising;

only a portion of media included in a media document corresponding to the data item, and

a portion of an index for the media document, the portion of the index for the media document comprising (i) index information relating to one or more portions of the media document that are subsequent to the portion of media in the data item, and (ii) an indication for upcoming insertion-media located at an insertion-media streaming provider different from the media streaming provider, the upcoming insertion-media to be inserted at a scheduled insertion-media switch point after the media portion received with the data item, the indication for the upcoming insertion-media comprising;

a reference to a location of the upcoming insertion-media at the insertion-media streaming provider, and

available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media;

while the media portion received with the data item is being output for playing on an output device of the client computer system, selecting, by the client computer system, one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media based on a supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel; and

requesting, by the client computer system, the upcoming insertion-media at the selected one of the available encoding bit-rates from the insertion-media streaming provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media comprises:

if an encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing is less than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be

larger than or equal to the encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing, and

smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel; and

if the encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing is larger than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media comprises:

identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be smaller than an encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing on the output device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media comprises:

identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be a largest encoding bit-rate for the upcoming insertion-media that is smaller than an encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing on the output device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media comprises:

identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be a smallest among the available encoding bit-rates of the upcoming insertion-media.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the client computer system, from the insertion-media streaming provider, an insertion-media data item regarding an insertion-media document, the received insertion-media data item comprising a last insertion-media portion of the insertion-media and an indication for an ending of the insertion-media;

while the last insertion-media portion of the insertion-media is being output for playing on the output device, selecting, by the client computer system, an encoding bit-rate for another media portion of the media document following the insertion-media; and

requesting, by the client computer system from the streaming media provider, the other media portion following the insertion-media, at the selected encoding bit-rate.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said selecting the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media comprises:

if an encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing is less than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media to be

larger than or equal to the encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing, and

smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel; and

if the encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing is larger than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media to be smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said selecting the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media comprises:

identifying the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media to be an encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing on the output device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the upcoming insertion-media is an advertisement.

6. (canceled)

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding instructions that, when executed by a programmable processor, cause the programmable processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a media streaming provider via a communication channel, a single data item comprising;

only a portion of media included in a media document corresponding to the data item, and

a portion of an index for the media document, the portion of the index for the media document comprising (i) index information relating to one or more portions of the media document that are subsequent to the portion of media in the data item, and (ii) an indication for upcoming insertion-media located at an insertion-media streaming provider different from the media streaming provider, the upcoming insertion-media to be inserted at a scheduled insertion-media switch point after the media portion received with the data item, the indication for the upcoming insertion-media comprising;

a reference to a location of the upcoming insertion-media at the insertion-media streaming provider, and

available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media;

while the media portion received with the data item is being output for playing on an output device, selecting one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media based on a supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel; and

requesting the upcoming insertion-media at the selected one of the available encoding bit-rates from the insertion-media streaming provider.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operation of selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media includes:

if an encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing is less than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be

larger than or equal to the encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing, and

smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel; and

if the encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing is larger than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operation of selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media includes:

identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be smaller than an encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing on the output device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operation of selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media includes:

identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be a largest encoding bit-rate for the upcoming insertion-media that is smaller than an encoding bit-rate of the media portion being output for playing on the output device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operation of selecting the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media includes:

identifying the one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media to be a smallest among the available encoding bit-rates of the upcoming insertion-media.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the insertion-media streaming provider, an insertion-media data item regarding an insertion-media document, the received insertion-media data item comprising a last insertion-media portion of the insertion-media and an indication for an ending of the insertion-media;

while the last insertion-media portion of the insertion-media is being output for playing on the output device, selecting an encoding bit-rate for another media portion of the media document following the insertion-media; and

requesting, from the streaming media provider, the other media portion following the insertion-media, at the selected encoding bit-rate.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operation of selecting the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media includes:

if an encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing is less than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media to be

larger than or equal to the encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing, and

smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel; and

if the encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing is larger than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel then, identifying the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media to be smaller than the supportable streaming bit-rate via the communication channel.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operation of selecting the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media includes:

identifying the encoding bit-rate for the other media portion of the media document following the insertion-media to be an encoding bit-rate of the last insertion-media portion being output for playing on the output device.

16. (canceled)

20. A system comprising:

a user device; and

a set of computers communicatively coupled with the user device through a data communication network, wherein

the set of computers comprises;

a server for providing media streaming, and

another server for providing insertion-media streaming; and

the user device is configured to;

receive, from the media streaming provider, a single data item comprising;

only a portion of media included in a media document located at the server for providing media streaming, the media document corresponding to the data item, and

a portion of an index for the media document, the portion of the index for the media document comprising (i) index information relating to one or more portions of the media document that are subsequent to the portion of media in the data item, and (ii) an indication for upcoming insertion-media located at the insertion-media streaming provider, the upcoming insertion-media to be inserted at a scheduled insertion-media switch point in the media portion received with the data item, the indication for the upcoming insertion-media comprising

a reference to a location of the upcoming insertion-media at the insertion-media streaming provider, and

available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media;

while the media portion received with the data item is being output for playing on an output device, select one of the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media based on a supportable streaming bit-rate via the data communication network; and

request the upcoming insertion-media at the selected one of the available encoding bit-rates from the insertion-media streaming provider.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the server for providing media streaming comprises:

a storage device configured to store the media document and the index for the media document, wherein the index for the media document is encoded within the media document; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, the processor configured to;

receive, from the user device, a request for the portion of the media included in the media document; and

provide, to the user device, the requested portion of the media as part of the data item that comprises the indication for the upcoming insertion-media.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein

the indication for the upcoming insertion-media includes an indication for a conditional insertion of the upcoming insertion-media,

the reference to the location of the upcoming insertion-media and the available encoding bit-rates for the upcoming insertion-media are included with the indication for the conditional insertion, such that the reference to the location of the upcoming insertion-media at the insertion-media streaming provider is used when a predetermined condition is met, and

the indication for the conditional insertion further comprises a return reference to the media portion playing on the output device when the upcoming insertion-media is requested, such that the return reference is used

when the predetermined condition is not met, and

after the completion of the insertion-media.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the index for the media document comprises multiple indications for insertion-media relating respectively to corresponding insertion-media scheduled for sequential play at the scheduled insertion-media switch point in the media portion received with the data item.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the server for providing insertion-media streaming comprises:

a storage device configured to store segments of an insertion-media document, wherein each segment of the insertion-media document comprises;

an insertion-media portion encoded at one of multiple different bit-rates, and

a portion of an index for the insertion-media document, the portion of the index for the insertion-media document comprising index information relating to segments of the insertion-media document that include a following insertion-media portion encoded at the multiple bit-rates, respectively; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, the processor configured to;

receive, from the user device, a request for the upcoming insertion-media; and

provide to the user device a segment of the insertion-media document that corresponds to the requested upcoming insertion-media.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the following insertion-media portion comprises a beginning of another insertion-media included in the insertion-media document.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein each of the segments of the insertion-media document that includes the following insertion-media portion comprises:

an ending of the insertion-media included in the insertion-media document; and

a portion of the index for the insertion-media document including instructions for the user device to request media from the media streaming provider, the request from the media streaming provider based on information found in the portions of the index for the media document received by the user device.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein the server for providing media streaming comprises:

a storage device configured to store the media document comprising media files corresponding to portions of media included in the media document, wherein the media files that precede scheduled insertion-media switch points in media comprise indications for insertion-media corresponding respectively to the scheduled insertion-media switch points in the media, the indications for insertion-media including the indication for the upcoming insertion-media; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, the processor configured to;

receive, from the user device, a request for a media file from among the media files included in the media document that comprises the media portion; and

provide to the user device the requested media file that further comprises the indication for the upcoming insertion-media.

22. (canceled)

28. (canceled)