Serving media articles with altered playback speed

• US 7,840,693 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2007
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gupta, Manish, Harding, John, Rusch, Willard II, Lacy, Stephen Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, VIET DUY
• Application Number:
  US11/620,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20070168541A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,418 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/219, 709/230, 709/232, 709/233, 709/236, 709/250
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• 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 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• 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

Abstract

Systems and methods provide for on-the-fly alteration of apparent playback rate for content sent to a client based on a request from the client to alter the playback speed of the content. The system and method can use existing, open protocols and the media files served are playable by standard media playback clients. The method includes receiving a request for media content from a client, including instructions for adjusting the number of frames of the requested content to affect an apparent change in the playback speed of the content. The adjustment to the frames may include inserting frames, removing frames, and/or inserting markers to trigger the client device to duplicate frames.

Claims

1. A method of altering apparent media playback speed on a server, comprising:

receiving at a server from a client a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the media content comprises video content;

altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames;

serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client; and

storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein altering the number of frames of the media content further comprises calculating alterations to the number of frames of the requested media content to conform to the altered playback speed to produce the altered media content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the altered media content is capable of being served prior to the remainder of the altered media content being available for serving.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least audio content, the method further comprising replacing the audio content with silence.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least audio content, the method further comprising processing the audio content to alter the playback speed while preserving pitch characteristics of the audio content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least audio content, the method further comprising inserting duplicate audio frames.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the instructions further comprise a content transformation instruction.

4. A method of altering apparent media playback speed on a server, comprising:

receiving at a server from a client a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the media content comprises video content;

altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by;

inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames;

inserting format-specific markers into the media content that direct the client to duplicate the previous frame; and

serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client.

26. The method of claim 4, wherein the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the instructions further comprise a content transformation instruction.

11. A method of altering apparent media playback speed on a server, comprising:

receiving at a server from a client a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream and the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier, the instructions further comprising a content transformation instruction;

altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames, wherein altering the number of frames of the media content further comprises calculating alterations to the number of frames of the requested media content to conform to the altered playback speed to produce the altered media content;

serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client, wherein the portion of the altered media content is capable of being served prior to the remainder of the altered media content being available for serving; and

storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

12. A computer program product for altering apparent media playback speed on a server, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

receiving from a client at a server a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the media content comprises video content;

altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames;

serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client; and

storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein altering the number of frames of the media content further comprises calculating alterations to the number of frames of the requested media content to conform to the altered playback speed to produce the altered media content.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the portion of the altered media content is capable of being served prior to the remainder of the altered media content being available for serving.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the media content comprises at least audio content, the method further comprising processing the audio content to alter the playback speed while preserving pitch characteristics of the audio content.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the instructions further comprise a content transformation instruction.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream.

15. A computer program product for altering apparent media playback speed on a server, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

receiving from a client at a server a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the media content comprises video content;

altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by;

inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames;

inserting format-specific markers into the media content that direct the client to duplicate the previous frame; and

serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client.

28. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the instructions further comprise a content transformation instruction.

20. A system for altering apparent media playback speed on a server, the system comprising:

means for receiving from a client at a server a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the media content comprises video content;

means for altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames;

means for serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client;

means for storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the means for altering the number of frames of the media content further comprises means for calculating alterations to the number of frames of the requested media content to conform to the altered playback speed to produce the altered media content.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the portion of the altered media content is capable of being served prior to the remainder of the altered media content being available for serving.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising means for storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream.

25. A computer program product for altering apparent media playback speed on a server, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

receiving at a server from a client a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream and the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier, the instructions further comprising a content transformation instruction;

altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames, wherein altering the number of frames of the media content further comprises calculating alterations to the number of frames of the requested media content to conform to the altered playback speed to produce the altered media content;

serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client, wherein the portion of the altered media content is capable of being served prior to the remainder of the altered media content being available for serving; and

storing a reading rate for a client host domain.

30. A system for altering apparent media playback speed on a server, the system comprising:

means for receiving at a server from a client a request for media content specifying an altered playback speed, wherein the content comprises a frame selected from a group consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, a text stream, and a metadata stream and the request comprises at least one content identifier and instructions corresponding to the at least one content identifier, the instructions further comprising a content transformation instruction;

means for altering the number of frames of the media content according to the altered playback speed by inserting duplicate frames into the media content without overlapping the duplicate frames, wherein altering the number of frames of the media content further comprises calculating alterations to the number of frames of the requested media content to conform to the altered playback speed to produce the altered media content;

means for serving at least a portion of the altered media content from the server to the client, wherein the portion of the altered media content is capable of being served prior to the remainder of the altered media content being available for serving; and

means for storing a reading rate for a client host domain.