Automatic transcoding of a file uploaded to a remote storage system

• US 9,189,484 B1
• Filed: 02/23/2012
• Issued: 11/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Velummylum, Piragash, Marshall, Bradley E., Gabrielson, Jacob
• Primary Examiner(s): Syed, Farhan
• Application Number:
  US13/403,928
• Time in Patent Office: 1,363 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for uploading and storing a file. The file is automatically transcoded to the format(s) of registered device(s) associated with an entity. The transcoded files are thus prepared for download and access by the registered devices.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for uploading and storing a file, comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

recording usage of one or more file types by users, comprising recording usage of one or more formats for a particular file type of the one or more file types by the users, wherein the users are connected to a customer as permitted users via a social networking service;

maintaining format information regarding the one or more formats for the particular file type, comprising;

identifying at least one of the one or more formats as one or more preferred formats for the particular file type of the users based at least in part on the recorded usage of the users; and

associating the one or more preferred formats with a customer-owned identity of the customer;

receiving a request from a customer device associated with the customer to upload a file having the particular file type, wherein the file does not have one of the one or more preferred formats for the particular file type;

responsive to the request, transcoding the file in accordance with the format information associated with the customer-owned identity to form a transcoded file, the transcoded file having one of the one or more preferred formats;

storing the transcoded file and the uploaded file in a data store and associating the transcoded file with the customer-owned identity; and

responsive to a subsequent request for the file from at least one of the users or from the customer, returning the transcoded file.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information about a new user connecting to the customer-owned identity via the social networking service;

adding information about a new format of the file type for the new user to the format information;

responsive to receiving the information about the new user connecting to the customer-owned identity, transcoding at least one of the transcoded file and the file to form a new transcoded file having the new format of the file type; and

storing the new transcoded file in the data store with the uploaded file and the transcoded file and associating the new transcoded file with the customer-owned identity.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein returning the transcoded file comprises streaming the file to the at least one of the users, and wherein the format of the file for the at least one of the users comprises an average or typical bitrate for the at least one of the users.

4. A computer-implemented method for uploading and storing a file, comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

recording registered or permitted usage of one or more file types by at least one of devices or services associated with a customer-owned identity, comprising recording usage of one or more formats for a particular file type of the one or more file types by the at least one of devices or services;

maintaining format information regarding the one or more formats for the particular file type, comprising;

identifying at least one of the one or more formats as one or more preferred formats for the particular file type of the customer-owned identity based at least in part on the recorded registered or permitted usage; and

associating the one or more preferred formats with the customer-owned identity;

receiving a request from a customer device associated with the customer-owned identity to upload a file having the particular file type, wherein the file does not have one of the one or more preferred formats for the particular file type;

responsive to the request, transcoding the file in accordance with the format information associated with the customer-owned identity to form at least one transcoded file, the at least one transcoded file having at least one of the one or more preferred formats;

responsive to the transcoding, storing the at least one transcoded file and the file in a data store and associating the at least one transcoded file with the customer-owned identity; and

responsive to a subsequent request associated with the customer-owned identity, returning the at least one transcoded file without further transcoding.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the transcoding comprises forming at least two transcoded files, wherein the storing comprises storing the at least two transcoded files, and wherein the associating the at least one transcoded file with the customer-owned identity comprises associating at least two transcoded files with the customer-owned identity.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a request for the file from at least one of a device or a service associated with the customer-owned identity;

accessing the format information to determine a particular preferred format of the file for the at least one of the device or the service; and

providing one of the at least one transcoded files to the at least one of the device or the service, wherein the one of the at least one transcoded files has the particular preferred format.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

registering at least one of a new device or a new service associated with the customer-owned identity;

adding information about a new preferred format for the file type for the at least one of the new device or the new service to the format information;

responsive to registering the at least one of the new device or the new service, transcoding at least one of the at least one transcoded file and the file to form a new transcoded file, wherein the new transcoded file has the new preferred format; and

storing the new transcoded file in the data store with the uploaded file and the at least one transcoded file and associating the new transcoded file with the customer-owned identity.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the one or more preferred formats for the file type comprise a common format associated with a plurality of devices.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the file is stored as part of the upload.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein returning the at least one transcoded file comprises streaming the at least one transcoded file to a user, and wherein the format of the at least one transcoded file for the user is based on an average or typical bitrate for the user.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the at least one of the devices or services are associated with the customer-owned identity via a social networking service.

12. A computer-implemented method for uploading and storing a file, comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

receiving a request, from a customer device or a permitted user device, including information identifying a file of a customer-owned identity, the file having a particular file type and a particular format;

responsive to the request, accessing information regarding one or more formats for the particular file type, the one or more formats being associated with the customer-owned identity and being determined based at least in part on recoded registered or permitted usage of the one or more formats for the particular file type associated with the customer-owned identity, wherein the particular format is not one of the one or more formats;

responsive to the accessing, transcoding the file to form at least one transcoded file, wherein the at least one transcoded file has the particular format;

responsive to the transcoding,

storing the at least one transcoded file in a data store with the file; and

associating the at least one transcoded file with the customer-owned identity, comprising adding the particular format to the one or more formats; and

responsive to a subsequent request associated with the customer-owned identity, providing the at least one transcoded file without further transcoding.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a request for the file from a device associated with the customer-owned identity;

accessing the information regarding the one or more formats to determine a preferred format of the file for the device; and

providing one of the at least one transcoded files to the device, wherein the one of the one or more formats has the preferred format.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising storing information about the device and the preferred format and associating the information about the device and the preferred format with the customer-owned identity.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising recording usage of the one or more formats for the particular file type by one or more devices associated with the customer-owned identity.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the file is not stored as part of the upload.

17. A computer system for enabling upload and storage of a file, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory, including instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the computer system to at least;

record registered or permitted usage of one or more file types by a second device associated with a customer-owned identity, comprising recording usage of one or more formats for a particular file type of the one or more file types by the second device;

identify at least one of the one or more formats as a preferred format for the particular file type for the second device based at least in part on the recorded registered or permitted usage of the second device;

receive, from a first device associated with the customer-owned identity, a request to upload a file having the particular file type;

responsive to the request, access information associated with the customer-owned identity about the preferred format of the particular file type for the second device;

responsive to the access, transcode the file to form a transcoded file, the transcoded file having the preferred format; and

responsive to the transcoding, store the transcoded file in a data store with the file and associate the transcoded file with the customer-owned identity; and

responsive to a subsequent request for the file associated with the customer-owned identity, provide the transcoded file without further transcoding.

18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a request for the file from the second device; and

provide the transcoded file in response to the request.

19. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the preferred format is common to the first device and the second device.

29. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to:

transcode the file into a third file having a neutral format for further transcoding, the neutral format being determined based at least in part on the recorded registered or permitted usage associated with the customer-owned identity; and

store the third file in the data store with the file and the transcoded file.

20. One or more computer-readable storage media having collectively stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least:

record registered or permitted usage of one or more file types by a plurality of devices associated with a customer-owned identity, comprising recording usage of one or more formats for a particular file type of the one or more file types by at least one of the plurality of devices;

receive a request from a particular device associated with the customer-owned identity for a particular file a having the particular file type, the particular file being a customer device or a permitted user device associated with the customer-owned identity;

responsive to the request,

determine a particular format supported by the particular device; and

identify the one or more formats available for the particular file;

determine whether the particular format is included in the one or more formats available for the particular file;

when the particular format is determined to be included in the one or more formats, provide content encoded according to the particular format to the particular device, the content having been encoded according to the particular format prior to receiving the request;

when the particular format is determined not to be included in the one or more formats, transcode the particular file into a transcoded file having the particular file type, the transcoded file comprising content encoded according to the particular format; and

responsive to the transcoding, store the transcoded file in a data store and associate the transcoded file with the customer-owned identity; and

responsive to identifying the particular format from a subsequent request associated with the customer-owned identity, providing the transcoded file without further transcoding.

21. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein the request comprises a request for download of the particular file.

22. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to register the particular device with the customer-owned identity in response to the request.

23. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to transcode at least one other file associated with the customer-owned identity and having the particular file type, according to the particular format.

24. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein data store includes transcoded files corresponding to each of the plurality of devices.

25. The computer-readable storage media of claim 24, wherein each of the transcoded files corresponding to each of the plurality of devices associated with the customer-owned identity are based at least in part on the particular file.

26. The computer-readable storage media of claim 25, wherein each of the transcoded files corresponding to each of the plurality of devices associated with the customer-owned identity are transcoded and stored in the data store responsive to corresponding requests from each of the plurality of devices such that, responsive to subsequent requests from the plurality of devices, the corresponding transcoded file is provided without further transcoding.

27. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein the request from the particular device comprises a request to upload the particular file to the data store and the subsequent request comprises a request to access content encoded by the particular file.

28. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system at least to transcode the particular file into a different file having a neutral format for further transcoding and storing the different file in the data store with the particular file and the transcoded file.