Temporally-seamless channel change functionality in multichannel streaming environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11395035-B2
Application number	US-202017006091-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 28, 2020
Priority date	May 25, 2017
Publication date	Jul 19, 2022
Grant date	Jul 19, 2022

Abstract

Devices, systems, method, and program products are provided, which support temporally-seamless change functionalities during multichannel streaming sessions established between a streaming media server and a client media receiver. In embodiments, the method includes outputting, to a display device, a first streaming channel contained in a streaming channel bundle and assigned a high priority level. When receiving a channel change request to view a second streaming channel, the client media receiver monitors for additional channel change requests over a predetermined wait period. If an additional channel change request is received within the wait period, the client media receiver repeats the step of monitoring. Conversely, if an additional channel change request is not received with the wait period, the client media receiver sends a channel reprioritization command to the streaming media server to prioritize the second streaming channel over the first streaming channel in continued transmission of the streaming channel bundle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for streaming channel bundles carried-out by a streaming media server, the method comprising:
transmitting by the streaming media server, a streaming channel bundle comprising multiple channels of varying quality levels over a communication network to a client media receiver;
transmitting, by the streaming media server, a first primary streaming channel of the streaming channel bundle in an optimal quality over the communication network to the client media receiver;
transmitting concurrently, by the streaming media server, a set of secondary channels in sub-optimal quality of the streaming channel bundle over the communication network to the client media receiver;
appending a newly received file segment corresponding to at least one secondary channel to ensure continuity in presenting content from the at least one secondary channel of the set of secondary channels and for enabling an immediate presentation of content from the at least one secondary channel upon user request;
appending the newly received file segment comprising a live stream of a newly requested streaming channel prior to elapsing of presenting content from the at least one secondary channel; and
adjusting a quality level, by the streaming media server, of the at least one secondary channel for sub-optimal quality concurrent transmission with the first primary streaming channel to lower a bitrate when transmitting the streaming channel bundle for accommodating bandwidth variations in the communication network.

2. The method for streaming channel bundles of claim 1 , further comprising:
transitioning transmission of a selected secondary channel from the sub-optimal quality to the optimal quality by adjusting the quality level of the selected secondary channel based on bandwidth constraint conditions of the communication network when transmitting the streaming channel bundle to the client media receiver.

3. The method for streaming channel bundles of claim 2 , further comprising:
transmitting the streaming channel bundle comprised of selected secondary streams in an intermittent manner with the selected secondary streams each at optimal and sub-optimal quality levels based on bandwidth constraint conditions of the communication network to the client media receiver.

4. The method for streaming channel bundles of claim 3 , further comprising:
providing, by the streaming media server, the selected secondary channel at an optimal quality level via a number of temporally-staggered segments.

5. The method for streaming channel bundles of claim 4 , wherein a transmitting step comprises transmitting selected streaming channels as over-the-top streaming television programming.

6. The method for streaming channel bundles of claim 5 wherein the streaming media server comprises a set-top box located in a residence of an end-user, and wherein the method further comprises receiving commands at the set-top box from the client media receiver to enable placeshifting of the streaming channel bundle composed of optimal and sub-optimal channels for viewing at the client media receiver.

7. A client media receiver utilized in conjunction with a display device and a streaming media server, the client media receiver comprising:
a storage medium containing computer-readable code; and
a processor coupled to the storage medium and, when executing the computer-readable code, causing the client media receiver to:
receive a streaming channel bundle comprising multiple channels of varying quality levels over a communication network;
receive a primary streaming channel of the streaming channel bundle in an optimal quality over the communication network;
receive a set of secondary channels in sub-optimal quality of the streaming channel bundle over the communications network concurrently;
append a newly received file segment corresponding to at least one secondary channel to ensure continuity in presenting content from the at least one secondary channel of the set of secondary channels and to enable an immediate presentation of content from the at least one secondary channel upon user request;
append the newly received file segment comprising a live stream of a newly requested streaming channel prior to elapse of presenting content from the at least one secondary channel; and
receive the at least one secondary channel adjusted for sub-optimal quality concurrent transmission with the primary streaming channel that results in a lower bitrate of transmission of the streaming media server' streamed channel bundle that accounts for bandwidth variations in the communication network.

8. The client media receiver of claim 7 , further comprising:
the processor when executing the computer-readable code, further causing the client media receiver to:
receive transmission of a selected secondary channel that transitions from the sub-optimal quality to the optimal quality by adjustment of quality level of the selected secondary channel based on bandwidth constraint conditions of the communication network during the transmission of the streaming channel bundle.

9. The client media receiver of claim 8 , further comprising:
the processor when executing the computer-readable code, further causing the client media receiver to:
receive a transmitted streaming channel bundle comprised of selected secondary streams in an intermittent manner with the selected secondary streams each at an optimal and sub-optimal quality level based on bandwidth constraint conditions of the communication network.

10. The client media receiver of claim 9 , further comprising:
the processor when executing the computer-readable code, further causing the client media receiver to:
receive a secondary channel at an optimal quality level via a number of temporally-staggered segments.

11. The client media receiver of claim 10 , wherein the processor when executing the computer-readable code, further causing the client media receiver to:
receive transmitted selected streaming channels as over-the-top streaming television programming.

12. The client media receiver of claim 11 , wherein the streaming media server comprises a set-top box located in a residence of an end-user, and wherein the processor when executing the computer-readable code, further causing the client media receiver to:
send commands to the set-top box to enable placeshifting of the streaming channel bundle composed of optimal and sub-optimal channels to view at the client media receiver.

13. The client media receiver of claim 12 , wherein the processor, when executing the computer-readable code, further causes the client media receiver to:
receive transmissions of selected streaming channels as over-the-top streaming television programming.

14. The client media receiver of claim 13 , wherein the processor, when executing the computer-readable code, further causes the client media receiver to:
assign the at least one secondary streaming channel contained within the streaming channel bundle a high priority ranking with higher sub-optimum quality, while assigning a plurality of other secondary streaming channels contained in the streaming channel bundle a lower priority ranking with lower sub-optimum quality.

15. A method carried-out by a streaming media server, comprising:
transmitting a streaming channel bundle comprising multiple channels of varying quality levels over a communication network to a client media receiver;
transmitting a primary streaming channel of the streaming channel bundle in an optimal quality over the communication network to the client media receiver;
transmitting a set of sec

Assignees

• Sling Media Pvt Ltd

Inventors

• Rasool Mohammed

Classifications

• H04N21/236 Primary

  Assembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. transport stream, by combining a video stream with other content or additional data, e.g. inserting a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] into a video stream, multiplexing software data into a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Insertion of stuffing bits into the multiplex stream, e.g. to obtain a constant bit-rate; Assembling of a packetised elementary stream {(multiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00)} · CPC title

• H04N7/17345

  Control of the passage of the selected programme · CPC title

• H04N21/2387

  Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play · CPC title

• H04N21/637

  Control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components · CPC title

• H04N21/42215

  by measuring the time interval during which a key is pressed, e.g. for inputting sequences of digits when selecting a television channel · CPC title