Methods and apparatus for just-in-time streaming media

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11575728-B2
Application number	US-202117320503-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 14, 2021
Priority date	May 14, 2021
Publication date	Feb 7, 2023
Grant date	Feb 7, 2023

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for just-in-time streaming media. Existing content delivery networks are optimized for providing mass media to many consumers. This delivery model is poorly suited to user-specific content. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure create a program instance that can service a client's media requests from their archival data. In one specific implementation, the archival data is stored segments that are ready for streaming; a content server may provide either a consolidated file or a media “quasi-stream” from the same storage object(s). The quasi-stream supports progressive playback (media playback as it is being downloaded.) The program instance provides the client device the illusion of a static file system, however client requested access to HTTP file downloads are provided in packets that are transmuxed/transcoded from archival data. The various solutions described herein directly address a problem that is unique to providing access to client-specific data archives anytime, anywhere.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for quasi-streaming media, the method comprising:
receiving a first request for a non-existent first data structure of a static file system at a streaming media server;
obtaining a second data structure that is related to the non-existent first data structure;
instantiating a file system-like application programming interface at the streaming media server that generates a requested data structure from the second data structure;
receiving a second request for data segments based on the requested data structure at the streaming media server;
obtaining a subset of an archival file; and
generating quasi-streaming data segments from the subset of the archival file.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that at least one of a client device capability and a network connection quality supports quasi-streamable operation; and
returning a master playlist that includes the requested data structure and the second data structure.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the archival file is accessible via an external network connection; and
returning a master playlist that includes the requested data structure and the second data structure.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing progressive playback of the archival file via the quasi-streaming data segments.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving streaming data segments from the static file system; and
providing variable bit rate service based on the quasi-streaming data segments and the streaming data segments.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the quasi-streaming data segments from the subset of the archival file comprises transmuxing an MPEG-4 file into a MPEG-2 transport stream.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the quasi-streaming data segments from the subset of the archival file comprises transcoding an MPEG-4 file into a MPEG-2 transport stream.

8. A streaming media server apparatus, comprising:
a first network interface configured to communicate with an archival file system;
a second network interface configured to communicate with a client device;
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions which when executed by the processor, causes the streaming media server apparatus to:
store streaming assets within a static file structure;
receive a request for a non-existent streaming asset from the client device;
access an archival file via the first network interface;
instantiate a file system-like application programming interface that generates quasi-streaming data segments from the archival file; and
provide the quasi-streaming data segments to the client device via the second network interface.

9. The streaming media server apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the streaming assets are HTTP-based segment downloads and the static file structure is addressable via URL addressing.

10. The streaming media server apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the archival file system is configured to store MPEG-4 audio visual content in its originally captured format.

11. The streaming media server apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the streaming media server apparatus to:
de-reference the archival file to retrieve media chunks corresponding to a playback time; and
packetize the media chunks into the quasi-streaming data segments for the playback time.

12. The streaming media server apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the streaming media server apparatus to:
decode at least a portion of the archival file to generate media segments; and
encode the media segments into the quasi-streaming data segments.

13. The streaming media server apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the streaming media server apparatus to provide the streaming assets or the quasi-streaming data segments based on network connectivity.

14. The streaming media server apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the streaming media server apparatus to provide the archival file in its originally captured format.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
store streamable assets within a static file structure;
instantiate a file system-like application programming interface that provides access to quasi-streamable assets via a non-existent file structure by generating quasi-streaming data segments from an archival file;
provide a master playlist with the streamable assets and the quasi-streamable assets; and
provide data segments from the streamable assets and the quasi-streamable assets in response to data segment requests.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the static file structure is accessible via URL addresses.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the file system-like application programming interface monitors ongoing playback state of a client device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the file system-like application programming interface is configured to time-out when the ongoing playback state is inactive.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to provide access to originally captured content.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the data segments are selected from the streamable assets or the quasi-streamable assets based on at least one of a client device capability and a network connection quality.

Assignees

• Gopro Inc

Inventors

• Dennedy Daniel
• Iyengar Rahul
• Fernandes Cedric

Classifications

• H04L65/752

  adapting media to network capabilities · CPC title

• H04L65/70 Primary

  Media network packetisation · CPC title

• H04L65/65 Primary

  Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP] · CPC title

• H04L65/762

  at the source  (reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355) · CPC title

• G06F9/547

  Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services · CPC title