Adaptive streaming with early client indication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016134673-A1
Application number	US-201514923113-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 26, 2015
Priority date	Nov 10, 2014
Publication date	May 12, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and systems for early identification of bitrates for segments in adaptive bitrate streaming can allow the server to begin processing or transcoding content as necessary for delivery, reducing processing and transmission latency. In a first aspect, a client may request a second segment before the first segment has been completely received. The server may begin any transcoding processes for preparing the second segment, and once the server has completed sending the first segment, the server may begin transmitting the now-prepared or partially prepared second segment. The server can then transmit the first and second segment contiguously, with essentially no network dead time. In a second aspect, the client may transmit an early notification of parameters for the request of the second segment, allowing the server to begin transcoding. The client may subsequently request the already-prepared or partially prepared second segment, similarly reducing request-response processing latency.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A method for adaptive bitrate streaming with early client indication, comprising:
receiving, by a media server from a client device, a notification of a parameter of a future request for a segment of content; beginning preparation, by the media server, of the segment of content in accordance with the parameter; subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a request for the segment of content, the request including the parameter; and transmitting, by the media server, the segment of content prepared in accordance with the parameter.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification is sent responsive to monitoring of network performance by the client device.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the notification is sent responsive to monitoring of a round trip time by the client device from a transmission of a request for a segment of content to a receipt of the corresponding segment of content.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a notification of a second parameter of a future request for a second segment of content; beginning preparation, by the media server, of the second segment of content in accordance with the second parameter; subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a request for the second segment of content, the request including a third parameter; beginning preparation, by the media server, of the second segment of content in accordance with the third parameter; and transmitting, by the media server, the second segment of content prepared in accordance with the third parameter.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising discarding the second segment of content prepared in accordance with the second parameter, responsive to receipt of the request for the second segment of content including the third parameter.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising storing the second segment of content prepared in accordance with the second parameter and not transmitted to the client device.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the second parameter and third parameter are different bitrates for the segment of content, the third parameter determined by the client device responsive to monitoring of network performance.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a notification of a second parameter of a future request for a second segment of content; preparing, by the media server, a first portion of the second segment of content in accordance with the second parameter; subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a request for the second segment of content, the request including a third parameter different from the second parameter; preparing, by the media server, a second portion of the second segment of content in accordance with the third parameter; and transmitting, by the media server, the first portion and second portion of the second segment of content.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a notification of a second parameter of a future request for a second segment of content; preparing, by the media server, a first portion of the second segment of content in accordance with the second parameter; subsequently receiving, by the media server from the client device, a request for the second segment of content, the request including a third parameter different from the second parameter; identifying, by the media server, a fourth parameter such that a combination of a second portion of the second segment prepared in accordance with the fourth parameter and the first portion of the second segment prepared in accordance with the second parameter is equivalent to the second segment prepared in accordance with the third parameter; preparing, by the media server, the second portion of the second segment of content in accordance with the fourth parameter; and transmitting, by the media server, the first portion and second portion of the second segment of content.

10 . A method for adaptive bitrate streaming with early client indication, comprising:
transmitting, by a client device to a media server via a network, a request for a first segment of content prepared in accordance with a first parameter; monitoring, by the client device, a performance characteristic of the network; transmitting, by the client device to the media server via the network, a notification of a second parameter of a future request for a second segment of content, the second parameter selected based on the monitoring of the performance characteristic of the network; receiving, by the client device from the media server via the network, the first segment of content; and transmitting, by the client device to the media server via the network, a second request for the second segment of content prepared in accordance with the second parameter.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first parameter and second parameter comprise a bitrate for the corresponding segment of content.

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining, by the client device based on the monitoring, that the performance characteristic of the network has changed; and
wherein the first parameter is different than the second parameter.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving, by the client device from the media server via the network, the second segment of content prepared in accordance with the second parameter; and
wherein the media server prepares the second segment of the content in accordance with the second parameter responsive to receipt of the notification.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising buffering the received second segment of content, by the client device, during decoding or display of the first segment of content.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
transmitting, by the client device to the media server via the network, a second notification of a third parameter of a future request for a third segment of content; detecting a change in the performance characteristic of the network; and transmitting, by the client device to the media server via the network, a third request for the third segment of content prepared in accordance with a different fourth parameter, selected responsive to the detected change in the performance characteristic of the network.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the client device from the media server via the network, the third segment of content prepared in accordance with the fourth parameter, the media server discarding a portion of the third segment of content prepared in accordance with the third parameter responsive to receipt of the third request.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the client device from the media server via the network, the third segment of content prepared in accordance with the third parameter, responsive to a determination by the media server that a first time to prepare and transmit the third segment of content in accordance with the fourth parameter exceeds a second time to transmit the third segment of content prepared in accordance with the third parameter.

18 . A method for adaptive bitrate streaming with server-based rate prediction, comprising:
receiving, by a media server from a client device via a network, a request for a first segment

Assignees

• Broadcom Corp

Inventors

• Macinnis Alexander Garland

Classifications

• H04L65/60 Primary

  Network streaming of media packets · CPC title

• H04L65/61

  for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio · CPC title

• H04L65/762

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

• H04L65/80

  Responding to QoS · CPC title