Method and apparatus for managing content distribution over multiple terminal devices in collaborative media system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9344478-B2
Application number	US-201013991283-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2010
Priority date	Dec 7, 2010
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for managing content distribution over multiple terminal devices in collaborative media system are provided. In the collaborative media system, a first media data is transmitted over a first channel path to a first media terminal and a second media data relevant to the first media data is transmitted over a second channel to a second media terminal. The method comprises: detecting a quality of the first media data on the first channel path and that of the second media data on the second channel path; upon detection the quality of the first media data being lower than a first predetermined value and that of the second media data being greater than a second predetermined value, transmitting the second media data over the second channel path, instead of the first media data over the first channel path, to the first media terminal (S 204 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for managing content distribution in a collaborative media system, wherein a first media data is transmitted over a first channel path to a first media terminal and a second media data relevant to the first media data is transmitted over a second channel path to a second media terminal, the method comprising:
detecting a quality of the first media data on the first channel path and a quality of the second media data on the second channel path;
when the quality of the first media data is lower than a first value and the quality of the second media data is greater than a second value, transmitting the second media data over the second channel path, instead of the first media data over the first channel path, to the first media terminal; and
wherein the quality of the first media data on the first channel path the quality of the second media data on the second channel path are detected as a function of a priority level of a lost packet and a packet loss rate of each media data.

2. The method according to the claim 1 , further comprising:
when the quality of the first media data is greater than a third value, switching back to transmit the first media data over the first channel path to the first media terminal.

3. The method according to the claim 1 , wherein the first value is lower than the second value.

4. The method according to the claim 2 , wherein the third value is greater than the first value.

5. The method according to the claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the quality of the first media data is lower than the first value, when the lost packet is a high priority.

6. The method according to the claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the quality of the first media data is lower than the first value, when a packet loss rate of the first media data exceeds a threshold.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a point for switching or switching back to prevent a mosaic display on the first media terminal.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a packet loss in a media data;
predicting a priority level of the packet loss and a packet loss rate of the media data;
evaluating a quality of the media data as a function of the priority level of the packet loss and the packet loss rate of the media data; and
switching between the first media data and the second media data in accordance with the quality of the media data.

9. A gateway in a collaborative media system, which receives a first media data and transmits the first media data over a first channel path to a first media terminal and receives a second media data relevant to the first media data and transmits the second media data over a second channel to a second media terminal, the gateway comprising:
a processor configured to:
detect a quality of the first media data on the first channel path and˜a quality of the second media data on a second channel path;
transmit the second media data over the second channel path, instead of the first media data over the first channel path, to the first media terminal, when the first media data is lower than a first value and the quality of the second media data is greater than a second value; and
wherein the quality of the first media data on the first channel path and the quality of the second media data on the second channel path are a function of a priority level of a lost packet and a packet loss rate of each media data.

10. The gateway according to claim 9 , further comprising:
a switch to transmit the first media data over the first channel path to the first media terminal, when the quality of the first media data is greater than a third value.

11. The gateway according to the claim 9 , wherein the first value is lower than the second value.

12. The gateway according to the claim 10 , wherein the third value is greater than the first value.

13. The gateway according to claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
detect a packet loss in a media data;
predict a priority level of the packet loss and a packet loss rate of the media data;
evaluate a quality of the media data as a function of the priority level of the packet loss and the packet loss rate of the media data; and
switch between the first media data and the second media data in accordance with the quality of the media data.

14. The gateway according to the claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the quality of the first media data is lower than the first value, when the lost packet is a high priority.

15. The gateway of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the quality of the first media data is lower than the first value, when a packet loss rate of the first media data exceeds a threshold.

16. The gateway according to claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to select a point for switching or switching back to prevent a mosaic display on the first media terminal.

Assignees

• Chen Jian Feng
• Liao Ning
• Ma Xiao Jun
• Thomson Licensing

Inventors

• Chen Jian Feng
• Liao Ning
• Ma Xiao Jun

Classifications

• H04N21/4307

  Synchronising the rendering of multiple content streams or additional data on devices, e.g. synchronisation of audio on a mobile phone with the video output on the TV screen · CPC title

• H04L65/4076

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N21/44227

  Monitoring of local network, e.g. connection or bandwidth variations; Detecting new devices in the local network (configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; monitoring connectivity in data switched networks H04L43/0811) · CPC title

• H04L65/605

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N21/43637

  involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth®, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] (arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114) · CPC title