Controlling dynamic media transcoding

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9510033-B1
Application number	US-201213465975-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 7, 2012
Priority date	May 7, 2012
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

A number of approaches for transcoding media is described, which allow various users to control one or more aspects of transcoding (e.g. bit rate, resolution) when delivering media content to a client device from a network edge server or other location. The client device is provided with an interface that allows the user to increase or decrease the resolution, bit rate or other settings of the media content. Upon receiving a request from the user, the system transcodes the media content in accordance with the request and dynamically delivers the transcoded media content to the user's device. The system also enables content publishers and network operators to impose restrictions (e.g. minimum and maximum values for various settings) on user control.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method for controlling transcoding of media content at a network edge, said method comprising:
receiving, from a client device, a request for an instance of the media content provided by a content publisher over a network, the instance of the media content being stored in a first media format determined by the content publisher;
determining, based at least in part on the request, one or more user-adjustable quality parameters associated with the instance of the media content, the user-adjustable quality parameters indicating at least one of a bit rate or a resolution for transcoding the media content;
verifying that the one or more user-adjustable quality parameters comply with at least one first restriction specified by the content publisher that provided the media content and at least one second restriction specified by a network operator, the at least one first restriction limiting a first range of bit rates or resolutions used for transcoding the media content, the at least one second restriction limiting a second range of bit rates or resolutions used for transcoding the media content, wherein an application programming interface (API) enables the content publisher to specify the at least one first restriction for the user-adjustable quality parameters, the content publisher being a customer of a service provider that provides the API, and the API enabling the network operator to specify the at least one second restriction for the user-adjustable quality parameters based at least in part on available bandwidth in the network, wherein the network operator, the content publisher, and the client device are each separate a separate entities;
if the one or more user-adjustable quality parameters are verified to comply with the at least one first restriction and the at least one second restriction, transcoding the instance of the media content from the first media format into at least a second media format at a network edge server in response to the request based at least in part on the user-adjustable quality parameters; and
providing the transcoded instance of the media content to the client device over the network in response to the request.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first restriction specified by the content publisher comprises a minimum bit rate or resolution for transcoding the media content and the at least one second restriction specified by the network operator comprises a maximum bit rate or resolution for transcoding the media content.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user-adjustable quality parameters associated with the request are based at least in part on a data plan associated with the client device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user-adjustable quality parameters are specified using at least one of:
a slider graphical user interface on the client device that is configured to enable a user to manipulate the at least one of bit rate or resolution of the instance of the media content;
a control setting on the client device; or
an application executing on the client device.

5. A computer implemented method, comprising:
receiving, from a device, a request for media content from a content publisher, the media content being stored in a source format determined by the content publisher, the request associated with one or more quality settings for transcoding the media content that are specified by the device;
verifying that the one or more quality settings for the media content comply with at least one first restriction specified by the content publisher that provided the media content and at least one second restriction specified by a network operator, the at least one first restriction limiting a first range of bit rates or resolutions used for transcoding the media content, the at least one second restriction limiting a second range of bit rates or resolutions used for transcoding the media content, wherein an application programming interface (API) enables the content publisher to specify the at least one first restriction, the content publisher being a customer of a service provider that provides the API, and the API enables the network operator to specify the at least one second restriction based at least in part on available bandwidth in the network, wherein the network operator, the content publisher, and the client device are each separate a separate entities;
in response to verifying that the one or more quality settings for the media content comply with the at least one first restriction and the at least one second restriction, transcoding the media content from the source format into at least one different format based at least in part on the one or more quality settings associated with the request to produce at least one transcoded version of the media content; and
providing the transcoded version of the media content to the device in response to the request.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
inspecting instructions received from the network operator of the network over which the media content is provided to the device, the instructions indicating a threshold limit for the quality settings; and
transcoding the media content from the source format into at least one different format in accordance with at least the threshold limit indicated in the instructions.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
inspecting instructions received from the content publisher that provided the media content, the instructions indicating a threshold limit for the quality settings; and
transcoding the media content from the source format into at least one different format in accordance with at least the threshold limit indicated in the instructions.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quality settings for the media content are specified using a graphical interface on the device, the graphical interface configured to enable a user to increase and decrease the at least one of bit rate or resolution of the media content.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein transcoding the media content further includes:
modifying at least one of the bit rate or the resolution of the media content based at least in part on time-of-day or network traffic congestion in a network over which the media content is provided to the device.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein a transcoding service inspects the one or more quality settings associated with the request and adjusts one or more parameters on at least one transcoder used to perform the transcoding of the media content from the source format into the at least one different format.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quality settings associated with the request are generated on behalf of the user by at least one of: a browser on the device; an application executing on the device, or an operating system of the device.

12. The method of claim 5 , wherein a network operator associated with the network is enabled to modify the one or more quality settings to adjust the quality of service (QOS) associated with the network, and wherein all users accessing the network are subject to the quality settings modified by the network operator.

13. A computer implemented method, comprising:
enabling a network operator to specify one or more quality parameters to be used for transcoding media content, the media content provided by a content publisher and delivered to end users over a network associated with the network operator;
receiving, from one or more devices, one or more requests for the media content, the one or more requests associated with at least one of the one or mo

Assignees

• Corley Jonathan B
• Saraf Tal
• Marshall Bradley E
• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Corley Jonathan B
• Saraf Tal
• Marshall Bradley E

Classifications

• H04N21/258 Primary

  Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data {(arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30)} · CPC title

• H04N21/262

  Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists {(scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62)} · CPC title

• H04N19/40

  using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream · CPC title

• H04N21/4312

  involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations · CPC title

• H04N21/6587

  Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection · CPC title