Providing integration of multi-bit-rate media streams

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9680892-B2
Application number	US-49312609-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2009
Priority date	Jun 26, 2009
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, based on multi-bit-rate streaming for inserting secondary streaming media into primary streaming media are described. In some implementations, the secondary streaming media, also referred to as insertion-media, may be advertisements. In other implementations, the secondary streaming media may be breaking news, emergency notifications or public service announcements. The systems and methods disclosed in this specification enable seamless integration of insertion-media streams with a primary media stream for providing a viewer a high-quality online video experience.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a client computer system from a media provider via a communication channel, a media document comprising a portion of media and a portion of an index for the media document, the portion of the index comprising information relating to fewer than all the segments of the media document and including an insertion-media switch point and an indication for upcoming insertion media, the insertion media being located at an insertion-media provider that is different from the media provider, the indication for the upcoming insertion-media comprising:
an insertion verifier, the insertion verifier including an instruction to the client computer system to request the insertion media from the insertion-media provider and insert the insertion media if a predetermined condition has been met, and a return reference that includes instructions for returning to playing the media if the condition is not met or after the completion of playing the insertion media;
an address of the insertion-media provider; and
available encoding bit-rates for the insertion media;

determining, by the client computer system, a supportable streaming bit-rate of the communication channel while receiving the portion of media;
while playing the portion of media on an output device of the client computer system, selecting the insertion media at an encoding bit-rate of the available bit-rates that is less than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate of the communication channel;
requesting a portion of the insertion media from the insertion media provider at the indicated address of the insertion-media provider;
receiving, by the client computer system, an insertion-media document comprising the portion of the insertion media at the selected bit rate and an insertion-media index, the insertion-media index including an indication of other upcoming insertion media, the indication of the other upcoming insertion media comprising another insertion verifier that indicates whether the client computer system is instructed to request the other insertion media from the insertion-media provider or another insertion-media provider; and
upon determining that the predetermined condition of the insertion verifier has been met, inserting and playing the insertion media and the other insertion media at the insertion point and on the output device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the insertion media further comprises:
selecting the largest available bit-rate from among the multiple bit-rates that is smaller than the bit-rate of the portion of media playing on the output device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the insertion media further comprises:
selecting the smallest available bit-rate from among the multiple bit-rates.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein requesting the other insertion media further comprises:
receiving the other insertion media from the insertion media provider or the other insertion-media provider at a bit-rate less than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate of the communication channel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the insertion media is an advertisement.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the portion of media and the insertion media into a buffer of the client computer system to avoid breaks in the output on the output device.

7. The method of claim 1 , the insertion media further comprising several individual insertion media files played together and sequentially at the insertion point on the output device.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
while receiving the insertion-media document, determining, by the client computer system, another supportable streaming bit-rate of the communication channel;
selecting an encoding bit-rate for a segment of the media document that follows the insertion-media based on the other supportable streaming bit-rate; and
request the segment of the media document at the selected encoding bit-rate.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the request for the segment includes a byte-offset to indicate the beginning of the segment and a byte-range indicating the size of the segment.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a communication protocol over the communication channel is Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the determining the supportable bit-rate of the communication channel comprises inferring an instant streaming bit-rate from TCP information.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the insertion-media index includes an indication of an end of the insertion media and the method further comprising using the return reference to return to playing the media at the indicated end of the insertion media.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the address of the insertion-media provider is a reference to a redirection service that provides insertion media on a rotating basis.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding instructions that, when executed by a programmable processor of a client computer system, cause the programmable processor to configure the client computer system to:
receive, from a media provider via a communication channel, a media document comprising a portion of media and a portion of an index for the media document, the portion of the index comprising information relating to fewer than all the segments of the media document and including an insertion-media switch point and an indication for upcoming insertion media, the insertion media being located at an insertion-media provider that is different from the media provider, the indication for the upcoming insertion-media comprising:
an insertion verifier, the insertion verifier including an instruction to the client computer system to request the insertion media from the insertion-media provider and insert the insertion media if a predetermined condition has been met, and a return reference that includes instructions for returning to playing the media if the condition is not met or after the completion of playing the insertion media;
an address of the insertion-media provider; and
available encoding bit-rates for the insertion media;

determine a supportable streaming bit-rate of the communication channel while receiving the portion of media;
while playing the portion of media on an output device of the client computer system, select the insertion media at an encoding bit-rate of the available bit-rates that is less than or equal to the supportable streaming bit-rate of the communication channel;
request a portion of the insertion media from the insertion media provider at the indicated address of the insertion-media provider;
receive an insertion-media document comprising the portion of the insertion media at the selected bit rate and an insertion-media index, the insertion-media index including an indication of other upcoming insertion media, the indication of the other upcoming insertion media comprising another insertion verifier that indicates whether the client computer system is instructed to request the other insertion media from the insertion-media provider or another insertion-media provider; and
upon determining that the predetermined condition of the insertion verifier has been met, insert and play the insertion media and the other insertion media at the insertion point and on the output device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the selection of the bit-rate for the insertion media configures the client computer system to:
select the largest bit-rate for the insertion media that is smaller than the bit-rate of the portion of media playing on the output device.

Assignees

• Kaufman Matthew
• Adobe Systems Inc

Inventors

• Kaufman Matthew

Classifications

• H04N21/6581

  Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application · CPC title

• H04L65/4084 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N21/8456

  by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments · CPC title

• H04N21/26258 Primary

  for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list (retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40) · CPC title

• H04N21/4622

  Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet (web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859) · CPC title