Transparent scalable video coding

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9866877-B2
Application number	US-201113043207-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2011
Priority date	Mar 8, 2011
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

Transparent scalable video coding may be provided. Upon receiving a request for a content asset, such as from a subscriber's premises, a quality level associated with the content asset may be identified. A video coding layer and/or a plurality of layers associated with the content asset may be selected according to the identified quality level. The selected video coding layer(s) may be encoded into a video stream and provided to a display device (e.g., a television) associated with the request for the content asset.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of providing transparent scalable video coding (SVC), the method comprising:
receiving a request for a content asset to be displayed on a display device, the request comprising subscriber heuristic characteristics including format compatibilities of a decoding device, an available bandwidth over a subscriber on-premises network, and a maximum resolution of the display device, wherein the content asset is multicast to a plurality of subscriber premises and available qualities levels for the content asset that are based on a quality level of an encoded video stream, comprise at least one SVC layer from the encoded video stream, and are listed in quality metadata;
determining provider heuristic characteristics by measuring a number of viewers of the content asset and changes in available bandwidth over a provider network to deliver the content asset to the subscriber network;
identifying a quality level from a plurality of formats specifying the available quality levels for the content asset, wherein the quality metadata enable a gateway device located at each subscriber premises of the plurality of subscriber premises associated with requests for the content asset to select an on-premises quality level for the content asset from the available quality levels, wherein the identified quality level is made according to the subscriber heuristic characteristics and the provider heuristic characteristics;
selecting at least one video coding layer associated with the content asset according to the identified quality level;
encoding the content asset according to the identified quality level, including encoding the selected at least one video coding layer in a format associated with the display device into a video stream; and
providing the encoded video stream to the display device associated with the request for the content asset.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content asset comprises one of a plurality of television programs available to subscribers associated with a cable television provider.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one video coding layer comprises one of a plurality of video coding layers comprising a base layer and at least one enhanced layer.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the identified quality level is associated with a subset of the plurality of video coding layers and comprises at least the base layer.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one enhanced layer comprises additional data associated with the content asset.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provider heuristic characteristic further comprises at least one of the following: a grading of a channel, a grading of the content asset.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a second heuristic characteristic associated with providing the encoded video stream to the display device; and
determining whether to change the identified quality level associated with the content asset.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one video coding layer associated with the content asset is selected by a streaming service prior to providing the encoded video stream to an access network for transmission to the display device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one video coding layer associated with the content asset is selected by a gateway device located at a premises associated with the request for the content asset.

10. A system for providing transparent scalable video coding (SVC), the system comprising:
a memory storage; and
a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to:
ingest a content asset, wherein the content asset is multicast to a plurality of subscriber premises;
convert the content asset into a plurality of formats, each format of the plurality of formats being associated with a display device;
store metadata for each format including alignment points at which the format being transmitted may be changed;
define a plurality of quality levels associated with each format of the content asset, each quality level being based on at least one heuristic characteristic, wherein each of the plurality of quality levels is associated with at least one of a plurality of SVC layers and are listed in quality metadata, wherein the quality metadata enable a gateway device located at each subscriber premises of the plurality of subscriber premises associated with requests for the content asset to select an on-premises quality level for the content asset from the available quality levels, wherein the available quality levels are based on the quality level of an encoded video stream and comprise at least one SVC layer from the encoded video stream, and wherein each subscriber premises of the plurality of subscriber premises selects its on-premises quality level based on heuristic characteristics associated with that subscriber premises;
receive a request for the content asset from a subscriber to be displayed on the display device, the request comprising subscriber heuristic characteristics including one or more of format compatibilities of a decoding device, an available bandwidth over a subscriber on-premises network, and a maximum resolution of the display device, wherein the subscriber heuristic characteristics are determined by the decoding device;
determine provider heuristic characteristics at a provider platform, the provider heuristic characteristics indicating a number of viewers of the content asset and a grading of the content asset;
select the quality level associated with the content asset, wherein the quality level comprises an identification of at least one SVC layer to be encoded and wherein the selection of the quality level is made according to the provider heuristic characteristics and the subscriber heuristic characteristics;
encode the content asset into a video stream according to the quality level and the format associated with the display device; and
provide the encoded video stream to the display device associated with the subscriber.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein being operative to provide the encoded video stream to the display device associated with the subscriber comprises being operative to transmit the encoded video stream from the system to an access network for transmission to the display device.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein being operative to provide the encoded video stream to the display device associated with the subscriber comprises being operative to transmit the plurality of SVC layers from the system to an access network for transmission to a gateway device coupled to the display device and operative to encode the content asset into the video stream according to the quality level.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein being operative to ingest the content asset comprises being operative to:
create alignment metadata associated with each of the plurality of formats.

14. A memory storage which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a method for providing transparent scalable video coding (SVC), the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:
receiving a request for a content asset from a subscriber device, wherein the request comprises a subscriber heuristic characteristic including one or more of format compatibilities of a decoding device, an available bandwidth over a subscriber on-premises network, and maximum resolution associated with the subscriber device;
determining a provider heuristic characteristic by measuring a number of viewers of the content asset and changes in available bandwidth over an access network to deliver the content asset to th

Assignees

• Shrum Jr Edgar V
• Civiletto John
• Cox Communications Inc

Inventors

• Shrum Jr Edgar V
• Civiletto John

Classifications

• H04N19/30

  using hierarchical techniques, e.g. scalability (H04N19/63 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04N21/234327 Primary

  by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers · 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

• H04N21/2662

  Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities · CPC title