WO2001086456A1 - Scheduling and delivering low bandwidth media upon detecting high bandwidth media - Google Patents

Scheduling and delivering low bandwidth media upon detecting high bandwidth media Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001086456A1
WO2001086456A1 PCT/US2001/040685 US0140685W WO0186456A1 WO 2001086456 A1 WO2001086456 A1 WO 2001086456A1 US 0140685 W US0140685 W US 0140685W WO 0186456 A1 WO0186456 A1 WO 0186456A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
media
information
network
data stream
interruption
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2001/040685
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Robert C. Plotkin
Jonathan D. Katz
Nathan D. Leight
Original Assignee
Vast Video, Incorporated
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Vast Video, Incorporated filed Critical Vast Video, Incorporated
Publication of WO2001086456A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001086456A1/en

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Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates handling network 10 bottlenecks of high bandwidth media such as streaming video, and more particularly to the scheduling and delivering of low bandwidth media to a user upon the detection of an interruption of the high bandwidth media.
  • high bandwidth media such as streaming video over global networks, such as the Internet.
  • Systems such as the one offered by Real Networks or Microsoft streaming media player can deliver and play video at rates in excess of 400 kilobits per second (Kb/sec).
  • high bandwidth systems are defined as those capable of 20 delivering data at a rate above that available with traditional telephony based modem technology, which at the time of this disclosure is 56Kb/sec.
  • one embodiment of a high bandwidth system is a cable modem, which has a data transfer rate capability in excess of 1 megabytes per second (MB/sec.) or greater.
  • a number of transmission technologies also exist that are intended to provide adequate bandwidth so that data streams containing video or audio can be delivered to a client (e.g., a software browser) in a continuous, uninterrupted format.
  • a client e.g., a software browser
  • the Web World Wide Web
  • the network may be a local area network, a wide-area network, or a global network such as the Internet.
  • GIF Graphics Interface Format
  • banners typically used for advertising in such application as "banners”.
  • Static GIF images can be made such that their total size is around 10KB. It can be seen how the download requirements for such a banner are trivial compared to the total bandwidth of a streaming video of 400Kb/sec. In this example, an image could be downloaded in 0.25 second before video (or other media) begins.
  • An embodiment of the invention can load and store this collateral image or images for display upon the interruption of the primary stream.
  • rules can be delivered to determine the location of this collateral information within the user screen. For instance, if a set of user screens included media sections (for video) as well as several ancillary locations for other material such as advertisements, specific static graphical material could be pre-loaded for possible display in the one region of the screen if an interruption to the high bandwidth media is detected.
  • the advertising or related material can be pre-loaded to the client before the streaming media begins, or can be interleaved with the data.
  • the rules as to when this media can be displayed could be delivered at the same time this alternate material is delivered.
  • the rules for display of alternate material can address a number of issues including thresholds for when to display, the length of display, location on the page to display, etc.
  • Figure 1 is a block and flow diagram showing how a server may deliver a combination of the high- and low-bandwidth information and a set of display rules to a client that can detect system bandwidth and display either the high- or low-bandwidth information;
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an manner in which a data stream may be constructed in accordance with the present invention.
  • Figure 1 shows the manner in which a data stream is constructed in accordance with the present invention.
  • a server 100 combines at least two types of information. into the data stream.
  • First information 101 is high-bandwidth information which may correspond to streaming audio or streaming video which may or may not include accompanying audio.
  • Second information 102 is low- bandwidth information such as a GIF, an animated GIF, or even a comparatively small-sized audiovisual file compressed in accordance with any one of a number of known technologies such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) and Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) technologies, to name a few.
  • JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
  • MPEG Moving Picture Experts Group
  • the low-bandwidth media preferably includes advertising information, other types of information may be included such as a movie trailer, community service announcements, etc.
  • the network may be a global network such as the Internet, or any other type of network including a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), or a virtual private network, or even a combination of these implemented using conventional wire, fiber-optics, or wireless technologies.
  • LAN local-area network
  • WAN wide-area network
  • VPN virtual private network
  • Client computer 300 includes a number of application programs, a detector 301, a cache memory 303, a selector 304, and a display 305.
  • the application programs include a network browser application and streaming video player, all of which may be of conventional types.
  • the detector and selector may be implemented in software or hardware.
  • a user at the client computer issues a request for the high-bandwidth information.
  • the high- bandwidth information may be a news video, a sports video, or an instructional video, to name but a few examples.
  • server 100 constructs data stream 103 which includes the high- bandwidth information and low-bandwidth information which, for example, may be an advertisement that bears some relevance to the content of the high-bandwidth information.
  • Data stream 103 is transmitted through the network to client computer 300.
  • Detector 301 monitors the data rate of the connection from the network to the client and thus detects the rate at which the data stream is received.
  • Detector 301 also detects which portions of the data stream correspond to the high-bandwidth information and the low-bandwidth information, i.e., the streaming video or the advertising information.
  • Detector 301 does this by decoding the header information describing the data.
  • This data which is included with most standard streaming formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, etc., describes details about the bit stream, including length and bit rate. For the case of alternate material, the data can be parsed as a static image.
  • GIF of JPEG images include standard header information, also. This can be used to decode the image when it has been determined by the detector that the data is not streaming video.
  • Software toolkits such as the Microsoft DirectShow Media SDK provide typical media detection algorithms to parse a media file to determine its internal format.
  • detector 301 When detector 301 detects high-bandwidth media in the data stream, the media player program begins to display this information to the user on display 305. When detector 301 detects low-bandwidth media in the data stream, the low-bandwidth information is stored in cache memory
  • a message is sent from detector 301 to selector 304 instructing the selector to display the low- bandwidth information stored in the cache memory.
  • This control program includes, or accesses, a set of rules which define when and the manner in which the low-bandwidth information is displayed when an interruption is detected. These rules, for example, may instruct selector 304 to output the low-bandwidth information from the cache memory after detector 301 detects that an interruption (e.g., an inadequate data rate) has existed for a predetermined period of time, e.g., 3 seconds.
  • the control program may then cause the low-bandwidth information to be displayed to its completion, irrespective of whether the interruption passes (i.e., the data rate returns to normal) during display of the low-bandwidth information.
  • the control program may interrupt the display of the low-bandwidth information as soon as detector 301 detects that the data rate has returned to an acceptable level, i.e., after the interruption has passed. The control program then instructs the medial player to resume display of the streaming high-bandwidth information.
  • the data stream containing the high-bandwidth and low-bandwidth information may be constructed in a variety of ways.
  • the low-bandwidth information may be sent ahead of the high-bandwidth information in the stream.
  • the low- bandwidth information may be interleaved with the high-bandwidth information according to any one of a variety of known techniques.
  • the display rules may also be included within the data stream, either at the front end between the low-bandwidth information and the high-bandwidth information as shown in Figure 2 or interleaved.
  • the display rules may be in the form of an applet.
  • the display rules may be pre-stored in the browser or media player software.
  • the invention may be modified in a number of ways.
  • client 300 can request the low-bandwidth information directly from the web server 100 as the detector monitors more interruptions of the data stream.
  • server 100 may continually integrate display rules 104 and low bandwidth media into the data stream 103.
  • multiple low-bandwidth information may be included in the data stream. If so, the cache memory would separately store each of them and then, in accordance with the control program, switch selector 304 to output a different advertisement for each interruption of the data stream. While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Abstract

Method and apparatus can deliver alternate material related to a primary media (video) stream (101) when the available bandwidth in the primary high bandwidth media streaming system such as a Web based video delivery system is limited. The alternate material, or materials, can relate to the primary stream (101) either by being related in content or being related via an advertising connection. Similarly, this singular or plurality of alternate data may be displayed (305) in either the same or alternate display locations (300) from the primary streaming media. This system is designed for broadband delivery systems, the network overhead to pre-load these low bandwidth collateral pieces becomes insignificant compared to the bandwidth requirements of the full streaming piece.

Description

Title: SCHEDULING AND DELIVERING LOW BANDWIDTH MEDIA UPON DETECTING HIGH BANDWIDTH MEDIA
DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates handling network 10 bottlenecks of high bandwidth media such as streaming video, and more particularly to the scheduling and delivering of low bandwidth media to a user upon the detection of an interruption of the high bandwidth media.
Background Description
A number of technologies in existence today deliver high 15 bandwidth media such as streaming video over global networks, such as the Internet. Systems such as the one offered by Real Networks or Microsoft streaming media player can deliver and play video at rates in excess of 400 kilobits per second (Kb/sec). For the purposes of this disclosure, high bandwidth systems are defined as those capable of 20 delivering data at a rate above that available with traditional telephony based modem technology, which at the time of this disclosure is 56Kb/sec. For instance, one embodiment of a high bandwidth system is a cable modem, which has a data transfer rate capability in excess of 1 megabytes per second (MB/sec.) or greater.
A number of transmission technologies also exist that are intended to provide adequate bandwidth so that data streams containing video or audio can be delivered to a client (e.g., a software browser) in a continuous, uninterrupted format. Unfortunately, because of the complexity of the World Wide Web ("the Web") portion of the Internet and the myriad of systems necessary to deliver data, it is inevitable that an interruption will occur at some point during transmission of data. This can be frustrating to the user and may result in the user going to another Web site.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a way to deliver alternate lower bandwidth material when an interruption to service of high bandwidth material occurs.
It is another object to provide alternate viewing material to a user who is experiencing delays or interruptions of service to a high bandwidth video presentation over a network as well as taking the display delay as an opportunity to display advertising or other related information to the user which will hold the user's interest. The network may be a local area network, a wide-area network, or a global network such as the Internet.
According to the invention, advantage is taken of the fact that during normal transmission of the high bandwidth material, regions may be reserved for the transmission of alternate material. One example of alternate material is a Graphics Interface Format (GIF) image, typically used for advertising in such application as "banners". Static GIF images can be made such that their total size is around 10KB. It can be seen how the download requirements for such a banner are trivial compared to the total bandwidth of a streaming video of 400Kb/sec. In this example, an image could be downloaded in 0.25 second before video (or other media) begins.
An embodiment of the invention can load and store this collateral image or images for display upon the interruption of the primary stream.
Additionally, rules can be delivered to determine the location of this collateral information within the user screen. For instance, if a set of user screens included media sections (for video) as well as several ancillary locations for other material such as advertisements, specific static graphical material could be pre-loaded for possible display in the one region of the screen if an interruption to the high bandwidth media is detected.
The advertising or related material can be pre-loaded to the client before the streaming media begins, or can be interleaved with the data. The rules as to when this media can be displayed could be delivered at the same time this alternate material is delivered. The rules for display of alternate material can address a number of issues including thresholds for when to display, the length of display, location on the page to display, etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a block and flow diagram showing how a server may deliver a combination of the high- and low-bandwidth information and a set of display rules to a client that can detect system bandwidth and display either the high- or low-bandwidth information; and
Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an manner in which a data stream may be constructed in accordance with the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows the manner in which a data stream is constructed in accordance with the present invention. As shown, a server 100 combines at least two types of information. into the data stream. First information 101 is high-bandwidth information which may correspond to streaming audio or streaming video which may or may not include accompanying audio. Second information 102 is low- bandwidth information such as a GIF, an animated GIF, or even a comparatively small-sized audiovisual file compressed in accordance with any one of a number of known technologies such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) and Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) technologies, to name a few. While the low-bandwidth media preferably includes advertising information, other types of information may be included such as a movie trailer, community service announcements, etc.
Once constructed, data stream 103 is transmitted over a network 200 to a client computer 300. The network may be a global network such as the Internet, or any other type of network including a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), or a virtual private network, or even a combination of these implemented using conventional wire, fiber-optics, or wireless technologies.
Client computer 300 includes a number of application programs, a detector 301, a cache memory 303, a selector 304, and a display 305. The application programs include a network browser application and streaming video player, all of which may be of conventional types. The detector and selector may be implemented in software or hardware.
In operation, a user at the client computer issues a request for the high-bandwidth information. For illustrative purposes only, the high- bandwidth information may be a news video, a sports video, or an instructional video, to name but a few examples. Once this request is received, server 100 constructs data stream 103 which includes the high- bandwidth information and low-bandwidth information which, for example, may be an advertisement that bears some relevance to the content of the high-bandwidth information.
Data stream 103 is transmitted through the network to client computer 300. Detector 301 monitors the data rate of the connection from the network to the client and thus detects the rate at which the data stream is received. Detector 301 also detects which portions of the data stream correspond to the high-bandwidth information and the low-bandwidth information, i.e., the streaming video or the advertising information. Detector 301 does this by decoding the header information describing the data. This data, which is included with most standard streaming formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, etc., describes details about the bit stream, including length and bit rate. For the case of alternate material, the data can be parsed as a static image. GIF of JPEG images include standard header information, also. This can be used to decode the image when it has been determined by the detector that the data is not streaming video. Software toolkits such as the Microsoft DirectShow Media SDK provide typical media detection algorithms to parse a media file to determine its internal format.
When detector 301 detects high-bandwidth media in the data stream, the media player program begins to display this information to the user on display 305. When detector 301 detects low-bandwidth media in the data stream, the low-bandwidth information is stored in cache memory
303. Then, when an interruption is detected, a message is sent from detector 301 to selector 304 instructing the selector to display the low- bandwidth information stored in the cache memory. Stored within the media player or network browser is a control program for controlling the operations of the client relative to the display of the streaming video and advertising information. This control program includes, or accesses, a set of rules which define when and the manner in which the low-bandwidth information is displayed when an interruption is detected. These rules, for example, may instruct selector 304 to output the low-bandwidth information from the cache memory after detector 301 detects that an interruption (e.g., an inadequate data rate) has existed for a predetermined period of time, e.g., 3 seconds. After this time lapses, the control program may then cause the low-bandwidth information to be displayed to its completion, irrespective of whether the interruption passes (i.e., the data rate returns to normal) during display of the low-bandwidth information. Alternatively, the control program may interrupt the display of the low-bandwidth information as soon as detector 301 detects that the data rate has returned to an acceptable level, i.e., after the interruption has passed. The control program then instructs the medial player to resume display of the streaming high-bandwidth information.
The data stream containing the high-bandwidth and low-bandwidth information may be constructed in a variety of ways. For example, as shown in Figure 2, the low-bandwidth information may be sent ahead of the high-bandwidth information in the stream. Alternatively, the low- bandwidth information may be interleaved with the high-bandwidth information according to any one of a variety of known techniques. If desired, the display rules may also be included within the data stream, either at the front end between the low-bandwidth information and the high-bandwidth information as shown in Figure 2 or interleaved. If desired, the display rules may be in the form of an applet. Optionally, the display rules may be pre-stored in the browser or media player software. The invention may be modified in a number of ways. For example, client 300 can request the low-bandwidth information directly from the web server 100 as the detector monitors more interruptions of the data stream. Also, server 100 may continually integrate display rules 104 and low bandwidth media into the data stream 103.
If desired, multiple low-bandwidth information may be included in the data stream. If so, the cache memory would separately store each of them and then, in accordance with the control program, switch selector 304 to output a different advertisement for each interruption of the data stream. While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:
L A method for scheduling and delivering low bandwidth media objects on reduction in available bandwidth for delivering high bandwidth media comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a client through a network for streaming of a selected high bandwidth media object; associating at least one low bandwidth media object and display rules with the selected high bandwidth media object; and streaming the selected high bandwidth media object with the associated low bandwidth media" object and display rules to the requesting client.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: detecting a low bandwidth media object at the client and upon detecting a low bandwidth media object, storing the low bandwidth media object in a cache memory; and detecting an interruption in delivery of the selected high bandwidth media object at the client and upon detecting an interruption in delivery of the selected high bandwidth media object, displaying the low bandwidth media object stored in the cache memory.
3. A method for aggregating information for display, comprising the steps of: transmitting a data stream over a network to a client computer, said data stream including first media information and second media information; displaying on a screen of said client computer at least a portion of said first media information as said client computer receives said data stream over the network; detecting an interruption in said first media information; and displaying said second media information during the interruption in said first media information.
4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the steps of: detecting that the interruption has passed; and resuming display of said first media information.
5. The method according to claim 3, wherein said data stream includes rules that instruct a media player application stored in the client computer to display said second media information upon detection of an interruption in said data stream.
6. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of storing rules within a media player application program that instruct the media • player to display said second media information upon detection of an interruption in said data stream.
7. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of displaying said second media information includes: determining whether a first predetermined period of time has passed since detection of an interruption in said first media information; and displaying said second media information after said first predetermined period of time has passed.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said second media information is displayed to completion irrespective of whether the interruption in said first media information passes during display of said second media information.
9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: terminating display of said second media information immediately upon detection that the interruption in said first media information has passed; and resuming display of said first media information.
10. The method according to claim 3, wherein said first media information includes one of streaming audio, streaming video, and streaming audio/visual information.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said second media information includes advertising information.
12. The method according to claim 10, wherein said advertising information is at least one of a Graphic Interface Format (GIF) image, an animated GIF image, a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image, audio information, or compressed video.
13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the step of transmitting said advertising information ahead of said first media information in said data stream.
14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of interleaving said advertising information with said first media information in said data stream.
15. The method according to claim 3, wherein said network is one of a local network, a wide-area network, and a global network.
16. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of transmitting the data stream is performed in response to a user request for said first media information.
17. A system for scheduling and delivering low bandwidth media objects on reduction in available bandwidth, for delivering high bandwidth media, said system comprising: a network; a client computer connected to said network; a browser program, in said client computer, which transmits a request through the network for streaming of a selected high bandwidth media object; and a server which receives said request through said network, said server associating at least one low bandwidth media object and display rules with the selected high bandwidth media object, and streaming the selected high bandwidth media object with the associated low bandwidth media object and display rules to the client computer.
18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the display rules are installed on the client computer, and wherein said client computer further includes: a cache memory; means for detecting a low bandwidth media object and upon detecting a low bandwidth media object, storing the low bandwidth media object in the cache memory; and means for detecting an interruption in delivery of the selected high bandwidth media object and upon detecting an interruption in delivery of the selected high bandwidth media object, displaying the low bandwidth media object stored in the cache memory.
19. A system for aggregating information for display, comprising: a network; a client computer connected to the network, said client computer transmitting a request for information; a server which transmits, in response to said request, a data stream over the network to the client computer, said data stream including first media information and second media information, said client computer including: . (a) a media player program for displaying at least a portion of said first media information as said client computer receives said data stream over the network, and (b) means for detecting an interruption in said data stream, said medial player program displaying said second media information during the interruption.
20. The system according to claim 19, wherein said media player program resumes display of said first media i iformation upon detection by said detecting means that the interruption has passed.
21. The method according to claim 19, wherein said server transmits rules in said data stream that instructs said media player program to display said second media information upon detection of an interruption in said data stream by said detecting means.
22. The system according to claim 19, wherein said first media information includes one of streaming audio, streaming video, and streaming audio/visual information.
23. The system according to claim 19, wherein said second media information includes advertising information.
24. The system according to claim 23, wherein said advertising information is transmitted ahead of said first media information in said data stream.
25. The system according to claim 23, wherein said advertising information is interleaved with said first media information in said data stream.
26. The system according to claim 19, wherein said network is one of a local network, a wide-area network, and a global network.
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