CH716844A1 - Method and system for including video blocks in a multicast video stream. - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a method for inserting video blocks into a multicast video transport stream (IN), comprising: reception by a splitting module (1) of an MPEG-TS video transport stream (IN) sent in multicast; cutting by the cutting module (1) of said video transport stream so as to generate several blocks of video content (11) and at least one manifest (9); call by a manifest handler (2) to an external server (4) to retrieve the video blocks (15) which must be inserted; modification of the manifest by the manipulator of manifest (2); recovery by a converter (3) of the modified manifest; recovery by the converter (3) of the various blocks of video content (11) from the external server (4) and of the video blocks to be inserted (12, 15); generation by the converter (3) of an MPEG-TS multicast video transport stream from said video content blocks (11) and inserted video blocks (12, 15). The subject of the invention is also a system for implementing this method.

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a method and a system for including video blocks, for example advertising video blocks, in a multicast video stream.

State of the art

Video programs often include sequences of advertisements usually assembled in advance by the broadcaster based on its advertising campaigns for this television channel or video program.

In order to increase advertising revenue, we already know that it is possible to adapt the content of the break to different audiences or regions. In the United States, local television companies often redistribute satellite channels over their network and replace some national advertising with local ads. In Europe, commercials, sports programs and news are often tailored to each specific national audience. For example, it is known to replace in some countries specific programs for which the broadcaster is not entitled with other content. It is also often desired to replace or insert advertising content based on the profiles of each user or groups of users, or even to make targeted advertising insertion for each user.

[0004] Thus, platforms are known for replacing or inserting advertising content located in a common video stream.

[0005] In order to increase flexibility, the platforms generally do not store advertising videos, but access them through an advertising video server, for example an Internet server operated by an advertising agency for online advertising, or a television advertising booking system. The platform thus generates a new video stream, replacing or supplementing existing video streams, including videos from the advertising video server, as well as other elements such as jingles or still images.

Brief summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide such a method and system for replacing and inserting video content, for example advertising video blocks, which is suitable for streams sent by multicast.

[0007] According to the invention, these aims are achieved in particular by means of a method according to claim 1; preferred embodiments are indicated in the dependent claims.

[0008] In particular, the method according to the invention includes a step of segmenting (cutting) a live video stream into blocks, stored in a container, in a format used by adaptive streaming standards such as HLS and MPEG- DASH.

Brief description of the figures

[0009] Examples of implementation of the invention are indicated in the description illustrated by the appended figures in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a system that can be used for the insertion of video content in a multicast stream, in a variant where the manifest is obtained in push mode. • Figure 2 illustrates a system that can be used for the insertion of video content in a multicast stream, in a variant where the manifest is obtained in pull mode.

Example (s) of embodiment of the invention

A multicast video transport stream IN in MPEG-TS format (stream typically in H264 or H265 or other video codec) enters a splitting module 1 (packager) software and / or hardware which splits it into blocks of video content 11, for example in an adaptive streaming format such as HLS (Apple) or MPEG-DASH.

The video content blocks 11 cut 11 are encapsulated in an MPEG-TS video container or the like.

In one example, a single IN video transport stream is divided into blocks of video content 11 which have the same resolution and the same technical specifications as the input multicast stream IN (same bandwidth, same video structure, etc. ..). The quality of this initial video stream is thus preserved and the computation needs are reduced.

The video transport stream IN can be divided into blocks of video content 11 without being re-encoded, or in any case without modifying the encoding format.

If necessary, the chopping module 1 converts images 1 into IDR in codecs of the H264 or H265 type for example, so that each video chunk can be read independently.

The packager also generates a manifest 9 from the incoming video transport stream IN. This manifest indicates the sequence of video blocks to be read. It is advantageously updated with each new block.

A new manifest is advantageously created as soon as the manifest being written contains a predefined number of blocks. Packager 1 thus creates a series of manifests 9,

The duration of the blocks is advantageously less than 2 seconds, for example one second of video signal. Each manifest preferably contains a small number of blocks, for example less than six blocks. A manifest thus preferably corresponds to less than six seconds of video signal. This makes it possible to write a manifest at packager 1 while the converter 3 described below reconstructs an output signal by reading the previous manifest, while ensuring a reduced offset between the incoming signal and the outgoing signal.

The blocks of video content generated by the packager 1 are advantageously stored in an adaptive format, so as to generate several variants from the incoming multicast video transport stream, for example blocks in SD standard definition, and blocks in high definition HD. The format can also be non-adaptive.

Each block of video content 11 is cut out according to its GOP structure or on a solid image.

When a marking information of an advertising or content cut is detected, the cutting module 1 cuts the video block to the image where the cut begins and to the first image of the next video content block (chunk ) according to the indication of the position of the end image of the insertion tunnel (found from the entry point and the duration for example, or from a start marker and a start marker end, to the picture ready.

The marking information for an advertising break can come from the video transport stream itself, for example marking information in the SCTE-35 standard. In an alternative, this information can come from an external device and different from that which generates or retransmits this video transport stream (marking said out-of-band).

In the case of a video stream in MPEG-TS format, the first image of the file, at each cutoff point of the tunnel (input and output) in any case and ideally at each start of a video block, includes an indicator MPEG-TS discontinuity or any other indicator that allows reading without following the logic of the reference clock of the initial video stream and allowing the video stream to be read without interruption.

In a variant, if these discontinuity indicators are not added at the packager level, the converter 3 described below can add them before the recreation of the multicast stream.

The video content blocks 11 obtained by this division are sent in push mode to a storage space 5, for example a web server.

In the variant of Figure 1, the manifest 9a generated from the incoming video transport stream IN is transmitted in push mode on a manifest manipulator 2, or obtained by this manifest manipulator in pull mode. The function of the manifest manipulator is in particular to modify or insert a manifest so as to include or replace video blocks, for example advertising blocks, at determined times.

In the variant of Figure 2, this manifest 9 generated from the incoming video transport stream IN is transmitted in pull mode on a storage space, for example on the same web server 5.

In push mode, the manifest manipulator 2 receives a manifest 9a periodically as the incoming video transport stream IN progresses over time. The period can be variable.

In pull mode, the manifest manipulator 2 will look for the manifest 9b on the storage space 5 periodically or not to follow the evolution of the incoming video transport stream IN.

When a marker in the manifest making it possible to identify an insertion tunnel is detected, the manifest handler 2 calls an external server 4 to retrieve the blocks of video content 15 which must be inserted at the time indicated by this marker. The external server 4 can be one or more conventional online video advertising servers (IAB VAST or VMPA for example), a standard TV booking system, or any server providing video content.

A transcoding module 6 can, if necessary, re-encode the blocks of video content 15 recovered from the external server 4 in order to convert them into blocks 12 re-encoded in the format of the blocks of video content cut out 11 from the incoming video transport stream IN . This guarantees seamless transitions between the content blocks and the inserted video blocks.

The external server 4 can directly return to the manifest manipulator a manifest 8 corresponding to the inserted video blocks (a). In a variant (b), it sends the manifest handler a redirection info on the storage server 5 by means of a redirection, for example a URL (b), in order to allow the manifest handler to retrieve the manifest 8 corresponding to these video blocks to be inserted from the content server 5.

The manifest manipulator 2 can also insert a predefined list 7 of content which can be stored or generated dynamically according to various external criteria.

The manifest manipulator 2 then modifies the manifest information of the incoming stream to insert the references on the video blocks, for example the advertising blocks, which must be inserted or replaced.

This manifest manipulator 2 then triggers a transmission of the blocks in push mode from the server 5 to another component, the converter 3. In a variant, it is called by this converter to indicate to it the video blocks to be recovered from this server 5.

The converter 3 then converts the data blocks from their format, for example adaptive, in order to redistribute them into an MPEG-TS OUT multicast stream.

The inserted video blocks (12 or 15) preferably contain on the first image of each block TS discontinuity information or similar information in another format.

Block insertions can cause the contents to shift over time, which can create a buffer and an output video stream which is no longer necessarily synchronous with the live input stream. In a preferred embodiment, this shift is minimized by choosing short video block durations, for example equal to or less than one second, and a reduced number of blocks per manifest, for example less than or equal to 6, so as to limit the offset when a first manifest is assigned to blocks extracted from the input stream while simultaneously the previous manifest is used to reconstruct the output stream. It is also possible to intentionally create a large offset, for example in order to synchronize the output stream to another time zone.

The converter 3 also receives, or will seek, periodically or not, a manifest 10a, respectively 10b, modified by the manifest manipulator.

In a preferred embodiment, there is no systematic re-encoding of the output stream OUT. Re-encoding can however be implemented for better compatibility or to modify the output signal on a CBR (Constant bitrate) stream for example.

The present invention also relates to a module and a set of modules for implementing all or part of the method described above.

Implementation

The method described can be implemented for example with servers, virtual servers, or sets of servers or other equipment connected to each other and arranged to execute programs in order to execute all or part of the steps described. upper.

[0042] Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events or steps of any of the algorithms described here may be performed in a different sequence, may be added, merged or omitted (for example, all of the steps or events described do not are not essential for the implementation of the method). Additionally, in some embodiments, steps or events may be executed simultaneously, for example, through multithreaded processing, interrupt processing, multiple processors or multiple processor cores, or over multiple processors. 'other parallel architectures, rather than sequentially. In addition, different tasks or processes can be performed by different machines or computer systems which can work together.

The different logic blocks, modules and steps described here can be implemented in the form of electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various components, blocks, modules and steps have been described above in general terms of functionality. The implementation of such a functionality as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. The functionality described can be implemented in various ways for each particular application, but these implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the disclosure.

The various illustrative logic blocks and modules described in relation to the incorporations disclosed here can be implemented or executed by a machine, a microprocessor, a graphics processor (GPU), an accelerator A1, a state machine, a signal processor digital (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an FPGA, and / or any other programmable logic device. A hardware processor can include electrical circuits or digital logic circuits configured to process computer executable instructions. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, or any other similar configuration. A computing environment can include any type of computing system, including, but not limited to, a microprocessor-based computing system, mainframe, digital signal processor, portable computing device, device controller, or computer system. computing engine in one device, to name a few.

[0045] The "servers", "modules" or "devices" can be implemented or executed by a physical machine, a virtual server, a general-purpose computer, several servers, cloud-based compute resources, or other components. or programmable modules providing the services and methods described.

The steps of a method, a process or an algorithm described above or claimed can be implemented directly with hardware, with a software module stored in one or more memory devices and executed by one or more multiple processors, or a combination of both. A software module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM or any other form of computer readable non-transitory storage medium, medium or physical computer storage. An example storage medium can be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Otherwise, the storage medium can be an integral part of the processor. The storage medium can be volatile or non-volatile.

[0047] The conditional language used in this document, such as, inter alia, "may", "could", "may", "may", "may", "p. eg “,“ preferentially ”, and the like, unless expressly stated otherwise, or otherwise understood in the context used, is intended to indicate that certain embodiments include, while others do not include, certain features, elements or variations. Thus, conditional language does not generally imply that features, elements, or states are essential in any way to one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include a feature.

The terms "comprising", "comprising", "comprising", "having" and others are synonymous and are used in an inclusive manner, openly, and do not exclude elements, characteristics, acts, steps or operations additional. Further, the term "or" is used in its inclusive sense (and not its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to link a list of items, the term "or" means a, several or all of the items in the list.

Reference numbers used in figures

1 Slicing module (packager) 2 Manipulator of manifest 3 Converter, for example adaptive converter to multicast 4 External server, for example ad and / or content server 6 Transcoding module for inserted video blocks 7 Insert list 8 Manifest corresponding to the inserted video blocks 9 Manifest of the incoming flow (live manifest) 9a Manifest of the incoming flow (live manifest) -Push 9b Manifest of the incoming flow (live manifest) - Pull 10a Manifest of the incoming flow (live manifest) modified - Push 10b Modified live manifest manifesto - Pull 11 Cropped video content block 12 Re-encoded video content blocks 13 Video content blocks and ad blocks 14 Call for incoming flow manifest 15 Ad content blocks 16 Call of blocks for the manifest 17 Manifest manipulated (push) IN. Multicast live stream before insertion of video blocks

Claims (14)

A method of inserting video blocks into a multicast video transport stream (IN), comprising: reception by a splitting module (1) of an MPEG-TS (IN) video transport stream sent in multicast; cutting by the cutting module (1) of said video transport stream so as to generate several blocks of video content (11) and at least one manifest (9); call by a manifest handler (2) to an external server (4) to retrieve the video blocks (15) which must be inserted; modification of the manifest by the manifest handler (2); recovery by a converter (3) of the modified manifest (10); recovery by the converter (3) of the various blocks of video content (11) from the external server (4) and of the video blocks to be inserted (12, 15); generation by the converter (3) of an MPEG-TS multicast video transport stream from said blocks of video content (11) and from the inserted video blocks (12, 15). 2. The method of claim 1, comprising a step of detecting a marker in said video transport stream making it possible to identify an insertion tunnel for said video blocks to be inserted. 3. The method of claim 1, comprising a step of detecting a marker indicating the desired cut-off time and originating from a system other than that generating said video transport stream. The method of one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said blocks of video content (11) are stored in an adaptive format, and wherein said converter (3) is an adaptive-to-multicast converter. 5. The method of one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said video blocks to be inserted (12, 15) are retrieved by the manifest manipulator from an external server (4). 6. The method of one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said multicast MPEG-TS video transport stream is encoded in H264 or H265. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the slicing of the video transport stream (IN) comprises a step of converting I images to IDR (Instantaneous Decoder Refresh), so that the sliced blocks (11) can. be read independently of each other. 8. The method of one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said video transport stream (IN) is divided into video blocks of content and at least one manifest according to an HLS or MPEG-DASH format. 9. The method of one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said video transport stream (11) is chopped without being re-encoded. 10. The method of one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said video transport stream (IN) is split without changing the resolution. 11. The method of one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said video transport stream (11) is split to the image corresponding to advertising content marking information according to the SCTE-35 standard. 12. The method of one of claims 1 to 11, comprising a step of generating a discontinuity indicator at each video block insertion point (12, 15). 13. The method of one of claims 1 to 12, comprising a step of transcoding the video blocks to be inserted (12) before their recovery by the converter (3), so as to adapt their format to that of the blocks of video content. . 14. A system for inserting video blocks into a multicast video transport stream (IN), comprising: a splitting module (1) arranged to split an MPEG-TS (IN) video transport stream sent in multicast, so as to generate several blocks of video content (11) and at least one manifest (9); a manifest handler (2) arranged to communicate with an external server (4) to retrieve the video blocks (15) to be inserted, and to modify the manifest; a converter (3) arranged to retrieve the modified manifest (10) and to retrieve the various blocks of video content (11) and of the video blocks to be inserted (12, 15), then to generate an MPEG-TS multicast video transport stream from said video content blocks (11) and advertising blocks (12, 15). Fig. 2