Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
  • H04N21/266—Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
  • 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
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N19/00—Methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals
  • H04N19/30—Methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals using hierarchical techniques, e.g. scalability
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
  • H04N21/234—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
  • H04N21/2343—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements
  • H04N21/234327—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
  • H04N21/238—Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. adapting the transmission rate of a video stream to network bandwidth; Processing of multiplex streams
  • H04N21/2381—Adapting the multiplex stream to a specific network, e.g. an Internet Protocol [IP] network
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
  • H04N21/238—Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. adapting the transmission rate of a video stream to network bandwidth; Processing of multiplex streams
  • H04N21/2385—Channel allocation; Bandwidth allocation
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/4508—Management of client data or end-user data
  • H04N21/4516—Management of client data or end-user data involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/454—Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements

Definitions

• TRANSMISSION METHOD TO HETEROGENEOUS TERMINALS AND VIA TDM / TDMA TYPE MULTIPLEXING INFRASTRUCTURE, LAYERED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT, AND PROCESSING DEVICE AND DECODER THEREOF
• the invention relates to the transmission of multimedia content called "layered" by time division multiplex transmission infrastructures.
• multimedia layered content means a set of data arranged in at least two complementary layers, such as for example a so-called base layer (or “layer-based” layer) and at least one so-called augmentation layer (or “enhancement layer”). layer ").
• the base layer includes all the data of multimedia content that will allow a communication terminal to reproduce this multimedia content with the lowest quality (or definition or resolution).
• Each augmentation layer comprises another set of data of said multimedia content which will enable said communication terminal to complete the data set of the base layer in order to reproduce the multimedia content with an improved quality (or definition or resolution).
• nth augmenting layer of multimedia content can be used only if the base layer and the previous n-1 enhancement layers of this multimedia content (associated with qualities (or definitions or resolutions)) were received.
• a layered multimedia content may for example be a television or radio program, an audio file or a video.
• time-division multiplex transmission infrastructure (or short-term “TDM / TDMA infrastructure”) is understood to mean any infrastructure in which the transmission of multimedia content is done in a monodirectional or bidirectional manner by means of a time multiplexing TDM / TDMA type ("Time Division Multipexing / Time Division Multiple Access”) .Therefore, it may be both a communication network and a broadcast network. It is recalled that a TDM type multiplexing consists of a time multiplexing of services, and thus several users can have access to the same service at the same time, while a TDMA type multiplexing consists of a time multiplexing of contents intended to â Different Users and each may correspond to one or more services.
• broadcast network here refers to any type of terrestrial and / or satellite broadcasting infrastructure capable of transmitting multimedia content in a downlink (or go) monodirectional way to communication terminals.
• communication network here refers to any type of bidirectional, broadband, wired or non-fi lial communication infrastructure, capable in particular of broadcasting multimedia content to terminals, in "broadcast” mode and / or “multicast” (point-to-muitipoints) and / or “unicast” (point-to-point).
• a TDMfTDMA infrastructure may be a wired network, for example of the xDSL or fiber or cable type, or a wireless network such as a TDM-type multiplexing broadcast network (for example a terrestrial network of DVB-H type (for "Digital Video Broadcasting - Handhelds" - mobile TV)) or a TDM (eg DVB-S2 type) or TDMA (eg DVB-RCS) type multiplex satellite network, or a hybrid network, that is to say both satellite and terrestrial, with TDM type multiplexing (such as for example a DVB-SH type network (satellite links with terrestrial relays))), or a network cellular (or mobile) TDMA type multiplexing (as for example a network type GSM / EDGE, WiMAX (in so-called single-carrier and multi-carrier modulation modes), or Wi-Fi).
• a TDM-type multiplexing broadcast network for example a terrestrial network of DVB-H type (for "Digital Video Broad
• the term "communication terminal” here refers to any fixed or mobile (or portable or cellular) communication equipment capable of receiving at least multimedia layered content of a TDM / TDMA type TDM (possibly radio) transmission infrastructure.
• multimedia content may for example be a fixed phone to the mobile (or cellular), a fixed computer or portable, a digital personal assistant (or PDA), a layered multimedia content receiver (for example a decoder, a residential gateway (or “residential gateway”) or a STB ("Set-Top Box”)) , since it is equipped with communication means, possibly radio or satellite, suitable for receiving multimedia content in layers.
• different transmission time slices are generally assigned to different multimedia content channels or to IP streams. different.
• the multimedia contents of a given channel are then broken down into portions that are placed in bursts transmitted via the infrastructure during time slots allocated to this channel (bu this IP flow).
• channel a. TV channel or radio, or a video broadcaster.
• the user of a (communication) terminal wants to receive the multimedia contents of a given channel (or IP stream), he selects this channel with his terminal, and the latter only activates his receiver during the allocated time slots. to the selected channel. During the time slots allocated to the other unselected channels, the receiver is placed in idle mode, thereby saving CPU capacity and energy advantageous in the case of a mobile terminal or portable equipped with a battery).
• each burst contains a portion of encoded data from all complementary layers of layered multimedia content.
• a burst represents a portion of a multimedia content in the best quality (or definition or resolution). Consequently, when a user has selected a channel, his terminal must decode all the data that is contained in the bursts of this selected channel in order to reconstitute all the layers of the transmitted multimedia content, then he communicates to his reader (or "player” ") The layer (s) that the latter can use given the characteristics of its terminal.
• this mode of operation is well adapted to terminals that are equipped with players capable of reproducing multimedia contents with the best quality (or definition or resolution).
• this mode of operation is not well suited to terminals equipped with readers capable of reproducing multimedia content with a quality (or definition or resolution) intermediate or the lowest, because they must reconstruct layers that are not usable by their readers and therefore unnecessarily consume processing capacity and energy.
• the current operating mode is not well adapted to the infrastructures to which heterogeneous terminals can connect (that is to say having different technical characteristics such as different decoding capabilities, resolutions different screens, or different memory capacities).
• the invention therefore aims to improve the situation.
• This method is characterized in that a time slot is associated with each complementary layer constituting a multimedia content of a channel (or multimedia stream), so as to transmit portions of these complementary layers of multimedia content during the time slots. which were respectively associated.
• time slot (s) associated with a channel are not necessarily contiguous.
• the different complementary layers of the different channels can indeed be interlaced.
• the bursts transmission period (containing the portions of layers) is not necessarily the same for all the complementary layers and for all the channels.
• the process according to the invention may comprise other characteristics which can be taken separately or in combination, and in particular: the complementary layers of each multimedia content to be transmitted can be separated, then cut into portions of chosen size the separate complementary layers, and finally integrate each portion of a layer in a burst in order to transmit each burst during a time slot associated with the layer that includes the portion that it integrates;
• - Communication terminals (recipients of the multimedia contents) can be sent signaling messages which contain information representative of the temporal positions of the time slots and their association with the different complementary layers;
• the complementary layers may for example comprise a base layer and at least one augmentation layer.
• the invention also proposes a processing device, for an infrastructure for the temporal multiplexing transmission of multimedia content in layers of at least one channel in transmission time slots, loaded, in the presence of an association of a time slot with each complementary layer constituting a multimedia content of a channel:
• each portion of a layer into a burst so that each burst is transmitted during a time slot associated with the layer that includes the portion that it integrates.
• the invention also proposes a transmission equipment, for an infrastructure for the temporal multiplexing transmission of layered multimedia content of at least one channel in time slots of transmission, and comprising a processing device of the type of that presented above. .
• the invention also proposes a communication terminal capable of being connected to a multiplex transmission infrastructure. time, and comprising a receiver, a reader adapted to use at least one complementary layer of data of multimedia layered media of at least one channel, and a decoder for decoding portions of layered multimedia content received by the receiver to feed the reader with selected complementary layers.
• activated activation means when selecting a channel and in the presence of an association of a time slot with each complementary layer constituting a multimedia content of a channel, to activate the receiver during each time slot associated with each additional layer of a content of the selected channel that can be used by the reader, and
• processing means responsible for reconstituting each layer of multimedia content usable by the reader from the portions received by the receiver when it is activated and according to the time slots during which the portions have been transmitted.
• the invention is particularly well suited, although not exclusively, to networks of the OVB-H, DVB-SH and WiMAX type,
• FIG. 1 very schematically and functionally illustrates a TDM transmission infrastructure to which is connected an exemplary embodiment of a communication terminal according to the invention and a transmission equipment provided with a processing device according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 is a time diagram (t) representing an example of subdivision of time slots (associated with three different channels) in their two. sub-slices (associated with two different layers).
• the object of the invention is to propose a method of transmitting multimedia content in layers, via a TDM / TDMA multiplexing transmission infrastructure, adapted to heterogeneous terminals.
• the transmission infrastructure is a type of communication network DVB-H (for "Digital Video Broadcasting - Handhelds" - mobile TV) TDM type multiplexing.
• DVB-H Digital Video Broadcasting - Handhelds
• the invention is not limited to this type of transmission infrastructure. It concerns in fact any type of infrastructure capable of ensuring a one-way or two-way multimedia content transmission by means of a TDM or TDMA type of time multiplexing, whether it be a one-way broadcast network ⁇ terrestrial and / or or satellite) or a bidirectional, broadband, wired or non-wired communication network.
• it may also be a wired network, for example of the xDSL or fiber or cable type, of a cellular (or mobile) network of the GSM./EDGE type, of a terrestrial network implementing a technology derived from a satellite technology (such as for example DVB-S, DVB-S2 or DVB-RCS), or a hybrid network, such as a DVB-SH type network,
• the communication terminals are mobile phones (or cellular) or digital personal assistants (or PDAs).
• the invention is not limited to this type of termina! Communication. It concerns in fact any fixed or mobile communication equipment (portable or cellular) able to receive at least multimedia content in layers (possibly by waves) via a TDM or TDMA transmission infrastructure. Consequently, it may also be a fixed telephone, a fixed or portable computer, a receiver of multimedia content in layers (for example a decoder, a residential gateway (or "residential gateway") or a STB ("Set-Top Box”)), since it is equipped with communication means, possibly radio or satellite, suitable at least for the reception of multimedia content in layers.
• the layered multimedia contents broadcast to the terminals are videos.
• the invention is not limited to this type of layered multimedia content . It concerns indeed any type of multimedia content in layers, and in particular television or radio programs and audio contents.
• the implementation of the invention requires the presence of at least one multimedia layer transmission equipment ET equipped with a (or coupled to a) processing device D, at least one (communication) terminal TC, and at least one TDM or TDMA transmission infrastructure RC.
• the multimedia contents are arranged in two complementary layers, one being a base layer (or “base layer”), and the other being an enhancement layer (or “enhancernent layer”) intended to improve the quality (or definition or resolution) offered by the base layer when combined with the latter, but the invention is not limited to this number (2) of complementary layers This number can indeed be as large as one wants since it is at least equal to two (2).
• the transmission equipment AND is for example an access platform (or "access gateway") responsible for generating video streams (possibly in the form of IP packets) from layered multimedia content and to provide these streams to the network RC.
• Layered media content can have any origin.
• the videos are provided by a server (or a service platform) SC.
• the transmission equipment ET receives two-layer (complementary) videos Bi and Ci associated with three different channels CAi (i ⁇ 1 to 3).
• the invention is not limited to these numbers of layers and channels. As indicated above, the number of complementary layers may indeed be as large as desired (within the limits of the transmission capacity of the RC network). Furthermore, the invention applies as soon as the contents of at least one channel must be transmitted (transported).
• the transmission equipment AND comprises here (by way of non-limiting example) an encoder EN responsible for encoding the data defining the videos and a processing device D coupled to the output of the encoder EN to which we will return later. .
• the (communication) terminals TC comprise at least:
• burst receiver or bursts
• R coupled to a possible antenna AN when it is of the radio type
• a decoder DC for decoding the data contained in the bursts received by the receiver R in order to deliver data packets of complementary data layers constituting multimedia contents
• a buffer (or buffer) BF responsible for storing the packets delivered by the decoder DC until the reception of all the packets constituting each of the desired complementary layers (corresponding to the capacity at the terminal TC), and then delivering these packets stored on an output once their complementary layers fully restored
• an LC content reader responsible for using the packets of the complementary layers delivered by the buffer BF in order to display and / or broadcast the multimedia contents that they constitute
• an AF display such as for example a screen, responsible for displaying the images of the multimedia contents delivered by the LC content reader, and / or at least one HP loudspeaker, responsible for broadcasting the sounds of the multimedia contents delivered by the reader LC content.
• the buffer BF may possibly be part of the DC decoder.
• the invention proposes to implement a new method for transmitting multimedia content in layers (here videos).
• This new method consists in associating a temporal slice Tij with each complementary layer (Bi, Ci) which constitutes a multimedia content a channel CAi (or multimedia stream), in order to transmit portions of these complementary layers of multimedia content during time slots Tij which have been respectively associated with them.
• Ni time slots T1 are assigned to each channel CAi, Ni being here the number of complementary layers Bi and Ci constituting the multimedia contents of a channel CAi. It will be understood that the number Ni of complementary layers may possibly vary from one channel to another, but it may also be the same for all CAi channels.
• the illustrated time diagram in FIG. 2 represents the portions of complementary layers that are successively transmitted by the network RC in time slots Tij respectively associated with complementary layers Bi and Cr of each of the three video channels CAi.
• the index i which designates a channel CAi, takes values between 1 and 3
• the index j f which designates the time slice Tij associated with a complementary layer Bi or Ci, takes values between 1 and 2. . More precisely :
• a portion of the base layer B1 of a video of the first channel CA1 is transmitted in a burst during the first time slot T11 of the first channel CA1,
• a portion of the increase layer C1 of this same video of the first channel CA1 is transmitted in a burst during the second time slot T12 of the first channel CA1,
• a portion of the base layer B2 of a video of the second channel CA2 is transmitted in a burst during the first time slot T21 of the second channel CA2,
• a portion of the C2 enhancement layer of the same video of the second channel CA2 is transmitted in a burst during the second time slot T22 of the second channel CA2,
• a portion of the base layer B3 of a video of the third channel CA3 is transmitted in a burst during the first time slot T31 of the third channel CA3,
• a portion of the augmentation layer C3 of this same video of the third channel CA3 is transmitted in a burst during the second time slot T32 of the third channel CA3,
• Another portion of the increase layer C1 of this same video of the first channel CA1 is transmitted in a burst during another second time slot T12 of the first channel CA1, and so on.
• time slice (s) associated with a CAi channel (and more precisely with the different complementary layers of its contents) are not necessarily contiguous (as is the case in the example non-limiting time diagram illustrated in Figure 2).
• the different complementary layers Bi and Ci of the different channels CAi can indeed be interleaved.
• the transmission period of the bursts that contain the complementary layer portions (Bi and Ci) is not necessarily the same for all the complementary layers Bi and Ci and for all the channels CAi.
• the implementation of the process described above can be carried out by the above-mentioned treatment device D.
• the latter D is arranged so as, first of all, to separate the Ni complementary layers (here Bi and Ci) of each multimedia content (of each channel CAi) to be transmitted (delivered in encoded form by the encoder IN). It is also arranged in such a way as to cut into portions of selected size the complementary layers (here Bi and Ci) which it has separated. Finally, it is arranged so as to integrate each portion of a layer (Bi or Ci) in a burst (or burst) to transmit each burst during a slice Tij associated with the layer Bi or Ci (CAi channel) which includes the portion it incorporates.
• the communication terminals TC By associating a time slice Tij with each complementary layer Bi or Ci, the communication terminals TC only have to reconstruct the layers (Bi and possibly Ci) which they really need (ie say that they can actually use), given their technical characteristics (for example the number of pixels of the screen AF and / or the decoding power), from the portions of layers Bi or Ci they receive from the network RC in bursts during said time slots Tij of the same indices i and j.
• signaling messages are transmitted to the communication terminals TC via the network RC, which contain information representative of the time positions of the time slots Tij and their association with the various complementary layers Bi and Ci of the contents of the different channels CAi.
• a signaling message may contain the start clock of a first slot T11, the duration of the time interval between the beginnings of two successive time slots Tij and T (i + 1) j or T 1 (j + 1 ), the number of time slots Tij and the correspondences between the time slots Tij and the associated complementary layers.
• These signaling messages are for example generated by a single processing device D. But, it could be envisaged that they are generated by several processing devices D.
• the decoder DC of each terminal TC comprises a charged activation module MA, when a channel CAi has been selected, to activate the receiver R during the slices Tij (with the same index i and likewise ( s) index ⁇ s) j) that have been associated with the complementary layers (Bi and optionally Ci), contents of the selected channel CAi, which can be used by the LC reader.
• the term “activate” means allowing the power supply and therefore the operation of the receiver R during a time interval at least equal to the duration of a time slot Tij.
• the activation module MA must not only use the aforementioned information contained in the signaling messages received, but also be substantially synchronized with respect to a clock of the network RC. This synchronization can for example be ensured by periodic transmission to the terminals TC of a signaling message comprising synchronization information.
• the activation module MA will activate the receiver R just before the beginning of each first time slot T21 of the second channel CA2 and deactivate the receiver R just after the end of each first time slot T21 of second channel CA2.
• the activation module MA will activate the receiver R just before the beginning of each first time slot T21 of the second channel CA2 and deactivate the receiver R just after the end of each second time slot T22 of the second channel CA2.
• the first example concerns, for example, a mobile phone capable of decoding videos of the Common Intermial Format (QCIF) format (176 ⁇ 144 pixels per frame and a frame rate of 15 frames per second), while the second example concerns a PDA for example. capable of decoding Common Intermediate Format (ClF) videos - 352x288 pixels per frame and a frame rate of 30 frames per second.
• QCIF Common Intermial Format
• ClF Common Intermediate Format
• the decoder DC of each termina! TC also comprises a processing module MT responsible for reconstituting the packets of each Bi or Ci layer of multimedia content that can be used by the LC content reader from the portions that are contained in the bursts received by the receiver R each time the latter is activated by the acttvati ⁇ n module MA and as a function of time slots TiJ during which these portions have been transmitted (and therefore received).
• a processing module MT responsible for reconstituting the packets of each Bi or Ci layer of multimedia content that can be used by the LC content reader from the portions that are contained in the bursts received by the receiver R each time the latter is activated by the acttvati ⁇ n module MA and as a function of time slots TiJ during which these portions have been transmitted (and therefore received).
• the processing module MT reconstitutes for the content reader LC each basic pitch B2 of a video of the second channel CA2 from the portions contained in the bursts received during one or more first time slots T21 of the second channel CA2. If the second channel CA2 has been selected and the content player LC can use both the base layer B2 and the augmentation layer C2 of the multimedia contents, the processing module MT reconstitutes for the LC content reader each layer.
• the processing device D according to the invention and / or the DC decoder according to the invention can be made in the form of electronic circuits, software modules (or computer), or a combination of circuits and software.
• the invention is not limited to the embodiments of processing device, transmission equipment, decoder and communication terminal described above, only by way of example, but it encompasses all variants that may consider those skilled in the art within the scope of the claims below.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

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• 2008
  • 2008-07-24 WO PCT/EP2008/059751 patent/WO2009019142A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2008-07-24 US US12/672,830 patent/US20120275468A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-07-24 CN CN200880108343.2A patent/CN101810005B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2008-07-24 EP EP08786412A patent/EP2191648A1/fr not_active Ceased

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