US20150319487A1 - Rdma based real-time video client playback architecture - Google Patents
Rdma based real-time video client playback architecture Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20150319487A1 US20150319487A1 US14/709,088 US201514709088A US2015319487A1 US 20150319487 A1 US20150319487 A1 US 20150319487A1 US 201514709088 A US201514709088 A US 201514709088A US 2015319487 A1 US2015319487 A1 US 2015319487A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- memory access
- direct memory
- media content
- buffer
- access transfer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status 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 status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 239000000872 buffer Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 230
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 142
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 claims description 79
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 36
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 claims description 27
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 claims description 19
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 claims description 14
- 238000004590 computer program Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 description 17
- 230000003466 anti-cipated effect Effects 0.000 description 12
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000013507 mapping Methods 0.000 description 5
- 101100020619 Arabidopsis thaliana LATE gene Proteins 0.000 description 2
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000003491 array Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003139 buffering effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007726 management method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
- H04L67/50—Network services
- H04L67/56—Provisioning of proxy services
- H04L67/568—Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
-
- 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
- H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
- H04N21/44—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
- H04N21/44004—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs involving video buffer management, e.g. video decoder buffer or video display buffer
-
- H04L65/4084—
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
- H04L65/60—Network streaming of media packets
- H04L65/61—Network streaming of media packets for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
- H04L65/612—Network streaming of media packets for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio for unicast
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
- H04L67/01—Protocols
- H04L67/10—Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network
- H04L67/1097—Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
-
- H04L67/2857—
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
- H04L67/50—Network services
- H04L67/56—Provisioning of proxy services
- H04L67/568—Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
- H04L67/5683—Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L9/00—Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols
- H04L9/40—Network security protocols
-
- 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
- H04N21/23805—Controlling the feeding rate to the network, e.g. by controlling the video pump
-
- 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
- H04N21/2387—Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
-
- 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
- H04N21/462—Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
- H04N21/4621—Controlling the complexity of the content stream or additional data, e.g. lowering the resolution or bit-rate of the video stream for a mobile client with a small screen
Definitions
- the present invention provides a client playback architecture for a media content distribution system.
- the client architecture is a Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) based architecture.
- the RDMA based architecture enables the client playback device to obtain media content from a central server in real-time or in substantially real-time as the media content is needed for playback at the client playback device.
- the playback device includes RDMA enabled playback circuitry operating to perform RDMA transfers for select media content, buffer the media content received as a result of the RDMA transfers, and provide the media content for presentation to one or more associated viewers via one or more audio/video interfaces.
- the RDMA playback circuitry includes an array of RDMA enabled buffers, an array of playback buffers, and switching circuitry interconnecting the array of RDMA enabled buffers to the array of playback buffers.
- RDMA is utilized to transfer the select media content to a corresponding RDMA enabled buffer.
- the media content is transferred to a desired playback buffer via the switching circuitry according to a playback clock.
- the playback buffer stores and optionally processes the media content for presentation to one or more associated viewers via an associated interface.
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the RDMA enabled playback circuitry of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram of one of the RDMA enabled First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer circuits of FIG. 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit of FIG. 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 6 is a more detailed illustration of one step of the process illustrated in FIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 7 is a more detailed illustration of another step of the process illustrated in FIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 8 is a block diagram of one of the playback buffer circuits of FIG. 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the playback buffer circuit of FIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- the system 10 includes a centralized media content server 12 interconnected to a number of set-top box (STB) functions 14 - 1 through 14 -N 1 via a network 16 , which in this example is a Local Area Network (LAN) 16 .
- the LAN 16 may be any type of wired and/or wireless LAN.
- the LAN 16 provides a 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) or higher transfer rate using InfiniBand (IB) or some other RDMA enabled protocol.
- the centralized media content server 12 may additionally or alternatively be interconnected to a number of STB functions 18 - 1 through 18 -N 2 via a network 20 , which in this example is a Wide Area Network (WAN) 20 .
- WAN Wide Area Network
- the centralized media content server 12 is preferably a server located on the same premises as the STB functions 14 - 1 through 14 -N 1 .
- the centralized media content server 12 and the STB functions 14 - 1 through 14 -N 1 may be located in a particular user's home.
- the centralized media content server 12 may be located at, for example, a headend of a video distribution network.
- the STB functions 14 - 1 through 14 -N 1 and 18 - 1 through 18 -N 2 incorporate RDMA enabled playback functions which enable the STB functions 14 - 1 through 14 -N 1 and 18 - 1 through 18 -N 2 to utilize RDMA to obtain desired media content from the centralized media content server 12 .
- the RDMA enabled playback circuitry 30 operates to effect RDMA transfers of select media content from the centralized media content server 12 ( FIG. 1 ) to the STB function 14 - 1 via an RDMA enabled network interface 34 .
- the RDMA enabled network interface 34 includes a physical layer 36 , a link layer 38 , a routing layer 40 , a transport layer 42 , and an RDMA layer 44 .
- the physical layer 36 , the link layer 38 , the routing layer 40 , and the transport layer 42 are similar to those in traditional network interfaces.
- the layers 36 - 42 may be the same as those in any industry complaint LAN based network interface card (NIC).
- the RDMA enabled playback circuitry 30 also operates to output the received video content using one or more audio/video (A/V) interfaces 46 for presentation to one or more associated users via a viewer interface 48 .
- the A/V interfaces 46 may include, for example, a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) with or without High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) or similar Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, a Digital Video Interface (DVI), a component video interface, an S-Video interface, a component A/V interface, or the like, or any combination thereof.
- the viewer interface 48 may be, for example, a television or other display, a sound system, or the like, or a combination thereof. While the viewer interface 48 is illustrated as part of the STB function 14 - 1 , the present invention is not limited thereto. The viewer interface 48 may alternatively be a separate device.
- the STB function 14 - 1 may perform late-binding of targeted advertisements to select video content. More specifically, upon receiving a content selection from the user, the driver 32 may assign the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer 56 - 1 to obtain the selected video content and assign the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer 56 - 2 to obtain targeted advertisements to be inserted into the selected video content during playback.
- the FIFO status output is in an “empty” state when the FIFO buffer 62 is empty, in an “almost empty” state when the amount of data stored in the FIFO buffer 62 is less than or equal to the almost empty threshold setting, in a “half empty” state when the amount of data stored in the FIFO buffer 62 is less than or equal to the half empty threshold setting but greater than the almost empty threshold setting, in a “half full” state when the amount of data stored in the FIFO buffer 62 is greater than the half full threshold setting but less than the almost full threshold setting, in an “almost full” state when the amount of data stored in the FIFO buffer 62 is greater than the almost full threshold setting, and a “full” state when the FIFO buffer is full.
- the FIFO status is provided to the playback buffer circuit 58 - 1 , 58 -Y to which the FIFO buffer 62 is connected via the crossbar switch 60 as a FIFO output data ready signal.
- the driver 32 identifies an RDMA address range for the selected media content at the centralized media content server 12 from, for example, the mapping published by the centralized media content server 12 .
- the driver 32 then provides the RDMA address range to the RDMA data mover function 64 of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56 - 1 , which has been allocated for the selected media content by, for example, the controller 52 .
- the RDMA data mover function 64 Upon receiving the RDMA address range, the RDMA data mover function 64 generally operates to determine the available space in the FIFO buffer 62 and generates an RDMA transfer request for at least a segment of the RDMA address range based on the available space in the FIFO buffer 62 .
- the RDMA data mover function 64 then provides the RDMA transfer request to the RDMA layer 44 ( FIG. 2 ) of the RDMA enabled network interface 34 ( FIG. 2 ).
- the RDMA address compare function 66 compares an address of the received data (“Received RDMA address”) to a next anticipated RDMA address to determine whether the received data is data received in response to the RDMA transfer request of the RDMA data mover function 64 . This is important where more than one of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56 - 1 through 56 -X have issued concurrent RDMA transfer requests. By comparing the RDMA address of the received data to the next anticipated RDMA address for the issued RDMA transfer request, the RDMA address compare function 66 ensures that only the requested data is clocked into the FIFO buffer 62 .
- the data received from the RDMA layer 44 is a block of data from a block of RDMA addresses.
- additional circuitry may be used within or around the RDMA address compare function 66 to correctly clock the data into the FIFO buffer 62 .
- additional circuitry may be used to increment the next anticipated RDMA address value in response to receiving data for a block of RDMA addresses rather than receiving data for each RDMA address separately.
- the RDMA data mover function 64 monitors the FIFO buffer 62 to determine when at least a threshold amount of space is available before issuing the next RDMA transfer request, if any, for the selected media content.
- the threshold amount may be, for example, when the status of the FIFO buffer 62 is equal to or less than almost full. If the threshold amount of space is available, the RDMA data mover function 64 generates an RDMA transfer request for a next segment of the address range for the selected media content item. From this point, the process continues until the data for the entire RDMA address range has been transferred to the FIFO buffer 62 .
- the FIFO output clock is a streaming video playback clock provided by the playback buffer circuit 58 - 1 , 58 -Y ( FIG. 3 ) to which the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56 - 1 is connected by the crossbar switch 60 .
- the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56 - 1 is connected to the playback buffer circuit 58 - 1 .
- the RDMA data mover function 64 if the FIFO buffer 62 is full, the RDMA data mover function 64 continues to monitor the status of the FIFO buffer 62 until the FIFO is no longer full. In another embodiment, the RDMA data mover function 64 notifies the driver 32 that the FIFO buffer 62 is full and then waits for the driver 32 to reset, or clear, the FIFO buffer 62 (step 104 ).
- the RDMA data mover function 64 sets a starting address for an RDMA transfer request to the RDMA starting address of the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 106 ). The RDMA data mover function 64 then determines whether the FIFO buffer 62 is almost full (step 108 ). If the status of the FIFO buffer 62 is almost full, the RDMA data mover function 64 waits until a sufficient amount of data has been clocked out of the FIFO buffer 62 to reduce the status of the FIFO buffer 62 below almost full.
- the RDMA data mover function 64 then calculates an ending address for the RDMA transfer request based on an amount of space available in the FIFO buffer 62 , as discussed below in detail (step 110 ).
- the RDMA data mover function 64 sets the ending address for the RDMA transfer request based on a determination of the amount of space available in the FIFO buffer 62 or, in other words, a determination of the largest data block size that can be guaranteed to fit into the FIFO buffer 62 .
- the RDMA data mover function 64 sets the ending address of the RDMA transfer request to a value equal to the starting address of the RDMA transfer request plus the range of the RDMA transfer request determined in steps 200 - 212 (step 214 ). The RDMA data mover function 64 then determines whether the ending address for the RDMA transfer request is greater than the RDMA ending address for the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 216 ). If not, the process proceeds to step 112 of FIG. 5 . If so, the RDMA data mover function 64 sets the ending address of the RDMA transfer request to the RDMA ending address for the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 218 ), and the process then proceeds to step 112 of FIG. 5 .
- the RDMA address compare function 66 ensures that only data received in response to the RDMA transfer request issued by the RDMA data mover function 64 is clocked into the FIFO buffer 62 .
- the RDMA data mover function 64 then monitors the gated FIFO input clock output by the RDMA address compare function 66 to determine whether the gated FIFO input clock has toggled (step 304 ). Note that the gated FIFO input clock is toggled by the RDMA address compare function 66 in response to receiving an RDMA address that is equal to the next anticipated RDMA address for the transfer in order to clock the corresponding data into the FIFO buffer 62 . If the gated FIFO input clock has not toggled, the RDMA data mover function 64 determines whether a timeout period has expired for the RDMA transfer request (step 306 ). If so, the RDMA data mover function 64 notifies the driver 32 that the RDMA transfer request has failed (step 308 ). If the timeout period has not expired, the process returns to step 304 .
- the RDMA data mover function 64 determines whether the next anticipated RDMA address, which is the RDMA address of the data just clocked into the FIFO buffer 62 , is equal to the ending address of the RDMA transfer request (step 310 ). If so, the process proceeds to step 114 of FIG. 5 . If not, the RDMA data mover function 64 increments the next anticipated RDMA address to be received by one (step 312 ). At this point, the process returns to step 304 and is repeated until the RDMA transfer is complete.
- FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the playback buffer circuit 56 - 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This discussion is equally applicable to the other playback buffer circuits 56 - 2 through 56 -Y.
- the playback buffer circuit 56 - 1 includes a video processing function 68 and an A/V playback buffer 70 controlled by a client playback control function 72 and a video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 .
- the video processing function 68 is optional and may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.
- the client playback control function 72 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.
- the client playback control function 72 may be implemented as a software application stored by the controller 52 ( FIG. 2 ).
- the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.
- the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 may be implemented as an Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) application.
- OCAP Open Cable Application Platform
- the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 generally operates to manage a streaming video clock 76 based on the status of the A/V playback buffer 70 and/or requests from the client playback control function 72 .
- the streaming video clock 76 is provided to clock data out of the FIFO buffer 62 of the connected RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56 - 1 , 56 -X to the video processing function 68 via the crossbar switch 60 at a desired clock rate.
- the streaming video clock 76 may be enabled or disabled by the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 . For example, the streaming video clock 76 may be disabled when a user input has been received from the viewer requesting that playback be paused.
- the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 determines whether the streaming video clock 76 is enabled (step 406 ). If the streaming video clock is enabled, the process returns to step 402 . If the streaming video clock 76 is not enabled, the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 enables the streaming video clock 76 (step 408 ). The process then returns to step 402 .
- the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 determines whether the A/V playback buffer 70 is nearly full (step 410 ). If not, the process returns to step 402 . If so, the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 determines whether the streaming video clock 76 is enabled (step 412 ). If not, the process returns to step 402 . If so, the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 disables the streaming video clock 76 (step 414 ), and the process returns to step 402 .
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
- Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
- Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- This patent application claims priority to and is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/043,587, entitled “RDMA BASED REAL-TIME VIDEO CLIENT PLAYBACK ARCHITECTURE,” filed on Oct. 1, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,032,641 which claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent Ser. No. 13/178,954 entitled “RDMA BASED REAL-TIME VIDEO CLIENT PLAYBACK ARCHITECTURE,” filed on Jul. 8, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,549,091 which claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/831,228, entitled “RDMA BASED REAL-TIME VIDEO CLIENT PLAYBACK ARCHITECTURE,” filed on Jul. 31, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,996,482, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
- The present invention relates to a media content distribution system and more particularly relates to an architecture for a client playback device in a media content distribution system.
- Many new and novel systems are emerging for narrowcasting of advertisements in media distribution systems such as, for example, digital television distribution systems. As a result of narrowcasting advertisements, higher levels of advertisement-based revenue can be obtained. However as narrowcast becomes more targeted and the number of users in the system grows, current centralized media content distribution systems do not efficiently scale for cost, size, and power. Thus, new architectures are needed to allow real-time late-binding of advertisements while minimizing loading on these centralized media content distribution systems.
- The present invention provides a client playback architecture for a media content distribution system. In the preferred embodiment, the client architecture is a Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) based architecture. The RDMA based architecture enables the client playback device to obtain media content from a central server in real-time or in substantially real-time as the media content is needed for playback at the client playback device. More specifically, the playback device includes RDMA enabled playback circuitry operating to perform RDMA transfers for select media content, buffer the media content received as a result of the RDMA transfers, and provide the media content for presentation to one or more associated viewers via one or more audio/video interfaces.
- In one embodiment, the RDMA playback circuitry includes an array of RDMA enabled buffers, an array of playback buffers, and switching circuitry interconnecting the array of RDMA enabled buffers to the array of playback buffers. In operation, when playback of select media content is desired, RDMA is utilized to transfer the select media content to a corresponding RDMA enabled buffer. As the select media content is being transferred to the RDMA enabled buffer, the media content is transferred to a desired playback buffer via the switching circuitry according to a playback clock. The playback buffer stores and optionally processes the media content for presentation to one or more associated viewers via an associated interface.
- Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.
- The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
-
FIG. 1 illustrates a mediacontent delivery system 10 incorporating a Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) enabled client architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary RDMA client architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the RDMA enabled playback circuitry ofFIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of one of the RDMA enabled First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer circuits ofFIG. 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit ofFIG. 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 6 is a more detailed illustration of one step of the process illustrated inFIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 7 is a more detailed illustration of another step of the process illustrated inFIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of one of the playback buffer circuits ofFIG. 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention; and -
FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the playback buffer circuit ofFIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention. - The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
-
FIG. 1 illustrates a mediacontent delivery system 10 incorporating a Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) enabled client architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention. Note that while RDMA is discussed herein as the preferred embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. Further, as used herein, “RDMA” is not necessarily any particular RDMA protocol but is rather any digital content transfer scheme enabling transfer of digital content from the memory or other digital storage unit of one device to the memory or other digital storage unit of another device via a network with minimal or no Central Processing Unit (CPU) and/or operating system utilization. - In general, the
system 10 includes a centralizedmedia content server 12 interconnected to a number of set-top box (STB) functions 14-1 through 14-N1 via anetwork 16, which in this example is a Local Area Network (LAN) 16. TheLAN 16 may be any type of wired and/or wireless LAN. In one embodiment, theLAN 16 provides a 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) or higher transfer rate using InfiniBand (IB) or some other RDMA enabled protocol. The centralizedmedia content server 12 may additionally or alternatively be interconnected to a number of STB functions 18-1 through 18-N2 via anetwork 20, which in this example is a Wide Area Network (WAN) 20. The WAN 20 may be wired, wireless, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, theWAN 20 is an optical network providing a 10 Gbps or higher transfer rate. RDMA over Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), or iWARP, may be used in the protocol stack to provide reliable transport of RDMA traffic over the WAN 20. Note that, preferably, the centralizedmedia content server 12 serves only the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1 via theLAN 16 or the STB functions 18-1 through 18-N2 via theWAN 20. In the case of the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1, the centralizedmedia content server 12 is preferably a server located on the same premises as the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1. For example, the centralizedmedia content server 12 and the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1 may be located in a particular user's home. In the case of the STB functions 18-1 through 18-N2, the centralizedmedia content server 12 may be located at, for example, a headend of a video distribution network. - The STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1 and 18-1 through 18-N2 may alternatively be referred to herein as client devices. Each of the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1 and 18-1 through 18-N2 may be, for example, a set-top box similar to those used in traditional digital television delivery systems, a component of a set-top box, a personal computer, a component of a personal computer, a portable media player similar to an iPod®, a mobile telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or the like. As discussed below, the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1 and 18-1 through 18-N2 incorporate RDMA enabled playback functions which enable the STB functions 14-1 through 14-N1 and 18-1 through 18-N2 to utilize RDMA to obtain desired media content from the centralized
media content server 12. - The centralized
media content server 12 hostsmedia content 22. The media content may include, for example, video content such as movies, television programs, or video clips; audio content such as songs or radio programs; streaming video content such as broadcast television channels or IPTV channels; streaming audio content such as broadcast radio stations; advertisement content; or the like, or any combination thereof. The centralizedmedia content server 12 also includes an RDMA enablednetwork interface 24. In the illustrated embodiment, the RDMA enablednetwork interface 24 includes a LAN optimizedprotocol stack 26 and/or a WAN optimizedprotocol stack 28. The LAN optimizedprotocol stack 26 may use the IB protocol or similar RDMA enabled protocol to carry RDMA traffic over theLAN 16. The WAN optimizedprotocol stack 28 may use RDMA over TCP/IP or similar RDMA enabled protocol to carry RDMA traffic over theWAN 20. -
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the STB function 14-1 ofFIG. 1 . This discussion is equally applicable to the other STB functions 14-2 through 14-N1 and 18-1 through 18-N2. The STB function 14-1 includes RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 and adriver function 32 for controlling the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30. The RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 is preferably implemented in hardware. For example, the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 may be implemented in one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or the like. Thedriver 32 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. - As discussed below in detail, under the control of the
driver 32, the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 operates to effect RDMA transfers of select media content from the centralized media content server 12 (FIG. 1 ) to the STB function 14-1 via an RDMA enablednetwork interface 34. The RDMA enablednetwork interface 34 includes aphysical layer 36, alink layer 38, arouting layer 40, atransport layer 42, and anRDMA layer 44. Thephysical layer 36, thelink layer 38, therouting layer 40, and thetransport layer 42 are similar to those in traditional network interfaces. For example, the layers 36-42 may be the same as those in any industry complaint LAN based network interface card (NIC). Note that if theLAN 16 orWAN 20 is a Cable Television (CATV) network, the layers 36-42 may be a Data Over Cable Services Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) based protocol stack or a LAN/WAN protocol stack located inside a DOCSIS based modem or firewall. - The RDMA enabled
playback circuitry 30 also operates to output the received video content using one or more audio/video (A/V) interfaces 46 for presentation to one or more associated users via aviewer interface 48. The A/V interfaces 46 may include, for example, a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) with or without High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) or similar Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, a Digital Video Interface (DVI), a component video interface, an S-Video interface, a component A/V interface, or the like, or any combination thereof. Theviewer interface 48 may be, for example, a television or other display, a sound system, or the like, or a combination thereof. While theviewer interface 48 is illustrated as part of the STB function 14-1, the present invention is not limited thereto. Theviewer interface 48 may alternatively be a separate device. - In this example, the
viewer interface 48 also includes one or more user input components such as, for example, input buttons or dials, a keypad, a wireless remote control, or the like. As such, the STB function 14-1 may also include aclient control function 50 operating to receive inputs from the one or more associated users and to either: (1) pass the user inputs to the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30, thedriver 32, the A/V interface 46, acontroller 52 of the STB function 14-1, or any combination thereof or (2) process the user inputs and control one or more of the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30, thedriver 32, the A/V interface 46, and thecontroller 52 based on the user inputs. For example, theclient control function 50 may receive user inputs such as content selection inputs and playback control inputs such as pause, fast-forward, rewind, or the like. Upon receiving a content selection input, theclient control function 50 may either provide the content selection input to thedriver 32 or control thedriver 32 to initiate playback of the selected media content. Similarly, upon receiving a playback control input, theclient control function 50 may either provide the playback control input to thedriver 32 and/or the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 or control thedriver 32 and/or the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 according to the playback control input. - The
controller 52 may be used to perform various functions. For example, in one embodiment, the centralized media content server 12 (FIG. 1 ) publishes a mapping providing RDMA address ranges for all or at least a portion of the media content items hosted by the centralizedmedia content server 12. The mapping may also include metadata describing the media content items such as, for example, titles, content type, genre, and the like, or any combination thereof. Thecontroller 52 may operate to receive or otherwise obtain the mapping from the centralizedmedia content server 12 via the RDMA enablednetwork interface 34. Note that, as illustrated, thecontroller 52 is connected to theLAN 16 via the layers 36-42 of the RDMA enablednetwork interface 34 and, optionally, one or more session and/or Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layers 54. Thecontroller 52 may perform other functions such as, for example, effecting presentation of an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG), menus, or the like to the one or more associated users via the A/V interface 46 to enable the one or more associated users to select media content for playback. -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 ofFIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 includes an array of RDMA enabled First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X and an array of playback buffer circuits 58-1 through 58-Y interconnected by abi-directional crossbar switch 60 to form a two-stage buffering architecture. Both the array of RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X and the array of playback buffer circuits 58-1 through 58-Y are scalable, where the number of RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-Y and the number of playback buffer circuits 58-1 through 58-Y depend on the particular implementation. - As one example of the use of the array of RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X, the STB function 14-1 may perform late-binding of targeted advertisements to select video content. More specifically, upon receiving a content selection from the user, the
driver 32 may assign the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer 56-1 to obtain the selected video content and assign the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer 56-2 to obtain targeted advertisements to be inserted into the selected video content during playback. Assuming, for example, that the select video content is being presented to the viewer via the playback buffer circuit 58-1, thedriver 32 controls thecrossbar switch 60 such that the playback buffer circuit 58-1 is connected to the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1 during playback of the select video content and is switched to the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-2 to present the targeted advertisements during advertisement (ad) slots. For more information regarding an exemplary late-binding method for a central or remote headend of a video distribution system that may be used to perform late-binding in the STB function 14-1, the interested reader is directed to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/685,479, entitled LATE-BINDING OF ADVERTISEMENTS USING RDMA CONNECTIVITY, filed on Mar. 13, 2007 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/760,013, entitled MULTI-CLIENT STREAMER WITH LATE BINDING OF AD CONTENT, filed on Jun. 8, 2007, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. - As another example of the use of the array of RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X, the STB function 14-1 may utilize multiple RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1, 56-X to provide a Picture-In-Picture (PIP) feature or to otherwise present multiple media content items simultaneously.
-
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This discussion is equally applicable to the other RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-2 through 56-X. The RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1 includes aFIFO buffer 62, an RDMAdata mover function 64, and an RDMA address comparefunction 66. TheFIFO buffer 62 may be implemented in any type of memory and, in this embodiment, has a number of programmable threshold settings. In this example, theFIFO buffer 62 has an “empty” threshold setting, an “almost empty” threshold setting, a “half full” threshold setting, a “half empty” threshold setting which typically corresponds to the half full threshold setting, an “almost full” threshold setting, and a “full” threshold setting. TheFIFO buffer 62 provides a FIFO status output that is indicative of the status of theFIFO buffer 62. More specifically, the FIFO status output is in an “empty” state when theFIFO buffer 62 is empty, in an “almost empty” state when the amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is less than or equal to the almost empty threshold setting, in a “half empty” state when the amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is less than or equal to the half empty threshold setting but greater than the almost empty threshold setting, in a “half full” state when the amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is greater than the half full threshold setting but less than the almost full threshold setting, in an “almost full” state when the amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is greater than the almost full threshold setting, and a “full” state when the FIFO buffer is full. In this example, the FIFO status is provided to the playback buffer circuit 58-1, 58-Y to which theFIFO buffer 62 is connected via thecrossbar switch 60 as a FIFO output data ready signal. - In operation, when media content is selected for playback, the
driver 32 identifies an RDMA address range for the selected media content at the centralizedmedia content server 12 from, for example, the mapping published by the centralizedmedia content server 12. Thedriver 32 then provides the RDMA address range to the RDMAdata mover function 64 of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1, which has been allocated for the selected media content by, for example, thecontroller 52. Upon receiving the RDMA address range, the RDMAdata mover function 64 generally operates to determine the available space in theFIFO buffer 62 and generates an RDMA transfer request for at least a segment of the RDMA address range based on the available space in theFIFO buffer 62. The RDMAdata mover function 64 then provides the RDMA transfer request to the RDMA layer 44 (FIG. 2 ) of the RDMA enabled network interface 34 (FIG. 2 ). - Thereafter, as data is received from the
RDMA layer 44, the RDMA address comparefunction 66 compares an address of the received data (“Received RDMA address”) to a next anticipated RDMA address to determine whether the received data is data received in response to the RDMA transfer request of the RDMAdata mover function 64. This is important where more than one of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X have issued concurrent RDMA transfer requests. By comparing the RDMA address of the received data to the next anticipated RDMA address for the issued RDMA transfer request, the RDMA address comparefunction 66 ensures that only the requested data is clocked into theFIFO buffer 62. If the RDMA address of the received data is the next anticipated RDMA address, the RDMA address comparefunction 66 toggles a gated FIFO input clock provided to theFIFO buffer 62 to clock the received data into theFIFO buffer 62. The data may be clocked in as a bit, byte, word, or other format appropriate to the RDMA enablednetwork interface 34 and theFIFO buffer 62. The RDMAdata mover function 64 then increments the next anticipated RDMA address, and the process continues until all of the requested data is stored in theFIFO buffer 62. - Note that, in an alternative embodiment, the data received from the
RDMA layer 44 is a block of data from a block of RDMA addresses. Thus, additional circuitry may be used within or around the RDMA address comparefunction 66 to correctly clock the data into theFIFO buffer 62. Also, additional circuitry may be used to increment the next anticipated RDMA address value in response to receiving data for a block of RDMA addresses rather than receiving data for each RDMA address separately. - Once all of the data for the RDMA transfer request has been received, the RDMA
data mover function 64 monitors theFIFO buffer 62 to determine when at least a threshold amount of space is available before issuing the next RDMA transfer request, if any, for the selected media content. The threshold amount may be, for example, when the status of theFIFO buffer 62 is equal to or less than almost full. If the threshold amount of space is available, the RDMAdata mover function 64 generates an RDMA transfer request for a next segment of the address range for the selected media content item. From this point, the process continues until the data for the entire RDMA address range has been transferred to theFIFO buffer 62. Once the transfer is complete, the RDMAdata mover function 64 provides a “transfer complete” signal to thedriver 32. Note that the RDMAdata mover function 64 may provide feedback to thedriver 32 if the transfer failed, if a FIFO overflow condition exists, or if a FIFO underflow condition exists. If the transfer fails or if playback of the selected media content is terminated, thedriver 32 may instruct the RDMAdata mover function 64 to clear the current transfer and clear theFIFO buffer 62. - While the data corresponding to the selected media content item is being transferred to the
FIFO buffer 62, the data is also being clocked out of theFIFO buffer 62 by a FIFO output clock. As discussed below, the FIFO output clock is a streaming video playback clock provided by the playback buffer circuit 58-1, 58-Y (FIG. 3 ) to which the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1 is connected by thecrossbar switch 60. In this example, assume that the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1 is connected to the playback buffer circuit 58-1. The streaming video clock of the playback buffer circuit 58-1 is controlled such that the data is transferred from theFIFO buffer 62 to the playback buffer circuit 58-1 at a rate desired for playback. Thus, for example, if the viewer pauses playback, the streaming video clock is controlled such that data is not clocked out of theFIFO buffer 62. However, as a result of the two-stage buffer architecture of the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30, data continues to be transferred to theFIFO buffer 62 regardless of the state of the streaming video clock until theFIFO buffer 62 is full. -
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the RDMAdata mover function 64 according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, the RDMAdata mover function 64 receives an RDMA starting address and an RDMA ending address from the driver 32 (step 100). The RDMA starting address and the RDMA ending address define the RDMA address range for select video content hosted by the centralized media content server 12 (FIG. 1 ). As discussed above, when the viewer requests select video content, thedriver 32 identifies the RDMA address range for the select video content using, for example, the mapping from the centralizedmedia content server 12. Upon receiving the RDMA starting and ending addresses, the RDMAdata mover function 64 determines whether theFIFO buffer 62 is full (step 102). In one embodiment, if theFIFO buffer 62 is full, the RDMAdata mover function 64 continues to monitor the status of theFIFO buffer 62 until the FIFO is no longer full. In another embodiment, the RDMAdata mover function 64 notifies thedriver 32 that theFIFO buffer 62 is full and then waits for thedriver 32 to reset, or clear, the FIFO buffer 62 (step 104). - If the
FIFO buffer 62 is not full, or alternatively after theFIFO buffer 62 has been reset, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets a starting address for an RDMA transfer request to the RDMA starting address of the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 106). The RDMAdata mover function 64 then determines whether theFIFO buffer 62 is almost full (step 108). If the status of theFIFO buffer 62 is almost full, the RDMAdata mover function 64 waits until a sufficient amount of data has been clocked out of theFIFO buffer 62 to reduce the status of theFIFO buffer 62 below almost full. The RDMAdata mover function 64 then calculates an ending address for the RDMA transfer request based on an amount of space available in theFIFO buffer 62, as discussed below in detail (step 110). In the typical scenario, theFIFO buffer 62 is not large enough to store all of the select video content. As such, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets the ending address for the RDMA transfer request based on a determination of the amount of space available in theFIFO buffer 62 or, in other words, a determination of the largest data block size that can be guaranteed to fit into theFIFO buffer 62. - Once the starting address and ending address for the RDMA transfer request are set, the RDMA
data mover function 64 initiates and completes an RDMA transfer using the RDMA transfer request (step 112). More specifically, the RDMAdata mover function 64 initiates the RDMA transfer by providing the RDMA transfer request to theRDMA layer 44 of the RDMA enabled network interface 34 (FIG. 2 ). Thereafter, the RDMAdata mover function 64 completes the RDMA transfer by programming the RDMA address compare function 66 (FIG. 4 ) with the next anticipated RDMA address values such that the data received in response to the RDMA transfer request is stored in theFIFO buffer 62. - Once the RDMA transfer is complete, the RDMA
data mover function 64 determines whether the ending address for the RDMA transfer request is equal to the RDMA ending address for the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 114). If so, the RDMAdata mover function 64 notifies thedriver 32 that the RDMA transfer is complete (step 116), and the process returns to step 100. If not, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets a starting address for a next RDMA transfer request to the ending address of the RDMA transfer request plus one (step 118), and the process returns to step 108. The process is repeated until the transfer of the entire RDMA address range for the select video content is complete or until the RDMA transfer is terminated as a result of, for example, the viewer selecting new video content for playback. -
FIG. 6 is a more detailed illustration ofstep 110 ofFIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In order to calculate the ending address for the RDMA transfer request, the RDMAdata mover function 64 first determines whether the status of theFIFO buffer 62 is half full (step 200). If so, the actual amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is in the range between the half full threshold setting and the almost full threshold setting of theFIFO buffer 62. As such, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets the range of the RDMA transfer request, or size of the segment to be transferred by the RDMA transfer request, equal to the full threshold setting of theFIFO buffer 62 minus the almost full threshold setting of the FIFO buffer 62 (step 202). The process proceeds to step 214. If theFIFO buffer 62 is not half full, theRDMA data mover 64 then determines whether the status of theFIFO buffer 62 is almost empty (step 204). If not, the amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is between the almost empty threshold setting and the half full/empty threshold setting. As such, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets the range of the RDMA transfer request, or size of the segment to be transferred by the RDMA transfer request, equal to the full threshold setting of theFIFO buffer 62 minus the half empty/full threshold setting of the FIFO 6 buffer 2 (step 206). The process then proceeds to step 214. If theFIFO buffer 62 is almost empty, theRDMA data mover 64 then determines whether the status of theFIFO buffer 62 is empty (step 208). If not, the amount of data stored in theFIFO buffer 62 is between the empty threshold setting and the almost empty threshold setting. As such, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets the range of the RDMA transfer request, or size of the segment to be transferred by the RDMA transfer request, equal to the full threshold setting of theFIFO buffer 62 minus the almost empty threshold setting of the FIFO buffer 62 (step 210). The process then proceeds to step 214. If theFIFO buffer 62 is empty, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets the range of the RDMA transfer request, or size of the segment to be transferred by the RDMA transfer request, equal to the full threshold setting of theFIFO buffer 62 minus the empty threshold setting of theFIFO buffer 62, which is preferably the full size or substantially the full size of the FIFO buffer 62 (step 212). The process then proceeds to step 214. - At this point, the RDMA
data mover function 64 sets the ending address of the RDMA transfer request to a value equal to the starting address of the RDMA transfer request plus the range of the RDMA transfer request determined in steps 200-212 (step 214). The RDMAdata mover function 64 then determines whether the ending address for the RDMA transfer request is greater than the RDMA ending address for the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 216). If not, the process proceeds to step 112 ofFIG. 5 . If so, the RDMAdata mover function 64 sets the ending address of the RDMA transfer request to the RDMA ending address for the RDMA address range for the select video content (step 218), and the process then proceeds to step 112 ofFIG. 5 . -
FIG. 7 is a more detailed illustration ofstep 112 ofFIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In order to initiate and complete the RDMA transfer request, the RDMAdata mover function 64 first sends the RDMA transfer request to the RDMA layer 44 (FIG. 2 ) of the RDMA enabled network interface 34 (step 300). The RDMAdata mover function 64 then sets the next anticipated RDMA address to the starting address of the RDMA transfer request (step 302). As discussed above, the RDMA address comparefunction 66 compares the next anticipated RDMA address to the RDMA address of data received from theRDMA layer 44. Since two or more of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X may be concurrently requesting RDMA data, the RDMA address comparefunction 66 ensures that only data received in response to the RDMA transfer request issued by the RDMAdata mover function 64 is clocked into theFIFO buffer 62. - The RDMA
data mover function 64 then monitors the gated FIFO input clock output by the RDMA address comparefunction 66 to determine whether the gated FIFO input clock has toggled (step 304). Note that the gated FIFO input clock is toggled by the RDMA address comparefunction 66 in response to receiving an RDMA address that is equal to the next anticipated RDMA address for the transfer in order to clock the corresponding data into theFIFO buffer 62. If the gated FIFO input clock has not toggled, the RDMAdata mover function 64 determines whether a timeout period has expired for the RDMA transfer request (step 306). If so, the RDMAdata mover function 64 notifies thedriver 32 that the RDMA transfer request has failed (step 308). If the timeout period has not expired, the process returns to step 304. - Once the gated FIFO input clock has toggled to clock the data for the next anticipated RDMA address into the
FIFO buffer 62, the RDMAdata mover function 64 determines whether the next anticipated RDMA address, which is the RDMA address of the data just clocked into theFIFO buffer 62, is equal to the ending address of the RDMA transfer request (step 310). If so, the process proceeds to step 114 ofFIG. 5 . If not, the RDMAdata mover function 64 increments the next anticipated RDMA address to be received by one (step 312). At this point, the process returns to step 304 and is repeated until the RDMA transfer is complete. -
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the playback buffer circuit 56-1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This discussion is equally applicable to the other playback buffer circuits 56-2 through 56-Y. In this embodiment, the playback buffer circuit 56-1 includes avideo processing function 68 and an A/V playback buffer 70 controlled by a client playback control function 72 and a video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74. Thevideo processing function 68 is optional and may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, thevideo processing function 68 may perform operations such as decoding and decompressing the video content received from the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1, 56-X to which it is connected via thecrossbar switch 60 such that the video content is ready for presentation without additional delay. In addition or alternatively, if PIP or some similar feature is supported, thevideo processing function 68 may receive data from two or more of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X and process the data to provide the PIP or similar feature. The A/V playback buffer 70 is any type of buffer suitable for storing the video content from the video processing function for presentation to the one or more viewers via the A/V interface 46. Note that the A/V playback buffer 70 may include any control circuits needed or desired to enable playback control features such as rewinding, pausing, fast-forwarding, or the like. - The client playback control function 72 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, the client playback control function 72 may be implemented as a software application stored by the controller 52 (
FIG. 2 ). The video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, if the STB function 14-1 is a set-top box, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 may be implemented as an Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) application. - The video buffer monitoring and
transfer control function 74 generally operates to manage a streamingvideo clock 76 based on the status of the A/V playback buffer 70 and/or requests from the client playback control function 72. The streamingvideo clock 76 is provided to clock data out of theFIFO buffer 62 of the connected RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1, 56-X to thevideo processing function 68 via thecrossbar switch 60 at a desired clock rate. The streamingvideo clock 76 may be enabled or disabled by the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74. For example, the streamingvideo clock 76 may be disabled when a user input has been received from the viewer requesting that playback be paused. More specifically, if the viewer sends a request to pause playback, the client playback control function 72 may relay the pause request to the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74. The video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 may then monitor the A/V playback buffer 70 to allow data to continue to be transferred to the A/V playback buffer 70 until, for example, the A/V playback buffer 70 is full. When the A/V playback buffer 70 is full, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 may disable the streamingvideo clock 76 to suspend the transfer of data from the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1, 56-X until the A/V playback buffer 70 is no longer full as a result of, for example, the viewer resuming playback. Alternatively, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 may disable the streamingvideo clock 76 as soon as the pause request is received and subsequently re-enable the streamingvideo clock 76 when playback is resumed. -
FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of the playback buffer circuit 58-1 ofFIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, the client playback control function 72 initializes the video buffer monitoring and transfer control function 74 (step 400). The video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 then checks or otherwise obtains the status of the A/V playback buffer 70 (step 402). Next, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 determines whether the A/V playback buffer 70 needs more data and whether the data ready signal from the connected RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1, 56-X is active (step 404). If the A/V playback buffer 70 needs more data and the data ready signal is active, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 determines whether the streamingvideo clock 76 is enabled (step 406). If the streaming video clock is enabled, the process returns to step 402. If the streamingvideo clock 76 is not enabled, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 enables the streaming video clock 76 (step 408). The process then returns to step 402. - Note that upon enabling the streaming
video clock 76, data begins to be clocked from theFIFO buffer 62 of the RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuit 56-1, 56-X to which the playback buffer circuit 58-1 is connected via thecrossbar switch 60. The data may be clocked from theFIFO buffer 62 as bits, bytes, words, or other appropriate format. Further note that additional circuitry may be used to perform serial to parallel data conversion, parallel to serial data conversion, or the like as needed or desired by thevideo processing function 68. As the data is clocked from theFIFO buffer 62, thevideo processing function 68 processes the data to provide the requested video content in a format ready for playback. The video content from thevideo processing function 68 is stored in the A/V playback buffer 70 for presentation to the one or more associated viewers via the A/V interface 46. - Returning to step 404, if the playback buffer does not need more data or if the data ready signal is not active, the video buffer monitoring and
transfer control function 74 determines whether the A/V playback buffer 70 is nearly full (step 410). If not, the process returns to step 402. If so, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 determines whether the streamingvideo clock 76 is enabled (step 412). If not, the process returns to step 402. If so, the video buffer monitoring andtransfer control function 74 disables the streaming video clock 76 (step 414), and the process returns to step 402. - The RDMA enabled
playback circuitry 30 provides substantial opportunity for variation without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. For example, while the discussion above focuses primarily on video content, the present invention is not limited thereto. As another example, while the discussion above focuses on using the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 as part of a client architecture, the present invention is not limited thereto. More specifically, the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 may alternatively be implemented in a server or headend of a media content delivery system. In this alternative embodiment, each of the playback buffer circuits 58-1 through 58-Y may be allocated to a particular remote client device or a particular group of remote client devices. The RDMA enabled FIFO buffer circuits 56-1 through 56-X may be used to obtain media content for the playback buffer circuits 58-1 through 58-Y from a media content server via a LAN or WAN in a manner similar to that described above. The output of the playback buffer circuits 58-1 through 58-Y may then be delivered to the associated client devices via any type of delivery network such as, for example, an Internet Protocol (IP) based delivery network. Thus, as an example, the RDMA enabledplayback circuitry 30 may be implemented as part of the multi-client streamer of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/760,013, entitled MULTI-CLIENT STREAMER WITH LATE BINDING OF AD CONTENT. - Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.
Claims (28)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/709,088 US20150319487A1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2015-05-11 | Rdma based real-time video client playback architecture |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US11/831,228 US7996482B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2007-07-31 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US13/178,954 US8549091B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2011-07-08 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US14/043,587 US9032041B2 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2013-10-01 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US14/709,088 US20150319487A1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2015-05-11 | Rdma based real-time video client playback architecture |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/043,587 Continuation US9032041B2 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2013-10-01 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20150319487A1 true US20150319487A1 (en) | 2015-11-05 |
Family
ID=44350867
Family Applications (4)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US11/831,228 Active 2029-05-14 US7996482B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2007-07-31 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US13/178,954 Expired - Fee Related US8549091B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2011-07-08 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US14/043,587 Active US9032041B2 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2013-10-01 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US14/709,088 Abandoned US20150319487A1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2015-05-11 | Rdma based real-time video client playback architecture |
Family Applications Before (3)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US11/831,228 Active 2029-05-14 US7996482B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2007-07-31 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US13/178,954 Expired - Fee Related US8549091B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2011-07-08 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US14/043,587 Active US9032041B2 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2013-10-01 | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (4) | US7996482B1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7996482B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2011-08-09 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US8599933B2 (en) * | 2007-10-26 | 2013-12-03 | Newport Media, Inc. | Robust PID filtering for DVB-H |
US8762476B1 (en) | 2007-12-20 | 2014-06-24 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | RDMA to streaming protocol driver |
US8060904B1 (en) | 2008-02-25 | 2011-11-15 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | Dynamic load based ad insertion |
US8688799B2 (en) * | 2011-06-30 | 2014-04-01 | Nokia Corporation | Methods, apparatuses and computer program products for reducing memory copy overhead by indicating a location of requested data for direct access |
US9253124B2 (en) * | 2012-05-15 | 2016-02-02 | TV Band Service, LLC | Techniques for sending and relaying information over broadcast and non-broadcast communications media |
CN102724584B (en) * | 2012-06-18 | 2016-07-27 | Tcl集团股份有限公司 | The online player method of Internet video, the online playing device of video and intelligent television |
WO2014055108A1 (en) * | 2012-10-03 | 2014-04-10 | Google Inc. | Cloud-based gameplay video rendering and encoding |
US9363280B1 (en) | 2014-08-22 | 2016-06-07 | Fireeye, Inc. | System and method of detecting delivery of malware using cross-customer data |
US9270563B1 (en) * | 2014-11-24 | 2016-02-23 | Roku, Inc. | Apparatus and method for content playback utilizing crowd sourced statistics |
US9521496B2 (en) * | 2015-02-12 | 2016-12-13 | Harman International Industries, Inc. | Media content playback system and method |
US9794618B2 (en) | 2015-02-12 | 2017-10-17 | Harman International Industries, Incorporated | Media content playback system and method |
US10509764B1 (en) | 2015-06-19 | 2019-12-17 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Flexible remote direct memory access |
US9954979B2 (en) * | 2015-09-21 | 2018-04-24 | International Business Machines Corporation | Protocol selection for transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) |
CN106982236B (en) * | 2016-01-18 | 2020-07-28 | 阿里巴巴集团控股有限公司 | Information processing method, device and system |
US10887387B2 (en) * | 2018-01-05 | 2021-01-05 | Barrett Adams | Digital media synchronization system and method |
Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20020131072A1 (en) * | 2001-03-19 | 2002-09-19 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for adaptive formatting of image information for efficient delivery and presentation |
US20020147840A1 (en) * | 2001-04-05 | 2002-10-10 | Mutton James Andrew | Distributed link processing system for delivering application and multi-media content on the internet |
US20030093507A1 (en) * | 2001-11-09 | 2003-05-15 | Generic Media, Inc. | System, method, and computer program product for remotely determining the configuration of a multi-media content user |
US20030158913A1 (en) * | 2002-02-15 | 2003-08-21 | Agnoli Giovanni M. | System, method, and computer program product for media publishing request processing |
US20030233469A1 (en) * | 2002-06-12 | 2003-12-18 | Knowlson Kenneth L. | Content server |
Family Cites Families (120)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6044205A (en) | 1996-02-29 | 2000-03-28 | Intermind Corporation | Communications system for transferring information between memories according to processes transferred with the information |
US5155591A (en) | 1989-10-23 | 1992-10-13 | General Instrument Corporation | Method and apparatus for providing demographically targeted television commercials |
US5231494A (en) | 1991-10-08 | 1993-07-27 | General Instrument Corporation | Selection of compressed television signals from single channel allocation based on viewer characteristics |
US5600364A (en) | 1992-12-09 | 1997-02-04 | Discovery Communications, Inc. | Network controller for cable television delivery systems |
US6463585B1 (en) | 1992-12-09 | 2002-10-08 | Discovery Communications, Inc. | Targeted advertisement using television delivery systems |
US5959623A (en) | 1995-12-08 | 1999-09-28 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | System and method for displaying user selected set of advertisements |
US20030036974A1 (en) * | 1996-12-03 | 2003-02-20 | Richard Allen | Apparatus and method for an on demand data delivery system for the preview selection, retrieval and reproduction at a remote location of previously recorded or programmed materials |
US6177931B1 (en) | 1996-12-19 | 2001-01-23 | Index Systems, Inc. | Systems and methods for displaying and recording control interface with television programs, video, advertising information and program scheduling information |
US8640160B2 (en) | 1997-01-06 | 2014-01-28 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Method and system for providing targeted advertisements |
DE69837194T2 (en) | 1997-01-06 | 2007-10-31 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corp., Wilmington | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR NETWORK UTILIZATION DETECTION |
US5974398A (en) | 1997-04-11 | 1999-10-26 | At&T Corp. | Method and apparatus enabling valuation of user access of advertising carried by interactive information and entertainment services |
SE510048C3 (en) | 1997-07-24 | 1999-05-03 | Mirror Image Internet Ab | Internet caching system |
US6938268B1 (en) | 1998-01-08 | 2005-08-30 | Winston W. Hodge | Video stream sharing |
US7146627B1 (en) | 1998-06-12 | 2006-12-05 | Metabyte Networks, Inc. | Method and apparatus for delivery of targeted video programming |
US6698020B1 (en) | 1998-06-15 | 2004-02-24 | Webtv Networks, Inc. | Techniques for intelligent video ad insertion |
JP2000020490A (en) | 1998-07-01 | 2000-01-21 | Fujitsu Ltd | Computer having remote procedure calling mechanism or object request broker mechanism, data transfer method and transfer method storage medium |
TW416224B (en) | 1998-07-07 | 2000-12-21 | United Video Properties Inc | Interactive television program guide system with local advertisements |
US6314501B1 (en) * | 1998-07-23 | 2001-11-06 | Unisys Corporation | Computer system and method for operating multiple operating systems in different partitions of the computer system and for allowing the different partitions to communicate with one another through shared memory |
AU5816999A (en) | 1998-09-08 | 2000-03-27 | Next Century Media, Inc. | System and method for providing individualized targeted electronic advertising over a digital broadcast medium |
AUPP612998A0 (en) | 1998-09-23 | 1998-10-15 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Multiview multimedia generation system |
US20020144263A1 (en) | 2000-08-31 | 2002-10-03 | Eldering Charles A. | Grouping of advertisements on an advertising channel in a targeted advertisement system |
US6820277B1 (en) | 1999-04-20 | 2004-11-16 | Expanse Networks, Inc. | Advertising management system for digital video streams |
US7185353B2 (en) | 2000-08-31 | 2007-02-27 | Prime Research Alliance E., Inc. | System and method for delivering statistically scheduled advertisements |
US7039932B2 (en) | 2000-08-31 | 2006-05-02 | Prime Research Alliance E., Inc. | Queue-based head-end advertisement scheduling method and apparatus |
US7228555B2 (en) | 2000-08-31 | 2007-06-05 | Prime Research Alliance E., Inc. | System and method for delivering targeted advertisements using multiple presentation streams |
US6161127A (en) * | 1999-06-17 | 2000-12-12 | Americomusa | Internet advertising with controlled and timed display of ad content from browser |
US6128651A (en) | 1999-04-14 | 2000-10-03 | Americom Usa | Internet advertising with controlled and timed display of ad content from centralized system controller |
US6584492B1 (en) | 2000-01-20 | 2003-06-24 | Americom Usa | Internet banner advertising process and apparatus having scalability |
TW492251B (en) | 1999-07-09 | 2002-06-21 | Ibm | System for personal advertising |
US7281030B1 (en) | 1999-09-17 | 2007-10-09 | Intel Corporation | Method of reading a remote memory |
WO2001042954A2 (en) | 1999-12-08 | 2001-06-14 | Qualcomm Incorporated | System for distributing advertisements to client devices |
CA2387562C (en) | 1999-12-21 | 2013-03-26 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Method and system for providing targeted advertisements |
IL145314A0 (en) | 2000-01-14 | 2002-06-30 | Nds Ltd | Advertisements in an end-user controlled playback environment |
US20020019769A1 (en) | 2000-01-19 | 2002-02-14 | Steven Barritz | System and method for establishing incentives for promoting the exchange of personal information and targeted advertising |
WO2003053056A1 (en) | 2000-01-19 | 2003-06-26 | Next Century Media | System and method for providing individualized targeted electronic advertising over a digital broadcast medium |
AU2001236570A1 (en) | 2000-01-28 | 2001-08-07 | Ibeam Broadcasting Corporation | Method and apparatus for encoder-based distribution of live video and other streaming content |
CA2399502A1 (en) | 2000-02-02 | 2001-08-09 | Worldgate Service, Inc. | System and method for transmitting and displaying targeted information |
US6574793B1 (en) | 2000-02-25 | 2003-06-03 | Interval Research Corporation | System and method for displaying advertisements |
US7565450B2 (en) | 2000-03-16 | 2009-07-21 | Adara Networks Inc. | System and method for using a mapping between client addresses and addresses of caches to support content delivery |
CA2404095A1 (en) | 2000-03-22 | 2001-09-27 | Yottayotta, Inc. | Method and system for providing multimedia information on demand over wide area networks |
US7184433B1 (en) | 2000-05-26 | 2007-02-27 | Bigband Networks, Inc. | System and method for providing media content to end-users |
CA2349914C (en) | 2000-06-09 | 2013-07-30 | Invidi Technologies Corp. | Advertising delivery method |
AU2001286998A1 (en) | 2000-08-31 | 2002-03-13 | Expanse Networks, Inc. | Targeted advertising at the set top box |
WO2002019717A2 (en) | 2000-08-31 | 2002-03-07 | Myrio Corporation | Real-time audience monitoring, content rating, and content enhancing |
US7716358B2 (en) * | 2000-09-12 | 2010-05-11 | Wag Acquisition, Llc | Streaming media buffering system |
US7013346B1 (en) | 2000-10-06 | 2006-03-14 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Connectionless protocol |
CN1486568A (en) | 2000-11-28 | 2004-03-31 | ϣ�����ʹ�˾ | Content/service handling and delivery |
US20020078444A1 (en) | 2000-12-15 | 2002-06-20 | William Krewin | System and method for the scaleable delivery of targeted commercials |
US7856644B2 (en) | 2000-12-30 | 2010-12-21 | Road Runner Holdco Llc | System and method of selective advertising on a TV channel |
US20020087402A1 (en) | 2001-01-02 | 2002-07-04 | Zustak Fred J. | User selective advertising |
US20020124249A1 (en) | 2001-01-02 | 2002-09-05 | Shintani Peter Rae | Targeted advertising during playback of stored content |
US7743112B2 (en) | 2001-01-11 | 2010-06-22 | The Marlin Company | Secure electronic media distribution and presentation system |
US20030061607A1 (en) | 2001-02-12 | 2003-03-27 | Hunter Charles Eric | Systems and methods for providing consumers with entertainment content and associated periodically updated advertising |
US20030028888A1 (en) | 2001-02-12 | 2003-02-06 | Hunter Charles Eric | Systems and methods for providing consumers with entertainment content and associated periodically updated advertising |
US8112311B2 (en) | 2001-02-12 | 2012-02-07 | Ochoa Optics Llc | Systems and methods for distribution of entertainment and advertising content |
US20020138362A1 (en) | 2001-03-21 | 2002-09-26 | Kitze Christopher Allin | Digital file marketplace |
US7469230B2 (en) | 2001-03-21 | 2008-12-23 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | Method and system for automatically distributing fees, including a reseller commission, during a digital file transaction |
US7653552B2 (en) | 2001-03-21 | 2010-01-26 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | Digital file marketplace |
US20020184403A1 (en) | 2001-04-06 | 2002-12-05 | Dahlin Michael D. | Methods for near-optimal bandwidth-constrained placement in a wide-area network |
US6804673B2 (en) * | 2001-04-19 | 2004-10-12 | Fujitsu Limited | Access assurance for remote memory access over network |
US20020161838A1 (en) | 2001-04-27 | 2002-10-31 | Pickover Cilfford A. | Method and apparatus for targeting information |
US20030004793A1 (en) | 2001-06-01 | 2003-01-02 | Norman Feuer | Networked broadcasting system and traffic system for multiple broadcasts |
KR20030020443A (en) | 2001-06-06 | 2003-03-08 | 소니 가부시끼 가이샤 | Advertisement insert apparatus and advertisement insert method, and storage medium |
US7245614B1 (en) | 2001-06-27 | 2007-07-17 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Managing access to internet protocol (IP) multicast traffic |
US8676025B2 (en) * | 2002-03-01 | 2014-03-18 | Broadcom Corporation | Method of timebase management for MPEG decoding with personal video recording functionality |
US7076530B2 (en) * | 2001-08-31 | 2006-07-11 | Thomson Licensing | Multiple function modem including external memory adapter |
US20030065804A1 (en) | 2001-10-03 | 2003-04-03 | Marc Owerfeldt | Real Time transport protocol connector |
US7634531B2 (en) * | 2002-01-23 | 2009-12-15 | Ali Abdolsalehi | Interactive internet browser based media broadcast |
US20030149975A1 (en) | 2002-02-05 | 2003-08-07 | Charles Eldering | Targeted advertising in on demand programming |
US7116894B1 (en) | 2002-05-24 | 2006-10-03 | Digeo, Inc. | System and method for digital multimedia stream conversion |
US7548984B2 (en) * | 2002-05-27 | 2009-06-16 | Panasonic Corporation | Stream distribution system, stream server device, cache server device, stream record/playback device, related methods and computer programs |
DE60316706T2 (en) | 2002-08-08 | 2008-07-17 | Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. | INK JET RECORDING MEDIUM |
US7280559B2 (en) | 2002-08-16 | 2007-10-09 | Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. | Distributed application layer protocol converter for communications network |
US7299266B2 (en) | 2002-09-05 | 2007-11-20 | International Business Machines Corporation | Memory management offload for RDMA enabled network adapters |
EP1418514A1 (en) | 2002-11-05 | 2004-05-12 | THOMSON Licensing S.A. | Selecting advertisement on a set top box in a television network |
US8667525B2 (en) | 2002-12-13 | 2014-03-04 | Sony Corporation | Targeted advertisement selection from a digital stream |
US7610348B2 (en) | 2003-05-07 | 2009-10-27 | International Business Machines | Distributed file serving architecture system with metadata storage virtualization and data access at the data server connection speed |
JP4346969B2 (en) * | 2003-06-20 | 2009-10-21 | キヤノン株式会社 | Digital television broadcast receiver and control method of digital television broadcast receiver |
US7739715B2 (en) * | 2003-06-24 | 2010-06-15 | Microsoft Corporation | Variable play speed control for media streams |
US20040267880A1 (en) * | 2003-06-30 | 2004-12-30 | Kestutis Patiejunas | System and method for delivery of media content |
US9247288B2 (en) | 2003-08-12 | 2016-01-26 | Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc | Technique for effectively delivering targeted advertisements through a communications network having limited bandwidth |
US20050036555A1 (en) | 2003-08-13 | 2005-02-17 | Lakshmanan Ramakrishnan | Automatic direct memory access engine |
JP4275504B2 (en) | 2003-10-14 | 2009-06-10 | 株式会社日立製作所 | Data transfer method |
EP1528478A1 (en) | 2003-11-03 | 2005-05-04 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Generalized addressing scheme for remote direct memory access enabled devices |
US20050160470A1 (en) * | 2003-11-25 | 2005-07-21 | Strauss Daryll J. | Real-time playback system for uncompressed high-bandwidth video |
US7633955B1 (en) | 2004-02-13 | 2009-12-15 | Habanero Holdings, Inc. | SCSI transport for fabric-backplane enterprise servers |
US8351468B2 (en) | 2004-04-05 | 2013-01-08 | Broadcom Corporation | Method and apparatus for downloading content using channel bonding |
US8010652B2 (en) * | 2004-05-07 | 2011-08-30 | Nokia Corporation | Refined quality feedback in streaming services |
US20060036490A1 (en) | 2004-08-13 | 2006-02-16 | Michelle Sagalyn | Methods and apparatus for marketing community-oriented advertising opportunities |
US7480298B2 (en) * | 2004-08-30 | 2009-01-20 | International Business Machines Corporation | Lazy deregistration of user virtual machine to adapter protocol virtual offsets |
US20060075057A1 (en) | 2004-08-30 | 2006-04-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Remote direct memory access system and method |
US7577586B2 (en) * | 2004-09-10 | 2009-08-18 | Mindjot Inc. | Self-distribution methods, coded self-distribution methods, and systems for distributing information |
US20060059042A1 (en) | 2004-09-13 | 2006-03-16 | Meir Zohar | System for rotation of software advertisements |
US7634535B2 (en) | 2004-09-14 | 2009-12-15 | Watson Stuart T | Method and system for tracking multiple information feeds on a communications network |
US8826328B2 (en) | 2004-11-12 | 2014-09-02 | Opentv, Inc. | Communicating primary content streams and secondary content streams including targeted advertising to a remote unit |
US7447978B2 (en) * | 2004-11-16 | 2008-11-04 | Nokia Corporation | Buffering packets of a media stream |
TW200704183A (en) | 2005-01-27 | 2007-01-16 | Matrix Tv | Dynamic mosaic extended electronic programming guide for television program selection and display |
EP1694071A1 (en) | 2005-02-11 | 2006-08-23 | Vemotion Limited | Interactive video applications |
US8458280B2 (en) * | 2005-04-08 | 2013-06-04 | Intel-Ne, Inc. | Apparatus and method for packet transmission over a high speed network supporting remote direct memory access operations |
EP1866809A1 (en) | 2005-04-08 | 2007-12-19 | Juicy Tours Inc. | Architecture for creating, organizing, editing, management and delivery of locationally-specific information to a user in the field |
US20060294555A1 (en) | 2005-06-23 | 2006-12-28 | Jianhua Xie | Method and system for video on demand (VOD) servers to cache content |
KR100705333B1 (en) | 2005-07-29 | 2007-04-10 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Method for Prizing for Watching Broadcasting Progran, System therof and Receiver |
US7957402B2 (en) | 2005-08-08 | 2011-06-07 | American Megatrends, Inc. | UDP to TCP bridge |
US20070112971A1 (en) | 2005-11-14 | 2007-05-17 | Infodraw Ltd. | Real time video streaming and data collaboration over wireless networks |
JP4578396B2 (en) * | 2005-12-08 | 2010-11-10 | 株式会社日立超エル・エス・アイ・システムズ | Information processing device |
US20070136778A1 (en) * | 2005-12-09 | 2007-06-14 | Ari Birger | Controller and control method for media retrieval, routing and playback |
KR100754196B1 (en) * | 2005-12-10 | 2007-09-03 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Method for switching media renderer in the middle of streaming playback of content |
US20070214480A1 (en) | 2006-03-08 | 2007-09-13 | Yakov Kamen | Method and apparatus for conducting media content search and management by integrating EPG and internet search systems |
BR122012022087B1 (en) * | 2006-05-11 | 2020-04-14 | Interdigital Ce Patent Holdings | method and apparatus for transmitting data |
TW200743344A (en) * | 2006-05-15 | 2007-11-16 | Sunplus Technology Co Ltd | Proprietary portable audio player system for protecting digital content copyrights |
US7716699B2 (en) * | 2006-06-29 | 2010-05-11 | Microsoft Corporation | Control and playback of media over network link |
US7783773B2 (en) * | 2006-07-24 | 2010-08-24 | Microsoft Corporation | Glitch-free media streaming |
US8826345B2 (en) * | 2006-09-08 | 2014-09-02 | Edgeware Ab | Method and an apparatus for data streaming |
US8112774B2 (en) | 2006-09-19 | 2012-02-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | On demand dynamic advertisement insertion in an internet protocol stream |
JP4752786B2 (en) | 2007-02-15 | 2011-08-17 | ソニー株式会社 | Multicast distribution system and multicast distribution method |
JP2008276909A (en) * | 2007-03-30 | 2008-11-13 | Panasonic Corp | Reproduction apparatus, reproduction method, distribution server, distribution method, recording medium, and integrated circuit |
US7856421B2 (en) * | 2007-05-18 | 2010-12-21 | Oracle America, Inc. | Maintaining memory checkpoints across a cluster of computing nodes |
US8271669B2 (en) * | 2007-05-30 | 2012-09-18 | Broadcom Corporation | Method and system for extended steering tags (STAGS) to minimize memory bandwidth for content delivery servers |
US7996482B1 (en) | 2007-07-31 | 2011-08-09 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture |
US10277956B2 (en) * | 2007-10-01 | 2019-04-30 | Cabot Communications | Method and apparatus for streaming digital media content and a communication system |
-
2007
- 2007-07-31 US US11/831,228 patent/US7996482B1/en active Active
-
2011
- 2011-07-08 US US13/178,954 patent/US8549091B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2013
- 2013-10-01 US US14/043,587 patent/US9032041B2/en active Active
-
2015
- 2015-05-11 US US14/709,088 patent/US20150319487A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20020131072A1 (en) * | 2001-03-19 | 2002-09-19 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for adaptive formatting of image information for efficient delivery and presentation |
US20020147840A1 (en) * | 2001-04-05 | 2002-10-10 | Mutton James Andrew | Distributed link processing system for delivering application and multi-media content on the internet |
US20030093507A1 (en) * | 2001-11-09 | 2003-05-15 | Generic Media, Inc. | System, method, and computer program product for remotely determining the configuration of a multi-media content user |
US20030158913A1 (en) * | 2002-02-15 | 2003-08-21 | Agnoli Giovanni M. | System, method, and computer program product for media publishing request processing |
US20030233469A1 (en) * | 2002-06-12 | 2003-12-18 | Knowlson Kenneth L. | Content server |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US9032041B2 (en) | 2015-05-12 |
US8549091B1 (en) | 2013-10-01 |
US20140033261A1 (en) | 2014-01-30 |
US7996482B1 (en) | 2011-08-09 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US9032041B2 (en) | RDMA based real-time video client playback architecture | |
US10880408B2 (en) | Streaming policy management system and method | |
US10250949B2 (en) | Broadcast content to HTTP client conversion | |
US9112889B2 (en) | RDMA to streaming protocol driver | |
US8584193B2 (en) | Method and system for a transcoder | |
US8621529B2 (en) | System and method of receiving over-the-air television content | |
US8239495B2 (en) | Media player with integrated parallel source download technology | |
US9015787B2 (en) | Method and system for media processor | |
WO2012031244A1 (en) | Improved bandwidth allocation with modified seek function | |
US20090178096A1 (en) | Intelligent over-transmission of media data segments | |
US11395035B2 (en) | Temporally-seamless channel change functionality in multichannel streaming environments | |
WO2015035742A1 (en) | Method, terminal and system for audio and video sharing of digital television | |
US7930703B2 (en) | System and method for providing access to multimedia content via a serial connection | |
CN109640136B (en) | Method and device for controlling television, electronic equipment and readable medium | |
US8261314B2 (en) | Apparatus and method for managing media content presentation | |
US11647063B2 (en) | Method and apparatus for presentation of video content | |
US20130036446A1 (en) | Multilayer controlling system of date transfer and the method using thereof | |
WO2014167168A1 (en) | Adaptive streaming of media content |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: IP3 2019, SERIES 400 OF ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I, C Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:QURIO HOLDINGS, INC.;REEL/FRAME:051397/0358 Effective date: 20191118 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ZAMA INNOVATIONS LLC, DELAWARE Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:IP3 2019, SERIES 400 OF ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I;REEL/FRAME:057407/0395 Effective date: 20210825 |