WO2012036655A1

WO2012036655A1 - Method, apparatus and system for reducing a time to media presentation in receivers

Info

Publication number: WO2012036655A1
Application number: PCT/US2010/002528
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gregory Charles Herlein
Original assignee: Thomson Licensing
Priority date: 2010-09-17
Filing date: 2010-09-17
Publication date: 2012-03-22

Abstract

The present invention provides a method, apparatus and system for reducing the delay time in providing on demand content to a user. By caching at least a portion of media (e.g., the beginning of a video) at a media player, delays associated with startup times for that media can be undetectable by a viewer. Rather than delaying the start of a playback of the media, the media can be played immediately. The media playback device can be configured to automatically discard a portion of the media that has already been played and provide a seamless playback experience to a viewer.

Description

METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR REDUCING A TIME TO MEDIA PRESENTATION IN RECEIVERS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to tuning times in receivers and, more particularly, to a method, apparatus and system for reducing a time for media presentation in receivers such as set-top boxes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a receiver, such as a set-top box (STB), is tuned to a new stream, for example using either a standard real-time stream protocol (RTSP) redirect or a device group control protocol (DGCP) session description protocol tuning payload described in a commonly owned application, the STB takes a finite period of delay time to begin to play that new stream. That is, in current systems, the data provided to the STB is necessary but not sufficient to allow the STB to play the audio and video as rapidly as possible.

Such a configuration becomes especially problematic if the RTSP profile used is MPEG2 Transport Stream where the Transport Stream can contain any of a variety of devices for coding/decoding audio and/or video content. This leads to the common implementation of buffering the incoming stream and auto-detecting the information in order to configure a decoder correctly. This buffering causes a delay before the audio and video is played.

Another example of the aforementioned delay in playback of audio/video media clips is when an on-demand media is played - either through the request of a consumer or in response to an event that cause the media to play (for example, detecting the identity of a person in a digital signage context and providing a relevant video for that person to play automatically). In these instances there will be a slight delay as the video starts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention address the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a method, apparatus and system for reducing a time it takes for a receiver to start playing media in response to an on demand event.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the method for improving tuning time in receivers includes caching an initial part of at least one media clip into memory within the receiver, and determining whether a request for playback of the media clip has been received . When a request for media clip playback has been received, it is determined whether the requested media is one of the at least one cached media clips in memory, and if so, the cached initial part of the at least one media clip is played. Once the cached content starts playing, the remaining portion of the media content is spliced to the end of the cached content such that the user's viewing of the media content is not only played more quickly in response to the issued request, but is also seamless and without interruption after playing starts.

According to another embodiment of the invention, an apparatus for improving tuning time in receivers includes a processing unit configured to receive input media and a memory for enabling the processing unit to partially cache at least one media clip. In response to a request to play a media clip, the processing unit determines whether the requested media clip matches any partially cached at least one media clip, and when there is a match, the processing unit begins playing the requested media clip by playing the matching partially cached at least one media clip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the

accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a high level block diagram of a content distribution system in which various implementations of the present invention can be applied in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a high level block diagram of a retail advertising network in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a plan diagram of a latency reduction system for starting media playback according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of a method for reducing the latency of starting media playback according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary set top box for reducing the latency of starting media playback according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It should be understood that the drawings are for purposes of illustrating the concepts of the invention and are not necessarily the only possible

configuration for illustrating the invention. To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention advantageously provides a method, apparatus and system for reducing a time it takes for a receiver to start playing media in response to an on demand request for the same. Although the present invention will be described primarily within the context of an on demand requests for media, it is to be understood that the same may applied in a retail advertising network environment and a set-top box, the specific embodiments of the present invention should not be treated as limiting the scope of the invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and informed by the teachings of the present invention that the concepts of the present invention can be advantageously applied in substantially any content distribution environment having various types of receivers.

The functions of the various elements shown in the figures can be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions can be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which can be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term "processor" or "controller" should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and can implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor ("DSP") hardware, read-only memory ("ROM") for storing software, random access memory ("RAM"), and non-volatile storage. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure).

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the block diagrams presented herein represent conceptual views of illustrative system components and/or circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable media and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

FIG. 1 depicts a high level block diagram of a content distribution system in which various implementations of the present invention can be applied in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The content distribution system 100 of FIG. 1 illustratively comprises at least one server 1 10, a plurality of receiving devices such as tuning/decoding means (illustratively set-top boxes (STBs)) 120i-120_n, and a respective display 130i-130_n for each of the set-top boxes 120i-120_n, and other receiving devices, such as audio output devices

(illustratively speaker systems) 135i-135_n. Although in the system 100 of FIG. 1 , each of the plurality of set-top boxes 120i-120_n, is illustratively connected to a single, respective display, in alternate embodiments of the present principles, each of the plurality of set-top boxes 120r120_n, can be connected to more than a single display. In addition, although in the content distribution system 100 of FIG. 1 the tuning/decoding means are illustratively depicted as set-top boxes 120, in alternate embodiments of the present principles, the tuning/decoding means of the present invention can comprise alternate tuning/decoding means such as a tuning/decoding circuit integrated into the displays 130 or other stand alone tuning/decoding devices and the like. Even further, receiving devices of the present invention can include any devices capable of receiving content such as audio, video and/or audio/video content. In one embodiment, the content distribution system 100 of FIG. 1 can be a part of a retail advertising network. For example, FIG. 2 depicts a high level block diagram of a retail advertising network for providing retail advertising according to an aspect of the present principles. In the advertising network 200 of FIG. 2, the advertising network 200 and server system 100 employ a combination of software and hardware that provides cataloging, distribution, presentation, and usage tracking of music recordings, home video, product demonstrations, advertising content, and other such content, along with entertainment content, news, and similar consumer informational content in an in-store setting. The content can include content presented in compressed or uncompressed video and audio stream format (e.g., MPEG2, MPEG4/MPEG4 Part 10/AVC-H.264, VC-1 ,

Windows Media, etc.), although the present system should not be limited to using only those formats.

In one embodiment, software for controlling the various elements of the in- store advertising network 200 and the content distribution/server system 100 can include a 32-bit operating system using a windowing environment (e.g., MS- Windows™ or X-Windows™ operating system) and high-performance computing hardware. The advertising network 200 can utilize a distributed architecture and provides centralized content management and distribution control via, in one embodiment, satellite (or other method, e.g., a wide-area network (WAN), the Internet, a series of microwave links, or a similar mechanism) and in-store s.

As depicted in FIG. 2, the content for the retail advertising network 200 and the content distribution system 100 can be provided from an advertiser 202, a recording company 204, a movie studio 206 or other content providers 208. An advertiser 202 can be a product manufacturer, a service provider, an advertising company representing a manufacturer or service provider, or other entity.

Advertising content from the advertiser 202 can consist of audiovisual content including commercials, "info-mercials", product information and product

demonstrations, and the like.

A recording company 204 can be a record label, music publisher, licensing/publishing entity (e.g., BMI or ASCAP), individual artist, or other such source of music-related content. The recording company 204 provides audiovisual content such as music clips (short segments of recorded music), music video clips, and the like. The movie studio 206 can be a movie studio, a film production company, a publicist, or other source related to the film industry. The movie studio 106 can provide movie clips, pre-recorded interviews with actors and actresses, movie reviews, "behind-the-scenes" presentations, and similar content.

The other content provider 208 can be any other provider of video, audio or audiovisual content that can be distributed and displayed via, for example, the content distribution system 100 of FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, content is procured via the network management center 210 (NMC) using, for example, traditional recorded media (tapes, CD's, videos, and the like). Content provided to the NMC 210 is compiled into a form suitable for distribution to, for example, the local distribution system 100, which distributes and displays the content at a local site (e.g., within a particular store).

The NMC 210 can digitize the received content and provide it to a Network

Operations Center (NOC) 220 in the form of digitized data files 222. It will be noted that data files 222, although referred to in terms of digitized content, can also be streaming audio, streaming video, or other such information. The content compiled and received by the NMC 210 can include commercials, bumpers, graphics, audio and the like. All files are preferably named so that they are uniquely identifiable. More specifically, the NMC 210 creates distribution packs that are targeted to specific sites, such as store locations, and delivered to one or more stores on a scheduled or on-demand basis. The distribution packs, if used, contain content that is intended to either replace or enhance existing content already present on-site (unless the site's system is being initialized for the first time, in which case the packages delivered will form the basis of the site's initial content). Alternatively, the files can be compressed and transferred separately, or a streaming compression program of some type employed.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, the NOC 220 includes a Retail Network Manager (RNM) 224 for defining a particular group of servers to be monitored and/or controlled as a unit. That is, servers can be grouped by the RNM 224 according to a Device Group Control Protocol (DGCP) described in a commonly owned Provisional Patent Application serial no. 60/921714, filed on April 04, 2007 in the USPTO and an International Patent Application serial no. PCT/US07/013949, filed on June 13, 2007 in the PCT and electing the U.S., both entitled "Device Group Control", which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

That is, in accordance with the Device Group Control Protocol, each server can be configured to belong to at least one group - itself - and can also belong to many other groups. As such, commands or requests can be targeted by group - which can contain one or a plurality of servers. Each server of a group will, as such, transmit and receive using the same broadcast or multicast channel. In various embodiments of the above described invention, servers can support being members of as many groups as desired. In addition, servers can be configured to be members of or not members of groups either by using the protocol or by external means, such as configuration files or other transactions such as (Simple Network Management Protocol) SNMP or web configuration pages. In various embodiments of the present invention, servers can be grouped according to a commonality such as all stores within a certain zip code, all stores within a time zone, all stores within a particular state, and all stores within a particular region, a demographic characteristic and the like. Groups of systems can be assigned a unique identifier and then communicated with, monitored and controlled as a unit.

In the retail advertising network 200 of FIG. 2, the NOC 220 communicates digitized data files 222 to each associated server/content distribution system 100 at a commercial sales outlet 230 via a communications network 225. Each server 100 includes a group identifier unit 102 configured for enabling the server to examine an incoming message (e.g., from NOC 220) to determine if the server belongs to a target group to which the message applies.

In accordance with various embodiment of the present invention, the communications network 225 can be implemented in any one of several technologies. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, the communications network 225 can comprise a satellite link (satellite IP network) to distribute digitized data files 222 to each applicable server system 100 of, for example, commercial sales outlets 230. Such a configuration advantageously enables content to be distributed by multicasting the content to various locations simultaneously. Alternatively, the Internet can be used to both distribute audiovisual content to and allow feedback from commercial sales outlets 230. Other techniques and configurations for implementing the communications network 225, such as using leased lines, a microwave network, or other such mechanisms can also be used in accordance with alternate embodiments of the present invention.

At the local level (e.g., in-store), the server 110 of the content distribution system 100 is capable of receiving content (e.g., distribution packs) and, accordingly, distribute them in-store to the various receivers such as the set-top boxes 120 and displays 130 and the speaker systems 135. That is, at the content distribution system 100, content is received and configured for streaming. The streaming can be performed by one or more servers configured to act together or in concert. The streaming content can include content configured for various different locations or products throughout the sales outlet 230 (e.g., a store). For example, respective set-top boxes 120 and displays 130 and various speaker systems 135 can be located at specific locations throughout the sales outlet 230 and respectively configured to display content and broadcast audio pertaining to products located within a predetermined distance from the location of each respective set-top box and display.

The server 110 of the content distribution system 100 receives content and creates various different streams (e.g., content channels) of text, audio, video and/or audio/video to be communicated to the various receivers throughout the store. The streams can be individual channels of modulated audio, video and/or audio/video onto a radio frequency distribution or transmitted as data flows within a unicast or multicast internet protocol (IP) network. These streams can originate from one or more servers under the same logical set of control software.

For example, in one embodiment of the present invention a server of the present invention, such as the server 110 of the content distribution system 100 of FIG. 1 , can communicate received streams according to a Device Group Control Protocol described in a commonly owned Provisional Patent Application serial no. 60/921714, filed on April 04, 2007 in the USPTO and also filed as an International Patent Application serial no. PCT/US07/013949, filed on June 13, 2007 in the PCT and electing the U.S., both entitled "Device Group Control", which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

As mentioned above, in some contexts the STB (e.g., media player) do not have the storage space to cache entire media clips. However, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, if the player is intelligent, then it can cache only the beginning of a clip. One way to do this is to cache the initial or beginning portion of the media clip which, in this embodiment would be in the form of the first group of pictures (or the same concept of a group of pictures). For example, in MPEG2 the group of pictures (GOP) is often set at 10 frames of video. This group of video frames is encoded so that the first frame is a reference frame and the others are difference frames from that reference. Audio will be interspersed in with the video but at a much lower rate. Decoding of the video cannot begin until the source finds the reference frame. Audio cannot begin until the reference frame is found and decoded usually. Several factors can result in the reference frame being delivered to the player too slowly. The first is that the reference frame is often large and its size will take some time. In the case of IPTV multicast streaming, the first frame can have lost or delayed packets as the network sorts out the IGMP topology. The decoder requires that the entire reference frame be available so the application must wait until it all arrives to begin the decode process. The net effect is that the playback is delayed.

In some real-world applications such as Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising, there may be only a very short time to play the media during which the consumer will be in position to see it. These delays are not acceptable.

Figure 3 shows an example of an embodiment of system 300 for reducing latency and improving tuning time in STBs or other medial players. As shown, the entire media clips are represented by 302!, 302₂, 302_N and have an initial or beginning portion 304!, 304₂, 304_N and remaining portion 306i, 306₂, 306_N, respectively. In this embodiment, the various complete media clips 302 are provided from a networked server 308 that is connected to the STB 120 in either a wired or wireless network configuration. The STB 120 caches the initial or beginning portion 304i, 304₂, 304_N of the respective media clip in its memory. As noted above, each media clip includes a unique identifier that is used to match a request to play a media clip with those media clips contained in storage. If the requested media clip has a partial clip cached, the STB 120 will immediately play the partial clip immediately on the display 130. As the remaining portion of the media clip (corresponding to the playing cached partial clip) is received, it will be intelligently spliced to the end of the partially cached media that is playing, such that the user's viewing appears to be a seamless playback of the media clip.

Figure 4 shows a flow diagram of a method 400 for reducing tuning and playback of a media clip according to an embodiment of the invention. Initially, the first or first few GOPs of available medial clips are cached (402) into the memory of the STB. A determination (404) is then made as to whether or not an on demand request as been received. As noted above, this request can be generated by a user requesting media content via an on demand menu, or alternatively can be generated without user intervention, such as, for example in a retail environment that detects the user's presence and intends to provide targeted advertising to that detected user. Once a request for the playing of a media clip has been received, the STB will determine (406) whether the unique identifier of the requested media clips matches any of the partially cached media clips. If there is a match, the STB begins playing (408) the partially cached media clip and then splices (410) newly arrived media after the partially cached media to provide seamless playback on the display device.

In the event that the requested media clip's unique identifier does not match with the partially cached media clips, the real media is played (412) as soon as it arrives at the STB.

Figure 5 shows a block diagram of an STB 120 for reducing the latency of starting media playback according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, processor 500 receives media input from the input connection interface 504 and can partially cache media clips and store the same in the memory 502. In response to the appropriate demand for media, the processor 500, determines whether the requested media has been partially cached and stored in memory by comparing the unique identifier of requested media clips matches with the partially cached media clips in memory. As noted above, when there is a match, the processor will enabled the immediate playback of the partially cached media clip and splices the newly arrived media to the end of the partially cached medial clip already playing such that the user experiences seamless playback while. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that memory 502 can take many different forms without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, memory 502 can be any suitable form of writable or rewritable storage device, such as, for example, a hard disc storage device, an optical disc, RAM, DRAM, etc.

Having described various embodiments for a method, apparatus and system for reducing a time it takes for a receiver to start playing received content (which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments of the invention disclosed which are within the scope and spirit of the invention. While the forgoing is directed to various embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.

Claims

1. A method for reducing a time for media presentation in a receiver comprising the steps of:

caching (402) at least a portion of at least one media clip in a memory of the receiver;

determining (404) whether a request for playback of a media clip has been received;

when a request for playback of a media clip has been received, determining (406) whether the requested media clip is one of the cached at least one media clips, and if so, playing (408) the cached portion of the at least one media clip.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of determining (404) whether a request for playback of a medica clip has been received comprises detecting an on demand request for a media clip from a user input.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said said step of determining (404) whether a request for playback of a medica clip has been received comprises detecting a user's presence within a retail content distribution environment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining (406) whether the requested media is one of the at least one cached media clips in memory comprises comparing a unique identifier of the requested media clip with identifiers of the cached portions of the at least one media clip.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising splicing (410) respective additional portions of media clips after playing cached portions of the at least one media clip to provide seamless playback.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of caching (402) further comprises caching at least one group of pictures (GOP) of the at least one media clip.

7. An apparatus for improving tuning time in receivers comprising: a processing unit (500) configured to receive media;

a memory (502) for enabling the processing unit to partially cache at least one media clip;

wherein, in response to a request to play a media clip, said processing unit determines whether the requested media clip matches any cached portion of the at lease one media clip, and if so, the processing unit causes the playing of the matching portion of the cached at least one media clip.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said processing unit determines whether the requested media matches one of the at least one cached media clip portions by comparing a unique identifier of the requested media clip with identifiers for the cached portions of the at least one media clip.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable program thereon, wherein when said program is executed performs the steps of: caching (402) at least a portion of at least one media clip in a memory of the receiver;

when a request for playback of a media clip has been received,

determining (406) whether the requested media clip is one of the cached at least one media clips, and if so, playing (408) the cached portion of the at least one media clip.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said determining whether a request for playback of a medica clip has been received includes detecting an on demand request for a media clip from a user input.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said determining whether a request for playback of a medica clip has been received includes detecting a user's presence within a retail content distribution environment.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said determining whether the requested media is one of the at least one cached media clips includes comparing a unique identifier of the requested media clip with identifiers for the cached portions of the at least one media clip.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer further comprises splicing respective additional portions of media clips after the playing of cached portions of the at least one media clip to provide seamless playback.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said caching further includes caching at least one group of pictures (GOP) of the at least one media clip.