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WO2002009429A2 - Systeme et procede pour telediffusion multimedia adaptable, dimensionnable sur un reseau - Google Patents

Systeme et procede pour telediffusion multimedia adaptable, dimensionnable sur un reseau Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2002009429A2
WO2002009429A2 PCT/IB2001/001344 IB0101344W WO0209429A2 WO 2002009429 A2 WO2002009429 A2 WO 2002009429A2 IB 0101344 W IB0101344 W IB 0101344W WO 0209429 A2 WO0209429 A2 WO 0209429A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
network
parameter
multimedia
quality
resource
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2001/001344
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2002009429A3 (fr
Inventor
Christopher Piche
Shahadatulla Khan
Original Assignee
Eyeball Network Games Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Eyeball Network Games Inc. filed Critical Eyeball Network Games Inc.
Priority to AU2001272701A priority Critical patent/AU2001272701A1/en
Publication of WO2002009429A2 publication Critical patent/WO2002009429A2/fr
Publication of WO2002009429A3 publication Critical patent/WO2002009429A3/fr

Links

Classifications

    • 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
    • H04L65/80—Responding to QoS
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/234—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
    • H04N21/2343—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements
    • H04N21/234327—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
    • H04N21/25808—Management of client data
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/266—Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
    • H04N21/2662—Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • 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
    • H04N21/4402—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 reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display
    • H04N21/440227—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 reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—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
    • 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]
    • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63—Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/64—Addressing
    • H04N21/6405—Multicasting

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to information networks and multimedia systems.
  • the present invention relates to a method and system for providing adaptable, scalable, multimedia broadcasting to a plurality of network devices over a communications network such as the Internet.
  • packet-based information networks such as the Internet
  • packet-based information networks are increasingly being used for the delivery of streaming multimedia broadcasts including video and audio to individual viewers.
  • Limitations in the underlying structure of packet networks for providing real-time streaming data are being overcome by development of robust server and router technologies as well as intelligent client/server software design and sophisticated compression technologies.
  • Computer users may connect to the Internet through a personal computer and access a multimedia server that transmits a selected multimedia stream across the Internet to the user's personal computer.
  • the multimedia stream may be played in real-time on the personal computer and/or stored on the personal computer for playback at the user's convenience.
  • Multicast is a networking paradigm that overcomes many of the disadvantages of unicast streaming. Multicast is an efficient way to deliver a single stre tm of live data to several thousand recipients at the same time. Instead of sending multiple streams of information to multiple users, a content provider sends only one stream of audio, video, and/or data. The multimedia content is delivered to thousands of users via multicast-enabled routers dispersed throughout the network.
  • Multicast operates by transmitting a single data stream from a server to a group of devices connected to the network.
  • the single video stream is recursively split into multiple streams in the network by multicast routers that forward multiple copies of the stream to individual network devices that have subscribed to the multicast group. Because the server only needs to send a single stream of data, a broadcast may be transmitted to an unlimited number of network devices without exceeding the bandwidth limitations between the server and the network.
  • WWW World Wide Web
  • Network node architecture including server technologies on the server side as well as processing capacity at the client side varies dramatically throughout the network.
  • clients may connect to the Internet using any number of methods, each associated with varying average bandwidth.
  • broadband technologies are rapidly being deployed, most clients still connect to the Internet using a low bandwidth dial-up connection, which at a maximum provides 56 kilobits of data per second.
  • Digital Subscriber Line (“Digital Subscriber Line”) technology typically may achieve anywhere from 250 Kbps up through 1.5 Mbps. Clients connected to the Internet using a Tl line receive 1.5 Mbps. However, this bandwidth is typically shared among multiple users within an organization. Future technologies including fiber to the curb and/or wireless technologies may provide higher guaranteed bandwidth to individual users.
  • multimedia data is typically encoded and compressed for transmission over the Internet.
  • Internet users typically have vastly different hardware power at their disposal, which is determinative of the ability to decode, decompress and adequately play back multimedia streams.
  • a particular multimedia stream would be delivered to a particular client in a manner that maximized the attributes associated with the client including bandwidth and processing capacity.
  • the basic concept of multicasting runs fundamentally counter to providing adaptable broadcasts tailored for individual clients. For example, to accommodate network devices that are connected to the network across a relatively low bandwidth link and/or have low processing capabilities, a multimedia server might be forced to reduce the amount of data that is transmitted in the stream to the lowest common denominator of bandwidth and processing capacity among clients receiving the stream. For example, with video broadcasts this may be accomplished by reducing the image resolution, frame refresh rate or number of display colors. However, these reductions result in a decrease in the video quality, and may be unacceptable for users having more powerful network devices with broadband connections to the communications network.
  • broadcast technologies for delivering multimedia streams over packet networks such as the Internet and WWW would provide robust capabilities for adapting and tailoring multimedia streams to meet the resources available at each client individually.
  • the present invention provides a method and system to transmit a multimedia data stream over an information network to a plurality of clients, collectively characterized by possessing heterogeneous resource capabilities in order to maximize the quality and effectiveness of the multimedia broadcast for each of the plurality of clients.
  • a multimedia data stream is processed to generate a plurality of substream components, which may include subband components of a signal.
  • a plurality of distribution layers are defined, wherein each distribution layer is associated with at least one substream component an.! defines a particular quality of a multimedia stream.
  • a dynamically varying set of subscriber groups is defined, wherein each subscriber group may include one or more clients that have subscribed to receive a particular layer.
  • Each distribution layer i.e., the associated substream components
  • a particular subscriber group i.e., set of clients.
  • Clients may dynamically subscribe and/or unsubscribe to defined subscriber groups as a function of dynamically changing variables at the client including a resource metric and a quality profile parameter.
  • the present invention provides a dynamic subscribe/unsubscribe process at each client as a function of a measurement of a resource metric or some other parameter and a quality profile parameter.
  • clients will typically be coupled to the information network utilizing a network device, which may include a personal computer, digital television or other network appliance.
  • a multimedia broadcast node coupled to an information network provides a locus for processing and transmission of multimedia data.
  • the multimedia broadcast node includes a multimedia server system and at least one permanent storage device.
  • the multimedia broadcast node may transmit a live captured multimedia stream (e.g., a video source utilizing a video camera for generating a real-time video signal).
  • the multimedia broadcast node may transmit previously captured multimedia streams, which have been archived using the permanent storage device at the node.
  • the multimedia server system includes one or more computing devices adapted to process multimedia data into a plurality of substream components, assign the substream components to distribution layers and transmit the distribution layers to the information network.
  • the processing of a multimedia stream into various distribution layers at the multimedia broadcast node provides a scalable system for delivery of multimedia streams to clients at varying quality levels as a function of one or more parameters measured at each client.
  • the present invention provides an automated system, which allows each client to subscribe to fewer or more distribution layers dynamically as a function of varying parameters at the client.
  • Each client is associated with a network device, which defines an inherent resource metric including a bandwidth metric and processing capacity metric. For example, bandwidth resources are limited by the method by which the network device is coupled to c information network and processing capaci t y ⁇ resources are limited by the computational power of the network device itself.
  • the multimedia server system utilizes a multicast protocol and maintains a state relationship describing an association between each of a plurality of multicast groups and the each of the distribution layers defined at the multimedia broadcast node. For each distribution layer, the multimedia server system transmits all encoded substream components to a particular multicast group.
  • Multicast routers coupled to the information network run a multicast protocol, which functions to recursively split the stream into multiple streams and forward the data streams to the network devices that have subscribed to the respective multicast groups.
  • Each network device at each client includes a multimedia adaptation system comprising software, hardware and/or a combination of both to selectively subscribe to receive one or more of the distribution layers defining a multimedia data stream in order to optimize the quality of the received multimedia data and based on a quality profile parameter.
  • a network device can join a live multimedia session at a particular quality level. The quality of the displayed multimedia data may then be gracefully upgraded or degraded during the session to accommodate varying conditions at the network device including connection bandwidth, processing capabilities and display capabilities.
  • the multimedia adaptation system includes a receiver module, a resource monitor module, a quality profile module and a decoder module.
  • the resource monitor module and the quality profile module provide input to the receiver module.
  • the resource monitor module performs a real-measurement of available resources at the network device such as bandwidth availability and processing capacity.
  • the quality profile module provide input to the receiver module as a function of a client defined quality profile module, which defines client preferences regarding quality parameters associated with a multimedia broadcast.
  • the receiver module dynamically subscribes and unsubscribes to multicast groups defined at the multimedia broadcast node (associated with distribution layers) as a function of the resource monitor module and the quality profile module.
  • Each network device further includes a play-timer module, which determines data packets to be processed. In particular, only data packets having a timestamp that is more recent than a play-timer parameter are processed.
  • the decoder module decodes received data packets to produce the data blocks associated with the corresponding distribution layers. The decoder then synthesizes the multimedia stream and transmits the data to a rendering device.
  • FIG. la is a logical diagram that depicts a number of data structures and processing functions with respect to a multimedia stream according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. lb is a block diagram and temporal flow diagram that depicts a realtime adaptive process for transmitting and receiving a multimedia broadcast among a number of clients with respect to a resource metric parameter according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2a is a block diagram of an exemplary network architecture including a multimedia network node in relationship to a plurality of clients having various resource capabilities according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2b is a block diagram of a multimedia network node according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a flowchart of steps for a video encoding process performed by multimedia server, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is block diagram that graphically illustrates a multimedia encoding process according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates an iterative wavelet decomposition process with respect to a color component of a field of a video frame according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 6 illustrates a relationship between the decomposed subbands of a color component generated utilizing an iterative wavelet decomposition process according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a chart that illustrates an exemplary characterization often layers of a video stream generated by multiplexing one or more substream components according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting a number of modules, which are executed on a network device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9 is a flowchart of steps defining an adaptation logic performed by a receiver module in order to optimize reception quality of a multimedia stream at a network device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting a set of steps performed by a decoder module according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 11a illustrates a quality profile preference graph according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 lb is a diagram illustrating a mapping between a set of operating qualities according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. lie shows an exemplary session resource profile graph according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 Id is a flowchart illustrating a set of steps performed by a quality profile module in order to perform dynamic adaptation of media quality based upon available resources according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates an overall operation of an encoding and decoding process between a multimedia network node and a client according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • the present invention provides a method and system for distributing multimedia data streams to a plurality of clients characterized by a heterogeneous array of resource capabilities in order to maximize the reception quality and resource efficiency for each client.
  • FIG. la is a logical diagram that depicts a number of data structures and processing functions with respect to a multimedia stream according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Multimedia stream 105 many include video, audio, speech, animation, etc. Thus, a particular multimedia stream 105 is associated with a type, which defines the nature of the stream.
  • multimedia stream 105 may be natural (i.e., captured from a real world event), or synthetic (e.g., synthesized or mixed). As shown in FIG. la, multimedia stream 105 is processed to generate a plurality of substream components 110(1)-110(N). Substream components 110 may be thought of as element portions or building blocks of the original multimedia stream 105. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize that the number of substream components 110 generated from multimedia stream i05 is variable and will depend upon specific variations in implement of the present invention. Substream components 110 may be generated from multimedia stream 105 utilizing any number of methods. For example, substream components 110 may be subband components of multimedia stream 105 generated by processing multimedia stream 105 through one or more subband filters. This processing may be effected in software, hardware or a combination of both. An exemplary subband filtering method is described below with respect to a video stream type.
  • FIG. la also shows a relationship between substream components 110(1)- 110(N) and distribution layers 120( 1 )- 120(N).
  • Each distribution layer 120 represents a single data object that provides a quantum of multimedia data at a particular quality level.
  • each substream component 110 generated from a multimedia stream 105 is associated with a distribution layer 120.
  • each distribution layer 120(1)-120(N) includes a portion of original multimedia stream 105 defined by the set of substream components 110 associated with the distribution layer 120.
  • Substream components 110 may be mapped to a single distribution layer or to multiple distribution layers. For example, as shown in FIG. la, substream components 110(1)-110(2) are mapped to distribution layer 120(1), substream components 110(3)- 110(5) are mapped to distribution layer 12G(2) and substream component 110(6) is mapped to distribution layer 120(3).
  • each distribution layer 120 is inherently associated with a quality parameter and a bandwidth parameter, which are defined by the number and nature of substream components 110 assigned to e distribution layer 120.
  • FIG. lb is a block diagram and temporal flow diagram that depicts a realtime adaptive process for transmitting and receiving a multimedia broadcast among a number of clients with respect to a resource metric parameter according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. lb shows three clients, 105a-105c that desire to receive a particular multimedia broadcast.
  • FIG. lb depicts only three clients 105a- 105c, however, the present invention is compatible with any number of clients 105.
  • clients 105a- 105c are each associated with a resource metric parameter 130a- 130c respectively and a subscription parameter 140a- 140c respectively. The meaning of these parameters and their function with respect to the operation will become evident as the invention is further described.
  • resource metric parameter 130 reflects a real-time measurement conducted by each client 105 regarding available resources at the client for receiving and rendering multimedia data.
  • each client 105 is associated with a network device (not shown in FIG. lb) that provides various resources for receiving and rendering multimedia data.
  • Resources may include bandwidth and processing/ computational power.
  • resources may include any metric reflective of a.client s capabilities in receiving and rendering a multimedia broadcast stream.
  • Subscription parameter 140 stores time-varying data that reflects a set of distribution layers 120 that a particular client 105 has elected to receive. As described herein, it is convenient to think of clients 105 subscribing to particular distribution layers 120, which they receive by virtue of their subscription. In general, each client 105 dynamically adjusts subscription parameter 140 as a function of time varying parameters at the client 105, which will become evident as the invention is further described. For example, according to one embodiment subscription parameter 140 is time varying as a function of resource metric parameter 130 indicated by an arrow drawn from resource metric parameter 130 to subscription parameter 140.
  • FIG. lb also depicts resource availability graphs 199a- 199c, each respectively describe a temporal evolution of available resources at clients 105a- 105c.
  • resource availability graphs 199a- 199c describe the temporal evolution of resource metric parameters 130a- 130c associated with respective clients 105a- 105c.
  • the particular characteristic of each resource availability graph 199a- 199c which of course is determinative of respective resource metric parameter 130a- 130c is ultimately reflected as respective subscription parameter 140a- 140c and thereby the respective distribution layers 120 to which a particular client 105 subscribes at any given time.
  • resource availability graph 199a shows low resource availability between times tO and tl, high resource availability between times tl and t2 and medium resource availability between times t2 and t3.
  • a characteristic resource availability at client 105a is measured as resource metric 130a from which subscription parameter 140a is generated.
  • client 105a has low resource capability and therefore subscribes to distribution layer 120(3) only (which includes only one substream component 110(6)).
  • client 105a has a high resource availability and therefore subscribes to distribution layers 120(1) and 120(2) which include substream components 110(1)- 110(2) and 110(3)- 110(5) respectively.
  • client 105a has medium resource availability and subscribes to distribution layer 120(1), which includes substream components 110(1) and 110(2).
  • resource availability graph 199b reflects resource availability at client 105b.
  • client 105b enjoys high resource availability and therefore subscribes to distribution layers 120(1) and 120(2).
  • client 105(c) has low resource availability from time t0-t3.
  • time t0-t3 client 105(c) subscribes only to layer 120(3), which includes a single substream 110(6).
  • the present invention provides a quality profile module, which allows clients 105 to select preferential media parameters, which are determinative of subscription to particular distribution layers 105 provided a given resource metric 103.
  • FIG. 2a is a block diagram of an exemplary network architecture including a multimedia network node in relationship to a plurality of clients each associated with a network device and having various resource capabilities according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • clients 205a-205e are coupled to multimedia broadcast node 220 via information network 214.
  • each client 205a-205e is associated with one or more network devices 210a-210f, which are each coupled to information network 214 via respective network interface 215a-215e.
  • client 205a utilizes a narrowband network interface 215a comprising a dial-up connection
  • clients 205b-205c utilize broadband network interfaces 215b-215c, comprising a cable modem and a DSL ("Digital Subscriber Line") respectively.
  • Client 205d also utilizes broadband network interface 215d comprising a Tl connection.
  • bandwidth on network interface 215d is shared between network devices 210d-210f.
  • client 105e utilizes a wireless network interface 215e.
  • bandwidth available to clients 205a-205e is a time varying parameter depending upon numerous conditions including network load, network congestion, etc.
  • Clients 205a-205e each utilize a respective network device 210a-210e to transmit, receive and display multimedia data transmitted from multimedia network node 120.
  • Each network device 210a-210e is associated with varying multimedia rendering hardware and processing capacity.
  • client 205a utilizes network device 210a that includes a personal computer, audio speakers (not shown) and a high resolution CRT ("Cathode Ray Tube").
  • personal computer 210a may include a relatively fast processor (not shown) for example an Intel
  • Pentium III 500 MHz processor capable of performing robust data processing tasks such as decoding and decompression of encoded multimedia data or a slower processor that has more limited data processing capabilities.
  • Personal computer 210a may include a video accelerator hardware, and high quality surround-sound speakers or none at all.
  • Client 205b utilizes network device 210b that includes a high quality digital television and surround-sound speakers (not shown). It is assumed that digital television 210b includes sufficient processing capacity to decode and display high bandwidth video and audio data.
  • Client 205c utilizes network device 210c, which is a laptop computer. For the purpose of this example, it is assumed that laptop computer 210c includes a relatively low power processor, video display hardware and audio hardware (not shown).
  • Client 205d includes network devices 210d-21 Of , which are typically personal computers, display devices and other multimedia hardware of various capabilities. Note that network devices 21 Od-21 Of are coupled via network 263.
  • client 205 e which is coupled to information network 214 via wireless interface 215e may utilize a network device that is a laptop computer or even a palm computing device that typically includes low power processing and display rendering power.
  • respective network devices 215a- 215a are subject to dynamic variations in available processing capacity as a result of respective clients 205a-205e devoting processing resources to other tasks, which may be running concurrently.
  • network devices 210 may include any device that is capable of receiving and displaying a media stream such as a digital television, a personal computer or some other network appliance.
  • the present invention is compatible with any number of coupled network devices 210 utilizing any type of network interface 215.
  • the network architecture depicted in FIG. 2a is highly simplified.
  • Information network 214 may include any information network public or private including the Internet, World- Wide- Web ("WWW, a wide area network (“WAN”), metropolitan area network (“MAN”), Intranet, local area network (“LAN”) or even a wireless network.
  • WWW World- Wide- Web
  • WAN wide area network
  • MAN metropolitan area network
  • LAN local area network
  • the present invention is compatible with any type of information network utilizing a communications link capable of transmitting a data stream from multimedia broadcast node 220 to a plurality of network devices 215 at respective clients 205.
  • the network 214 includes a plurality of multicast routers that support the IP (“Internet Protocol”) multicast protocol, such as the Internet's multicast backbone (“Mbone”).
  • IP Internet Protocol
  • Mbone multicast backbone
  • Multimedia broadcast node 220 may be coupled to information network 214 using a broadband connection such as Tl, T3, DSL, etc.
  • multimedia broadcast node 220 may be coupled to information network 214 through a wireless connection, a st ndard telephone line, an electrical line or a local area network.
  • FIG. 2b is a block diagram of a multimedia broadcast node according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • multimedia broadcast node 220 includes front-end system 260, and multimedia server system 270.
  • Front end system 260 provides a graphical user interface ("GUI") to allow clients 105 to transmit and receive information with multimedia network node 220.
  • GUI graphical user interface
  • front-end subsystem 260 includes front-end server 265a and HTML ("Hypertext Markup Language”) database 267.
  • Front-end server 265a serves HTML pages to clients 105 coupled to multimedia broadcast node 220.
  • Multimedia broadcast node 220 also includes multimedia server system 270, which provides a locus for processing multimedia data for transmission to clients via information network 214.
  • Front-end server 265a is coupled to multimedia server 265b at multimedia server system 270.
  • multimedia server 265b includes at least one processor (not shown) to perform processing of multimedia streams 105 such as encoding and compression.
  • multimedia server 265 further includes a program memory (not shown) for storing instructions, for execution to perform such processes as encoding multimedia data and perform other processing functions, which will become evident as the invention is further described.
  • multimedia server 265b performs one or more processes to process a multimedia stream 105 to generate substream components 110.
  • multimedia server 265b performs a subband filtering process on a multimedia stream 105 to generate subband components.
  • Multimedia server 265b also performs a related process to assign generated substream components 110 to distribution layers 120.
  • multimedia server 265b maintains a representation of a mapping between distribution layers 120 and particular substream components 110 with respect to a particular multimedia stream type 105.
  • multimedia server 265b maintains a data structure representing a relationship between various distribution layers 120 and multicast groups. In order to transmit a particular layer to a particular set of clients 205, multimedia server 265b simply transmits a distribution layer 120 to a corresponding multicast group via information network 214.
  • multimedia server system 270 includes storage device 280 and capture device 275.
  • Storage device may store any type of data but in particular stores previously recorded multimedia data to be transmitted from multimedia network node 220 to clients 205 via information network 214.
  • multimedia server 265b is coupled to multimedia capture device 275.
  • Multimedia capture device 275 may include any device that is capable of capturing media information such as a video camera or microphone and transmitting an appropriate media data signal to multimedia server 265b.
  • multimedia capture device may be a National TV Standards Committee ("NTSC") video recorder, a digital video camera, a Digital Video Disk player or a video camera transmitting video signals to multimedia server 265b in real time.
  • NTSC National TV Standards Committee
  • multimedia capture device 275 is a video camera, which captures a live performance, generates appropriate electromagnetic data signals representative of the performance and transmits these data signals to the multimedia server 265b.
  • multimedia capture device 275 will typically perform other functions inherent to signal processing including analog to digital conversion, encoding, etc.
  • multimedia server 265b is a Unix server running the Solaris operating system, and includes a video capture card, such as a Videolab capture card from Analog Devices, Inc., Norwood, Massachusetts, which is used to capture individual video frames transmitted from multimedia capture device 275.
  • FIG. 2b shows multimedia server 265b located at multimedia network node 220, in alternative embodiments, multimedia server 265b may be located at a geographically distant site.
  • FIG. 3 is a flowchart of steps for a video encoding process performed by multimedia server 265b according to one embodiment of the present invention. Although this embodiment depicts only a video encoding process, similar techniques could be applied to other encoding algorithms for other media types such as audio, etc.
  • FIG. 4 is block diagram that graphically illustrates some of the steps depicted in FIG. 3. Note that the last two digits of the corresponding steps are identical in FIGS. 3 and 4. This process, for example, may pertain to the encoding of video received from capture device 275 or video stored on storage device 280.
  • step 310 the process is initiated.
  • step 315 a next video frame 415 is retrieved.
  • each video frame 415 is decomposed into two fields 420a- 420b, which are separately encoded.
  • a first field 420a includes even numbered horizontal lines of the original video frame 415 and the second field 420b includes odd numbered horizontal lines.
  • each field 420a-420b is separated into color components 425.
  • a Cyber color model is utilized and each field 420a-420b is separated into a luminance component (Y) and two chrominance components (Cb, Cr).
  • RGB Red/Green/Blue
  • a subband filter bank is applied to each color component 425 to produce a set of subbands 430.
  • 14 subbands are generated according to a process described in detail below with respect to FIG. 5.
  • each color component 425 is decomposed using a wavelet transform into 14 subbands 425.
  • Wavelet techniques are well known in the art for performing encoding and compression of signals, and include techniques for filtering an image (or image components) into any number of discrete frequency subbands using iterative low-pass and high-pass filtering.
  • the data for each layer is quantized using an appropriate quantization routine.
  • the quantized data is compressed using either a lossless, a lossy or a combination of both compression routine.
  • an entropy encoding algorithm such as Huffman coding, run length coding or fixed length coding is performed.
  • the present invention is compatible with any type of compression technique, lossless or lossy.
  • temporal compression techniques such as motion compensation that further exploit temporal redundancy between successive blocks of frames may be applied.
  • a multiplexing step is performed.
  • substream components 110 corresponding to a distribution layer 120 are multiplexed for transmission through information network 214. Multiplexing may include frame packing techniques to encode each distribution layer 120 for transmission.
  • the multicast protocol is utilized and thus frames are generated for each distribution layer 120 corresponding to a particular multicast group associated with the distribution layer 120.
  • each distribution layer 120 is transmitted to information network 214.
  • each Q distribution layer is associated with a multicast group, which is transmitted to information network 214 in a single data stream using the Real Time Protocol ("RTP").
  • RTP Real Time Protocol
  • RTP is a transparent protocol that supports real-time transmission of streaming audio and video.
  • RTP breaks the data stream into a sequence of packets that are transmitted to information network 214.
  • Each packet 5 includes a header storing media time-stamp, packet sequence number, data identification and source identification information.
  • Multicast routers (not shown), which are coupled to information network 214, perform recursive splitting of transmitted multicast streams into multiple streams, which are forwarded through information network 214 to particular network devices 210 that have subscribed to 0 the each respective multicast group.
  • step 355 it is determined whether all data for the particular multimedia broadcast has been processed. If not ('no' branch of step 355), the next frame is retrieved in step 315. Otherwise, the process ends in step 360.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates an iterative wavelet decomposition 5 process with respect to a color component of a field of a video frame according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • a horizontal frequency of the color component 425 is filtered using a half-band low-pass filter and a half-band high-pass filter, producing a low-frequency subband (L) and a high-frequency subband (H), respectively.
  • a horizontal low-frequency sub-band (L) of 0 the color component 425 is filtered using a half-band low-pass filter and a half- band high-pass filter, producing a low-frequency subband and a high frequency subband.
  • each subband is then filtered using a half-band low-pass filter and a half-band high-pass filter, producing a pair of low-frequency subbands (LL1 and HLI) and a pair of high-frequency subbands (LH1 and HL1), respectively.
  • the filtering process of step 530 is repeated in steps 535-545 using the LL1 subband from the preceding step.
  • FIG. 6 illustrates a relationship between the decomposed subbands of a color component generated utilizing an iterative wavelet decomposition process such as that illustrated in FIG. 5.
  • the decomposition of the color component 425 produced a unique horizontal and vertical frequency range and one of six resolution levels R1-R6.
  • Block LL4 represents the color component 425 at the lowest level of resolution, and along with the blocks LH4, HL4 and HH4 includes the least number of bits.
  • the color component 425 may be iteratively reconstructed t any of the higher resolutions by reversing the iterative process illustrated in Fig. 5.
  • the color component 425 can be reconstructed at resolution level R2 by synthesizing blocks LL4, LH4, HL4 and HH4.
  • FIG. 7 is a chart that illustrates an exemplary characterization often layers of a video stream generated by multiplexing one or more substream components according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • distribution layers 120 are generated by first grouping substream components 110 into particular resolution levels (e.g., resolutions 1-6). Then, groups of resolution levels are assigned to distribution layers 120.
  • each distribution layer 120 is utilized, and each resolution is distributed to one of the ten distribution layers 120. As illustrated in FIG. 7, each distribution layer 120 of the preferred embodiment includes a unique combination of resolution level and frame rate. Each substream component 110 is added to an appropriate distribution layer 120 based on its resolution and frame rate characteristics.
  • a substream component 110 having a corresponding resolution level of 6 will be added to distribution layer 10 120, and a substream component 110 having a corresponding resolution level of 1 will be added to one of distribution layer 1 120, distribution layer 2 120 or distribution layer 3 120 based on frame rate (e.g., every sixth substream component 110 will be added to distribution layer 1 120; every third substream component 110 that has not been added to distribution layer 1 120 will be added to distribution layer 2 120; and every substream component 110 that has not been added to distribution layer 1 120 or distribution layer 2 120 will be added to distribution layer 3 120).
  • multimedia server 265b would perform similar processing, encoding and compression of other media types that collectively would comprise a multimedia broadcast.
  • multimedia server system 270 may further include an audio card for capturing audio signals.
  • Multimedia server 265b would then p rform processing, encoding and compression of audio data to generate substream components 110 and assign these substream components to layers 120, which would then be transmitted to network 214.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting a r. ;.mber of modules, which are executed on a network device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The modules depicted in FIG. 8, may be implemented directly on respective network devices 210 at clients 205 or according to an alternative embodiment upon a self-contained hardware platform.
  • FIG. 8 shows decoder module 801, resource monitor module 803, receiver module 805, quality profile module 807 and play timer module 809.
  • Resource monitor module 803 performs real-time analysis of available resources at network device 210 in order to determine a resource metric parameter 130, including for example, available bandwidth and processing capacity. According to one embodiment, resource monitor module 803 performs analysis by generating a resource metric parameter 130 to determine whether resources at network device 210 (i.e., bandwidth and processing capabilities) are currently being over-subscribed or under-subscribed. Resource monitor module 803 provides output of its analysis to receiver module 805, which may perform adding or dropping of distribution layers 120 based partly upon the analysis provided by resource monitor module 803.
  • Quality profile module 807 provides logic and data structures, for controlling receiver module 805 as a function of a client selected quality profile.
  • clients 205 may select a preferred quality profile that defines an algorithm for adding and dropping layers 120 as a function of desired tradeoffs between various media quality attributes.
  • a client 205 may desire to have a higher frame rate at the expense of resolution quality.
  • quality profile module 807 would cause receiver module 805 to subscribe to layers 120 at a higher frame rate at the expense of higher resolution layers 120 if resources so demanded.
  • quality preferences are selected by a client 105 through a GUI interface (e.g., a browser) running on the network device 210. The operation of client profile module 807 is described in further detail below with respect to FIG. 11.
  • Receiver module 805 provides a dynamic process to subscribe to and unsubscribe from distribution layers 120 as a function of input from quality profile module 807 and resource monitor module 803.
  • receiver module 805 subscribes to a particular distribution layer 120 by initiating a program thread that waits for data packets associated with the distribution layer. For example, according to one embodiment which utilizes the multicast transmission protocol, subscription to a particular distribution layer 120 is performed by initiating a program thread that awaits data packets targeted to a particular IP ("Internet Protocol") address associated with the multicast group.
  • IP Internet Protocol
  • receiver module 805 might execute a process to add a subscription to a particular distribution layer 120 to more fully utilize the system resources of the network device 210.
  • Receiver module 805 determines an appropriate layer to add or drop as a function of input from quality profile module 807 associated with network device 210.
  • Datastream packets received at receiver module are further processed in preparation for decoding.
  • a data stream is delivered in packets from network 214 using RTP, and is reassembled using the RTP header information to identify the frame to which the packet belongs.
  • play timer module 809 analyzes received packets to determine whether the RTP timestamp on the packets is more recent than the current count of the play timer module 809.
  • Receiver module 805 passes a packet to decoder module 801 only if its RTP timestamp is more recent than the current play-timer.
  • FIG. 9 is a flowchart of steps defining an adaptation logic performed by a receiver module in order to optimize reception quality of a multimedia stream at a network device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • receiver module 805 considers network packet loss rate as an indicator of the network performance.
  • step 905 the process is initiated.
  • step 910 receiver module sets an adaptation timer via play timer module 809.
  • step 915 it is determined whether the adaptation timer has expired. If so ('yes' branch of step 915), flow continues with step 920. If not ('no' branch of step 915), the wait continues with step 915.
  • a measured network packet loss rate is compared to an upper threshold and/or a measured CPU load is compared with a CPU threshold parameter. If the network packet loss rate is greater than an upper threshold amount for acceptable packet loss (e.g., 3%) and/or the CPU load is greater than the CPU threshold parameter, ('yes' branch of step 920) then receiver moduli 805 causes network device 210 to drop its subscription to one or more multicast groups (i.e., distribution layers) in step 925.
  • an upper threshold amount for acceptable packet loss e.g., 3%) and/or the CPU load is greater than the CPU threshold parameter
  • receiver module 805 compares the network packet loss rate with a lower threshold amount for optimal packet loss (e.g., .1%). If the network packet loss rate is lower than the lower threshold ('yes' branch of step 940) and/or CPU load is less than the CPU threshold parameter, in step 930, receiver module 805 adds a subscription to one or more distribution layers 120. The process is then repeated for a new time interval in step 910.
  • a lower threshold amount for optimal packet loss e.g., .1%
  • Decoder module 801 performs decoding of packets belonging to a multimedia frame whose time-stamp is more recent than the play-timer.
  • FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting a set of steps performed by a decoder module according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • step 1005 the process is initiated.
  • step 1007 entropy decoding is performed on the frame data. This step may include Huffman decoding, run-length decoding or a combination of both.
  • step 1010 inverse quantization is performed on the entropy decoded data from step 1007.
  • step 1012 it is determined whether all subbands of a color have been processed for the current frame.
  • step 1007 If all subbands of a color have not been processed ('no' branch of step 1012), flow continues with step 1007. If so ('yes' branch of step 1012), in step 1014 all subband components for the current color component are assembled into an appropriate data structure. In step 1016, inverse subband filtering is performed on the data. For example, as described above, according to one embodiment an inverse wavelet transform is performed. In step 1018 it is determined whether all color components for the current frame have been processed. If so ('yes' branch of step 1018), the process ends in step 1020. If not ('no' branch of step 1018), flow continues with step 1007. The processed video frames are then transmitted to a rendering engine (not shown), which may include software hardware or a combination of both. According to one embodiment, quality profile module 807 dynamically adapts the Quality of multimedia information received at a network device 210 by specifying particular distribution layers 120 that should be subscribed to or unsubscribed from.
  • An operating quality q 1101 of a session is defined of a vector (3-tuple) of individual media qualities:
  • a quality profile 1105 of a session is defined as a sequence of acceptable operating qualities in increasing order of preference (from minimum acceptable quality to highest desired quality):
  • FIG. 11a illustrates an exemplary quality profile graph according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 11a shows a plot of three exemplary operating qualities 1101 a- 1101c comprising a quality profile Pi 1105.
  • quality profile Pi 1105 may include other points, which may lie along a quality profile curve 1105.
  • Each operating quality point 1101 a- 1101c represents a distinct combination of image, video and audio quality.
  • operating quality point 1101a represents low quality video and audio and high quality image.
  • Operating quality point 1101b represents medium quality image, audio and video.
  • Operating quality point 1101c represents high quality video and audio and low quality image.
  • operating quality point 1101a may correspond to 5 fps low resolution video, 8-bit mono audio and image resolution of 1280x1024.
  • Operating quality point 1101b might correspond to 20fps medium resolution video, 16-bit stereo audio and image resolution of 680x384.
  • Operating quality point 1101c might correspond to 30 fps high resolution video, surround sound 24-bit audio and image resolution of 256x256.
  • directed nature of curve 1105 indicates the relative preference of each operating quality q ⁇ 1101. For example, operating quality 1101(b) is preferable to operating quality 1101(a) while operating quality 1101(c) is preferable to operating quality 1101(c).
  • each operating quality q,l 101 is mapped to a resource vector rj 1115.
  • Three resources are defined at a network node 210 including processor cycles (p), main memory (m) and bandwidth (b).
  • processor cycles (p) processor cycles (p)
  • main memory m
  • bandwidth b
  • any number of resources may be defined for a particular network device 210.
  • a resource vector 1115 may be expressed as follows:
  • P(-), M(-) and B(-) are quality to resource mapping operators for processor, memory and bandwidth resources respectively.
  • FIG. 1 lb is a diagram illustrating a mapping between a set of operating qualities qj and resource vectors rj.
  • operating quality qi 1101(a) maps to resource vector ri (1115a)
  • operating quality q 2 (1101b) maps to resource vector r 2 (1115b)
  • operating quality qa 1101(c) maps to resource vector T 3 1115(c).
  • each operating quality qi 1101 requires a particular set of resources defined by a corresponding resource vector n 1115.
  • a quality-resource mapping such as the exemplary one shown in FIG. 1 lb transforms a quality profile 1112 to a session resource profile 1117, which is a list of required resources for different choices of operating qualities.
  • FIG. l ie shows an exemplary session resource profile graph according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Resource vectors 1115a- 1115c define a session resource profile 1117.
  • comparing figures 11a and lie operating qualities 1101a- 1101 c are respectively mapped to resource vectors 1115a-l 115c.
  • providing quality defined by vector 1101a requires resources defined by vector 1115a.
  • providing quality defined by vectors 1101b and 1101c respectively require resources defined by vectors 1115b and 1115c.
  • FIG. 1 Id is a flowchart illustrating a set of steps performed by a quality profile module in order to perform dynamic adaptation of media quality based upon available resources according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • the process is initiated in step 1130.
  • an adaptation timer is set.
  • step 1135 it is determined whether a resource metric at the network device 210 has changed For example, the processor may have recently become burdened by additional processes being invoked requiring additional memory and/or clock cycles. Or, available bandwidth may have increased or decreased at the network device. If a resource metric has changed ('yes' branch of step 1140), in step 1145 the current resource vector is mapped to an operating quality vector. This may be accomplished by finding the smallest difference vector between all resource vectors 1115 and the current resource vector. The determined resource vector 1115 is then mapped to the appropriate operating quality vector 1101. This operating quality vector is then used to provide input to the subscription module to determine which distribution layers 120 should be added or dropped. For example, if new resources are available, additional distribution layers 120 may be added. On the other hand, if resources have declined, certain distribution layers may be dropped.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates an overall operation of an encoding and decoding process between a multimedia broadcast node 220 and a client 205 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • storage device stores multimedia streams 105.
  • FIG.12 shows three exemplary multimedia streams 105a- 105c.
  • Multimedia streams may include video, audio, speech, whether this data is natural or synthetic as described above.
  • For each multimedia stream 105 a plurality of substream components is generated. For example, as shown in FIG.
  • Multimedia stream components 110 are then multiplexed into various distribution layers 120. For example, as shown in FIG. 11 substream components 110a(l)-110a(N) are multiplexed into distribution layers 120a(l)- 120a(N)_ substream components 110b(l)-l 10b(N) are multiplexed into distribution layers 120b(l)-120b(N) and substream components 110c(l)-110c(N) are multiplexed into distribution layers 120x(l 120x(N). Distribution layers 120 are then transmitted via network interface 1105 to network 214. At network device 210, distribution layers that are subscribed to by receiver module are received via network interface 215 and rendered.
  • a method and system to transmit a multimedia data stream over an information network to a plurality of clients, collectively characterized by possessing heterogeneous resource capabilities in order to maximize the quality and effectiveness of the multimedia broadcast for each of the plurality of clients has been described.
  • Clients may dynamically subscribe and/or unsubscribe to defined subscriber groups as a function of dynamically changing variables at the client including a resource metric and a quality profile parameter.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
  • Computer Graphics (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)
  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé et un système permettant de distribuer un flot de données multimédia sur un réseau d'information à une pluralité de clients, lesquels sont caractérisés de manière collective en ce qu'ils possèdent des capacités de ressource hétérogènes, en vue de maximiser la qualité et l'efficacité de la télédiffusion multimédia pour chacun de la pluralité de clients. Plus spécifiquement, la qualité multimédia est ajustée de manière dynamique à chaque client sur la base d'un paramètre métrique de ressource et d'un paramètre de profile de qualité.
PCT/IB2001/001344 2000-07-26 2001-07-26 Systeme et procede pour telediffusion multimedia adaptable, dimensionnable sur un reseau WO2002009429A2 (fr)

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WO2004045217A1 (fr) * 2002-11-13 2004-05-27 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Systeme de transmission avec mecanisme de mise a l'echelle de la profondeur des couleurs
WO2006121493A1 (fr) * 2005-05-06 2006-11-16 Thomson Licensing Procede et appareil d'evaluation de la performance d'une diffusion video et/ou d'une multi-diffusion video
WO2007050066A1 (fr) * 2005-10-26 2007-05-03 Thomson Licensing Systeme et procede permettant de distribuer des services par satellite a des niveaux de securite multiples
WO2007136397A1 (fr) * 2006-05-19 2007-11-29 Nokia Siemens Networks Gmbh & Co.Kg Système et procédé d'auto-adaptation d'une interface utilisateur en fonction de capacités matérielles
WO2009058165A1 (fr) * 2007-11-01 2009-05-07 Thomson Licensing Procédé de multidiffusion
GB2469472A (en) * 2009-04-14 2010-10-20 Skype Ltd Streaming different quality versions of the same content in a peer-to-peer network based on an optimisation method
US8289979B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2012-10-16 Skype Optimising communications
US8289949B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2012-10-16 Skype Optimising communications
US8295191B2 (en) 2008-03-04 2012-10-23 Microsoft Corporation Endpoint report aggregation in unified communication systems
WO2016014739A1 (fr) * 2014-07-24 2016-01-28 Cisco Technology, Inc. Gestion de qualité commune sur de multiples flux
US9509953B2 (en) 2007-04-30 2016-11-29 Cisco Technology, Inc. Media detection and packet distribution in a multipoint conference
EP1720283B1 (fr) * 2003-01-16 2017-08-23 Sony United Kingdom Limited Réseau video/audio
CN116320513A (zh) * 2023-02-21 2023-06-23 中国人民大学 一种基于异构算力节点协同的视频分发方法

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US5821986A (en) * 1994-11-03 1998-10-13 Picturetel Corporation Method and apparatus for visual communications in a scalable network environment

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WO2004045217A1 (fr) * 2002-11-13 2004-05-27 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Systeme de transmission avec mecanisme de mise a l'echelle de la profondeur des couleurs
EP1720283B1 (fr) * 2003-01-16 2017-08-23 Sony United Kingdom Limited Réseau video/audio
WO2006121493A1 (fr) * 2005-05-06 2006-11-16 Thomson Licensing Procede et appareil d'evaluation de la performance d'une diffusion video et/ou d'une multi-diffusion video
US8578433B2 (en) 2005-05-06 2013-11-05 Thomson Licensing Method and apparatus for evaluating performance for a video broadcast and/or multicast
JP4896145B2 (ja) * 2005-10-26 2012-03-14 トムソン ライセンシング 複数のセキュリティ・レベルで衛星サービスを配信するシステム及び方法
US9008307B2 (en) 2005-10-26 2015-04-14 Thomson Licensing System and method for delivering satellite services at multiple security levels
WO2007050066A1 (fr) * 2005-10-26 2007-05-03 Thomson Licensing Systeme et procede permettant de distribuer des services par satellite a des niveaux de securite multiples
US8666071B2 (en) 2005-10-26 2014-03-04 Thomson Licensing System and method for delivering satellite services at multiple security levels
WO2007136397A1 (fr) * 2006-05-19 2007-11-29 Nokia Siemens Networks Gmbh & Co.Kg Système et procédé d'auto-adaptation d'une interface utilisateur en fonction de capacités matérielles
US9509953B2 (en) 2007-04-30 2016-11-29 Cisco Technology, Inc. Media detection and packet distribution in a multipoint conference
WO2009058165A1 (fr) * 2007-11-01 2009-05-07 Thomson Licensing Procédé de multidiffusion
US8254827B2 (en) 2007-11-01 2012-08-28 Thomson Licensing Method of multicasting
US8295191B2 (en) 2008-03-04 2012-10-23 Microsoft Corporation Endpoint report aggregation in unified communication systems
GB2469472A (en) * 2009-04-14 2010-10-20 Skype Ltd Streaming different quality versions of the same content in a peer-to-peer network based on an optimisation method
GB2469472B (en) * 2009-04-14 2014-08-20 Skype Optimising communications
US8873568B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2014-10-28 Skype Optimising communications
US8942225B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2015-01-27 Skype Optimizing communications
US8463929B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2013-06-11 Skype Optimising communications
US8289949B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2012-10-16 Skype Optimising communications
US8289979B2 (en) 2009-04-14 2012-10-16 Skype Optimising communications
WO2016014739A1 (fr) * 2014-07-24 2016-01-28 Cisco Technology, Inc. Gestion de qualité commune sur de multiples flux
US9755993B2 (en) 2014-07-24 2017-09-05 Cisco Technology, Inc. Joint quality management across multiple streams
US10277532B2 (en) 2014-07-24 2019-04-30 Cisco Technology, Inc. Quality management of media encoding for multiple client devices
CN116320513A (zh) * 2023-02-21 2023-06-23 中国人民大学 一种基于异构算力节点协同的视频分发方法

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