Patent · US Expired

Automatic bandwidth allocation in multimedia scripting tools

US5859641A · kind A · utility

80Cited by
1References
60Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 10, 1997
Grant dateJan 12, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 10, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B27/034
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A tool for scheduling the delivery of media objects within varying constraints of available bandwidth. In a preferred embodiment in which the invention is enabled by software executable on a general purpose multimedia grade computer, a system designer orchestrates the playback of a series of media objects on a playback "score" analogous to a musical score. The system designer can also see the results of his or her work by playing back the playback score in real time on a corresponding runtime view. The media objects are represented on the playback score as playback icons. Responsive to the designer's manipulation of playback icons on the playback score, the present invention further creates and displays a corresponding download score, also viewable by the system designer, in which download icons (corresponding to playback icons on the playback score) are automatically deployed and arranged to fill up a displayed "pipe" of available bandwidth. The topographical area of the download icons, as displayed, corresponds to the data size of the media objects. The download icons are displayed as rectangular or square-cornered polygonal shapes. As the playback score becomes more information-…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.