Method and apparatus for distributed transmission of real-time multimedia information
US6151632A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 21, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/8455
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for delivering real-time multimedia information to clients via a distributed network is provided. The method and apparatus includes a LiveStation for encoding the real-time multimedia information into a number of different bandwidth points, and associated indexes, each bandwidth point for transmission over data channels of a particular bandwidth. The bandwidth points and indexes are provided to a recaster server to push the bandwidth points and indexes in parallel to secondary servers. The secondary servers then provide clients with compressed multimedia information according to the type of data channel used for connection. Parallel transmission of multiple bandwidth points and indexes allows the secondary servers to dynamically switch bandwidth points if data channels to clients change during transmission. Protocol between the LiveStation and a Recaster server, and between Recaster servers and secondary servers, is provided to allow configuration and transmission of real-time multimedia information to be controlled over a computer network from a single point.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.