Patent · US Active

Media stream scheduling for hiccup-free fast-channel-change in the presence of network chokepoints

US7444419B2 · kind B2 · utility

36Cited by
41References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 10, 2003
Grant dateOct 28, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 2, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/4384
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An implementation, as described herein, facilitates fast start-up of a new media stream while avoiding temporal interruption (i.e., “hiccups”) of the presentation of that new media stream. At least one implementation, described herein, coordinates the delivery of multiple simultaneous media streams on a media-stream network. Its coordination accounts for traversal of bandwidth-restricted chokepoints; quickly stopping delivery of one or more media streams from the set of streams; quickly initiating delivery and presentation of one or more new media streams not previously in the set (i.e., a “channel change”); and producing clean playback of all of the streams in the set, despite their different timelines. This abstract itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. The scope of the present invention is pointed out in the appending claims.

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