Abstract:
A method, system and computer program product for servicing media content. In one embodiment, the media content is processed by having each of a group of services process increments of the media content, one increment at a time; and the order in which the services process these increments is orchestrated to process all of the media content in accordance with a defined procedure. In one embodiment, the increments of the media content are passed, one increment after another, to at least a plurality of the services in a defined order. In an embodiment, each time one of the plurality of services passes one of the increments of the media content to a subsequent one of the services in the defined order, the one of the plurality of services requests another increment of the media content from a preceding one of the services in the defined order.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/976,045, filed Dec. 21, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/969,305, filed Aug. 16, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/673,227, filed Nov. 9, 2012. The entire contents and disclosures of U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 14/976,045, 13/969,305 and 13/673,227 are hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention generally relates to processing data, and more specifically, to processing media content in an incremental manner by a sequence of services. 
         [0003]    In processes that involve media processing services, there is always a need to communicate the media content from service to service. As one service completes its processing, the service sends the processed media content to the next service in the workflow. Since media content is large, a considerable amount of time may be needed before being able to invoke the next service. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system and computer program product for servicing media content. In one embodiment, the method comprises using a multitude of services to process the media content by having each of the services process increments of the media content, one increment at a time; and orchestrating the order in which the services process the increments of the media content to process all of the media content in accordance with a defined procedure. 
         [0005]    In an embodiment, content operations are requested from each of the multitude of services; and each of said services, in response to the request for content operations, indicates that said each service supports processing of increments of the media content. 
         [0006]    In one embodiment, one of said services is a last service in said defined procedure; and after this last service has finished processing all of the increments of the media content, this last service indicates that the defined procedure to process all of the media content is complete. 
         [0007]    In an embodiment, this last service requests an additional increment of the media content at multiple times; and in response to one of these requests for an additional increment of the media content, a message is sent to this last service indicating that no more data is to be processed by said last service. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment, this last service indicates that the defined procedure is complete after the last service receives this message. 
         [0009]    In an embodiment, each of a first group of the services obtains the increments of the media content from another one of the services. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, a message is sent to each service of the first group of the services identifying the other one of the services from which said each service obtains the increments of the media content. 
         [0011]    In an embodiment, each service of the first group of services is informed of a specified port from which said each service obtains the increments of the media content. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment, the increments of the media content are passed, one increment after another, to at least a plurality of the services in a defined order. 
         [0013]    In an embodiment, each time one of said plurality of services passes one of the increments of the media content to a subsequent one of the services in the defined order, the one of the plurality of services requests another one of the increments of the media content from a preceding one of the services in the defined order. 
         [0014]    Embodiments of the invention enable the processing of media content in a pipeline mode. Data are produced and consumed incrementally. This allows a workflow to complete much faster, increasing the efficiency of the whole process. 
         [0015]    Embodiments of the invention provide a rich media middleware system and services that produce and consume media content. Embodiments of the invention configure the services to create and process content incrementally. Embodiments of the invention also define how data are exchanged among services in order to be processed sequentially as part of a workflow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates a media content flow in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  shows the state diagram implemented by a service in embodiments of the invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  depicts an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  shows two examples of a media workflow execution, one without the invention and one with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  shows a computing environment in which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in the medium. 
         [0022]    Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium, upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc. 
         [0023]    Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
         [0024]    The present invention is described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0025]    The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0026]    Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system and computer program product to process media content, and more specifically, to stream media content in content-centric business processes. With reference to  FIG. 1 , embodiments of the invention use a process orchestration engine  102  and media services  104  that can participate in a process. Generally, the orchestration engine  102  executes workflows (processes) involving media services, and the orchestration engine controls the execution flow by calling the services in the appropriate sequence and by setting up the services for the exchange of incremental data. The services  104  interact with each other to produce and consume the media content incrementally. In embodiments of the invention, media services in a workflow can be processing the same media content concurrently (but with each service working on different parts of the media content). 
         [0027]    In embodiments of the invention, the services  104  implement two separate interfaces: one to communicate with the orchestration engine  102 , and another for the exchange of data. 
         [0028]    In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , three services support the incremental data exchange. Service  1  creates content, Service  2  transforms content, and Service  3  stores the content. 
         [0029]    At  112 , orchestration engine  102  sends a request message to Service  1  to produce a content. The request also inquires if the service supports incremental data creation. At  114 , Service  1  sends an acknowledgement message to the orchestration engine  102  indicating that the Service supports creation of incremental data, and informing the orchestration engine of the port (port “a”) where the created data will be made available. 
         [0030]    At  116 , the orchestration engine  102  invokes Service  2  to transform the content. The request message informs Service  2  that Service  1  is producing the data incrementally at port “a.” The request message also asks if Service  2  can handle incremental data and what port Service  2  uses to stream the transformed data. At  120 , Service  2 , sends an acknowledgement message to the orchestration engine indicating that the Service supports incremental data, and specifying the port (port “b”) the Service uses for the transformed data. 
         [0031]    At  122 , Service  2  requests data from Service  1  through port “a.” At  124 , a first piece of data is transferred from Service  1  to Service  2  for processing. In embodiments of the invention, subsequent pieces of data are transferred from Service  1  to Service  2  every time a processed piece of content is moved along in the workflow. 
         [0032]    At  126 , Service  3  is called by the orchestration engine  102  and informed that content for consumption is available at port “b” of Service  2 . Service  3  is also asked if it can handle incremental data. At  130 , Service  3  sends an acknowledgement message to the orchestration engine to inform the orchestration engine that Service  3  supports incremental data and makes the processed data available at port “c.” 
         [0033]    At  132 , Service  3  requests data from Service  2  through port “b.” A first piece of data is moved to Service  3  for processing. Since Service  3  is the last service in the chain, there will be no request to get processed data from Service  3 . At  134 , as processed content from Service  2  is moved along to Service  3 , Service  2  asks for more content from Service  1 . 
         [0034]    The above-described interaction between services  104  through the respective ports continues until all pieces of data are moved from Service  1  to Service  3 . If a Service requests more data and receives a response indicating that there is no more data, this indicates that the requesting service has reached the end of the content. When this happens, the service sends a notification message, for instance at  136  and  140 , to the orchestration engine  102  informing the orchestration engine that the service has completed the request from the orchestration engine. 
         [0035]      FIG. 2  is a state diagram to be implemented by a service to support incremental data processing in embodiments of the invention. At state  202 , the service is idle, and when the service receives a request from the orchestration engine  102 , the service moves to a setup state  204 , where the service prepares to perform the service it provides. From the setup state, the service transitions to state  206 . At this state  206 , the service reads input, which may be data from a previous service. As the service reads the input, some data may be put in a buffer, as represented at  210 . 
         [0036]    When ready, the service processes data and outputs processed data, as represented at  212  and  214 . Processed data may be temporarily stored in a buffer, as represented at  216 . After outputting data, the service returns to state  206  to process more data. This process is repeated until the service receives a message that no more data is available. When this occurs, the service, at  220 , sends a message to the orchestration engine  102  indicating that the request from the orchestration engine has been completed. The service then returns to the idle state  202 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 3  illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention, comprising an orchestration layer  302 , a mediation layer  304 , and a services layer  306 ; and in this embodiment, five services  310  are provided. In operation, the orchestration layer executes workflows involving media services, and the orchestration layer controls the execution flow by calling the services in the appropriate sequence and by setting up the services for the exchange of incremental data. The services  310  interact with each other to produce and consume the media content incrementally; and the media services in the workflow can be processing the same media concurrently, but with each service working on different parts of the media content. 
         [0038]    The orchestration layer  306  may implement a program, represented at  312 , which determines whether, and in what order, the services  310  are invoked. With the embodiment represented in  FIG. 3 , not all the services are performed for each increment of data. Depending on the decisions made in program  312  at  314 , some data will be processed by Service  3  and other data will be processed by Service  4 . 
         [0039]    Mediation layer  304  implements the two separate interfaces: one for the communications between the orchestration layer  302  and the services layer  306 , and another for the exchange of data. 
         [0040]    Embodiments of the invention allow a workflow to complete much faster, increasing the efficiency of the entire media processing. As an example,  FIG. 4  shows, at  402 , how long it may take to process media content in a conventional manner and, at  404 , how long it may take to process that media content by using an embodiment of this invention. 
         [0041]    With the examples shown in  FIG. 4 , the media content is data from a high definition camera, and the media content is processed by five services  406 . With the conventional approach  402 , all the data, 500 GB, from the camera, is fully processed by each service, one service at a time. Each of the first three services takes an hour to process the data, the fourth service takes 1.6 hours, and the last service takes ten minutes. The processing thus takes four hours and forty-six minutes. 
         [0042]    With using an embodiment of the invention, the 500 GB input from the camera are processed in 1 GB increments. When the first service finishes processing an increment of data, that data is passed to the second service and the first service begins to process another increment of the input data. When the second service finishes processing this increment of data, that increment of data is passed to the third service. The second service, at about the same time, receives a second increment of data from the first service. 
         [0043]    The increments of data are processed and passed in this way, from one service to the next, until all the data have been received and processed by the last service. Each of the first four services takes approximately ten seconds to process each increment of data; and the last service, repository, takes about 1.6 hours to process all the data. The entire amount of time needed to process the input from the camera is approximately one hour and thirty-seven minutes, which is about one-third of the times required by the current approach. 
         [0044]    A computer-based system  500  in which embodiments of the invention may be carried out is depicted in  FIG. 5 . The computer-based system  500  includes a processing unit  510 , which houses a processor, memory and other systems components (not shown expressly in the drawing) that implement a general purpose processing system, or computer that may execute a computer program product. The computer program product may comprise media, for example a compact storage medium such as a compact disc, which may be read by the processing unit  510  through a disc drive  520 , or by any means known to the skilled artisan for providing the computer program product to the general purpose processing system for execution thereby. 
         [0045]    The computer program product may comprise all the respective features enabling the implementation of the inventive method described herein, and which—when loaded in a computer system—is able to carry out the method. Computer program, software program, program, or software, in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or (b) reproduction in a different material form. 
         [0046]    The computer program product may be stored on hard disk drives within processing unit  510 , as mentioned, or may be located on a remote system such as a server  530 , coupled to processing unit  510 , via a network interface such as an Ethernet interface. Monitor  540 , mouse  550  and keyboard  560  are coupled to the processing unit  510 , to provide user interaction. Scanner  580  and printer  570  are provided for document input and output. Printer  570  is shown coupled to the processing unit  510  via a network connection, but may be coupled directly to the processing unit. Scanner  580  is shown coupled to the processing unit  510  directly, but it should be understood that peripherals might be network coupled, or direct coupled without affecting the performance of the processing unit  510 . 
         [0047]    The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles and application of the invention, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention. The invention may be implements in various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.