Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9680896B2/en
Timestamp: 2018-04-26 23:35:51
Document Index: 694294322

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 201180069273', 'Application No. 201180069273', 'Application No. 201180069273', 'Application No. 201180069273']

US9680896B2 - Mobile media content delivery - Google Patents
Mobile media content delivery Download PDF
US9680896B2
US9680896B2 US13767137 US201313767137A US9680896B2 US 9680896 B2 US9680896 B2 US 9680896B2 US 13767137 US13767137 US 13767137 US 201313767137 A US201313767137 A US 201313767137A US 9680896 B2 US9680896 B2 US 9680896B2
US13767137
US20130227060A1 (en )
A system and method are disclosed for managing the wireless delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment (UE) device. A UE device establishes a network connection with a local wireless network, which in turn is associated with a wireless network region with a corresponding data infrastructure server. The UE device then requests predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server. A determination is made whether the requested streaming media content is stored in transcoded form on the data infrastructure server. If so, then a control information network is implemented to transmit and receive streaming media content control data between the UE device and the data infrastructure server. In turn, the streaming media content control data is used by the data infrastructure server to control the transmission of the transcoded streaming media content over a data network for delivery to the UE device.
This application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/US2011/021322 filed Jan. 14, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention is directed in general to communications systems and methods for operating same. In one aspect, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and devices for managing the delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment (UE) device.
When compared to fixed wireline or fiber-based networks, wireless networks support substantially less data carrying capacity due to the trade-off of providing the convenience of mobile connectivity. However, smartphone users have exhibited an increasing trend toward viewing streaming media on their devices in recent years. Furthermore, media content sharing (e.g., YouTube) over the Internet has been growing in popularity in North America and Europe, with exponential growth observed between the years 2005 and 2010.
Currently, media traffic is carried by cellular network operators on their user data plane. Due to the relatively large amount of data required to deliver streaming media services, a substantial amount of wireless capacity is utilized. As a result, a wireless operator's ability to service their users in a given area may be adversely affected. For example, users may experience substantially reduced data transmission rates, erratic voice reception, or loss of wireless service altogether.
Various factors affect the delivery of media content to mobile smart phones, including wireless network capacity, mobile device screen size and multimedia capabilities, media formats supported by the mobile device, its processing power, and its corresponding battery life. Accordingly, a need exists for an authentication method, system and device to overcome the problems in the art, such as outlined above. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional processes and technologies will become apparent to one of skill in the art after reviewing the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings and detailed description which follows.
FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a control infrastructure and a data infrastructure for managing the wireless delivery of streaming media content to a UE device;
FIG. 6 shows a distributed streaming media content delivery system;
FIG. 7 shows a distributed streaming media content delivery system as implemented with a relay node;
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of a data infrastructure server for the management of streaming media content;
FIGS. 9A and 9B depict aspects of a flow chart showing the operation of a data infrastructure server for the delivery of streaming media content;
FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram of the operation of a data infrastructure server for the delivery of streaming media content; and
FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram of the operation of a data infrastructure server as implemented with a relay node for the delivery of streaming media content.
A method and system are disclosed for managing the wireless delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment (UE) device. Various illustrative embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. While various details are set forth in the following description, it will be appreciated that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details, and that numerous implementation-specific decisions may be made to the invention described herein to achieve the inventor's specific goals, such as compliance with process technology or design-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. While such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, it would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. For example, selected aspects are shown in block diagram and flow chart form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid limiting or obscuring the present invention. In addition, some portions of the detailed descriptions provided herein are presented in terms of algorithms or operations on data within a computer memory. Such descriptions and representations are used by those skilled in the art to describe and convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.
In various embodiments, the network connectivity devices 120 may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet devices, universal serial bus (USB) interface devices, serial interfaces, token ring devices, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) devices, wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, radio transceiver devices such as code division multiple access (CDMA) devices, global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver devices, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) devices, and/or other well-known devices for connecting to networks, including Personal Area Networks (PAN) such as Bluetooth. These network connectivity devices 120 may enable the processor 110 to communicate with the Internet or one or more telecommunications networks or other networks from which the processor 110 might receive information or to which the processor 110 might output information.
FIG. 2 shows a wireless communications system including an embodiment of a user equipment (UE) device. Though illustrated as a mobile phone, the UE device 202 may take various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer. Many suitable devices combine some or all of these functions. In some embodiments, the UE device 202 is not a general purpose computing device like a portable, laptop or tablet computer, but rather is a special-purpose communications device such as a mobile phone, a wireless handset, a pager, a PDA, or a telecommunications device installed in a vehicle. The UE device 202 may likewise be a device, include a device, or be included in a device that has similar capabilities but that is not transportable, such as a desktop computer, a set-top box, or a network node. In these and other embodiments, the UE device 202 may support specialized activities such as gaming, inventory control, job control, and/or task management functions, and so on.
In various embodiments, the UE device 202 includes a display 204. In these and other embodiments, the UE device 202 may likewise include a touch-sensitive surface, a keyboard or other input keys 206 generally used for input by a user. The keyboard 206 may likewise be a full or reduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY, and sequential keyboard types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet letters associated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may likewise include a trackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigational or functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide further input function. The UE device 202 may likewise present options for the user to select, controls for the user to actuate, and cursors or other indicators for the user to direct.
The UE device 202 may further accept data entry from the user, including numbers to dial or various parameter values for configuring the operation of the UE device 202. The UE device 202 may further execute one or more software or firmware applications in response to user commands. These applications may configure the UE device 202 to perform various customized functions in response to user interaction. Additionally, the UE device 202 may be programmed or configured over-the-air (OTA), for example from a wireless base station 210, a server 216, a wireless network access node 208, or a peer UE device 202.
Among the various applications executable by the UE device 202 are a web browser, which enables the display 204 to display a web page. The web page may be obtained via wireless communications with a wireless network access node 208, such as a cell tower, a peer UE device 202, or any other wireless communication network 212 or system. In various embodiments, the wireless network 212 is coupled to a wired network 214, such as the Internet. Via the wireless network 212 and the wired network 214, the UE device 202 has access to information on various servers, such as a server 216. The server 216 may provide content that may be shown on the display 204. Alternately, the UE device 202 may access the wireless network 212 through a peer UE device 202 acting as an intermediary, in a relay type or hop type of connection. Alternately, the UE device 202 is tethered and obtains its data from a tethered device that is connected to the wireless network 212. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognized that many such embodiments are possible and the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope, or intention of the disclosure.
In various embodiments, the DSP 302 or some other form of controller or central processing unit (CPU) operates to control the various components of the UE device 202 in accordance with embedded software or firmware stored in memory 304 or stored in memory contained within the DSP 302 itself. In addition to the embedded software or firmware, the DSP 302 may execute other applications stored in the memory 304 or made available via information carrier media such as portable data storage media like the removable memory card 320 or via wired or wireless network communications. The application software may comprise a compiled set of machine-readable instructions that configure the DSP 302 to provide the desired functionality, or the application software may be high-level software instructions to be processed by an interpreter or compiler to indirectly configure the DSP 302.
FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a control infrastructure and a data infrastructure as implemented in an embodiment of the invention for managing the wireless delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment (UE) device. As used herein, system efficiency is defined as the ratio of system output to system input, expressed as a percentage:
System_Efficiency=(System_Output/System_Input)×100%
Accordingly, network efficiency can be defined as a percentage ratio of the amount of scheduled network resources divided by the total amount of available network resources. For time division cellular technologies, network efficiency can be calculated, for example, as the ratio of the number of timeslots scheduled per user over the total number of timeslots available to the network for a given period of time. Accordingly, network efficiency for a fixed amount of available resources would be a function of either one or both of the number of users served by the network and the throughput achieved by individual users. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that a corresponding increase in network efficiency is realized when these parameters increase. In various embodiments, the number of users and their corresponding throughput under conditions of increasing media content demand is increased through various methods of adaptation (e.g., transcoding, etc), compression and optimization.
An alternative view of network efficiency accommodates the consideration that demand for network resources typically increases 10× to 100× with the introduction of media applications, depending upon the corresponding image quality and user demand for any given media content. Thus, network efficiency becomes more about an ability to accommodate the maximum amount of network demand associated with a media content unit of interest (e.g., movies, sessions, capacity, etc.) at a given comparative base such as cost, system performance, transmission, server performance and so on. Accordingly, the number of users would be multiples of these unit comparatives. In such cases, network efficiency does not necessary increase as the number of users served by a network increases, nor when the throughput required by individual users increases. Likewise, costs will generally increase as a result of adding more networks and more capacity. Correspondingly, network efficiency increases will generally come from minimizing the infrastructure (e.g., network, systems, etc.) required per user in a manner that also minimizes cost per user. One approach to the foregoing is to minimize solution complexity and infrastructure dependency.
Those of skill in the art will be aware that the selfish goal of a network infrastructure is to offload network traffic wherever and whenever possible. More particularly, a “buy more-carry more” model, where the data and control information must flow through the same infrastructure can only scale horizontally. Furthermore, cost efficiencies have traditionally not improved using the aforementioned horizontal scaling approach because the rate at which bandwidth and system costs drop year over year is typically slower than the rate at which the number of users increases and the rate at which they consume network infrastructure resources. One approach to these challenges is to separate the service control of streaming media content from its associated data transport.
As shown in FIG. 5, streaming media content control data 502 is exchanged between a UE device 202 and streaming media content servers 512 over a corresponding control infrastructure 504. Likewise, streaming media content, such as video data 506, is provided by the streaming media content servers 512 to the UE device 202 over a corresponding data infrastructure 508. It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the separation of control data 502 from video data 506, and their corresponding transport over control infrastructure 504 and data infrastructure 508, provides efficient scaling of a streaming media content infrastructure. More specifically, the control data 502 overhead, which is associated with streaming media content delivery policies and contextual control, is removed from the delivery of the video data 506, resulting in more efficient delivery of the video data 506. In various embodiments, streaming media content controls for the UE device 202 are implemented within the control infrastructure 504. In these and other embodiments, the streaming media content controls may be implemented in network appliances that are geographically distributed to perform the aforementioned adaptation, compression and optimization functions.
FIG. 6 shows a distributed streaming media content delivery system as implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In various embodiments, data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 are respectively implemented with streaming media content servers ‘1’ 612, ‘2’ 622, through ‘n’ 632 in a corresponding wireless network region ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638. In these and other embodiments, a streaming media content crawler is implemented with the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630. As implemented, the streaming media content crawlers perform corresponding streaming media content crawling operations 614, 624, 634 in conjunction with streaming media content servers ‘1’ 612, ‘2’ 622, through ‘n’ 632 on the Internet 616.
Skilled practitioners of the art will be familiar with the operation of a web crawler, which is a software agent that browses the Internet in a methodical, automated, and typically continuous, manner. A specialized version of a web crawler is a streaming media content crawler, such as a video crawler, that specializes in collecting streaming media content information, such as video content. As described in greater detail herein, data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 are respectively implemented with a streaming media content crawler in a corresponding wireless network region ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638. The streaming content media crawlers associated with each of the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 perform crawling operations 614, 624, 634 to identify and download the most popular streaming media content from the Web in the respective network regions. In turn, the downloaded content is respectively stored on the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630.
The respective popularity of streaming media content is identified for each of the wireless network regions ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638 and corresponding statistics are maintained in advance of users requesting the content. In various embodiments, the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 then implement a transcoder to adapt the downloaded streaming media content to the display sizes, resolutions, supported media formats, bit rates, frame rates, color depth, etc. of predetermined UE devices 202. In these and other embodiments, the transcoded streaming media content is then cached on the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 for subsequent downloading to predetermined UE devices 202.
In various embodiments, a user of the UE device 202 may submit a request to access a streaming content server, such as one of the streaming content servers ‘1’ 612. In these and other embodiments, the request is intercepted by the control infrastructure 504 associated with data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610, which in turn is associated with the wireless network region the UE device 202 is in closest proximity to. Once the request is intercepted, it is re-directed by the control infrastructure 504, which replaces the requested uniform resource locator (URL) of the streaming media content server ‘1’ 612 with the URL address of the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610. The requested streaming media content, in its transcoded form, is then provided from a cache in the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 via the data infrastructure 508 to the UE device 202.
In various embodiments, a user may request a particular streaming content media that has not yet been downloaded to the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610, transcoded, and cached. In various other embodiments, the requested streaming content media may have a popularity ranking that falls below a threshold, such as the top 100 videos for wireless network region ‘1’ 618. In one embodiment, the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 may query the corresponding streaming media content server 612 at its associated URL and replace the return address in the IP packet with that of the UE device 202. In another embodiment, the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 may send an error message to the UE device 202 requesting it to directly query the corresponding streaming media content server 612 at its associated URL.
Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that associating the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 with wireless network regions ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638 provides several advantages. For example, each of the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630, with its corresponding streaming media content crawler, could be tuned to operate more effectively on the streaming media content generated in its corresponding wireless network regions ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638. As a result, bandwidth efficiencies and performance improvements may be realized since the corresponding compression efficiencies would benefit both terrestrial and cellular transmission efficiency, which would result in improved network performance and decreased transmission latency.
In various embodiments, compression and companding functions are separated from caching and optimization functions. In these and other embodiments, the Media Crawler Compression/Companding function (“MCCC”) is provided a list of streaming media content servers (e.g., ‘1’ 612, ‘2’ 622, through ‘n’ 632) located in its corresponding wireless network region (e.g., ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638).
The streaming media content servers (e.g., ‘1’ 612, ‘2’ 622, through ‘n’ 632) are then accessed and a Content Media Essence (“CME”) file is generated. Once generated, the CME file is then provided to the data infrastructure servers (e.g., ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630) that are situated closest to users most interested in the identified streaming media content. Additional optimization is then performed on the identified streaming media content according to UE device 202 types that are associated with predetermined wireless network providers, geographic locales, and user populations. Accordingly, streaming media content caching and device optimization is performed closest to the users with the greatest interest in the identified streaming media content. As a result, the user's wireless network latencies are further reduced, which increases the overall user experience.
FIG. 7 shows a distributed streaming media content delivery system as implemented with a relay node in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In various embodiments, data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 are respectively implemented with streaming media content servers ‘1’ 612, ‘2’ 622, through ‘n’ 632 in a corresponding wireless network region ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638. In these and other embodiments, the wireless network regions ‘1’ 618, ‘2’ 628, through ‘n’ 638 are interconnected, along with local wireless network 706, through a wireless interconnect network 730. Likewise, as described in greater detail herein, the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 respectively place requests 712, 732, 742 for raw streaming media content from the streaming media content servers ‘1’ 612, ‘2’ 622, through ‘n’ 632. As likewise described in greater detail herein, once the raw streaming content is received 716, 736, 746, it is transcoded by the data infrastructure servers ‘1’ 610, ‘2’ 620, through ‘n’ 630 for subsequent provision to a user equipment (UE) device 202.
In various embodiments, the UE device 202 initiates a radio access signaling sequence through a local wireless access 704 point, such as a cell tower with a base station, to connect to the local wireless network 706. Once the connection is established, the UE device 202 requests packet data and Internet Protocol (IP) address information from the region ‘1’ wireless network 618. Thereafter, the region ‘1’ wireless network 618 returns the requested packet data and IP address information to the UE device 202.
The UE device 202 then sends its corresponding screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information to the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610. In one embodiment, once the information is sent, the UE device 202 then requests 708 predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610. If the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 determines that the requested streaming media content is stored in transcoded form on the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 it returns 718 the requested streaming media content, in transcoded form to the UE device 202.
In another embodiment, the UE device 202 requests 718 predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 and it is determined that the requested streaming content media is not stored on the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610. In this embodiment, the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 then uses the return address of the UE device 202 to send a request 720 to the streaming content server 612 for the requested streaming content media. Thereafter, the streaming media content server ‘1’ 612 returns 722 the requested streaming media content to the UE device 202.
In yet another embodiment, the UE device 202 sends its corresponding screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information to a relay node 724. In turn, the relay node 724 sends the UE device's 202 corresponding screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information, along with any other required parameters via signal link 726 to the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610. Thereafter, the relay node 724 likewise sends the URL or other identifier information associated with the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 to the UE device 202.
Once the information is sent, the UE device 202 then requests 708 streaming media content from the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 and receives 718 the requested streaming media content, in transcoded form, as previously described. Likewise, as also previously described, if the requested streaming content media is not stored on the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610, then the data infrastructure server ‘1’ 610 uses the return address of the UE device 202 to send a request 720 to the streaming content server 612 for the requested streaming content media. Thereafter, the streaming media content server ‘1’ 612 returns 722 the requested streaming media content to the UE device 202.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of a data infrastructure server for the management of streaming media content. In this embodiment, streaming media content management operations are begun in step 802, followed by a streaming media content crawler implemented on a data infrastructure periodically crawling the Internet in step 804 to identify the most frequently requested streaming media content. In step 806, the most frequently requested streaming media content is retrieved by the data infrastructure, followed by being transcoded by the data infrastructure in step 808 into the most frequently used media formats and screen sizes. Then, in step 810, the data infrastructure server caches the transcoded streaming media content and sets a timer for updates. In one embodiment, the timer determines the frequency that the data infrastructure updates the transcoded streaming media content from its source location. In another embodiment, the updating comprises determining whether the transcoded streaming media content is still requested on a frequent basis. In yet another embodiment, the request frequency defining whether or not the transcoded streaming media content is popular is determined by the implementation of a predetermined request frequency threshold.
The data infrastructure server then generates a list of the transcoded streaming media content in step 812, followed by a determination being made in step 814 whether to share the list with data infrastructure servers associated with corresponding wireless network regions as explained in greater detail herein. If so, then the list is shared with other predetermined data infrastructure servers in step 816. Otherwise, or after the list has been shared in step 816, a determination is made in step 818 whether to end streaming media content management operations. If not, then the process is continued, proceeding with step 804. Otherwise, streaming content media management operations are ended in step 820.
FIGS. 9A and 9B depict aspects of a flow chart showing the operation of a data infrastructure server for the delivery of streaming media content. In this embodiment, streaming media content delivery operations are begun in step 902, followed by a data infrastructure server sending uniform resource locator (URL) and other identifiers of streaming media content stored in transcoded form to a predetermined user equipment (UE) device in step 904. Then, in step 906, the UE device then receives and stores the URL and other identifiers in a list of transcoded streaming media content.
The user of the UE device then selects a URL in step 908 to receive predetermined streaming media content, followed by a determination being made in step 910 whether the selected URL is currently listed within the list of transcoded streaming media content. If not, then the user of the UE device submits a request for predetermined streaming media content to the corresponding streaming media content server in step 912. Otherwise, the URL of the streaming media content server is replaced in step 914 with the URL of a target data infrastructure server that is in closest proximity to the physical location of the UE device. The user of the UE device then submits a request in step 916 to the streaming media server associated with the selected streaming content media. The UE device browser request is then redirected in step 918 from the URL of the streaming content media server to the URL of the target data infrastructure server.
Then, a determination is made in step 920 whether a UE device profile, comprising the UE's screen size, supported media formats (e.g., an installed CODEC), and other information, is stored on the target data infrastructure server. If so, then a determination is made in step 922 whether the requested streaming content media is likewise currently stored on the target data infrastructure server. If not, or if is determined in step 920 that the UE device profile is not stored on the target data infrastructure server, then the shared lists of other regional data infrastructure servers is retrieved in step 924.
A determination is then made in step 926 whether the desired UE device profile and the requested transcoded streaming media content exist on another data infrastructure server. If so, the UE device browser is redirected in step 932 to the closest data infrastructure server. Thereafter, or if it was determined in step 926 that the requested streaming media content is stored locally on the target data infrastructure server, then the UE device profile is retrieved in step 934 to determine the UE device's screen size, supported media formats, and other related information. The UE device profile information is then used in step 936 to provide the requested streaming media content to the UE device in the appropriate transcoded form. Streaming media content delivery operations are then ended in step 938.
However, if it was determined in step 926 that the UE device profile and requested transcoded streaming media content does not exist on another data infrastructure server, then the UE device browser is redirected in step 928 to the URL of the streaming media content server corresponding to the requested streaming media content. Thereafter, or after the user of the UE device submits a request for predetermined streaming media content to the corresponding streaming media content server in step 912, the streaming media content server provides the requested streaming media content to the UE device in step 930. Streaming media content delivery operations are then ended in step 938.
FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram of the operation of a data infrastructure server as implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention for the delivery of streaming media content. In this embodiment, a data infrastructure server 1010 requests 1014 streaming media content from a streaming content server 1012 as described in greater detail herein. In response, the streaming content server 1012 returns the requested streaming media content, where it is received 1016 by the data infrastructure server 1010. Once received, the streaming media content is transcoded and stored 1018 on the data infrastructure server 810 as likewise described in greater detail herein.
Thereafter, a user equipment (UE) device 1002 initiates a radio access signaling sequence 1020 to connect to a radio access network 1004. Once the connection to the radio access network 1004 is established, the UE device 1002 requests 1022 packet data and Internet Protocol (IP) address information from radio core network 1006. Thereafter, the radio core network 1006 returns 1024 the requested packet data and IP address information to the UE device 1002.
The UE device 1002 then sends 1026 its corresponding screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information to the data infrastructure server 1010. In one embodiment, once the information is sent, the UE device 1002 then requests 1032 predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server 1010. The data infrastructure server 1010 then determines 1034 that the requested streaming media content is stored in transcoded form on the data infrastructure server 1010. In response, the data infrastructure server 1010 returns the requested streaming media content, in transcoded form, where it is received 1036 by the UE device 1002.
In another embodiment, the UE device 1002 requests 1038 predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server 1010 and it is determined 1040 that the requested streaming content media is not stored on the data infrastructure server 1010. In this embodiment, the data infrastructure server then uses the return address of the UE device 1002 to send a request 1042 to the corresponding streaming media content server 1012 for the requested streaming content media. Thereafter, the streaming media content server 1012 returns 1044 the requested streaming media content to the UE device 1002.
FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram of the operation of a data infrastructure server as implemented with a relay node in accordance with an embodiment of the invention for the delivery of streaming media content. In this embodiment, a data infrastructure server 1010 requests 1114 streaming media content from a streaming content server 1012 as described in greater detail herein. In response, the streaming content server 1012 returns the requested streaming media content, where it is received 1116 by the data infrastructure server 1010. Once received, the streaming media content is transcoded and stored 1118 on the data infrastructure server 1010 as likewise described in greater detail herein.
Thereafter, a user equipment (UE) device 1002 initiates a radio access signaling sequence 1120 to connect to a radio access network 1004. Once the connection to the radio access network 1004 is established, the UE device 1002 requests 1122 packet data and Internet Protocol (IP) address information from radio core network 1006. Thereafter, the radio core network 1006 returns 1124 the requested packet data and IP address information to the UE device 1002.
The UE device 1002 then sends 1126 its corresponding screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information to a relay node 1108. In turn, the relay node 1108 sends 1128 the UE device's 1002 corresponding screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information, along with any other required parameters, to the data infrastructure server 1010. Thereafter, the relay node 1108 sends 1130 the URL or other identifier information associated with the data infrastructure server 1010 to the UE device 1002.
In one embodiment, once the information is sent, the UE device 1002 then requests 1132 predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server 1010. The data infrastructure server 1010 then determines 1134 that the requested streaming media content is stored in transcoded form on the data infrastructure server 810. In response, the data infrastructure server 1010 returns the requested streaming media content, in transcoded form, where it is received 1036 by the UE device 1002.
In another embodiment, the UE device 1002 requests 1038 predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server 1010 and it is determined 1140 that the requested streaming content media is not stored on the data infrastructure server 1010. In this embodiment, the data infrastructure server then uses the return address of the UE device 1002 to send a request 1142 to the corresponding streaming content server 1012 for the requested streaming content media. Thereafter, the streaming media content server 1012 returns 1144 the requested streaming media content to the UE device 1002.
A system and method are disclosed for managing the wireless delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment (UE) device. In various embodiments, a plurality of data infrastructure servers are respectively implemented with streaming media content servers in corresponding wireless network regions. In these and other embodiments, the data infrastructure servers respectively place requests for raw streaming media content from their corresponding streaming media content servers. Once the raw streaming content is received, it is transcoded by the data infrastructure servers and stored in a cache for subsequent distribution to a UE device.
In various embodiments, the UE device establishes a network connection with a local wireless network, which in turn is associated with a wireless network region with a corresponding data infrastructure server. Once the connection is established, the UE device sends device- or service-specific information including the UE device screen size, supported media formats, IP address or other identifier information, policies, rules, and contextual information to the target data infrastructure server. In one embodiment, once the information is sent, the UE device then requests predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server. A determination is made whether the requested streaming media content is stored in transcoded form on the data infrastructure server. If so, then a control information network is implemented to transmit and receive streaming media content control data between the UE device and the data infrastructure server. In turn, the streaming media content control data is used by the data infrastructure server to control the transmission of the transcoded streaming media content over a data network for delivery to the UE device.
In another embodiment, the UE device requests predetermined streaming media content from the data infrastructure server and it is determined that the requested streaming content media is not stored on the data infrastructure server. In this embodiment, the data infrastructure server uses the return address of the UE device to send a request to the streaming content server for the requested streaming content media, which is then provided by the streaming media content server to the UE device.
In yet another embodiment, the UE device sends its device- or service-specific information, including its device screen size, supported media formats, and IP address or other identifier information to a relay node. In turn, the relay node retransmits the information, along with any other required parameters, to the data infrastructure server and the transcoded streaming media content is then transmitted to the UE device, either by the data infrastructure server or the streaming media content server.
1. A system for managing delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment device, comprising:
a user equipment device operable to transmit a request to receive streaming media content;
a data infrastructure server operable to provide transcoded streaming media content, wherein the data infrastructure server comprises:
a streaming media format transcoder operable to transcode selected streaming media content received from a streaming media content server into the transcoded streaming media content, the selection being based on a determination that the selected streaming media content has been requested for downloading more frequently than other streaming media content; and
a cache memory operable to store the transcoded streaming media content; and
a wireless network operable to wirelessly transmit and receive streaming media content, the wireless network comprising:
a control information network operable to redirect the request to the data infrastructure server and transmit and receive streaming media content control data between the user equipment device and the data infrastructure server,
a data network operable to transmit transcoded streaming media content data from the data infrastructure server to the user equipment device, wherein the communication of the transcoded streaming media content is controlled by the streaming media content control data, and
wherein the data infrastructure server is further operable to:
redirect the request from the user equipment device for streaming media content to a regionally proximate data infrastructure server when the requested streaming media content is not stored in a transcoded form in the cache memory of the data infrastructure server, the requested streaming media content is stored on the regionally proximate data infrastructure server, and a profile associated with the user equipment device is stored on the regionally proximate data infrastructure server; and
redirect the request from the user equipment device for streaming media content to the streaming media content server to cause the streaming media content server to transmit the requested streaming media content to the user equipment device when the requested streaming media content is not stored in a transcoded form in the cache memory of the data infrastructure server and the requested streaming media content or the profile associated with the user equipment device is not stored on the regionally proximate data infrastructure server.
the data infrastructure server is operable to:
receive user equipment device configuration data;
process the user equipment device configuration data to select a corresponding form of transcoded streaming media content; and
provide the corresponding form of transcoded streaming media content to the data network for transmission to the user equipment device.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the user equipment device configuration data is transmitted to a relay node operable to retransmit the equipment device configuration data to the data infrastructure server.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein popularity of the selected streaming media content, as determined by the selected streaming media content being requested for downloading more frequently than other streaming media content, is identified by geographic location, prior to a user equipment request for media content.
the wireless network comprises a plurality of wireless network regions;
the data infrastructure server is associated with at least one of the plurality of wireless network regions; and
the request for streaming media content received from the user equipment device is routed to the data infrastructure server associated with the wireless network region in closest proximity to the user equipment device.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the control information network is operable to perform the routing of the request for streaming media content to the data infrastructure server associated with the wireless network region in closest proximity to the user equipment device.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the data infrastructure server comprises a crawler operable to perform crawling operations on a network comprising a plurality of streaming media content servers to collect streaming media content usage data.
the collected streaming content usage data is processed by the data infrastructure server to generate a corresponding streaming media content popularity rating for individual streaming media content; and
the streaming media content popularity rating for individual streaming media content is processed by the data infrastructure server to generate a list of the most popular streaming media content.
9. A computer-implemented method for managing delivery of streaming media content to a user equipment device, comprising:
using a user equipment device to transmit a request to receive streaming media content;
using a data infrastructure server to provide transcoded streaming media content, wherein the data infrastructure server comprises:
a streaming media format transcoder used to transcode selected streaming media content received from a streaming media content server into the transcoded streaming media content, the selection being based on a determination that the selected streaming media content has been requested for downloading more frequently than other streaming media content; and
a cache memory used to store the transcoded streaming media content; and
using a wireless network to wirelessly transmit and receive streaming media content, the wireless network comprising:
a control information network used to redirect the request to the data infrastructure server and transmit and receive streaming media content control data between the user equipment device and the data infrastructure server,
a data network used to transmit transcoded streaming media content data from the data infrastructure server to the user equipment device, wherein the communication of the transcoded streaming media content is controlled by the streaming media content control data, and
wherein the data infrastructure server is used to:
the data infrastructure server is used to:
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the user equipment device configuration data is transmitted to a relay node operable to retransmit the equipment device configuration data to the data infrastructure server.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein popularity of the selected streaming media content, as determined by the selected streaming media content being requested for downloading more frequently than other streaming media content, is identified by geographic location, prior to a user equipment request for media content.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the control information network is used to perform the routing of the request for streaming media content to the data infrastructure server associated with the wireless network region in closest proximity to the user equipment device.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the data infrastructure server comprises a crawler used to perform crawling operations on a network comprising a plurality of streaming media content servers to collect streaming media content usage data.
17. An apparatus for managing delivery of streaming media content within a wireless environment, comprising a wireless network transceiver operable to wirelessly transmit and receive streaming media content via the wireless environment that comprises:
a control information network operable to redirect a request from a user equipment device for the streaming media content to a data infrastructure server and transmit and receive streaming media content control data between the user equipment device and the data infrastructure server; and
a data network operable to transmit transcoded streaming media content data from the data infrastructure server to the user equipment device, wherein transmission of the transcoded streaming media content is controlled by the streaming media content control data, wherein the data infrastructure server comprises:
a streaming media format transcoder operable to transcode selected streaming media content received from a streaming media content server into the transcoded streaming media content, the selection being based on a determination that the selected streaming media content has been requested for downloading more frequently than other streaming media content,
a cache memory operable to store the transcoded streaming media content, and
receive, from the data infrastructure server, a redirected request from the user equipment device for requested streaming media content for transmission of the requested streaming media content to the user equipment device when the requested streaming media content is not stored in a transcoded form in the cache memory of the data infrastructure server and the requested streaming media content or a profile associated with the user equipment device is not stored on a regionally proximate data infrastructure server configured to cache streaming media content that demonstrates a high popularity in comparison to the other streaming media content; and
transmit the requested streaming media content to the user equipment device after receiving the redirected request when the requested streaming media content is not stored in the transcoded form in the cache memory of the data infrastructure server and the requested streaming media content or the profile associated with the user equipment device is not stored on the regionally proximate data infrastructure server.
the wireless environment comprises a plurality of wireless environment regions;
the data infrastructure server is associated with at least one of the plurality of wireless environment regions; and
the request for streaming media content received from the user equipment device is routed to the data infrastructure server associated with the wireless environment region in closest proximity to the user equipment device, wherein the control information network is operable to perform the routing of the request for streaming media content to the data infrastructure server associated with the wireless environment region in closest proximity to the user equipment device.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the data infrastructure server comprises a crawler operable to perform crawling operations on a network comprising a plurality of streaming media content servers to collect streaming media content usage data, wherein:
20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the data infrastructure server is operable to:
21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein popularity of the selected streaming media content, as determined by the selected streaming media content being requested for downloading more frequently than other streaming media content, is identified by geographic location, prior to a user equipment request for media content.
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US (2) US9680896B2 (en)
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