Patent Document

BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates generally to the field of digital audio and video delivery systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for determining an appropriate bit rate with which to transmit data from a server to a client.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Virtually all communication channels are bandwidth-limited in some manner, due to the physical limitations of the underlying transmission medium and/or the signaling limitations of the channel (e.g., the channel&#39;s allocated frequency spectrum). For example, a 100 Base-T Ethernet network is capable of providing a total data throughput of 100 Mbps, which is shared by all nodes (e.g., clients and servers) on the network. Similarly, the maximum throughput available to home computer users varies widely, ranging between 14.4 kbits/sec and 56 kbits/sec for standard dial-up lines, up to 144 kbits/sec for Integrated Services Digital Network (“ISDN”) lines, and up to 8 Mbits/sec for digital subscriber lines (“DSL”).  
           [0005]    Because of the wide disparity in data throughput available to consumers, Internet content is frequently formatted and delivered at a variety of different quality levels (typically, the higher the quality, the more throughput required for playback). In addition, content formatted for transmission over a high speed channel such as DSL may not be suitable for transmission over a low-speed channel such as standard dial-up. For example, a CD-quality audio file may be streamed to a client over a DSL connection with only a few seconds of buffering delay at the client whereas the same file may require several minutes of buffering delay at the client over a standard 56 k modem connection, i.e., a delay which would be unacceptable to most users.  
           [0006]    Systems have been developed for measuring the throughput available to an end user and delivering content of a particular quality based on the measured throughput. However, these systems typically calculate available throughput in a relatively simplistic manner—e.g., by measuring the amount of time it takes to transmit a file to the user and dividing the file size by the amount of time. The file size used for these calculations are typically quite large in order to deal with the problem of temporary network glitches (e.g., temporary periods of network transmission delay).  
           [0007]    Accordingly, what is needed is a more accurate and efficient system and method for determining the throughput available to an end user. What is also needed is a system and method for selecting content of a particular quality based on the available throughput.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0008]    A computer-implemented method comprising: transmitting a test file to a client; timing the transmission of the test file with a timer; resetting the timer and reattempting the transmission of the test file if the timer reaches a first maximum threshold value; and calculating an effective bitrate for delivering data to the client based on transmission time of said test file.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained from the following detailed description in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture used to implement elements of the invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computer architecture used to implement elements of the invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a system for distributing audio/video content to a client.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 illustrates a Java applet implemented in one embodiment of the invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a system for intelligent bitrate selection.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a method for intelligent bitrate selection.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]    In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the underlying principles of the invention.  
       An Exemplary Network Architecture  
       [0017]    Elements of the present invention may be included within a client-server based system  100  such as that illustrated in FIG. 1. According to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, one or more servers  110 ,  150  communicate to one or more clients  130 - 133 ,  135 . The clients  130 - 133 ,  135  may transmit and receive data from the servers  110 ,  150  over a variety of communication media including (but not limited to) a local area network  140  and/or a larger network  125  (e.g., the Internet). Alternative communication channels such as wireless communication via satellite broadcast (not shown) and cellular are also contemplated within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0018]    The servers  110 ,  150  may include one or more databases for storing digital audio and/or video data. The databases may also store specific client data (e.g., information on how frequently a particular client logs in to server  110  and that client&#39;s preferences) and/or more general data. The database in one embodiment runs an instance of a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), such as Microsoft™ SQL-Server, Oracle™ or the like.  
         [0019]    A client may interact with and receive feedback from servers  110 ,  150  using various different communication devices and/or protocols. In one embodiment, the client logs in to servers  110 ,  150  via client software. The client software may include a Java-enabled browser application such as Netscape Navigator™ or Microsoft Internet Explorer,™ and may communicate to servers  110 ,  150  via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (hereinafter “HTTP”). In other embodiments included within the scope of the invention, clients may communicate with servers  110 ,  150  via cellular phones and pagers (e.g., in which the necessary software is embedded in a microchip), handheld computing devices, and/or touch-tone telephones. In addition, the present invention may be used with any device connectable to the Internet in a direct or wireless connection.  
       An Exemplary Computer Architecture  
       [0020]    Having briefly described an exemplary network architecture which employs various elements of the present system and method, a computer system  200  representing exemplary clients  130 - 133 ,  135  and/or servers  110 ,  150  in which elements of the system and method may be implemented will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.  
         [0021]    One embodiment of a computer system  200  comprises a system bus  220  for communicating information, and a processor  210  coupled to bus  220  for processing information. Computer system  200  further comprises a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device  225  (referred to herein as main memory), coupled to bus  220  for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor  210 . Main memory  225  also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor  210 . Computer system  200  also may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage device  226  coupled to bus  220  for storing static information and instructions used by processor  210 .  
         [0022]    A data storage device  227  such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to computer system  200  for storing information and instructions. Computer system  200  can also be coupled to a second I/O bus  250  via and I/O interface  230 . A plurality of I/O devices may be coupled to I/O bus  250 , including a display device  243 , an input device (e.g., an alphanumeric input device  242  and/or a cursor control device  241 ).  
         [0023]    The communication device  240  may comprise a modem, a network interface card, or other well known interface device, such as those used for coupling to Ethernet, token ring, or other types of networks. In any event, in this manner, the computer system  200  may be coupled to a number of servers via a conventional network infrastructure, such as a company&#39;s local area network  140  and/or the larger network  125 , for example.  
       Embodiments of a System and Method for Intelligent Bit Rate and Buffer Selection  
       [0024]    In one embodiment, the owner/operator of the Internet server  150  is a customer of the owner/operator of the audio/video distribution servers  110 , and client  135  is an end user (e.g., a user dialing out to the Internet or connecting to the Internet via a broadband connection such as digital subscriber line). In this embodiment, the owner of the Internet server  150  may contract with the owner of the audio/video distribution servers  110  to provide audio and/or video functionality for the Internet server&#39;s  150 &#39;s Internet site. For example, server  150  may represent an e-commerce customer such as Ticket Master™ Online or The Gap™ Online and the multimedia content used by these customers may be provided by the audio/video distribution servers  110 .  
         [0025]    With the foregoing business relationship in mind, FIG. 3 illustrates client  135  communicating over network  125  to audio/video distribution servers  110  and server  150 . In one embodiment of the system and method, client  135  initially makes a Web page request  310  from server  150  (e.g., by clicking on a link to that Web page) and, in response, server  150  transmits the requested Web page  320  to client  135 . The Web page request  310  may contain more information than a simple Web page address. For example, if client  135  has previously visited server  150 , then cookie data identifying client  135  may also be transmitted to server  150 . Server  150  may then transmit a Web page  320  to client  135  which contains information uniquely tailored to client  135 &#39;s preferences. For example, server  150  may be a Ticket Master server from which client  135  has purchased numerous tickets to alternative rock concerts. As such, the Web page  320  transmitted to client  135  may contain specific information relating to upcoming alternative rock concerts, shows, or featured artists.  
         [0026]    Audio/video objects  350  may be embedded in Web page  320  which direct audio and/or video associated with the Web page  320  (or components thereof) to be downloaded from the audio/video distribution servers  110  when the Web page  320  is downloaded to the client  135  (or shortly thereafter). In addition, in one embodiment, the audio/video objects  350  may include audio/video streaming, decoding and playback technology (e.g., a Java audio playback applet). This is illustrated in FIG. 3 as an audio/video request  340  from client  135  to the audio/video distribution servers  110 , and subsequent audio/video content  330  distribution (with or without playback technology). Although illustrated as two separate servers  110 , 150 , it should be noted that the audio content  330  and the Web page  320  may be transmitted from the same server while still complying with the underlying principles of the invention.  
         [0027]    As illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 4, one embodiment of playback technology includes a Java applet which is comprised of an audio/video player module  410 , a streamer module  411 , a codec module  412  and the underlying audio/video content  420 . It should be noted, however, that a Java applet is not required for complying with the underlying principles of the invention. The codec module  412  in one embodiment uses an advanced pulse code modulation (“ADPCM”) codec for compressing/decompressing audio/video content. Accordingly, when audio/video content is to be delivered to a particular end-user, the codec is transmitted along with the content. In one embodiment, the player  410  is transmitted to client  135  in a first network transaction. Secondly, the codec  412  and streamer  411  are transmitted to the client  135 . Finally, the content  420  is streamed to the client  135  for decompression by codec  412 . In another embodiment, the player  410 , codec  412  and streamer  411  are concurrently transmitted to the client followed by the content  420 .  
         [0028]    In this embodiment, because the player  410  and related modules  411 - 412  are written in Java, these programs are architecture-neutral. Accordingly, they can be executed on any system which includes a Java virtual machine (virtually all Web browser-equipped machines do). In contrast, browser plug-ins used in prior audio and video streaming systems are platform-dependent (e.g., a plug-in developed for Internet Explorer will not necessarily run on Netscape Navigator and a plug-in developed for a Macintosh™ computer will not run on a PC).  
         [0029]    In addition, because Java was designed to create compact programs, the Java applet  330  may be quite small. In one embodiment, the Java applet  330  is slightly more than 4 k-bytes in size, making it ideal for streaming applications where a short transmission time is necessary. One embodiment of the player module  410 , streamer module  411 , and/or codec module  412  is described in the co-pending U.S. patent applications entitled “A System and Method for Streaming Data in Java,” Ser. No. 09/388,634; and “A System and Method for Providing Audio/Video Content delivery Over a Network,” Ser. No. 09/377,883 which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0030]    Regardless of the particular type of audio/video streaming technology employed, one embodiment of the invention identifies an appropriate bitrate and/or buffer size to be used for transmitting multimedia content to the client  135 . More specifically, in one embodiment, before multimedia content is delivered to a client  135 , the system illustrated in FIG. 5 executes the method set forth in FIG. 6 (in whole or in part) to select an appropriate bitrate and buffer size. Initially, at  612  (FIG. 6), if the client&#39;s Web browser cache is enabled it is disabled to ensure accurate bitrate calculations (i.e., if test data is read from the cache rather than from the server  110 , the effective bitrate will be artificially high).  
         [0031]    At  614  one of the audio/video distribution servers  110  begins transmitting a compressed test file  510  to the client  135 . In one embodiment, the test file  510  is derived from an audio (or multimedia file) of the same type and format as the one which will typically be streamed on the system. Alternatively, or in addition, the file may be compressed with the maximum level of compression possible (e.g., using G-Zip or other compression application) to ensure accurate throughput calculations. In addition to being highly compressed, in one embodiment the test file is extremely small (i.e., relative to files used in current bitrate test systems). For example, the test file may be just large enough to provide accurate test results. In one specific embodiment, the test file is approximately 6 kbytes in size but the specific size of the test file is not relevant to the underlying principles of the invention.  
         [0032]    As the download process is initiated, a test module  520  executed on the client  135  begins timing the download (alternatively, or in addition, a timing module executed on the audio/video distribution servers  110  may time the download). In one embodiment, a threshold timer value is programmed in the system. The threshold timer value approximates the time it would take to provide the test file  510  to the client  135  at the next-to-lowest bitrate provided by the audio/video distribution servers  110 . In other words, once this timer value is reached, the only “appropriate” bitrate is the lowest bitrate available. For example, if it takes about 2 seconds to download a 6 K file at say 24 Kbps (the next-to-lowest bitrate in this example), once 2 seconds is reached, a time-out occurs. In other words, the lowest bitrate (e.g., 16 Kbps) codec would need to be selected at this point, so there&#39;s no reason to prolong the test.  
         [0033]    If the first timer threshold is reached, in order to ensure that the low bitrate approximation was not merely the result of a temporary network glitch (e.g., a temporary period of network transmission delay) one embodiment of the system resets the timer and reattempts the test file  510  download at  618  (FIG. 6). The retry feature may be particularly important in an embodiment which uses a relatively small test file  510  as described above. The same timer threshold value may be used on the second download attempt or, alternatively, a different (longer or shorter) timer threshold value may be used, depending on the embodiment. Regardless of the duration of the second threshold timer value, if it is reached (determined at  622 ), in one embodiment, the lowest bitrate is selected for communication with the client  135  (at  620 ). In one embodiment, the system retransmits the test file  510  an additional number of times after the second threshold timer value is reached.  
         [0034]    If the test file  510  is successfully downloaded, at  624  the test module  520  (or other module executed on the audio/video distribution servers  110 ) calculates the effective bitrate based on the download time. For example, if a 6 kbyte file is used and takes 1 second to download, the effective calculated bitrate is (6 kbytes * 8 bits/byte)/1 sec=48 kbits/sec. In one embodiment, the audio/video distribution server  110  uses the calculated bitrate to select an audio and/or video file of a particular quality. In one embodiment, audio/video files may be encoded at a variety of different quality levels, e.g., 16 kbits/sec, 24 kbits/sec, 32 kbits/sec, 40 kbits/sec, 64 kbits/sec, 128 kbits/sec . . . etc. Accordingly, in the foregoing example, the audio/video distribution servers  110  would select 40 kbits/sec as the appropriate bitrate (i.e., because it is the closest bitrate which is lower than the calculated bitrate of 48 kbits/sec). In one embodiment the selection of a bitrate is performed by a query to a lookup table having each of the predefined bitrates stored therein.  
         [0035]    In addition to calculating an appropriate bitrate between the audio/video distribution servers  110  and the client  135 , one embodiment of the system and method also calculates an appropriate buffer size at the client  135  for receiving an audio/video stream. More specifically, in one embodiment, the client&#39;s decompression performance is evaluated and used to determine buffer size. Decompression performance may be based on the hardware and software configured in the client  135  (e.g., the client&#39;s CPU speed, the client&#39;s browser software including the Java virtual machine, . . . etc.). Accordingly, at  626  a decompression test is initiated on an encoded test file (which may or may not be the same as the test file  510  transmitted during bitrate calculations). In one embodiment, the decompression evaluation is timed in the same manner as the bitrate evaluation. Accordingly, if the decompression process takes longer than some predetermined threshold value, determined at  628 , then at  630  the decompression timer is reset and the decompression test is attempted again. If the second attempt also runs longer than the second threshold timer value (which may or may not be the same as the first timer value), determined at  636 , the largest buffer size available is selected at the client  135  (at  632 ) (i.e., to compensate for the slow decoding). However, it should be noted that a retry on the decompression test is not required for complying with the underlying principles of the invention.  
         [0036]    If the decompression process terminates before the threshold timer value is reached, at  634  the buffer size is calculated based on the speed of the decompression process. Generally speaking, the slower the client&#39;s decompression performance, the larger the calculated buffer size. Moreover, the previously-evaluated bitrate may also be factored into the buffer calculations. For example, if the communication channel between the client  135  and the audio/video distribution servers  110  can support a relatively high bitrate (e.g., via a DSL connection) and the client decompression performance is relatively slow (e.g., because of a slow CPU) then a relatively large buffer will need to be selected so that an overflow condition does not result (i.e., so that the buffer does not fill up due to the slow decompression process). Similarly, if the channel between the client  135  and the audio/video decompression servers  110  supports a relatively low bitrate (e.g., a 36.6 kbit/sec modem connection) and the client&#39;s  135 &#39;s decompression performance is relatively fast, then a small buffer (or no buffer at all) may be selected. In one particular embodiment, a default buffer size is configured within the system (e.g., 5 seconds) and is adjusted up or down depending on the bitrate and buffer analysis described above.  
         [0037]    At  636 , after the bitrate and buffer size have been determined, the underlying audio/video content is provided to the client  135  (e.g., via an audio/video stream or other content delivery mechanism).  
         [0038]    Elements of the present invention may also be provided as a computer program product which may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic device) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnet or optical cards, propagation media or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. For example, the present invention may be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem or network connection).  
         [0039]    Throughout the foregoing description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details were set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. For example, although some of the embodiments described above focus on an implementation using Java applets executed at a client  135 , the system and method for intelligent bitrate and buffer selection may be employed on virtually any system in which one node communicates to another node over a network (e.g., a server to a client over the Internet). Accordingly, the scope and spirit of the invention should be judged in terms of the claims which follow.

Technology Category: h