Adaptive Media Stream Encoding for Varying Terminal Capabilities
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In cloud applications, achieving a balance between smooth playback and high sound and image quality across terminals with varying device conditions is challenging, often resulting in freezing or low quality issues due to differing media-stream processing capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for processing media streams that involve determining media-stream processing capabilities of terminals in an interaction room, performing adaptive encoding of media data to match these capabilities, and delivering optimized media streams to subsets of terminals, ensuring smooth and high-quality playback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single media stream is delivered to all terminals, then device complexity is reduced, but playback quality and smoothness deteriorate due to mismatched processing capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the media stream delivery system by dividing terminals into different groups based on their processing capabilities. The server performs adaptive encoding to generate multiple media streams with different parameters (bitrate, resolution, frame rate), then selectively delivers appropriate streams to different terminal groups. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by maintaining simple delivery infrastructure while improving playback quality through capability-based stream selection.
2Reliability
If adaptive encoding is performed to match different terminal capabilities, then playback quality and smoothness improve, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by performing adaptive encoding that modifies media stream parameters (bitrate, resolution, frame rate) based on terminal capabilities. The server dynamically adjusts these parameters to match different terminal groups, thereby improving playback quality without requiring complex processing at the terminal end. This resolves the contradiction by centralizing complexity at the server while simplifying terminal requirements.
3Manufacturing precision
If media stream parameters are optimized for high quality, then sound and image quality improve, but playback smoothness deteriorates on terminals with limited processing capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by tailoring media stream parameters to match the specific capabilities of different terminal groups. Each terminal group receives media streams optimized for its local processing capabilities, ensuring both high quality where supported and smooth playback where processing power is limited. This resolves the contradiction by making quality optimization localized rather than uniform across all terminals.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for processing a media stream includes: determining a cloud application and an interaction room created in the cloud application, and obtaining, during running of the cloud application, media-stream processing capability information of terminals joining the interaction room for interaction; performing adaptive encoding on media data in the interaction room based on the media-stream processing capability information, to obtain at least one type of media stream for the terminals in the interaction room, a media-stream parameter of the at least one type of media stream matching the media-stream processing capability information; determining a media stream matching a subset of the terminals in the interaction room, the media stream being selected from the at least one type of media stream based on media-stream processing capability information of the subset of the terminals; and delivering the media stream to the subset of the terminals in the interaction room.