Adaptive Media Streaming Bitrate Switching with Transition Segments

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Solution Overview

Problem

Adaptive streaming technologies face challenges in smoothly switching between different bitrates, leading to undesired glitches and unnatural transitions in media content playback, which impede user experience due to the need for abrupt changes in coding modes without intermediate transitions.

Innovation Solution

The method involves a media streaming server pre-storing transition segments to facilitate smooth transitions between different coding modes, allowing clients to request these segments for seamless bitrate adjustments, reducing computational load and bandwidth requirements, and signaling available switching points to minimize perceptual noticeability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If adaptive streaming switches between different bitrates to adapt to network conditions, then playback quality is improved, but glitches and unnatural transitions occur

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebitrate adaptationVSAvoidglitches and unnatural transitions

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces transition segments as intermediary content between segments encoded in different coding modes. These transition segments contain media content encoded in both the first and second coding modes, allowing the playback device to smoothly transition between bitrates without abrupt switches, thereby eliminating glitches and unnatural transitions while maintaining adaptive bitrate switching capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If transition segments are transmitted to enable smooth coding mode switching, then user experience is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experienceVSAvoidbandwidth consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies transition segments locally and selectively only at specific switching points between different coding modes, rather than applying transition effects throughout the entire media stream. The playback device requests transition segments only when needed for coding mode switching, not for all segment transmissions, thereby minimizing bandwidth consumption while maintaining smooth transitions where required

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Reliability

If the playback device processes transition segments locally, then transition smoothness is improved, but computational load on client device increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransition smoothnessVSAvoidcomputational load

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSPower

Solution Approach 1:

The transition segments are pre-encoded and prepared in advance at the server side with both coding modes embedded within them. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for the playback device to perform complex real-time transcoding or blending operations, reducing computational load on the client device while ensuring smooth transitions through pre-computed transition content

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11997339B2Adaptive streaming of media content with bitrate switching

Publication Date: 2024.05.28 DOLBY INTERNATIONAL AB

AI summary

A method for adaptive streaming of media content with bitrate switching is described, wherein the media content comprising a plurality of consecutive media segments. The method comprising, at a media streaming server: transmitting a segment of the media content encoded in a first coding mode having a first bitrate; receiving an indication for a coding mode switch to a second coding mode having a second bitrate and in response transmitting a transition segment for transitioning between the first coding mode and the second coding mode; and transmitting another segment of the media content encoded in the second coding mode.