Content-Based UMID Generation for Media Files
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Solution Overview
Problem
Media files originating from devices that do not generate Unique Material Identifiers (UMIDs) at the point of creation often receive multiple UMIDs when imported by different devices or applications, leading to ambiguity and issues in media editing, management, and archiving, as existing UMID generation methods rely on time and random numbers, causing multiple import events to generate distinct UMIDs.
Innovation Solution
A content-based UMID generation method that uses a hash function to create a unique identifier based on selected portions of media essence and metadata, independent of the time of import, ensuring uniqueness and minimizing generation delay to less than 100 milliseconds, even for multiple files.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If UMID is generated using time and random numbers at import stage, then UMID generation is simple and fast, but multiple import events produce different UMIDs for the same media file causing ambiguity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters used for UMID generation from time-based and random numbers to content-based parameters (hash of media essence and metadata). This ensures that the same media file always produces the same UMID regardless of when or how many times it is imported, while different media files produce different UMIDs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital fingerprint (hash copy) of the media essence and metadata to generate the UMID. This hash copy serves as a unique representation of the media content that can be quickly generated and compared without processing the entire media file.
2Reliability
If UMID is generated based on full media file content, then UMID uniqueness is guaranteed, but processing time increases beyond acceptable limits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential and metadata portions of the media file to generate the UMID, rather than processing the entire media file. This extraction of key identifying elements significantly reduces processing time while maintaining uniqueness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the media file into two key components for UMID generation: media essence (the actual content) and metadata (file information). By processing only these segmented components rather than the complete file, the system achieves fast UMID generation.
3Measurement precision
If UMID generation processes entire media files, then identification accuracy is maximized, but productivity decreases when handling multiple files
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary identifying portions (media essence and metadata) from each media file for UMID generation. This extraction approach maintains identification accuracy by focusing on unique content elements while dramatically improving batch processing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by processing only the essential portions of media files (essence and metadata) rather than complete files. This partial processing provides sufficient information for accurate identification while enabling high-speed batch operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures unambiguous identification of media files by generating UMIDs based solely on content, reducing the likelihood of identical IDs for different files and maintaining imperceptible processing delays during file import, especially when handling large numbers of files.
Implementation Method 1
Generating the UMID comprises using a hash function to generate the UMID from the selected portion of media essence
Data Source
AI summary
A unique material identifier (UMID) for a media file that was not provided with a UMID at its point of origination is generated by using the content of the file, and is independent of the time of file import or accessing. For a given item of media material, the UMID remains unchanged and uniquely identifies the item when such a file is imported or accessed multiple times. The UMID may be generated by hashing together selected portions of the metadata and essence of the media file. The amount of metadata and essence sampled is chosen to provide a high degree of assurance that the UMID will be unique, but is kept small enough so as to avoid causing a perceptible lag when the UMID is generated. In various embodiments the UMID is based purely on one or more selected portions of the media file essence.