Gateway Image Merging for Set Top Box Internet Browsing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multimedia systems, including Set Top Boxes (STBs) and client devices, face challenges in providing reliable Internet browsing services due to limited processing capacity, susceptibility to viruses and malware, and the inability to handle high processing requirements, which can lead to service failures and security risks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system where a cloud server takes over browser functionality, reducing the processing workload on STBs and client devices, and merging video streams with web browsing content to create a composite streamed image, while protecting devices from online threats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If web browsers are run on serviced devices with limited processing capacity, then Internet browsing functionality is provided, but the devices become susceptible to viruses, malware, and processing failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the web browser functionality from the serviced device and relocates it to a cloud server. The STB captures browser display output from the cloud server and transmits it to the serviced device, allowing the device to access browsing functionality without running a browser locally, thereby eliminating security risks and processing constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The STB acts as an intermediary between the cloud server (where the browser runs) and the serviced device (which displays the content). It captures the browser's display output, processes it, and transmits it to the device, enabling secure remote browsing without exposing the client device to browser-related security threats.
2Productivity
If cloud server takes over browser functionality and merges video streams with web browsing content, then processing workload on STBs and client devices is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cloud server merges the video stream from the STB with the web browsing content in a single composite display output. This combining of multiple content sources occurs on the server side, reducing the processing burden on client devices while presenting a unified view to the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The cloud server autonomously handles the complexity of merging video streams and web content, performing the integration service without requiring complex client-side processing. The STB and serviced devices simply receive and display the pre-integrated output, allowing the server to self-manage the complex operations.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A gateway includes at least one communications interface and processing circuitry and establishes communications with at least one service provider device and with a serviced client device. The gateway receives serviced client device display structure instructions, first streamed content from a service provider device, and second streamed content from a cloud server, the second streamed content based upon an Internet session hosted by the cloud server. Based upon the serviced client device display structure instructions, the gateway combines the first streamed content with the second streamed content to form merged streamed content and transmits the merged streamed content to the serviced client device. In another operation the gateway forwards the first streamed content to a first client device and the second streamed content to a second client device based upon the serviced client device display structure instructions.