Gateway Trick Play Buffer for Non-Recording Playback Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Playback devices without digital video recording capability, such as set top boxes and IP streaming devices, do not support trick play functions like pause, rewind, and fast forward after a portion of a program has been recorded, as these functions rely on a buffer or storage device for time shifting.
Innovation Solution
A gateway device with recording capability and multiple tuners, demodulators, and network interfaces is used to provide trick play functionality to playback devices on a local network, allowing them to receive and record content for delayed playback, including transcoding and transrating to support various playback devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If playback devices without recording capability are used, then device complexity is reduced, but trick play functionality is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device serves as an intermediary between the content source and playback devices. It records content in a time-shift buffer and provides trick play functionality to playback devices that lack local recording capability, allowing them to access pause, rewind, and fast forward features without having built-in recording hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device performs multiple functions: it acts as a content receiver, recorder with time-shift buffer, transcoder for format conversion, and trick play server. This multi-functional approach enables simple playback devices to access advanced features without adding complexity to each individual device
2Adaptability or versatility
If local recording capability is added to playback devices, then trick play functionality is enabled, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adding recording capability to each playback device, the gateway device acts as a central intermediary that performs recording and trick play operations centrally, allowing multiple playback devices to access these features without each device needing local recording hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device creates copies of content in its time-shift buffer and streams these copies to playback devices when trick play commands are received, enabling playback functionality without requiring the original playback devices to have recording capabilities
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple playback devices access trick play functionality simultaneously, then user versatility is improved, but network load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device merges multiple trick play requests into a single content stream when multiple playback devices are accessing the same content. Instead of recording and streaming separate copies to each device, it consolidates the trick play operations and distributes the content efficiently across the network
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device pre-records content in its time-shift buffer before trick play commands are issued. This preliminary recording action allows it to quickly serve multiple trick play requests without real-time recording overhead, reducing network load when multiple devices access content simultaneously
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for providing playback devices with trick play functionality are described. The system includes a playback device, e.g., without recording capability, and a gateway device with multiple tuner-demodulators and/or a cable modem and recording capability. During normal playback, in some embodiments, both the playback device and gateway receive content in parallel with the gateway recording content at the request of the playback device and supplying the content over the local network when a user of the playback device requests a trick play operation. A single gateway, with multiple tuner demodulator pairs and/or a cable modem, supports trick play functions. In some embodiments if the number of playback devices exceeds the number of tuner-demodulator pairs in the gateway, the playback device can stream content to the gateway for recording and to be returned via the local network in the event of a request for a trick play operation.