HTTP Adaptive Streaming Zapping Rate Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing zapping between digital multimedia contents via HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) often compromise between zapping quickness and content quality, with existing solutions either prolonging zapping time or reducing content quality, and involve complex pre-delivery processes that consume resources.
Innovation Solution
A method that selects the encoding rate of the first time segment of a new digital content based on resource constraints and a target zapping time, ensuring a balanced zapping time and quality experience without pre-delivery, by considering available bandwidth and latency, allowing users to choose optimal quality segments according to their preferences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If pre-delivery processes are used to manage zapping between contents, then zapping quickness is improved, but device complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the pre-delivery process from the zapping mechanism. Instead of pre-loading content segments before zapping, the system directly selects and downloads the first time segment of the target content at the appropriate encoding rate based on available bandwidth and target zapping time, removing the complex pre-delivery infrastructure while maintaining fast zapping performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and selecting the optimal encoding rate for the first time segment before initiating the download. The system determines the appropriate encoding rate based on current bandwidth conditions and target zapping time requirements, then proceeds with a direct download without requiring pre-delivery of multiple segments or content preparation
2Manufacturing precision
If encoding rate is selected based only on available bandwidth, then content quality is optimized, but zapping time becomes unpredictable and may exceed user tolerance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the encoding rate selection adaptive and flexible. Instead of using a fixed quality selection method, the system dynamically adjusts the encoding rate choice based on real-time bandwidth measurements and target zapping time requirements. This allows the system to optimize content quality while ensuring zapping completes within acceptable time limits
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters used for encoding rate selection from solely bandwidth-based to a dual criterion of bandwidth and target zapping time. The system selects encoding rates that satisfy both quality requirements and time constraints, using parameter transformation to map bandwidth conditions and time targets into appropriate encoding rate choices
3Manufacturing precision
If high encoding rate segments are downloaded during zapping, then content quality is improved, but zapping time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by downloading only the first time segment of the target content during zapping, rather than pre-delivering multiple segments or the entire content. This partial download approach at high encoding rate provides sufficient quality for immediate playback while minimizing the time required, as only the essential first segment needs to be transferred during the zapping transition
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing zapping from a first digital content to a second digital content is disclosed. The first and second digital contents are obtained by HTTP adaptive streaming by a multimedia stream reader terminal and are each associated with a description file comprising a list of time segments of the content, each time segment being associated with multiple encoding rates of the content. The zapping management method involves: receiving a request to zap from the first digital content to the second digital content; obtaining the description file of the second digital content; selecting a rate for encoding a first time segment of the second digital content to be downloaded, on the basis of a resource constraint obtained by the multimedia stream reader terminal and on the basis of a target zapping time; and downloading the first time segment of the second digital content at the selected rate.