Hybrid Transmission Protocol for Low-Performance Settop Boxes
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Solution Overview
Problem
IPTV settop boxes with low specification hardware face challenges in supporting web platforms due to high bandwidth demands and the need for high-spec hardware for multimedia reproduction, making it difficult to introduce web platforms effectively.
Innovation Solution
A virtualization server parses web pages into moving picture and web data areas, re-encodes or transcodes moving pictures, and generates image files to optimize bandwidth, allowing cheap settop boxes to provide web browsing services by transmitting these files, which are then decoded by the settop box's hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If web platforms are introduced to IPTV settop boxes, then web browsing service is provided, but high specification hardware is required which conflicts with low specification hardware availability
Solution Approach 1:
A virtualization server acts as an intermediary between the web platform and the settop box. The server parses web pages, separates moving picture areas from web data areas, re-encodes moving pictures, and transmits processed content to the settop box. This mediator handles the complex processing that the low-spec hardware cannot perform, enabling web browsing without upgrading the settop box hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the need for high-performance local hardware processing with server-side software processing. Instead of requiring the settop box to have powerful CPUs and graphics processors to render web pages and decode videos, these functions are substituted by the virtualization server's parsing and encoding capabilities, transmitting only the essential display data to the client device.
2Adaptability or versatility
If web platforms are introduced to IPTV settop boxes, then web browsing service is provided, but high bandwidth demand increases network load
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization server extracts and separates the moving picture area from the web data area, then processes them independently. By extracting only the essential visual content and transmitting it in an optimized format, the system reduces the overall data transmission requirement compared to transmitting complete web pages with embedded high-definition video assets.
Solution Approach 2:
The server changes the parameter of video encoding by re-encoding moving pictures at appropriate quality levels for the specific transmission channel. This parameter optimization ensures that video content is transmitted with sufficient quality while minimizing bandwidth consumption, adapting the encoding parameters to the capabilities of the settop box and network conditions.
3Loss of energy
If moving pictures are re-encoded or transcoded on the server, then bandwidth is optimized, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization server performs preliminary parsing of web pages to identify moving picture areas before transmission. By pre-processing and separating video content from other web content, the system prepares the data in advance for efficient encoding and transmission, reducing the overall processing time required during actual content delivery.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a hybrid protocol which may provide web browsing service even by means of a low-performance set-top box using a virtualization server. The virtualization server separately encodes a region of a target page, the video of the region being reproduced, or transcodes the video concerned and transmits the transcoded video. In addition, the virtualization server captures a region, on which web data is displayed, as an image file and transmits the image file to the set top box. The set top box reproduces the video using a hardware decoding chip, and restores the target page from the image file using a low-performance CPU.