Media Node Synchronization via Embedded Timestamp Metadata
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio and video synchronization technologies fail to synchronize the playback of content across multiple media nodes in a home network effectively, leading to playback delays and anomalies due to unique internal latency characteristics and network infrastructure delays.
Innovation Solution
Embedding a time stamp in the metadata of the content itself, allowing media nodes to synchronize their playback based on a common presentation time, ensuring that multiple nodes play the same content at the same time by synchronizing their absolute time clocks with a network clock and using standard metadata structures like MP3 ID3v2 or DTS metadata.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If each media node fetches content independently and starts playing, then each node can play content autonomously, but playback times differ between nodes causing synchronization issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system embeds a presentation time stamp in the metadata of the content before distribution to media nodes. This preliminary action allows each node to independently determine when to play the content based on the pre-calculated timestamp, achieving both autonomous operation and synchronized playback without requiring continuous communication during playback.
2Reliability
If continuous time base synchronization systems are used, then constant time base synchronization is maintained, but the system becomes overly burdensome for single event synchronization
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential synchronization information (presentation time stamp) from the complex continuous time base synchronization system and embeds it directly in the content metadata. This allows single event synchronization to occur independently without requiring the full infrastructure of continuous time base synchronization systems like SMPTE time code or NTP.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of transmitting continuous time base synchronization signals to all nodes, the system creates a copy of the presentation time information and embeds it in the metadata of each content instance. Each media node then uses this copied time information independently to achieve synchronization without requiring ongoing communication with the time base system.
3Reliability
If absolute time code synchronization is used, then multiple systems can be synchronized to absolute time, but the solution is not designed specifically for single event synchronization
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by embedding the presentation time stamp specifically in the metadata of the content rather than relying on general absolute time code systems. This localized approach tailors the synchronization mechanism specifically for single event synchronization needs, making the system more adaptable and versatile for this particular use case while still utilizing absolute time concepts.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for synchronizing rendering of common content across two or more network-coupled rendering nodes by embedding a time stamp into the metadata of the content.