Media Application Server Codec Negotiation via Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication systems face challenges in establishing connections between end devices supporting different codecs, leading to the need for costly codec translation hardware and complex transcoding processes.
Innovation Solution
A media application server that operates with multiple codecs without performing codec translation, instead advertising a single supported codec during connection setup, forcing clients or network switches to handle signal conversions, thus eliminating the need for additional hardware and simplifying software updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a media application supports multiple codecs with translation capability, then it can communicate with diverse end devices, but the hardware cost increases due to additional DSPs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the codec translation functionality from the media application server and places it in the network path (switches or gateways). The media application server only advertises a single codec it natively supports, while the network infrastructure handles the translation to other codecs, eliminating the need for multiple DSPs in the server.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces network switches or gateways as intermediary devices that perform codec translation. These intermediaries sit between the media application server and end devices, translating signals between the server's native codec and the various codecs supported by different end devices, thus enabling multi-codec compatibility without adding hardware to the server.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a media application advertises multiple supported codecs, then it can connect with more clients, but the software complexity and maintenance difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the responsibility of supporting multiple codecs directly from the media application server's software. Instead, the server advertises only its native codec, and the network infrastructure handles the complexity of supporting multiple codecs through translation, significantly simplifying the server's software stack and maintenance requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If codec translation is performed by the media application server, then connection compatibility is improved, but the processing load and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the codec translation processing load from the media application server and assigns it to network switches or gateways. This distribution of processing responsibilities reduces the server's computational burden and can lower latency, as the translation can occur in parallel through dedicated network infrastructure rather than sequentially through the application server.
Data Source
AI summary
A media application server, comprising a network interface and a processor adapted to establish voice connections with opposite end devices and to perform on the connections at least one media application task for signals of a plurality of different signal formats, the processor being adapted to establish the connection in a negotiation procedure in which it advertises itself as supporting fewer than the plurality of signal formats.