Media Server Playback Synchronization Across Platforms
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current media playback systems do not allow seamless interruption and resumption of media programs across different devices, leading to inconvenient viewing experiences, especially when users want to continue watching from the same point on a different device without re-watching previously viewed advertisements.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that enable media servers to monitor playback on one device and resume streaming from the exact temporal location on another device, using media program streaming information to synchronize playback across platforms, even if devices operate under different protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If media playback is interrupted on one device and resumed on another device, then viewing flexibility and user convenience are improved, but synchronization of playback position and advertisement timing across different devices and protocols becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a media server as an intermediary that coordinates playback state transfer between different client devices. The server receives pause/resume notifications, tracks temporal positions, and manages the transfer of playback state information, thereby simplifying the synchronization complexity that would otherwise exist between peer devices
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a universal playback state transfer mechanism that works across multiple device types (set-top boxes, personal computers, mobile devices) and different protocols (HTTP Live Streaming, Progressive Downloading). This multi-functional approach allows the same synchronization logic to handle diverse device-protocol combinations without requiring device-specific implementations
2Reliability
If playback state information is tracked and transferred across devices, then seamless resumption is achieved, but data transmission and processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential playback state information (temporal position, pause/resume status) from the complete media stream data and transfers only this minimal necessary data between devices. This extraction approach achieves reliable seamless resumption while minimizing data transmission overhead by sending only what is needed rather than redundant information
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system supports multiple protocols and device types for playback, then adaptability and user convenience are improved, but system complexity and coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The media server acts as a protocol-agnostic intermediary that translates between different client protocols (HTTP Live Streaming, Progressive Downloading) and a unified internal state representation. This mediation layer enables cross-platform compatibility without requiring complex direct coordination between devices using different protocols
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements homogeneous data structure representations for playback state information that are protocol-independent. By standardizing the format and semantics of playback state data (temporal positions, pause flags) across all protocol implementations, the system achieves protocol coordination simplicity while maintaining adaptability to multiple device types
Data Source
AI summary
A media server receives a first request to transmit the media program to the first device and streams the media program to the first device. The method monitors the streaming of the media program to the first device to generate media program streaming information and transmits the media program streaming information to a media program provider. A second request is received to resume transmission of the media program from a second device where the request includes a temporal location within the media program that was received from the media program provider. The media program provider determined the temporal location from the streaming information transmitted from the media server to the media program provider. The media server resumes transmission of the media program to the second device from the temporal location received from the media program provider.