Multimedia Stream Buffer Control for Smooth Playback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lightweight players with small or unconfigurable playback buffers experience buffer overflow or underflow, leading to unsmooth video playback, image jitter, or freeze, especially with high-definition multimedia streams, due to inadequate control over buffer output and reliance on complex communication protocols.
Innovation Solution
A multimedia stream buffer module with a controller that divides the buffer into units and calculates actual idle time to precisely control the output of multimedia stream packets to a playback buffer, using a sleep instruction to manage buffer units and ensure smooth playback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the playback buffer size is kept small in lightweight players, then device complexity and resource consumption are reduced, but buffer overflow or underflow occurs leading to unsmooth video playback, image jitter, or freeze
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer is divided into multiple buffer units (first buffer, second buffer, etc.) that can be independently managed and controlled. Each buffer unit can be enabled or disabled based on the actual remaining time calculation, allowing precise control over data output to prevent overflow and underflow while maintaining smooth playback in lightweight players.
2Reliability
If complex communication protocols (RTSP, RTCP) and control methods are used to manage buffer output, then playback smoothness is improved, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase making lightweight players unable to support this function
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential buffer control function from complex communication protocols like RTSP and RTCP. By implementing a simplified control method that calculates actual remaining time and selectively enables buffer units based on this calculation, the patent achieves buffer output control without requiring heavy protocol stacks, making it suitable for lightweight players.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer control system performs self-management by automatically calculating the actual remaining time and determining which buffer units to enable or disable. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for complex external protocol negotiations and control messages, reducing system complexity while maintaining reliable playback.
3Ease of operation
If sleep instruction is used for buffer output control on the software layer, then implementation is simplified, but precise control on hardware clock is lost causing unpredictable jitters and increased output error over time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a feedback mechanism that calculates the actual remaining time based on the accumulated idle time and buffer time. This feedback loop allows the system to adjust buffer unit enablement dynamically, compensating for timing variations introduced by sleep instructions and maintaining precise control over data output timing.
Data Source
AI summary
A buffer and output method and a buffer module for a multimedia stream are provided, wherein multimedia stream packets are received and stored into a first buffer, and when an actual remaining time calculated according to an accumulated idle time and a buffer time, is greater than a remaining time threshold value, following steps are performed. A first present time is read, and a sleep instruction is executed, so as to wait for a preset idle time. A second present time is read, and an actual idle time different from the preset idle time is calculated according to the first present time and the second present time. A part of buffer units are enabled according to the accumulated idle time accumulated according to the actual idle time, to output the stored multimedia stream packets to a second buffer of a player.