Multi-stream Container Transmuxing for Client Format Compatibility

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing information handling systems face challenges in communicating multimedia content from a server to a client in a format that matches the client's capabilities, leading to inefficiencies such as transcoding and unnecessary bandwidth usage due to unsupported streams.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that utilize a multimedia container storing multiple formats of content, where a transmuxing module selects and transmuxes the content to a delivery container format supported by the client, reducing the need for transcoding and bandwidth waste by ensuring only supported formats are streamed.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If transcoding is used to convert content to client-supported formats, then format compatibility is improved, but processing cost and quality are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveformat compatibilityVSAvoidprocessing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-packaging content in multiple formats within a single container file before transmission. The server prepares the container with multiple format versions (e.g., different resolutions, codecs) in advance, so that the client can directly select and use the appropriate format without requiring real-time transcoding operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple versions of content are stored for different clients, then format compatibility is improved, but cataloging and searching complexity is worsened

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveformat compatibilityVSAvoidcataloging complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies merging by consolidating multiple format versions of the same content into a single container file. Instead of storing separate files for different formats (which creates cataloging complexity), all format variants are merged into one organized container structure with a unified indexing system that tracks each format version's characteristics.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Quantity of substance

If multi-stream containers are used to store multiple formats, then storage efficiency is improved, but streaming support is worsened due to bandwidth waste

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage efficiencyVSAvoidstreaming efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by implementing dynamic format selection and adaptive streaming from multi-stream containers. The system dynamically determines which format streams to transmit based on the client's capabilities and network conditions, allowing the server to selectively stream only the necessary format variants rather than transmitting all streams, thus optimizing bandwidth utilization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS9596493B2Multi-stream container information communication between information handling systems

Publication Date: 2017.03.14 DELL PROD LP

AI summary

A multimedia content container storing multimedia content in plural formats has a portion of the multimedia content transmuxed in a selected one of the plural formats to a delivery container for communication from a server information handling system to a client information handling system in response to a request for the content. Only the format supported by the client information handling system is provided from the plural formats of the multimedia container to the client information handling system.