Protocol Engine for Media Ingest Status Reporting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional video streaming systems experience latency delays between video content ingestion at a network media server and download by a local host, leading to confusion and playback issues due to the lack of synchronized ingest and download status reporting.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that include a content receiver, a concurrent streamer, and a protocol engine to report the ingest status of media content at a network media server to a local host, allowing concurrent streaming and ingest operations, and enabling accurate navigation and playback by displaying the ingest status relative to the download status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the network media server continues to ingest video content while the local host resumes downloading after playback pause, then the system maintains continuous content availability, but latency delay and time offset increase between ingest and download status
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by having the network media server send periodic ingest status messages to the local host, indicating the current ingest position. The local host uses this feedback to synchronize its download status bar with the actual ingest progress, resolving the time offset problem while maintaining continuous content availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the network media server acts as a coordinator between the ingest process and the local host's download process. By mediating the status information flow from server to client, it synchronizes the two operations and eliminates confusion about content availability.
2Ease of operation
If the local host generates download status bar without knowledge of ingest status, then the system operates independently at each endpoint, but user confusion and playback errors occur due to unsynchronized status reporting
Solution Approach 1:
The local host receives periodic feedback messages from the network media server containing the current ingest status. This feedback allows the local host to update its status bar accurately, showing the user the true availability of content for navigation while maintaining independent operation at each endpoint.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the independent status reporting mechanisms of the network media server and local host into a synchronized system. By combining the server's ingest status with the client's download status through protocol messages, it creates a unified view of content availability without sacrificing operational independence.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the local host allows navigation beyond downloaded content, then user navigation freedom increases, but playback errors occur due to attempting to play uningested content
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from the ingest status messages to dynamically adjust the navigable range displayed to the user. The local host receives real-time information about what content has been ingested and updates the status bar accordingly, allowing users to navigate freely within the safe range while preventing attempts to play uningested content.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of the navigable content range based on real-time ingest status. Rather than a static navigation limit, the system continuously adapts the available playback range as content is ingested, providing maximum user freedom while maintaining playback reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a content receiver, a concurrent streamer coupled to the content receiver, and a protocol engine coupled to the concurrent streamer. The content receiver receives an ingest stream of media content from a media source in response to a request for the media content from a local host. The concurrent streamer sends at least a portion of a local stream of the media content to the local host concurrent with the reception of the ingest stream of the media content by the content receiver. The protocol engine sends a protocol element from the network media server to the local host. The protocol element indicates an ingest status of the ingest stream at the content receiver.