Scalable File Proxy Caching for Real-Time Media Playback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current consumer hard disks are unable to provide the necessary data throughput for real-time reproduction of high-quality media files, leading to bottlenecks in the processing chain, especially with increasing data rates and frame rates, and existing solutions like faster hard disks and RAID systems are costly or limited in mobile applications.
Innovation Solution
A device and method for caching scalable files using a proxy file generator and cache memory that replaces non-basic information packets with empty packets, allowing the decoder to receive only the necessary data for real-time reproduction, maintaining the file structure and enabling efficient data throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If current consumer hard disks are used for storing and transmitting media files, then cost is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but data transmission rate is insufficient for real-time reproduction of high-quality media files
Solution Approach 1:
The media file is divided into multiple packets with different information levels (basic and non-basic). The proxy file contains only essential basic information packets, while non-basic packets are omitted or replaced with empty placeholders. This segmentation allows the system to transmit minimal necessary data through the bottleneck hard disk interface while maintaining the capability to reconstruct higher quality output when more data is available.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes non-essential data components (non-basic information packets) from the media file, creating a streamlined proxy file that contains only the critical basic information needed for real-time playback. This extraction reduces the data transmission burden on slow hard disks while preserving the core functionality of real-time reproduction.
2Speed
If faster hard disks or RAID systems are used to increase data throughput, then real-time reproduction capability is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a simplified proxy file that serves as a temporary, lightweight representation of the original media file. This proxy file uses only basic information packets that can be quickly transmitted through standard hard disks, sacrificing some quality (non-basic information) to achieve real-time playback capability on budget-friendly hardware.
3Manufacturing precision
If complete media files with all information packets are transmitted, then image quality is maintained, but data throughput requirements cannot be met by standard hard disks
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy file applies different quality levels to different parts of the data structure: basic information packets are preserved with full quality to ensure real-time playback functionality, while non-basic information packets are reduced to empty placeholders or minimal representations. This local quality differentiation allows the system to meet transmission speed requirements while maintaining adequate image quality for real-time reproduction.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for caching a scalable original file having a first structure which has a header and a plurality of information packets for different information levels has a cache memory configured to cache a proxy file and/or information packets of the proxy file and a proxy file generator configured to generate a proxy file such that the latter is transferable into or directly has a second structure, which corresponds to the first structure of the original file. The proxy file generator further is configured to read out a first information packet of a basic information level from the original file and insert it into the proxy file at a position specified by the second structure and to output the proxy file in the second structure, so that in the second structure, at least one of the information packets of a non-basic information level is replaced with an empty information packet.