Unencrypted Audio Preview Streaming for Browsing Delay

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing music streaming solutions experience delays and cumbersome browsing due to encryption requirements, leading to frustrating loading times and interruptions when switching between songs, especially over wireless networks with limited bandwidth.

Innovation Solution

A method where a computer server system analyzes audio content to extract a preview segment of an audio item, transmits it unencrypted to the device, and encrypts the full item upon request, allowing for quicker browsing and playback while maintaining content protection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If encrypted content is transmitted to protect copyright, then content protection is improved, but playback speed and browsing efficiency deteriorate due to key exchange delays

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent protectionVSAvoidplayback delay

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by providing unencrypted preview segments before the user requests the full encrypted content. This allows users to browse and preview content immediately without waiting for key exchange and decryption processes, while still maintaining copyright protection for the complete content

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The content is segmented into two parts: unencrypted preview segments that can be played back immediately, and encrypted full content that requires authentication. This segmentation allows different parts of the content to have different protection levels, improving browsing efficiency while maintaining security

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If full encrypted content is transmitted, then content protection is improved, but device resources and bandwidth are consumed unnecessarily during browsing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent protectionVSAvoiddevice resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts and provides only the necessary preview portion of the content in unencrypted form, separating it from the full encrypted content. This allows users to browse without consuming device resources for decryption operations, while the full content remains protected

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of providing full content or no content at all, the system provides a partial unencrypted preview that is sufficient for browsing purposes. This partial action meets user needs for previewing without the excessive resource consumption of processing full encrypted content

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS11349897B2Playback of an unencrypted portion of an audio stream

Publication Date: 2022.05.31 SPOTIFY

AI summary

This disclosure concerns the providing of media, and more particularly to the streaming of media. In one example embodiment of a method for streaming an audio content item to an electronic device, the method comprises: receiving a first data message comprising instructions from an electronic device to return a preview segment associated with a selected audio content item, the preview segment being a portion of the selected audio content item; retrieving said selected audio content item from a first storage; analyzing audio content of the retrieved audio content item to locate a portion of the selected audio content item to be used as the preview segment; extracting the located portion of the selected audio content item from the retrieved audio content item; and transmitting the extracted portion of the selected audio content item unencrypted to the electronic device.