Video Clip Delivery Using Event Markers and Pre-Post Ratios

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing video delivery mechanisms are inflexible and prone to interruptions, leading to incomplete or missing key moments in sports highlights, and do not accommodate varying viewer preferences for clip duration or bandwidth constraints.

Innovation Solution

A method using event markers and pre-post event ratios to define video clips, allowing for flexible delivery and prioritization of video chunks based on narrative importance, ensuring key moments are delivered first and allowing dynamic compilation and adaptation to bandwidth and time constraints.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If video clips are delivered in sequential order from start to end, then the delivery mechanism is simple and maintains chronological integrity, but interruptions cause loss of key moments and subsequent clips fail to deliver

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedelivery reliabilityVSAvoiddelivery mechanism complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by delivering video chunks in reverse chronological order, starting with the most important key moments first. This ensures that if an interruption occurs, the viewer receives the most critical content before any less important segments, thereby improving delivery reliability without requiring complex re-delivery mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements dynamics by allowing the delivery order to be dynamically adjusted based on narrative importance rather than fixed chronological sequence. The system can adaptively prioritize chunks containing key events, enabling flexible delivery that maintains reliability under varying network conditions while keeping the mechanism relatively simple.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Adaptability or versatility

If fixed start and end time-codes define each video clip, then the clip structure is simple and easy to manage, but the length and content of clips cannot be adapted to viewer preferences or bandwidth constraints

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveclip adaptabilityVSAvoidclip definition complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing video content into discrete chunks with assigned narrative importance values, rather than treating clips as fixed continuous segments. This allows the system to selectively deliver and combine chunks based on viewer preferences and bandwidth constraints, achieving adaptability while maintaining simple individual chunk structures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements dynamics by making clip definition flexible and adaptive rather than fixed. The system dynamically determines clip composition and length based on narrative importance, viewer preferences, and available bandwidth, allowing clips to be customized without requiring complex pre-definition of all possible clip variations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Loss of information

If all video chunks are delivered to ensure complete clips, then viewers receive full content, but bandwidth is wasted delivering less critical content when bandwidth is constrained

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent completenessVSAvoidbandwidth consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by assigning different narrative importance values to different video chunks based on their content significance. This allows the system to prioritize delivery of high-importance chunks (key moments) over low-importance chunks (less critical content), ensuring essential information is delivered while reducing bandwidth consumption of non-essential content.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements partial action by delivering only the necessary portion of video content required to convey the key narrative moments, rather than delivering complete fixed-length clips. This allows viewers to receive the most important content with reduced bandwidth consumption, while option to receive additional content remains if bandwidth becomes available.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

4Reliability

If clips are delivered in chronological order, then the delivery sequence is simple and matches natural viewing order, but later clips may fail to deliver during interruptions causing viewers to miss key moments

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvekey moment deliveryVSAvoiddelivery sequencing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by delivering video chunks in reverse chronological order, starting with the most important key moments first. This ensures that if an interruption occurs, the viewer receives the most critical content before any less important segments, thereby improving delivery reliability without requiring complex re-delivery mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements dynamics by allowing the delivery order to be dynamically adjusted based on narrative importance rather than fixed chronological sequence. The system can adaptively prioritize chunks containing key events, enabling flexible delivery that maintains reliability under varying network conditions while keeping the mechanism relatively simple.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP2965532B1Video data provision
Publication Date: 2022.12.07 BRITISH TELECOM PLC
  • EP2965532B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2965532B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2965532B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3C

AI summary

Video clips are generated from a sequence of video data for delivery and playback on demand. Each clip (101, 102, 103) is identified by an event marker (1) and a pre/post event ratio (PPER). The pre/post event ratio determines the relative duration of the clip before and after the element defined by the event marker. In response to a request for video clip data, identified with reference to the event marker (1), the discrete elements (1, 2, 3, 12) of video data making up each clip are allocated to a sequence starting with the element associated with the event marker (1) and following in an order (2, 3, 4, etc) determined by the pre/post event ratio. This allows clips having different durations but having the same PPER to be transmitted to different receivers dependant on channel capacity or reliability. The receiver may compile clips of a selected length by compiling the elements starting at the event marker and adding the elements in a sequence, before and after the event marker, determined by the PPER until a clip of a required length is complete. A sequence of several clips can be compiled, the event markers for different clips having different priorities such that if a short sequence is required, the low priority clips are omitted or abbreviated.