Methods, systems, and apparatuses for enhanced adaptive bitrate segmentation

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:
• determine, for a plurality of video frames, a plurality of variants, wherein each variant of the plurality of variants comprises:
• a first sequence comprising segments comprising stream access points (SAPs) of a first type that do not reset a picture reference buffer, and
• a second sequence comprising segments comprising SAPs of a second type that do reset the picture reference buffer;
• send, to a computing device, at least one segment of a first variant, of the plurality of variants, encoded at a first bitrate, wherein the at least one segment comprises a SAP of the first type;
• and
• based on a request from the computing device to switch variants, send:
• a segment of a second variant, of the plurality of variants, that is encoded at a second bitrate and that comprises a SAP of the second type, and
• a next segment of the second variant comprising a SAP of the first type.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause:

• determining, for a plurality of video frames, a plurality of variants, wherein each variant of the plurality of variants comprises:
• a first sequence comprising segments comprising stream access points (SAPs) of a first type that do not reset a picture reference buffer, and
• a second sequence comprising segments comprising SAPs of a second type that do reset the picture reference buffer;
• sending, to a computing device, at least one segment of a first variant, of the plurality of variants, encoded at a first bitrate, wherein the at least one segment comprises a SAP of the first type;
• and
• based on a request from the computing device to switch variants, sending:
• a segment of a second variant, of the plurality of variants, that is encoded at a second bitrate and that comprises a SAP of the second type, and
• a next segment of the second variant comprising a SAP of the first type.

A system comprising:

• a first computing device configured to:
• determine, for a plurality of video frames, a plurality of variants, wherein each variant of the plurality of variants comprises:
• a first sequence comprising segments comprising stream access points (SAPs) of a first type that do not reset a picture reference buffer, and
• a second sequence comprising segments comprising SAPs of a second type that do reset the picture reference buffer,
• send, to a computing device, at least one segment of a first variant, of the plurality of variants, encoded at a first bitrate, wherein the at least one segment comprises a SAP of the first type, and
• based on a request from the computing device to switch variants, send:
• a segment of a second variant, of the plurality of variants, that is encoded at a second bitrate and that comprises a SAP of the second type, and
• a next segment of the second variant comprising a SAP of the first type;
• and
• a second computing device configured to:
• send the request.