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US 2011/0238747 A1Published application
Discontinuous download of media files
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsMichael Yu, Ryan Edward Cukierman, Stephen Michael Lacy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods provide for discontinuous download of media files. The system and method work within the bounds of simple, existing, open protocols and the media files served are playable by standard media playback clients. The method is driven by a request to play a media file from any location within the media file, including sections of the media file that the initial download has not yet reached. The method comprises downloading the media file in segments corresponding to the location in the media file that the user desires to view and merging the segments. The method allows for tracking of which segments have been downloaded and which have not.
Claims34
A method of enabling discontinuous download of media files, the method comprising:
- storing at a server computer system a media file, the media file comprising a plurality of chunks corresponding to separate, contiguous time intervals of the media file, wherein the chunks are not stored as TCP/IP packets;
- receiving at the server computer system from a client a request for a first of the plurality of chunks of the media file corresponding to a first time interval of the media file;
- transmitting the first chunk from the server computer system to the client to enable playback of the first chunk at the client;
- and
- in response to receiving a request from the client for one or more of the plurality of chunks that have not been transmitted to the client, the one or more chunks corresponding to one or more time intervals of the media file not contiguous with the first time interval, transmitting the requested one or more chunks from the server computer system to the client to enable playback of the one or more chunks at the client.
2 more elements
A method of enabling discontinuous download of media files, the method comprising:
- storing at a server computer system a media file, the media file comprising a plurality of chunks, each chunk corresponding to a discrete time interval of the media file, wherein the chunks are not stored as TCP/IP packets;
- receiving at the server computer system from a client a request to playback the media file from a first time interval;
- transmitting from the server computer system to the client at least one chunk of the media file, the transmitted chunk associated with the first time interval;
- receiving at the server computer system from the client a request to playback the media file from a second time interval discontinuous with the first time interval associated with the first chunk;
- and
- transmitting from the server computer system to the client, one or more chunks corresponding to the requested second time interval for playback by the client, without transmitting chunks corresponding to time intervals between the first and second time intervals.
3 more elements
A computer program product for enabling discontinuous download of media files, comprising:
- a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium;
- and
- computer program code, coded on the medium, for:
- storing at a server computer system a media file comprising a plurality of chunks of the media file corresponding to separate, contiguous time intervals of the media file, wherein the chunks are not stored as TCP/IP packets;
- receiving at the server computer system from a client a request for a first of the plurality of chunks of the media file corresponding to a first time interval of the media file;
- transmitting the first chunk from the server computer system to the client to enable playback of the first chunk;
- and
- in response to receiving a request at the server computer system from the client for one or more of the plurality of chunks that have not been transmitted to the client, the one or more chunks corresponding to one or more time intervals of the media file not contiguous with the first time interval, transmitting the requested one or more chunks from the server computer system to the client to enable playback of the one or more chunks at the client.
5 more elements
A computer program product for enabling discontinuous download of media files, comprising:
- a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium;
- and
- computer program code, coded on the medium, for:
- storing at a server computer system a media file comprising a plurality of chunks, each chunk corresponding to a discrete time interval of the media file, wherein the chunks are not stored as TCP/IP packets;
- receiving at the server computer system from a client a request to playback the media file from a first time interval;
- transmitting from the server computer system to the client at least one chunk of the media file, the transmitted chunk associated with the first time interval;
- receiving at the server computer system from the client a request to playback the media file from a second time interval discontinuous with the first time interval associated with the first chunk;
- and
- transmitting from the server computer system to the client, one or more chunks corresponding to the requested second time interval for playback by the client, without transmitting chunks corresponding to time intervals between the first and second time intervals.
6 more elements
A system for enabling discontinuous download of media files, the system comprising:
- means for storing at a server computer system a media file comprising a plurality of chunks of the media file corresponding to separate, contiguous time intervals of the media file, wherein the chunks are not stored as TCP/IP packets;
- means for receiving at the server computer system from a client a request for a first of the plurality of chunks of the media file corresponding to a first time interval of the media file;
- means for transmitting the first chunk from the server computer system to the client to enable playback of the first chunk at the client;
- and
- means for transmitting the requested one or more chunks from the server computer system to the client to enable playback of the one or more chunks at the client in response to receiving a request at the server computer system from the client for one or more of the plurality of chunks that have not been transmitted from the server computer system to the client, the one or more chunks corresponding to one or more time intervals of the media file not contiguous with the first time interval.
2 more elements
A system for enabling discontinuous download of media files, comprising:
- means for storing at a server computer system a media file comprising a plurality of chunks, each chunk corresponding to a discrete time interval of the media file, wherein the chunks are not stored as TCP/IP packets;
- means for receiving at a server computer system from a client a request to playback the media file from a first time interval at the client;
- means for transmitting from the server computer system to the client at least one chunk of the media file, the transmitted chunk associated with the first time interval;
- means for receiving at the server computer system from the client a request to playback the media file at the client from a second time interval discontinuous with the first time interval associated with the first chunk;
- and
- means for transmitting from the server computer system to the client, one or more chunks corresponding to the requested second time interval for playback by the client, without transmitting chunks corresponding to time intervals between the first and second time intervals.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.