# US 8,751,677 B2 · System and method to support different ingest and delivery schemes for a content delivery network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,751,677 B2 - Document ID: US8751677B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/832,828 - Filed: 2010-07-08 - Published: 2011-04-14 - Granted: 2014-06-10 - Earliest claimed: 2009-10-08 - Assignees: Futurewei Technologies, Inc. - Applicants: Hongbing Li; Peng Zhang; Yunchao Gao; Ye-Kui Wang; Yue Chen; Hong Heather Yu - Inventors: Hongbing Li; Peng Zhang; Yunchao Gao; Ye-Kui Wang; Yue Chen; Hong Heather Yu - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8751677B2 ## CPC - H04N 21/26216: {involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth (admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61)} - H04N 5/765: Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus - H04N 9/8211: {the additional signal being a sound signal (H04N9/835 takes precedence)} - H04N 21/222: Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end {(provisioning of proxy services in data packet switching networks H04L67/56)} - H04N 21/23106: {involving caching operations (prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568)} - H04N 21/2343: involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements {(video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762)} - H04N 21/23439: {for generating different versions} - H04N 21/25808: {Management of client data (terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303)} - H04N 21/84: Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors {(systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73)} - H04N 21/8451: {using Advanced Video Coding [AVC]} - H04N 21/8456: {by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments} - H04N 21/85406: {involving a specific file format, e.g. MP4 format} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract In accordance with an embodiment, a method of operating a computer server includes receiving streaming media data. The streaming media data includes content fragments and a media description file, and the media description file includes metadata describing the content fragments. The method also includes storing the content fragments in a cache. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: receiving streaming media data, the streaming media data comprising a first plurality of alternative content fragments, a second plurality of alternative content fragments, and a single media description file comprising metadata describing both the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry alternative versions of the same media content, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments comprise a series of leading content fragments having a fixed time duration followed by a trailing content fragment having a variable time duration, wherein each content fragment in the first plurality of alternative content fragments corresponds to one or more alternative content fragments in the second plurality of alternative content fragments, and wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry the same media content at different bit rates. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein receiving streaming media data comprises receiving streaming media data from one or more servers. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the streaming media data is in a uniform format. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the streaming media data comprises video fragments and audio fragments. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments comprise a series of leading content fragments having a fixed time duration followed by a trailing content fragment having a variable time duration. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the first plurality of alternative content fragments to produce streaming media content of a particular configuration. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting the streaming media content to a network interface. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each content fragment in the first plurality of alternative content fragments corresponds to one or more alternative content fragments in the second plurality of alternative content fragments. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry the same media content at different bit rates. ### Claim 10 A method comprising: receiving source media content; and processing the source media content to produce streaming media data, the streaming media data comprising a first plurality of alternative content fragments, a second plurality of alternative content fragments, and a single media description file comprising metadata describing both the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry alternative versions of the same media content, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments comprise a series of leading content fragments having a fixed time duration followed by a trailing content fragment having a variable time duration, wherein each content fragment in the first plurality of alternative content fragments corresponds to one or more alternative content fragments in the second plurality of alternative content fragments, and wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry the same media content at different bit rates. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting the streaming media data to one or more edge servers. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein processing the source media content comprises: separating the source media content into audio media content and video media content; and transcoding the audio media content and video media content into a uniform format; fragmenting the video media content into video fragments; and fragmenting the audio media content into audio fragments. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the audio fragments are aligned in time with the video fragments. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein transcoding the audio media content and video media content into the uniform format comprises: transcoding the audio media content into an AAC format; and transcoding the video media content into a H.264 format. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein processing the source media content comprises: separating the source media content into audio media content and video media content; segmenting the video media content into video fragments; transcoding the audio media content into a uniform audio format; transcoding the video fragments into a uniform video format; and segmenting the audio media content into audio fragments, the audio fragments temporally corresponding with the video fragments. ### Claim 16 A server system comprising: an input port; and a processor configured to: receive a streaming media data from an input port, the streaming media data comprising a first plurality of alternative content fragments, a second plurality of alternative content fragments, and a single media description file, wherein the single media description file comprises metadata describing both the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments, and wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry alternative versions of the same media content; process the streaming media data to produce streaming media content of a particular configuration; and transmit the streaming media content to a media client, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments comprise a series of leading content fragments having a fixed time duration followed by a trailing content fragment having a variable time duration, wherein each content fragment in the first plurality of alternative content fragments corresponds to one or more alternative content fragments in the second plurality of alternative content fragments, and wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry the same media content at different bit rates. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The server of claim 16, wherein streaming media data comprises video fragments and audio fragments. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The server of claim 16, further comprising a cache, wherein the processor is further configured to store the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments in the cache. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of content fragments in a cache. ### Claim 20 An apparatus comprising: an input port; and a processor configured to: receive a streaming media data from an input port, the streaming media data comprising a first plurality of alternative content fragments, a second plurality of alternative content fragments, and a single media description file, wherein the single media description file comprises metadata describing both the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry alternative versions of the same media content, wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments comprise a series of leading content fragments having a fixed time duration followed by a trailing content fragment having a variable time duration, wherein each content fragment in the first plurality of alternative content fragments corresponds to one or more alternative content fragments in the second plurality of alternative content fragments, and wherein the first plurality of alternative content fragments and the second plurality of alternative content fragments carry the same media content at different bit rates. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is a media client.