Method and apparatus for time stretching to hide data packet pre-buffering delays
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
InventorsMathias R. Kretschmer, James H. Snyder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A special rendering mode for the first few seconds of play out of multimedia data minimizes the delay caused by pre-buffering of data packets in multimedia streaming applications. Instead of pre-buffering all incoming data packets until a certain threshold is reached, the streaming application starts playing out some of the data packets immediately after the arrival of the first data packet. Immediate play out of the first data packet, for example, results in minimum delay between channel selection and perception, thereby allowing a user to quickly scan through all available channels to quickly get a notion of the content. The immediate play out is done at a reduced speed.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- upon identifying a first packet in a plurality of data packets, immediately playing the first data packet without delay;
- and
- while playing the first data packet, generating fill packets associated with the first data packet;
- and
- after playing the first data packet, and before playing a second data packet directly following the first data packet in the plurality of data packets, playing the fill packets, wherein a number of fill packets played is associated with perceptual entropy of the first data packet.
A system comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations comprising:
- upon identifying a first packet in a plurality of data packets, immediately playing the first data packet without delay;
- and
- while playing the first data packet, generating fill packets associated with the first data packet;
- and
- after playing the first data packet, and before playing a second data packet directly following the first data packet in the plurality of data packets, playing the fill packets, wherein a number of fill packets played is associated with perceptual entropy of the first data packet.
A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored which, when executed by a computing device, result in the computing device performing operations comprising:
- upon identifying a first packet in a plurality of data packets, immediately playing the first data packet without delay;
- and
- while playing the first data packet, generating fill packets associated with the first data packet;
- and
- after playing the first data packet, and before playing a second data packet directly following the first data packet in the plurality of data packets, playing the fill packets, wherein a number of fill packets played is associated with perceptual entropy of the first data packet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.