US5874986A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method for communicating audiovisual programs over a communications network
Assignee: AT&T Inc
•
Filing: 1996-06-26
•
Granted: 1999-02-23
•
Expires: 2016-06-26
Abstract
Abstract Audiovisual programs are transmitted over a low-bandwidth network in a compressed form in which the number of video frames has been reduced by selecting "significant" frames. The user sees a series of still images accompanying an apparently full audio channel. The frames are downloaded to the user in an order designed to assure, first, that the next few frames necessary for viewing are present, but also so that the user can scroll throughout the program even as it is being downloaded. This is accomplished by first downloading the full audio for the program portion requested by the user's viewer software, and then downloading the video frames based on requests from the viewer software, which has access to a table indicating which video frames are associated with which audio portions. The software uses the table to download frames needed immediately, as well as to download advance frames based on their significance.
Inventors
- 👤 David Crawford Gibbon
- 👤 Robert Edward Markowitz
- 👤 Behzad Shahraray
- 👤 Steven David Simon
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 11:40
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/40; H04N21/43; H04N21/442; H04N21/44209; H04N21/20; H04N21/23; H04N21/234; H04N21/23406; H04N21/2343; H04N21/234381; H04N21/236; H04N21/2368; H04N21/431; H04N21/4312; H04N21/4314; H04N21/434; H04N21/4341; H04N21/44; H04N21/44004; H04N21/45; H04N21/462; H04N21/4622; H04N21/47; H04N21/478; H04N21/4782; H04N21/488; H04N21/4884; H04N21/60; H04N21/63; H04N21/643; H04N21/65; H04N21/654; H04N21/6543; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/812; H04N21/85; H04N21/858; H04N21/8586; H04N7/00; H04N7/16; H04N7/173
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
153 words
A method for receiving an audiovisual program at a station of a communications network and playing back said program at said station, said audiovisual program having content comprising a video data stream, said video data stream being transmitted in a compressed format in which frames determined to have greater significance than other frames are retained and frames determined to have lesser significance than other frames are discarded, said program further being accompanied by a table indicating which frames are present in said compressed program and a time offset at which display of each frame is to begin, said method comprising the steps of: establishing a pre-fetch interval; requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of data to fill a pre-fetch queue having a duration commensurate with said pre-fetch interval; when said pre-fetch queue is full, requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of additional data from later portions of said program.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
153 words
A method for receiving an audiovisual program at a station of a communications network and playing back said program at said station, said audiovisual program having content comprising a video data stream, said video data stream being transmitted in a compressed format in which frames determined to have greater significance than other frames are retained and frames determined to have lesser significance than other frames are discarded, said program further being accompanied by a table indicating which frames are present in said compressed program and a time offset at which display of each frame is to begin, said method comprising the steps of: establishing a pre-fetch interval; requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of data to fill a pre-fetch queue having a duration commensurate with said pre-fetch interval; when said pre-fetch queue is full, requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of additional data from later portions of said program.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said step of requesting additional data comprises: examining said table; and selecting, for request, data referenced in said table as a function of which portion of said program said data originate in.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 2 wherein said selecting step comprises: analyzing at least one of (a) performance of said communications network, and (b) availability of data previously requested from different portions of said program; and choosing data, for request, based on said analysis.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: playing back contents of said pre-fetch queue; and as said contents of said pre-fetch queue are played back, requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of data to maintain said pre-fetch queue.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 4 further comprising accepting, at substantially any time, user input for selecting playback of one of said later portions of said program.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said audiovisual program comprises at least one other data stream.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 6 wherein said at least one other data stream comprises audio data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 6 wherein said at least one other data stream comprises closed-captioning data.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
110 words
A method of communicating audiovisual programs over a communications network, and playing back said programs at a station of said network, said method comprising the steps of: analyzing content of said audiovisual program; compressing said audiovisual program as a function of said content to create a compressed program; compiling a table indicating which portions of said program are present in said compressed program and transmitting said table over said network in association with said compressed program; examining said table at said station; and selecting at said station, for request from said network, data referenced in said table as a function of which portion of said program said data originates in.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
110 words
A method of communicating audiovisual programs over a communications network, and playing back said programs at a station of said network, said method comprising the steps of: analyzing content of said audiovisual program; compressing said audiovisual program as a function of said content to create a compressed program; compiling a table indicating which portions of said program are present in said compressed program and transmitting said table over said network in association with said compressed program; examining said table at said station; and selecting at said station, for request from said network, data referenced in said table as a function of which portion of said program said data originates in.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 9 wherein: said audiovisual program comprises audio data and video data; and said compressing step comprises compressing said video data and transmitting said audio data in a substantially real-time stream.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 10 wherein said compressing step comprises compressing said video data by analyzing significance of frames, retaining frames expected to have greater significance than other frames, and discarding frames expected to have lesser significance than other frames.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 11 wherein said step of analyzing significance of frames comprises examining frames for one of (a) a scene change relative to adjacent frames, (b) a fade, and (c) a change in volume level of audio associated with said frame relative to audio associated with adjacent frames.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 11 further comprising: compiling a table indicating which frames are present in said compressed program and a time offset at which display of each frame is to begin; and transmitting said table as part of said compressed program.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 13 further comprising compressing said table prior to said transmitting step.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 14 wherein said table compressing step comprises transmitting portions of said table at different times.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 9 further comprising transmitting a second visual program along with said audiovisual program.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 16 wherein said transmitting step comprises: compiling a table indicating which frames are present in said second visual program and a time offset at which display of each frame is to begin; and transmitting said table as part of said second visual program.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 9 wherein said selecting step comprises, at said station: establishing a pre-fetch interval; requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of data to fill a pre-fetch queue having a duration substantially equal to said pre-fetch interval; when said pre-fetch queue is full, requesting, at said station, transmission by said network of additional data from later portions of said program.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 18 wherein said step of requesting additional data comprises: examining said table; and selecting, for request, data referenced in said table as a function of which portion of said program said data originate in.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 19 wherein said selecting step comprises: analyzing at least one of (a) performance of said communications network, and (b) availability of data previously requested from different portions of said program; and choosing data, for request, based on said analysis.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4647985A
Cited
US5172111A
Cited
US5790198A
Cited
US5428774A
Cited
US5471577A
Cited
US5486876A
Cited
US5440336A
Cited
US5481296A
Cited
US5636139A
Cited
US5668805A
Cited
US5521841A
Cited
US5675738A
Cited
US5621729A
Cited
US5673430A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-02-22 | 2002-08-24 | 2003-02-23 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-02-22 | 2006-08-24 | 2007-02-23 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-02-22 | 2010-08-24 | 2011-02-23 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |