Sony Corporation

Sony Croporation

Jody J Shapiro

Howard E Chartock

Christopher V Pirazzi

Steve Chen

Daniel E Weaver

David J Pawson

Giovanni M Agnoli

Kerrick Lindsey

Angela C W Lai

James Peter Hoddie

Harry A Chomsky

Angela Chunwah Lai

A system, method, and computer program product for publishing transcoded media content in response to publishing service requests from end users. A user request for media content, is processed intelligently, either by directing the processing of the request to one of a set of transcoding servers so as to effectively balance the load among the servers, or by directing the processing of the request to an appropriate alternative means for satisfying the request. Transcoding tasks can be prioritized. Moreover, the current load on any particular transcoding server can be monitored in conjunction with determination of the load to be created by a transcoding task, in order to facilitate server selection. Transcoding can be performed on-demand or in a batch mode. Alternatively, a request can be satisfied by distributing media content that has already been transcoded and is resident in cache memory in anticipation of such requests.

System, method, and computer program product for media publishing request processing

A method for delivering media content over a network includes transcoding the media content to generate multiple copies of the media content, each of the multiple copies having a different destination type or a different source type or both, storing the multiple copies in a cache, receiving requests for the media content, and selecting and delivering a copy of one of the multiple copies in response to each of the requests. A further method for providing media content transcoding services includes fetching media content, selecting one of multiple transcoders for transcoding from multiple source types to multiple destination types, wherein the one transcoder is selected based at least on the destination type, sending the media content to the selected transcoder, transcoding the media content to the destination type, thereby generating transcoded media content, and transmitting the transcoded media content.

Distributed on-demand media transcoding system and method

A method for remotely determining the configuration of a computer of a multimedia content user includes sending player detection code the user's computer and receiving configuration information regarding the user's computer. A method of determining a connection speed of a computer includes determining a size of a timing block based on an estimated bandwidth and retrieving the timing block. The connection speed is determined based on the timing block size and the times at which transfer begins and ends.

System, method, and computer program product for remotely determining the configuration of a multi-media content user

A system, method, and computer program product is provided for publishing transcoded media content in response to publishing service requests from end users. A user request for media content is processed intelligently, either by directing the processing of the request to one of a set of transcoding servers so as to effectively balance the load among the servers, or by directing the processing of the request to an appropriate alternative means for satisfying the request. Transcoding tasks can be prioritized. In order to facilitate server selection, the current load on any particular transcoding server can be monitored in conjunction with a determination of the load to be created by a transcoding task. Transcoding can be performed on-demand or in a batch mode. Alternatively, a request can be satisfied by distributing media content that has already been transcoded and is resident in cache memory in anticipation of such requests.

A system, method, and computer program product for determining the configuration of an end user's computer system. In particular, the media players and network connection speed of the user are determined. This configuration information is then received by a delivery management server. The configuration information is used to format multi-media content for delivery to the user. Because the content is formatted according to the configuration information, the content is compatible with the user's configuration. The configuration determination process involves server contact code placed in the web page of the content provider. When the web page is loaded by the user, the server contact code directs the browser to retrieve code from the delivery management server. When the code is executed by the user, the media player of the user is determined. This information is saved in cookies at the user and is sent to the delivery management server. If the configuration information is indeterminate or incomplete, the user is presented with a preferences page in which the user can indicate the configuration. The preferences page also contains a mechanism for determining the connection speed of the user. The preferences page can also make specific recommendations to the user, e.g., recommend that the user choose a specific media player. The preferences page contains a block of data having a known size. The time required to transfer the block is measured, and the connection speed is then calculated and provided to the delivery management server.

A method for remotely determining the configuration of a computer of a multimedia content user includes sending player detection code to the user's computer and receiving configuration information regarding the user's computer. A method of determining a connection speed of a computer includes determining a size of a timing block based on an estimated bandwidth and retrieving the timing block. The connection speed is determined based on the timing block size and the times at which transfer begins and ends.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Jody J Shapiro