Ineoquest Technologies, Inc.

Inequest Technologies, Inc.

Marc A C Todd

James T Welch

Jesse D Beeson

Richard T Holleran

Peter S Dawson

A packetized streaming media delivery network carries many 'streams' of differing media content. They often are from multiple sources and of different media types. The invention consists of a scalable hardware and/or software computing element resolving the network traffic into its individual streams for focused, simultaneous, and continuous real-time monitoring and analysis. The monitoring and analysis consists of delay factor and media loss rate which measure the cumulative jitter of the streaming media within the delivery network and the condition of the media payload. These measurements form a powerful picture of network problem awareness and resolution. The delay factor objectively indicates the contribution of the network devices in the streams' path, allowing for both problem prediction and indication. In one example, tapping a packetized network at various locations allows for correlation of the same-stream performance at various network points to pinpoint the source(s) of the impairment(s).

System and method for creating multiple transportation streams of streaming media network test traffic in packet-based networks

Streaming media network parameters are measured using an electronic system and displayed directly to a user or transmitted via an electronic interface such as an existing system network conduit, either in or out-of-band. A scalable hardware and/or software compute engine filters and reduces network parameters to simplify tracking the instantaneous and long term streaming media performance of the network. Hence, the entire set of active media streams is continuously monitored concurrently, thereby providing the ability to detect impairments as well as predict impending impairments. In one example, an existing packetized network conduit containing streaming media is tapped to concurrently and objectively analyze the streaming media streams, producing statistics (such as delay factor and media loss rate) and alarm-type events according to predetermined rules. Tapping the existing packetized network in multiple points provides comparison points and assists in pinpointing the source(s) of the impairment(s).

System and method for analyzing the performance of multiple transportation streams of streaming media in packet-based networks

A system for handling streaming media at a customer premises includes a compute engine having a customer network interface device port and a customer premises equipment port, for installation between a customer network interface device and video destination customer premises equipment. The compute engine includes a processing module configured for receiving an incoming packet stream through the network interface device port, processing the incoming packet stream to generate stream data, forwarding the stream data through the network interface device port, and forwarding the incoming packet stream through the customer premises equipment port. Particular embodiments monitor and dynamically repair the incoming stream.

System and method for handling streaming media

Streaming media network transportation streams are created using an electronic system and transmitted via an electronic interface such as an existing system network conduit (i.e. Ethernet, USB, or other packet-based architectures). A scalable hardware and/or software compute engine modifies an initial stream's identifier(s) while replicating the stream content to economically create streams. Hence, an entire network's capacity of active streams may be created from a single initial stream. In one examples, an initial stream is stored in advance of transmission for such use. In other examples, an initial stream is received and processed to dynamically create streams from the initial stream as the initial stream is being received.

A system and method is provided for reducing the bandwidth of MPEG transport streams during transmission over a packet-switched network. The system and method identifies characteristics of a plurality of media fragments disposed within each of a plurality of packets of a transport stream, and aggregates the characteristics into a summary value for each of the packets. The summary value is correlated to a priority weighting identifiable by a network element. Each of the packets is marked with the priority weighting, so that the packets may be selectively dropped by a network element in accordance with their priority weightings to reduce the bandwidth of the transport stream.

System and method for selective packet discard for the transport of multiple transportation streams of streaming media in packet-based networks

Streaming media network streams are modified using a sequence field with the IP layer 3 protocol compatible with already deployed IP switching systems except as noted for device and system testing and operational monitoring which can be used to detect the loss or out of order delivery of packets belonging to a stream. This approach can also provide the ability to numerically characterize the loss in terms of total loss, loss burst size, and loss frequency. By utilizing the bit locations of the IP-defined datagram Identification (ID) field and a unique numerical sequence, loss and out of order delivery may be tracked while avoiding the overhead and complexity associated with added upper layer protocols while gaining other key advantages such as in-situ marking of stream attributes.

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Foxboro, MA, United States of America

Marc A C Todd