Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Webtv Networks, Inc.

Sean M Callahan

Michael Andrew Cleron

Jeffrey D Yaksick

Lennart Lovstrand

Mark H Krueger

Yongjun Wu

Peter T Barrett

Weidong Zhao

Juan Carlos Arevalo Baeza

Eric Christoffersen

David R Anderson

William Chen

Barry Friemel

Anil A Ingle

Daniel Dinu

Charles T Lenzmeier

Yegnaswamy Sermadevi

Mark N Krueger

Ian Kelly Latham

Embodiments are directed to determining latency in an interactive application. In one scenario, a computer system generates an indication that an input has been triggered. This indication identifies the input. The computer system sends the indication to an interactive application that receives and accesses the indication. The computer system further receives an output from the interactive application that includes an indication of the input, and determines an amount of latency between the sending of the generated indication and the receiving of the interactive application output.

Measuring latency in an interactive application

Video decoding innovations for multithreading implementations and graphics processor unit ('GPU') implementations are described. For example, for multithreaded decoding, a decoder uses innovations in the areas of layered data structures, picture extent discovery, a picture command queue, and/or task scheduling for multithreading. Or, for a GPU implementation, a decoder uses innovations in the areas of inverse transforms, inverse quantization, fractional interpolation, intra prediction using waves, loop filtering using waves, memory usage and/or performance-adaptive loop filtering. Innovations are also described in the areas of error handling and recovery, determination of neighbor availability for operations such as context modeling and intra prediction, CABAC decoding, computation of collocated information for direct mode macroblocks in B slices, reduction of memory consumption, implementation of trick play modes, and picture dropping for quality adjustment.

Reducing memory consumption during video decoding

Video decoding implementations for a graphics processing unit

Embodiments are directed to decoding incomplete video data. In one scenario, a computer system receives a piece of a frame (e.g. a video frame). The frame includes multiple frame pieces, where each frame piece is encoded so as to be individually decodable. The computer system decodes the received frame pieces while waiting for at least one additional frame piece to be received. Then, when a condition occurs indicating that the frame is incomplete, the computer system synthesizes frame pieces to replace the additional frame piece that has not yet been received.

Decoding and synthesizing frames for incomplete video data

Systems and methods for scan converting data into compressed representations of pixel data are described. In one aspect, shape geometry including shape and/or position attributes of one or more objects are directly scan converted into compressed scan converted data. The compressed scan converted data is stored into memory for subsequent application access and rendering.

Direct storage of compressed scan converted data

A browser-based email system implemented in a computing device is connected to a host mail server. The host mail server provides pages which can be rendered by a browser to present an email service to a user. The browser-based email system receives audio data, video data, and/or still images, and supports a user interface to facilitate capture of the audio data, video data, and/or still images for inclusion in an email message.

Browser-based email system with user interface for audio/video capture

The described implementations provide arrangements and procedures for scan converting data into compressed representations of pixel data. In particular, shape geometry including shape and/or position attributes of one or more objects are directly scan converted into compressed scan converted data. The compressed scan converted data is stored into memory for subsequent application access and rendering.

Systems and methods for direct storage of compressed scan converted data

A browser-based email system has a thin client connected to a host mail server. The thin client implements a browser. The host mail server provides pages to the thin client, which can be rendered by the browser to present an email service to a user. The thin client is equipped to receive audio and video data and supports a user interface to facilitate capture of the audio or video data for inclusion in an email message. After a data stream is captured and stored locally at the client, the browser submits a request to the host mail server that contains a token in lieu of the data stream. The host mail server returns a response specifying a new page that contains the email message. The response also includes the token and indicates a location in the new page at which the audio or video data is to be rendered. Upon receiving the response, the browser inserts the data stream into the new page at the location and renders the new page. After the user has reviewed the email message, the user can send the email message, causing the browser to submit another request to the host mail server that contains both the email message and the audio or video data. Upon receiving this second request, the host mail server converts the email message and the audio or video data to a MIME message and forwards the MIME message to the intended recipient.

The invention frees up memory to other uses by allocating memory to video graphics buffering only to the extent required. It also saves graphic processor bandwidth by processing, e.g. blending, only to the extent required. It does so by defining a regular grid of so-called tiles or cells in the overlay graphic data window, e.g orthogonally arrayed squares of 32-pixel sides, and allocating memory only to those requiring update, i.e. only those that are visible and subject to change between successive frames. Allocation is dynamic and requires little tagging overhead to keep track of the tiles in memory by location in the video graphic window. Processing is only of those tiles for which memory is allocated, since entirely transparent tiles within the window require no blending or processing whatsoever because they are invisible. In one implementation, only onscreen buffered graphics are tiled and the offscreen buffered graphics require full-sized memory allocation and in another offscreen buffered graphics are tiled also by clipping within variously sized buffers during successive passes through a drawing operation wherein the various sized buffers all are smaller than the entire window. New offscreen buffer-processed tiles may be swapped as they are processed for existing (visible) onscreen tiles directly, when there is less available memory, or new tiles may be processed and block-stored in memory until a wholesale swap can occur invisibly, when there is more memory available.

Overlay graphics memory management method and apparatus

A system for processing a video data stream has a data input to receive a video data stream with first and second fields of interlaced scan lines. The system has a resizing and filtering component to remove the first field of interlaced scan lines, thereby reducing the quantity of video data by one-half. The resizing and filtering component then resizes the remaining second field of interlaced scan lines by averaging pairs of sequential scan lines to produce averaged line pairs. Thereafter, the resizing and filtering component filters the averaged line pairs to remove any unwanted interlace flickering.

Growing community of inventors

Saint Paul, MN, United States of America

Sean M Callahan