The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 04, 2008
Filed:
Nov. 16, 1999
Eric David Bloch, San Francisco, CA (US);
Jeffrey Evan Beall, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Gordon Anson Durand, San Jose, CA (US);
Ralph Hill, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Eric David Bloch, San Francisco, CA (US);
Jeffrey Evan Beall, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Gordon Anson Durand, San Jose, CA (US);
Ralph Hill, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A software architecture and control protocol that provides seamless playback of multiple clips of media data across a data network. Conventional server-based data network architecture where playback logic resides on the servers does not provide the capability of seamless playback of multiple clips stored in different servers. The present invention allows users to specify a playlist and provides control on the client with the implementation of a 'client pull' data transport model. According to the present invention, the playlist is translated into a plurality of frame accurate requests, which are sent from the client to the servers one request at a time. The servers, upon receiving the requests, retrieve the corresponding frames of media data and transmit the media data back to the client. In this way, the present invention allows a user-interface to provide seamless playback of multiple clips that reside on different servers on the client workstation.