IP Library Granted Patent US 11,818,406
Granted Patent B2
US 11,818,406 · App. 16/936,780 · Granted Nov 14, 2023

Data storage server with on-demand media subtitles

Inventor: Ramanathan Muthiah (Karnataka, IN)
Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
H04N21/235G10L15/26G10L21/10H04L67/1097H04N21/232H04N21/233H04N21/439H04N21/4722H04N21/4884
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,818,406
App. No.
16/936,780
Filed
Jul 23, 2020
Granted
Nov 14, 2023
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2424
USPC
725/115
Abstract

A network-attached storage device (NAS) includes a non-volatile memory module storing a media stream, a network interface, and control circuitry coupled to the non-volatile memory module and to the network interface and configured to connect to a client over a network connection using the network interface, receive a request for the media stream from the client, determine subtitle preferences associated with the request for the media stream, access an audio stream associated with the media stream, generate subtitles based on the audio stream, and send a transport stream to the client over the network connection, the transport stream including the media stream and the subtitles.

Claims (60)

1. A home network-attached storage device (NAS) for adding on-demand subtitles to one or more media files stored on the NAS and provided to a client on a local area network (LAN), the NAS comprising:

a non-volatile memory module configured to store, in a first storage area, a media stream including an elemental video stream and an elemental audio stream;

a network interface; and

control circuitry coupled to the non-volatile memory module and to the network interface, the control circuitry including transcriber circuitry for converting audio to text, the control circuitry configured to:

connect to a client over a LAN connection using the network interface;

receive a request for the media stream from the client;

in response to the request for the media stream:

determine subtitle preferences associated with the request for the media stream;

access the elemental audio stream associated with the media stream;

convert, using the transcriber circuitry, the elemental audio stream to subtitle text data representing a transcription of at least a portion of the elemental audio stream;

generate for a first language, on-demand, a new subtitle file including the subtitle text data in accordance with the subtitle preferences; and

save the subtitle file to a temporary storage area in the NAS that is separate from the first storage area, wherein the temporary storage area is erased after use of the subtitle file such that no subtitle file for the first language remains; and

send a transport stream to the client over the LAN connection, the transport stream including the media stream and the subtitle file.

2. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the subtitle file includes:

a header;

the subtitle text data; and

timestamp data associated with the subtitle text data.

3. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the transport stream includes the subtitle file separate from the elemental video stream and the elemental audio stream of the media stream.

4. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein, in the transport stream, the subtitle file is separate from a native subtitle stream of the media stream.

5. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein, in the transport stream, the subtitle file is part of the media stream.

6. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the subtitle file is a SubRip Subtitle (SRT) file.

7. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein:

the non-volatile memory module includes a first region having a first endurance designation;

the first region is configured to store the media stream; and

the control circuitry is further configured to store the subtitle file in a second region of the non-volatile memory module, the second region having a second endurance designation that is different from the first endurance designation.

8. The NAS of claim 7 , wherein:

the first region corresponds to a first namespace; and

the second region corresponds to a second namespace.

9. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to append the subtitle text data to the media stream.

10. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the media stream includes a native subtitle stream.

11. The NAS of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to add the subtitle text data to the native subtitle stream.

12. A method of generating on-demand subtitles on a home network-attached storage device (NAS) connected, via a local area network (LAN), to a client, the method comprising:

receiving a request for a media stream stored in a first storage area of a non-volatile data store, the media stream including an elemental video stream and an elemental audio stream;

receiving an on-demand subtitle request associated with the request for the media stream;

in response to the on-demand subtitle request:

retrieving, from the non-volatile data store, the elemental audio stream associated with the media stream;

converting, using transcriber circuitry of the NAS, the elemental audio stream to subtitle text data;

generating for a first language, on-demand, a new subtitle file including the subtitle text data; and

saving the subtitle file to a temporary storage area in the NAS that is separate from the first storage area, wherein the temporary storage area is erased after use of the subtitle file such that no subtitle file for the first language remains;

retrieving, from the non-volatile data store, the media stream; and

transmitting a transport stream including the media stream and the subtitle file.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the subtitle file includes a header, the subtitle text data, and timestamp data associated with the subtitle text data.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the transport stream includes the subtitle file separate from the media stream.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising storing the subtitle file in the non-volatile data store.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the subtitle file is stored in a separate region of the non-volatile data store than the media stream.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising garbage collecting the subtitle file without garbage collecting the media stream.

18. A data storage device for adding on-demand subtitles to one or more media files stored on the data storage device and provided to a client on a local area network (LAN), the data storage device comprising:

non-volatile data storage media configured to store, in a first storage area, a media stream including an elemental video stream and an elemental audio stream;

means for communicatively coupling locally, via the LAN, to a host system; and

controller means coupled to the non-volatile data storage media and to the means for communicatively coupling, wherein the controller means is configured to:

receive a request for the media stream from the host system using the means for communicatively coupling;

receive an on-demand subtitle request associated with the request for the media stream;

in response to the on-demand subtitle request:

access the elemental audio stream of the media stream;

using a means for transcribing audio data, convert the elemental audio stream to subtitle text data representing a transcription of at least a portion of the elemental audio stream;

generate for a first language, on-demand, a new subtitle file including the subtitle text data; and

save the subtitle file to a temporary storage area in the data storage device that is separate from the first storage area, wherein the temporary storage area is erased after use of the subtitle file such that no subtitle file for the first language remains; and

transmit a transport stream to the host system, the transport stream including the media stream and the subtitle file.

19. The data storage device of claim 18 , wherein the subtitle file includes a header and timestamp data associated with the subtitle text data.

20. The data storage device of claim 19 , wherein the controller means is further configured to store the subtitle file in a region of the non-volatile data storage media separate from the media stream.

Assignments (10)
PARTIAL RELEASE OF SECURITY INTERESTS Recorded Apr 25, 2025
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS AGENT
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 071382/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 25, 2025
From: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 071050/0001 →
PATENT COLLATERAL AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 23, 2024
From: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS THE AGENT
Reel/Frame 068762/0494 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jun 27, 2024
From: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 067982/0032 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 29, 2024
From: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 067567/0682 →
PATENT COLLATERAL AGREEMENT - DDTL LOAN AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 21, 2023
From: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067045/0156 →
PATENT COLLATERAL AGREEMENT - A&R LOAN AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 21, 2023
From: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 064715/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL 053926 FRAME 0446 Recorded Feb 8, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 058966/0321 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 29, 2020
From: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 053926/0446 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 23, 2020
From: MUTHIAH, RAMANATHAN
To: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 053292/0428 →