DISTRIBUTED SCALABLE ENCODER RESOURCES FOR LIVE STREAMS
Live media streams are delineated for distributed encoding and fragmentation in a dynamically scalable distributed resource system. In some examples, live MPEG-2 media streams are separated into groups of pictures (GOPs) and converted into jobs for encoding and fragmentation systems. Multiple jobs may be created for the same live media stream to provide for different quality levels for each fragment of each channel. Shared resources such as a pool of dynamically scalable virtual machines can be used to process the individual jobs. Encoded fragments may be H.264 fragments maintained on shared storage. A particular live stream corresponding to a particular quality level can be reconstructed using the encoded fragments.
1 - 20 . (canceled)
21 . A method for encoding media in a system of distributed encoders on a network,
the system comprising:
a plurality of servers;
a plurality of encoders distributed on the network and communicatively connected to at least one server of the plurality of servers, the encoders configurable to encode video; and
distributed storage communicatively connected to at least one server of the plurality of servers, the distributed storage configurable to store encoded video;
the method comprising:
receiving, by at least one server of the plurality of servers, from a content provider source, a media stream;
dividing, by at least one server of the plurality of servers, the media stream into a plurality of portions, wherein each portion corresponds to at least one group of pictures (GOP);
determining, by at least one server of the plurality of servers, a plurality of variants for the media stream, wherein each portion of the plurality of portions is to be encoded to create each of the plurality of variants, and wherein each variant of the plurality of variants is associated with a different set of encoding parameters;
distributing, by at least one server of the plurality of servers, encoding jobs to the plurality of encoders that are distributed on the network, causing the plurality of encoders to perform encoding of a particular portion to create the plurality of variants of the particular portion; and
determining, by at least one server of the plurality of servers, address information for at least one of the plurality of variants of the particular portion, wherein the address information is used to create a file provided to at least one user device to enable the user device to request at least one of the plurality of variants of the particular portion from the distributed storage for playback on the user device.
22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of encoders perform the encoding of the particular portion to create the plurality of variants of the particular portion substantially in parallel.
23 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the media stream comprises a live media stream.
24 . The method of claim 21 , wherein each set of encoding parameters corresponds to a different quality level, the encoding parameters comprising at least one of bit rate or resolution.
25 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the encoding is performed as a part of re-encoding process.
26 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
determining the plurality of variants based on received instructions comprising instructions for processing the encoding jobs.
27 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the encoding of the particular portion to create the plurality of variants of the particular portion is performed in real-time or near real-time.
28 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the address information comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
29 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the address information is a first address information for a first variant of the particular portion, the file comprising the first address information and a second address information for a second variant of the particular portion.
30 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the file comprises a plurality of sequence numbers, wherein the plurality of sequence numbers are associated with the address information.
31 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the address information is a first address information, the file comprising the first address information and a second address information, wherein the first address information and the second address information can be used to request different encoded portions associated with different bandwidth adaptations.
32 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the particular portion is encoded using an MPEG codec, and wherein each of the plurality of variants is associated with a different bit rate.
33 . The method of claim 21 , wherein a number of the plurality of encoders is dynamically scalable.
34 . A system comprising:
at least one input/output circuitry configured to:
receive, from a content provider source, a media stream; and
at least one control circuitry configured to:
divide the media stream into a plurality of portions, wherein each portion corresponds to at least one group of pictures (GOP);
determine a plurality of variants for the media stream, wherein each portion of the plurality of portions is to be encoded to create each of the plurality of variants, and wherein each variant of the plurality of variants is associated with a different set of encoding parameters;
distribute encoding jobs to a plurality of encoders that are distributed on a network, causing the plurality of encoders to perform encoding of a particular portion to create the plurality of variants of the particular portion; and
determine address information for at least one of the plurality of variants of the particular portion, wherein the address information is used to create a file provided to at least one user device to enable the user device to request at least one of the plurality of variants of the particular portion from distributed storage for playback on the user device.
35 . The system of claim 34 , wherein the plurality of encoders perform the encoding of the particular portion to create the plurality of variants of the particular portion substantially in parallel.
36 . The system of claim 34 , wherein the media stream comprises a live media stream.
37 . The system of claim 34 , wherein each set of encoding parameters corresponds to a different quality level, the encoding parameters comprising at least one of bit rate or resolution.
38 . The system of claim 34 , wherein the encoding is performed as a part of re-encoding process.
39 . The system of claim 34 , wherein the at least one control circuitry is further configured to:
determine the plurality of variants based on received instructions comprising instructions for processing the encoding jobs.
40 . The system of claim 34 , wherein the encoding of the particular portion to create the plurality of variants of the particular portion is performed in real-time or near real-time.