Granted Patent B2

US 12,273,601 · App. 17/550,472 · Granted Apr 8, 2025

Inventors: Davide Lucchi (Boston, MA); Chris Allen (Jamaica Plain, MA); Alexander Solonsky (Tomsk, RU)

Assignee: Infrared5, Inc.

H04N21/8358G06T1/0085H04L65/65H04L67/55H04N21/2187G06T2201/0065

Abstract

Claims (40)

1. A live media streaming architecture with real-time watermarking, comprising:

an origin device, comprising a first processing unit and a first computer storage medium, configured to receive a real-time live digital media stream from a publisher device associated with a publisher over a first one or more computer networks;

a plurality of edge devices, wherein each edge device in the plurality of edge devices comprises a respective second processing unit and a respective second computer storage medium and wherein each edge device in the plurality of edge devices is configured to deliver real-time live digital media streams to respective subscriber devices assigned to the edge device and connected to the edge device over a second one or more computer networks;

a third one or more computer networks interconnecting the origin device with the plurality of edge devices;

wherein the origin device is configured to stream the real-time live digital media stream through the third one or more computer networks to the plurality of edge devices using a real-time streaming communication protocol allowing direct access to image data within each individual frame of the real-time live digital media stream;

the third one or more computer networks comprising a processor having a first input configured to receive the real-time live digital media stream from the origin device and a second input configured to receive a payload for use in creating a watermark, wherein the processor includes a watermarking module, comprising computer program instructions that when processed by the processor configures the processor to:

apply a respective watermark, including at least a portion of the payload, to each individual frame of the real-time live digital media stream in at least two distinct forms for the frame, such that a plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams are produced, and

stream the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams using the real-time streaming communication protocol over the third one or more computer networks to each edge device; and

wherein each edge device in the plurality of edge devices is further configured to:

receive the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams from the processor;

generate a respective uniquely watermarked real-time live digital media stream for each subscriber device by defining a respective unique sequence of individual frames or subframes selected from among the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams based on respective information associated the subscriber device, and combining the selected individual frames or subframes from among the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams into the respective uniquely watermarked real-time live digital media stream for the subscriber device;

stream the respective uniquely watermarked real-time live digital media streams as real-time live digital media streams to the respective different subscriber devices assigned to the edge device,

whereby each real-time live digital stream transmitted by the plurality of edge devices is uniquely associated with the respective subscriber device.

2. The live media streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the watermarking module, to apply the watermark to the real-time live digital media stream, introduces less than 500 milliseconds of latency to delivery of the real-time live digital media stream through the third one or more computer networks.

3. The live media streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the watermarking module generates a first version of a subframe with a first watermark and a second version of a subframe with a second watermark, and wherein the edge device delivers a first stream to a first subscriber device with a first sequence of versions of subframes and a second stream to a second subscriber device with a second sequence of versions of subframes different from the first sequence.

4. The live media streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the watermarking module generates a first version of a frame with a first watermark and a second version of a frame with a second watermark, and wherein the edge device delivers a first stream to a first subscriber device with a first sequence of versions of frames and a second stream to a second subscriber device with a second sequence of versions of frames different from the first sequence.

5. The live media streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the real-time live digital media stream comprises an audio stream, wherein a frame of the audio stream is marked with the watermark.

6. The live media streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the real-time live digital media stream comprises a video stream, wherein a frame of the video stream is marked with the watermark.

7. The live media streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the real-time live digital media stream comprises both a video stream and an audio stream, wherein frames of at least the video stream are marked with the watermark.

8. The live video streaming architecture of claim 1 , wherein the payload for the watermark carries data indicating at least one of a republisher, a subscriber, or metadata about the real-time live digital media stream.

9. A live media streaming architecture with real-time watermarking, comprising:

a plurality of origin devices, wherein each origin device in the plurality of origin devices comprises a respective origin server computer including a first processing unit, a first computer storage medium, and computer program instructions processed by the first processing unit to configure operations of the origin server computer, and wherein each origin device in the plurality of origin devices is configured to receive at least one respective real-time live digital media stream over a first one or more computer networks from one or more respective publisher devices assigned to the origin device, wherein the publisher devices provide at least one respective real-time live digital media stream from at least one respective publisher;

a plurality of edge devices, wherein each edge device in the plurality of edge devices comprises a respective edge server computer including a second processing unit, a second computer storage medium, and computer program instructions processed by the second processing unit to configure operations of the edge server computer, and wherein each edge device in the plurality of edge devices is configured to deliver respective real-time live digital media streams to one or more respective subscriber devices assigned to the edge device and connected to the edge device over a second one or more computer networks;

a third one or more computer networks interconnecting the plurality of origin devices with the plurality of edge devices;

wherein each origin device in the plurality of origin devices is configured to stream the at least one respective real-time live digital media stream received from the one or more respective publisher devices through the third one or more computer networks, for access by the plurality of edge devices, using a real-time streaming communication protocol allowing direct access to image data within each individual frame of a real-time live digital media stream;

the third one or more computer networks comprising a watermarking server computer including a third processor, third computer storage, and computer program instructions processed by the third processor to configure operations of the watermarking server computer, the watermarking server computer having a first input configured to receive real-time live digital media streams from the plurality of origin devices and a second input configured to receive a respective payload for each publisher for use in creating watermarks, wherein the third computer storage of the watermarking server computer includes a watermarking module comprising computer program instructions that when processed by the third processor configures the third processor to:

apply a respective watermark, including at least a portion of the payload for the respective publisher, to each individual frame of each real-time live digital media stream in at least two distinct forms for the frame, such that a respective plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams are produced for each of the real-time live digital media streams, and

stream the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams using the real-time streaming communication protocol over the third one or more computer networks to each edge device in the plurality of edge devices; and

wherein each edge device in the plurality of edge devices is further configured to:

receive, from the processor the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams for each real-time live digital media stream to be streamed to the respective subscriber devices assigned to the edge device;

generate a respective uniquely watermarked real-time live digital media stream for each subscriber device by defining a respective unique sequence of individual frames or subframes selected from among the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams based on respective information associated the subscriber device, and combining the selected individual frames or subframes from among the plurality of differently watermarked real-time live digital media streams into the respective uniquely watermarked real-time live digital media stream for the subscriber device;

stream the respective uniquely watermarked real-time live digital media streams as real-time live digital media streams to the respective different subscriber devices assigned to the edge device,

whereby each real-time live digital stream transmitted by the plurality of edge devices is uniquely associated with the respective subscriber device.

10. The live media streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein the watermarking module, to apply the watermark to the real-time live digital media streams, introduces less than 500 milliseconds of latency to delivery of the real-time live digital media streams through the third one or more computer networks.

11. The live media streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein the watermarking module generates a first version of a subframe with a first watermark and a second version of a subframe with a second watermark, and wherein the edge device delivers a first stream to a first subscriber device with a first sequence of versions of subframes and a second stream to a second subscriber device with a second sequence of versions of subframes different from the first sequence.

12. The live media streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein the watermarking module generates a first version of a frame with a first watermark and a second version of a frame with a second watermark, and wherein the edge device delivers a first stream to a first subscriber device with a first sequence of versions of frames and a second stream to a second subscriber device with a second sequence of versions of frames different from the first sequence.

13. The live media streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the real-time live digital media streams comprises an audio stream, wherein a frame of the audio stream is marked with the watermark.

14. The live media streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the real-time live digital media streams comprises a video stream, wherein a frame of the video stream is marked with the watermark.

15. The live media streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the real-time live digital media streams comprises both a video stream and an audio stream, wherein frames of at least the video stream are marked with the respective watermark.

16. The live video streaming architecture of claim 9 , wherein the respective payload for each watermark carries data indicating at least one of a republisher, a subscriber, or metadata about the respective real-time live digital media stream.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (116)