METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STREAMING VIDEO
A method and apparatus for transmitting video is provided herein. A video representation is segmented into video chunks, with each chunk spanning a different time interval. Each chunk may be divided into two or more sub-chunks. During operation, the client requests a sub-chunk of a particular video chunk and then possibly requests an additional sub-chunk of the video chunk. The client then combines and decodes the sub-chunks to provide a reconstructed video chunk for playback on a device. In an embodiment, I-frames of a video chunk are made available in a separate sub-chunk file than P-frames (or B-frames).
1 . A method for streaming video, the method comprising the steps of:
requesting a first sub-chunk of video, wherein the first sub-chunk of video comprises one or more video frames of at least a first type;
requesting a second sub-chunk of video, wherein the second sub-chunk of video comprises one or more video frames of only a second type;
receiving the first and the second sub-chunk of video; and
assembling the video by combining the first sub-chunk and the second sub-chunk of video.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first sub-chunk of video comprises one or more I-frames.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the second sub-chunk of video comprises one or more predicted frames.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the predicted frames comprise only P frames, only B frames, or a combination of P and B frames.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the step of requesting the first sub-chunk of video is made using an HTTP GET request, and wherein the step of receiving comprises receiving over a TCP connection.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first and the second sub-chunk of video represent an overlapping time period of video.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the video sub-chunks further comprises audio data.
8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:
receiving metadata comprising information that can be used to assist in determining how to combine the first and second sub-chunks.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein only a portion of the second sub-chunk of video is received, and wherein the step of assembling the video by combining the first sub-chunk and the second sub-chunk of video comprises the step of combining at least part of the obtained portion of the second sub-chunk of video with the first sub-chunk of video.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second sub-chunks are requested by a single request, and further comprising the step of:
cancelling the single request before the second sub-chunk is fully received.
11 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
determining if sufficient bandwidth is available for requesting the second sub-chunk of video, and
requesting the second sub-chunk of video only when the sufficient bandwidth is available.
12 . A method comprising the steps of:
determining an amount of bandwidth available;
requesting a sub-chunk of video to be transmitted based on the amount of bandwidth available, wherein video frames in the sub-chunk requested comprise only predicted frames.
13 . The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:
receiving the sub-chunk of video comprising only predicted frames.
14 . The method of claim 12 wherein the predicted frames comprise only P frames.
15 . The method of claim 12 wherein the predicted frames comprise only P and B frames.
16 . An apparatus for streaming video, the apparatus comprising:
a transceiver requesting a first sub-chunk of video, wherein the first sub-chunk of video comprises one or more video frames of at least a first type, the transceiver requesting a second sub-chunk of video, wherein the second sub-chunk of video comprises one or more video frames of only a second type, the transceiver receiving the first and the second sub-chunk of video; and
a combiner assembling the video by combining the first sub-chunk and the second sub-chunk of video.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the first sub-chunk of video comprises one or more I-frames.
18 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the second sub-chunk of video comprises one or more predicted frames.
19 . The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the predicted frames comprise only P frames, only B frames, or a combination of P and B frames.
20 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the first and the second sub-chunk of video represent an overlapping time period of video.