Motorola Mobility, Inc. et al v. TiVo Inc.

Filing 73

ANSWER to 1 Complaint,, Amended COUNTERCLAIM against General Instrument Corporation, Motorola Mobility, Inc., Time Warner Cable Inc.,, Time Warner Cable LLC by TiVo Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C)(Baxter, Samuel)

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Exhibit B (12) United States Patent (10) Barton et al. (45) SYSTEM FOR TIME SHIFTING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT STREAMS Patent NO.: US 7,529,465 B2 Date of Patent: May 5,2009 (56) References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,682,363 A Inventors: James M. Barton, Los Gatos, CA (US); Roderick James McInnis, Milpitas, CA (US); Alan S. Moskowitz, San Francisco, CA (US); Andrew Martin Goodman, Menlo Park, CA (US); Ching Tong Chow, Fremont, CA (US); Jean Swey Kao, Cupertino, CA (US) 811972 Hull (Continued) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (Continued) OTHER PUBLICATIONS Assignee: TiVo Inc., Alviso, CA (US) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. Feb. 20,2002 Prior Publication Data US 200210146233 A1 (Continued) Primary Examiner-Huy T Nguyen (74) Attornq, Agent, or Firm-Hickman Becker LLP Appl. No.: 101081,776 Filed: European Patent Office, "Communication pursuant to Article 94(3) EPC", Foreign applicationNo. 02 796 373.5-1522, received Jan. 25, 2008, 6 pages. Oct. 10.2002 Related U.S. Application Data Continuation of application No. 091827,029, filed on Apr. 5, 2001, which is a continuation of application No. 091126,071, filed on Jul. 30, 1998, now Pat. No. 6,233,389. Int. C1. H04N 5/91 (2006.01) U.S. C1. ............................. 386168; 386183; 386195; 3861125 Field of Classification Search ..................... 38611, 38614, 6-8,39, 40, 45, 46, 68, 69-70,75, 386181, 82, 83, 96, 98, 99, 104, 105, 106, 3861124, 125, 126; H04N 5/76, 5/92, 5/781, H04N 5/783, 9/79 (57) ABSTRACT A multimedia time warping system. The TV streams are converted to an Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) formatted stream for internal transfer and manipulation and are parsed and separated it into video and audio components. The components are stored in temporary buffers. Events are recorded that indicate the type of component that has been found, where it is located, and when it occurred. The program logic is notified that an event has occurred and the data is extracted from the buffers. The parser and event buffer decouple the CPU from having to parse the MPEG stream and from the real time nature of the data streams which allows for slower CPU and bus speeds and translate to lower system costs. Thevideo andaudio components are stored ona storage device and when the program is requested for display, the video and audio components are extracted from the storage device and reassembled into an MPEG stream which is sent to a decoder. The decoder converts the MPEG stream into TV output signals and delivers the TV output signals to a TV receiver. See application file for complete search history. 20 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets Input Module 22 0, input Modute 203-\ Input Module Module Output Module - - Palermo Truong & Media Switch Ouiput Module Module US 7,529,465 B2 Page 2 U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,942,190 A 4,141,039 A 4,221,176 A 4,224,481 A 4,258,418 A 4,313,135 A 4,347,527 A 4,388,659 A 4,408,309 A 4,423,480 A 4,439,785 A 4,506,348 A 4,506,358 A 4,602,297 A 4,633,331 A 4,665,431 A 4,688,106 A 4,689,022 A 4,706,121 A 4,723,181 A 4,752,834 A 4,755,889 A 4,760,442 A 4,761,684 A 4,789,961 A 4,805,217 A 4,816,905 A 4,821,121 A 4,833,710 A RE33,535 E 4,876,670 A 4,891,715 A 4,897,867 A 4,920,533 A 4,924,387 A 4,939,594 A 4,947,244 A 4,949,169 A 4,949,187 A 4,963,866 A 4,963,995 A 4,972,396 A 4,979,050 A 4,991,033 A 5,001,568 A 5,014,125 A 5,018,186 A 5,019,900 A 5,021,893 A 5,027,241 A 5,027,400 A 5,047,857 A 5,057,932 A 5,063,453 A 5,089,885 A 5,093,718 A 5,109,281 A 5,118,105 A 5,126,852 A 5,126,982 A 5,130,792 A 5,132,992 A 5,134,499 A 5,142,532 A 5,153,726 A 5,168,353 A 5,172,413 A 5,202,761 A 5,208,665 A 5,214,768 A 5,226,141 A 311976 Detweiler 211979 Yamamoto 911980 Besore et al. 911980 Russell 311981 Heath 111982 Cooper 811982 Lainez 611983 Lemke 1011983 Kiesling et al. 1211983 Bauer et al. 311984 Leonard 311985 Milleretal. 311985 Montgomely 711986 Reese 1211986 McGrady et al. 511987 Cooper 811987 Keller et al. 811987 Peers et al. 1111987 Young 211988 Hickok 611988 Koombes 711988 Schwartz 711988 Oconnell et al. 811988 Clark et al. 1211988 Tindall 211989 Morihiro et al. 311989 Tweedy et al. 411989 Beaulier 511989 Hirashima 1011989 Cooper 1011989 Nakabayashi et al 111990 Levy 111990 Foster et al. 411990 Dufresne et al. 511990 Jeppesen et al. 711990 Moxon et al. 811990 Fenwick et al. 8i1990 Lumelsky et al. 811990 Cohen 1011990 Duncan 1011990 Lang 1111990 Rafner 1211990 Westland et al. 211991 Takeshita 311991 Efron et al. 511991 Pocock et al. 511991 Kimura et al. 511991 Clark et al. 6i1991 Scheffler 611991 Hatch et al. 611991 Baji et al. 911991 Duffield et al. 1011991 Lang 1111991 Yoshimura et al. 211992 Clark et al. 311992 Hoarty et al. 411992 Koberi et al. 611992 Brim et al. 611992 Nishino et al. 6i1992 Y~frach 711992 Tindell et al. 711992 Yurt et al. 711992 Sata et al. 811992 Adams 1011992 Billing 1211992 Walker et al. 1211992 Bradley et al. 411993 Cooper 511993 McCalley et al. 511993 Martin et al. 711993 Esbensen 811993 Jernigan et al. 811993 Takeuchi 811993 Mills et al. 811993 Goldwasser et al. 911993 Nishimura 911993 Litteral et al. 1011993 Bmno 1011993 Yurt et al. 211994 Akiyama et al. 211994 Bradley et al. 211994 Haskall 511994 Clark 511994 Ostenveil 511994 Ostenveil 711994 Yifrach 1011994 Banker et al. 1111994 Edem et al. 1211994 Logan et al. ................ 3481571 511995 Nemirofsky 511995 Hooper et al. 611995 Powers 811995 Lynch et al. ................ 3861109 811995 Walters et al. 811995 Hooper et al. 1211995 O'Callaghan et al. 111996 Logston et al. 111996 Yuen et al. 411996 Awaji 411996 Rossmere et al. 411996 Matsumoto et al. 411996 Mills et al. 511996 Iizuka et al. 611996 Grady et al. 611996 Voeten et al. 811996 Long et al. 811996 Baker et al. 911996 Maturi et al. 1111996 Cooper 1111996 Peters 1111996 Shintani 1211996 Staron 1211996 McLaughlin et al. 1211996 Belknap et al. 211997 Wagner 211997 Bertram 311997 Bacher et al. 311997 Cobbley et al. 311997 Harscoet et al. 411997 Russo 411997 Compoint et al. 511997 Moskowitz et al. 611997 Lee 711997 Dunn et al. 811997 Porter et al. 1011997 Cooper 1211997 Iggulden et al. 1211997 Kim et al. 1211997 Russo et al. 111998 Isaka 2/1998 Hirayama et al. 211998 Kawamura et al. 211998 Ottesen et al. 211998 Ottensen et al. 311998 Oguro et al. 511998 Girard et al. 511998 Ludwig et al. 511998 Ottesen et al. 511998 Kobayashi et al. ............ 386196 611998 Henley et al. 611998 Yamauchi et al. 611998 Hite et al. 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Berson, "Computer Science Department Technical Report", Staggered Striping in Multimedia Information System, Dec. 1993, Apr. 29, 1994, (24 pgs). Comer Filepro Performance Series, CFP1060E/CFP1060S/ CFP1060W, "Intelligent Disk Drive Product Manual", Rev. A, May 1994, 0 1994, Comer Peripherals, Inc., (79 pgs). Hugh M. Sierra, "An Introduction to DirectAccess Storage Devices", 0 1990 by Academic Press, Inc., (269 pgs). Douglas T. Anderson, "The Hard Disk Technical Guide", Tenth Revision S-D., Feb. 1994, 0 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 by Micro House International Inc., (70 pgs). K. Shen et al., A Fast Algorithm for Edeo Parsing Using MPEG Compressed Sequences, IEEE, pp. 252-255 (0-8185-73 10-916261 1995). S. Smollar et al., Content-based Edeo Indexing andRetrieval, IEEE, Summer 1994, pp. 62-72. * cited by examiner U.S. Patent May 5,2009 102 101 l nput st reams- Sheet 1 of 12 MPEG st reams - Input Module I CPU Media 103 MPEG -N Switch I l~ernor~l l06I 105 Disk FIG. I [104 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 2 of 12 Input ModuIe Output Module Input Modut e Output Modu le Media Switch Input Module Output Module Input Modu I e Output Module FIG. 2 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 3 of 12 FIG. 3 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 / 40Z7 Sheet 4 of 12 1next 4 10 \ limit I pointer 1 l i m i t pointer 408~ I I video buffer I 409 4 11 limit - limit 401 - I audio buffer I 4I Parser 41 2 pointer Inext pointer 1 limit limit I I I I private dofa buffer 1 imi \ I pointer I llimitt II ---UI___l lnext pointer I event buffer I FIG. 4 502yA1 504 address time stamp FIG. 5 € U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 5 of 12 Circular A Logical Segment Address Length 601 69 0/ Media Switch Type = I-FRAME Times t omp ! FIG. 6 = 096453 J ,1 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 6 of 12 FIG. 7 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 buffers o f data Sheet 7 of 12 r Transforms Q buffer l o f dal - encoder Sinks decoder I hard disk FIG. 8 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 8 of 12 I Control t Media Sw iich push current FIG. 9 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 9 of 12 TmkC l i pCache SmkCl ip Reader TmkC l ip Writer I FIG. 1 0 I U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 10 of 12 0 Source TV Signal FIG. I 1 US 7,529,465 B2 U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 11 of 12 NTSC Field Sequence VBl (FCC ~ondatcd) { \ I f Even field, Line 21 Contains Extended Data Active Picture Region Services (EDs) data (e-g., Time of day, V-chip) I Recognize r state moch rne 1205 S t a r t capture, Words added to a special segment in the fixed-size PES buffer. FIG. 1 2 Stop capture, Phrase seen, U.S. Patent May 5,2009 Sheet 12 of 12 1302 Media Switch 1 MPEG stream TV r 1306 Ha rd Disk $ FIG. 1 3 1 2 SYSTEM FOR TIME SHIFTING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT STREAMS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a multimedia time warping system. The invention utilizes an easily manipulated, low cost multi5 media storage and display system that allows the user to view a television broadcast program with the option of instantly This application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicareviewing previous scenes within the program. In addition, tion Ser. No. 091827,029 filed on 5 Apr. 2001 which is a the invention allows the user to store selected television continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 091126,071 broadcast programs while the user is simultaneously watch(now U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389), filed on 30 Jul. 1998. 10 ing or reviewing another program. A preferred embodiment of the invention accepts televiBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION sion (TV) input streams in a multitude of forms, for example, analog forms such as National Television Standards Commit1. Technical Field p The invention relates to the time shifttee (NTSC) or PAL broadcast, and digital forms such as ing of television broadcast signals. More particularly, the is Digital Satellite System (DSS), Digital Broadcast Services invention relates to the real time capture, storage, and display (DBS), or ~ d ~ ~ ~ l standards ~ i ~~ ~ committee i ~~ of television broadcast signals. (ATSC). Analog TV streams are converted to an Moving 2. Description of the Prior Art Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) formatted stream for interThe Video Cassette Rxorder VCR) has changedthe lives na1 transfer and manipulation, while pre-formatted MPEG of television (TV) viewers throughout the world. The VCR 20 streams are extracted from the digital TV signal and presented has offered viewers the flexibility to time-shift TV programs in, similar format to encoded analog streams, to match their lifestyles. The invention parses the resulting MPEG stream and sepaThe viewer TV Programs Onto magnetic using rates it into its video and audio components. It then stores the the VCR. The VCR gives the viewer the play, components into temporary buffers. Events are recorded that rewind, fast forward and Pause the stored Program material. 25 indicate the type of component that has been found, where it These functions enable the viewer to pause the program playis located, and when it occurred. The program logic is notified back whenever he desires, fast forward unwanted that an event has occurred and the data is extracted from the program material or commercials, and to replay favorite buffers, scenes. a VCR capture and play back The parser and event buffer decouple the CPU from having information at the same time. 30 to parse the MPEG stream and from the real time nature of the One approach this problem is use data streams. This decoupling allows for slower CPU and bus VCRs. For example, if two video tape recorders are available, speeds which translate to lower system costs, it might be possible to Ping-Pong between the two. In this The video and audio components are stored on a storage case, the first is started at the beginning the prodevice, When the program is requested for display, the video gram of interest. If the viewer wishes to rewind the broadcast, 35 and audio components are extracted from the storage device the second recorder begins recording, while the first recorder and reassembled into an MPEG stream, The MPEG stream is is rewound to the place, and playback sent to a decoder, The decoder convertsthe MPEG stream into initiated. However, at least a third video tape recorder is TV output signals and delivers the TV output signals to a TV required if the viewer wishes to fast forward to some point in receiver, time after the initial rewind was requested. In this case, the 40 User control commands are accepted and sent through the third recorder starts recording the broadcast stream while the system. These commands affect the flow of said MPEG second is halted and rewound to the appropriate position. stream and allow the user to view stored programs with at Continuing this exercise, one can quickly see that the equipleast the following functions: reverse, fast forward, play, ment becomes unwieldy, unreliable, expensive, and hard to pause, index, fastlslow reverse play, and fastislow play. operate, while never supporting all desired functions. In addi- 45 Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become tion, tapes are of finite length, and may potentially end at apparent from the following detailed description in combinainconvenient times, drastically lowering the value of the solution with the accompanying drawings, illustrating, by way of tion. the of the invention' The use of digital computer systems to solve this problem has been suggested. U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,551 issued to Logan 50 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS et al., on 6 Dec. 1994, teaches a method for concurrent video recording and playback. It presents a microprocessor conis a schematic diagram of a high level view of trolled broadcast and playback device, Said device corna preferred embodiment of the invention according to the presses and stores video data onto a hard disk, However, this approach is difficult to implement because the processor 55 invention; FIG. 2 is a block schematic diagram of a preferred embodirequirements for keeping up with the high video rates makes ment of the invention using multiple input and output modthe device expensive and problematic. The microprocessor the ules must be extremely fast to keep up with the incoming and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an Moving Pictures outgoing video data. It would be advantageous to provide a multimedia time 60 Experts Group (MPEG) data stream and its video and audio components according to the invention; warping system that gives the user the ability to simultaFIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of a parser and four neously record and play back TV broadcast programs. It direct memory access ( D m ) input engines contained in the would further be advantageous to provide a multimedia time Media Switch according to the invention; warping system that utilizes an approach that decouples the microprocessorfromthehighvideo datarates, thereby reduc- 65 FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the components of a ing the microprocessor and system requirements which are at packetized elementary stream (PES) buffer according to the a premium. invention; CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS ' ~ ~ d 3 4 FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the construction of a PES The Media Switch 102 mediates between a microprocessor buffer from the parsed components in the Media Switch outCPU 106, hard disk or storage device 105, and memory 104. put circular buffers; Input streams are converted to an MPEG stream and sent to FIG. 7 is a block schematic diagram of the Media Switch the Media Switch 102. The Media Switch 102 buffers the and the various components that it communicates with 5 MPEG stream into memory. It then performs two operations according to the invention; if the user is watching real time TV: the stream is sent to the Output Section 103 and it is written simultaneously to the FIG. 8 is a block schematic diagram of a high level view of the program logic according to the invention; hard disk or storage device 105. FIG. 9 is a block schematic diagram of a class hierarchy of The Output Section 103 takes MPEG streams as input and l o produces an analog TV signal according to the NTSC, PAL, the program logic according to the invention; FIG. 10 is a block schematic diagram of a preferred or other required TV standards. The Output Section 103 conembodiment of the clip cache component of the invention tains an MPEG decoder, On-Screen Display (OSD) generaaccording to the invention; tor, analog TV encoder and audio logic. The OSD generator allows the program logic to supply images which will be FIG. 11 is a block schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention that emulates a broadcast studio 1s overlayed on top of the resulting analog TV signal. Additionvideo mixer according to the invention; ally, the Output Section can modulate information supplied FIG. 12 is a block schematic diagram of a closed caption by the program logic onto the VBI of the output signal in a parser according to the invention; and number of standard formats, including NABTS, CC and EDS. With respect to FIG. 2, the invention easily expands to FIG. 13 is a block schematic diagram of a high level view of apreferred embodiment of the invention utilizing aVCR as 20 accommodate multiple Input Sections (tuners) 201,202,203, anintegral component ofthe inventionaccording to the inven204, each can be tuned to different types of input. Multiple tion. Output Modules (decoders) 206, 207, 208, 209 are added as well. Special effects such as picture in a picture can be impleDETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION mented with multiple decoders. The Media Switch 205 25 records one program while the user is watching another. This The invention is embodied in a multimedia time warping means that a stream can be extracted off the disk while system. A system according to the invention provides a mulanother stream is being stored onto the disk. timedia storage and display system that allows the user to Referring to FIG. 3, the incoming MPEG stream 301 has view a television broadcast program with the option of interleaved video 302, 305, 306 and audio 303, 304, 307 instantly reviewing previous scenes within the program. The 30 segments. These elements must be separated and recombined invention additionally provides the user with the ability to to create separate video 308 and audio 309 streams or buffers. store selected television broadcast programs while simultaThis is necessary because separate decoders are used to conneously watching or reviewing another program and to view vert MPEG elements back into audio or video analog comstoredprograms withat least the following functions: reverse, ponents. Such separate delivery requires that time sequence fast forward, play, pause, index, fastislow reverse play, and 35 information be generated so that the decoders may be propfastlslow play. erly synchronized for accurate playback of the signal. The Media Switch enables the program logic to associate Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention has an Input Section 101, Media Switch 102, and an proper time sequence information with each segment, possibly embedding it directly into the stream. The time sequence Output Section 103. The Input Section 101 takes television (TV) input streams in a multitude of forms, for example, 40 information for each segment is called a time stamp. These National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) or PAL time stamps are monotonically increasing and start at zero broadcast, and digital forms such as Digital Satellite System each time the system boots up. This allows the invention to find any particular spot in any particular video segment. For (DSS), Digital Broadcast Services (DBS), orAdvanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC). DBS, DSS and ATSC example, if the system needs to read five seconds into an are based on standards called Moving Pictures Experts Group 45 incoming contiguous video stream that is being cached, the 2 (MPEG2) and MPEG2 Transport. MPEG2 Transport is a system simply has to start reading forward into the stream and standard for formatting the digital data stream from the TV look for the appropriate time stamp. source transmitter so that a TV receiver can disassemble the A binary search can be performed on a stored file to index input stream to find programs in the multiplexed signal. The into a stream. Each stream is stored as a sequence of fixed-size Input Section 101 produces MPEG streams. An MPEG2 50 segments enabling fast binary searches because of the unitransport multiplex supports multiple programs in the same form time stamping. If the user wants to start in the middle of broadcast channel, with multiple video and audio feeds and the program, the system performs a binary search of the stored segments until it finds the appropriate spot, obtaining private data. The Input Section 101 tunes the channel to a particular program, extracts a specific MPEG program out of the desired results with a minimal amount of information. If it, and feeds it to the rest of the system.Analog TV signals are 55 the signal were instead storedas an MPEG stream, it would be encoded into a similar MPEG format using separate video necessary to linearly parse the stream from the beginning to find the desired location. and audio encoders, such that the remainder of the system is With respect to FIG. 4, the Media Switch contains four unaware of how the signal was obtained. Information may be input Direct Memory Access (DMA) engines 402,403, 404, modulated into the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) of the analog TV signal in a number of standard ways; for example, 60 405 each DMA engine has an associatedbuffer 410,411,412, 413. Conceptually, each DMA engine has pointer 406, a limit the North American Broadcast Teletext Standard (NABTS) for that pointer 407, a next pointer 408, and a limit forthenext may be used to modulate information onto lines 10 through 20 of an NTSC signal, while the FCC mandates the use of line 21 pointer 409. Each DMA engine is dedicated to a particular for Closed Caption (CC) and Extended Data Services (EDS). type of information, for example, video 402, audio 403, and Such signals are decoded by the input section and passed to 65 parsedevents 405. The buffers 410,411,412,413are circular and collect the specific information. The DMA engine increthe other sections as if they were delivered via an MPEG2 private data channel. ments the pointer 406 into the associated buffer until it US 7,529,465 B2 5 reaches the limit 407 and then loads the next pointer 408 and limit 409. Setting the pointer 406 and next pointer 408 to the same value, along with the corresponding limit value creates a circular buffer. The next pointer 408 can be set to a different address to provide vector DMA. 5 The input stream flows through a Parser 401. The Parser 401 parses the stream looking for MPEG distinguishedevents indicating the start of video, audio or private data segments. when the parser 401 finds a event, it directs the stream to the video DMA engine 402. The parser l o 401 buffers up data and it into the video buffer 410 through the video DMA engine 402. At the same time, the parser 401 directs an event to the event DMA engine 405 which generates an event into the event buffer 413, When the narser 401 sees an audio event. it redirects the bvte stream to is the audio DMA engine 403 and generates an event into the event buffer 413. Similarly,when the parser 401 sees aprivate data event, it directs the byte stream to the private data DMA engine 404 and directs an event to the event buffer 413. The Media Switch notifies the program logic via an interrupt 20 mechanism when events are placed in the event buffer. Referring to FIGS. 4 and5, the event buffer413 is f i l l e d b ~ the parser 401 with events. Each event 501 in the event buffer has an offset 502, event type 503, and time stamp field 504. The parser 401 provides the type and offset of each event as it 25 is placed the buffer. when an event occurs, the event type field is set to an audio event and the offset indicates the location in the audio buffer 411. The program logic knows where the audio buffer 411 starts and adds the offset to find the event in the stream. The address 30 offset 502 tells the program logic where the next event occurred, but not where it ended. The previous event is cached so the end of the current event can be found as well as the length of the segment. With respect to FIGS. 5 and 6, the program logic reads 35 accumulated events in the event buffer 602 when it is interrupted by the Media Switch 601, From these events the program logic generates a sequence of logical segments 603 which correspond to the parsed MPEG segments 615, The program logic converts the offset 502 into the actual address 40 610 of each segment, and records the event length 609 using the last cached event. If the stream was produced by encoding an analog signal, it will not contain Program Time Stmp (PTS) values, which are used by the decoders to properly present the resulting output. Thus, the program logic uses the 45 generated time stamp 504 to calculate a simulated PTS for each segment and places that into the logical segment tirne stamp 607. In the case of a digital TV stream, PTS values are already encoded in the stream. The program logic extracts this information and places it in the logical segment time stamp 50 607. The program logic continues collecting logical segments 603 until it reaches the fixed buffer size. When this occurs, the program logic generates a new buffer, called a packetized Elementary Stream (PES) 605 buffer containing these logical 55 segments 603 in order, plus ancillary control information, Each logical segment points 604 directly to the circular buffer,e.g., the video buffer 613, filled by the Media Switch 601. This new buffer is then passed to other logic components, which may further process the stream in the buffer in some 60 way, such as presenting it for decoding or writing it to the storage media. Thus, the MPEG data is not copied from one location in memory to another by the processor. This results in a more cost effective design since lower memory bandwidth and processor bandwidth is required. 65 A unique feature of the MPEG stream transformation into PES buffers is that the data associated with logical segments 6 need not be present in the buffer itself, as presented above. When a PES buffer is written to storage, these logical segments are written to the storage medium in the logical order in which they appear. This has the effect of gathering components of the stream, whether they be in the video, audio or private data circular buffers, into a single linear buffer of stream data on the storage medium. The buffer is read back from the storage medium with a single transfer from the storage media, and the logical segment information is updated to correspond with the actual locations in the buffer 606, Higher level program logic is unaware of this transformation, since it handles only the logical segments, thus Streamdata is managed without requiring that the data ever be "pied between locations in DRAM by the A unique aspect of the Media Switch is the ability to handle high data rates effectively and inexpensively. It performs the functions of taking video and audio data in, sending video and audio data out, sending video and audio data to disk, and extracting video and audio data from the disk on a low cost platform. Generally, the Media Switch runs asynchronously and autonomously with the microprocessor CPU, using its DMA capabilities to move large quantities of information with minimal intervention by the c p u , Referring FIG, 7, the input side of the Media Switch 701 is connected to an MPEG encoder 703, There are also circuits specific to MPEG audio 704 and vertical blanking interval (VBI) data 702 feeding into the Media Switch 701. If a digital TV signal is being processed instead, the MPEG encoder 703 is replaced with an MPEG2 Transport Demultiplexor,and the MPEG audio encoder 704 and VBI decoder 702 are deleted, The demultiplexor sends the extracted audio, video and private data streams through the video input Media Switch port. The parser 705 parses the input data from the MPEG 703, 704 andVB1 702, or from the transport demultiplexor in the case of a digital TV Stream. The parser 705 detects the beginning of of the events in a Or stream, the start the frames, the start of sequence of the pieces of information that the program logic needs to know about in to both properly play back and perform 'pecial effects the stream, e.g. fast fornard, reverse, play, pause, and fast's1ow reverse play. play, The Parser 705 places tags 707 into the FIFO 706 when it identifies video or audio segments, or is given private data. The DMA 709 controls when these tags are taken out. The tags 707 and the DMA addresses of the segments are placed into the event queue 708. The frame type information, whether it is a start of a video I-frame, video B-frame, video P-frame, video PES, audio PES, a sequence header, an audio frame, or private data packet, is placed into the event queue 708 along with the offset in the related circular buffer where the piece of information was placed. The program logic OPerating in the CPU 713 examines events in the circular buffer after it is transferred to the DRAM 714. The Media Switch 701 has a data bus 711 that connects to the CPU 713 and DRAM 714. An address bus 712 is also shared between the Media Switch 701, CPU 713, and DRAM 714. A hard disk or storage device 710 is connected to one of the ports of the Media Switch 701. The Media Switch 701 outputs streams to an MPEG video decoder 715 and a separate audio decoder 717. The audio decoder 717 signals contain audio cues generated by the system in response to the user's commands on a remote control or other internal events. The decoded audio output from the MPEG decoder is digi- us 73: 7 tally mixed 718 with the separate audio signal. The resulting signals contain video, audio, and on-screen displays and are sent to the TV 716. The Media Switch 701 takes in 8-bit data and sends it to the disk, while at the same time extracts another stream of data off of the disk and sends it to the MPEG decoder 715. All of the DMA engines described above can be working at the same time. The Media Switch 701 can be implemented in hardware using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), ASIC, or discrete logic. Rather than having to parse through an immense data stream looking for the start ofwhere each frame would be, the program logic only has to look at the circular event buffer in DRAM 714 and it can tell where the start of each frame is and the frame type. This approach saves a large amount of CPU power, keeping the real time requirements of the CPU 713 small. The CPU 713 does not have to be very fast at any point in time. The Media Switch 701 gives the CPU 713 as much time as possible to complete tasks. The parsing mechanism 705 and event queue 708 decouple the CPU 713 from parsing the audio, video, and buffers and the real time nature of the streams, whichallows for lower costs. It also allows the use of a bus structure in a CPU environment that operates at a much lower clock rate with much cheaper memory than would be required otherwise. The CPU 713 has the ability to queue up one DMA transfer and can set up the next DMA transfer at its leisure. This gives the CPU 713 large time intervals within which it can service the DMA controller 709. The CPU 713 may respond to a DMA interrupt within a larger time window because of the large latency allowed. MPEG streams, whether extracted from an MPEG2 Transport or encoded from an analog TV signal, are typically encoded using a technique called Variable Bit Rate encoding (VBR). This technique varies the amount of data required to represent a sequence of images by the amount of movement between those images. This technique can greatly reduce the required bandwidth for a signal, however sequences with rapid movement (such as a basketball game) may be encoded with much greater bandwidth requirements. For example, the Hughes DirecTV satellite system encodes signals with anywhere from 1 to 10 Mbls of required bandwidth, varying from frame to frame. It would be difficult for any computer system to keep up with suchrapidly varying data rates without this structure. With respect to FIG. 8, the program logic within the CPU has three conceptual components: sources 801, transforms 802, and sinks 803. The sources 801 produce buffers of data. Transforms 802 process buffers of data and sinks 803 consume buffers of data. A transform is responsible for allocating and queuing the buffers of data on which it will operate. Buffers are allocated as if "empty" to sources of data, which give them back "full". The buffers are then queued and given to sinks as "full", and the sink will return the buffer "empty". A source 801 accepts data from encoders, e.g., a digital satellite receiver. It acquires buffers for this data from the downstream transform, packages the data into a buffer, then pushes the buffer down the pipeline as described above. The source object 801 does not know anything about the rest ofthe system. The sink 803 consumes buffers, taking a buffer from the upstream transform, sending the data to the decoder, and then releasing the buffer for reuse. There are two types of transforms 802 used: spatial and temporal. Spatial transforms are transforms that perform, for example, an image convolution or compressioddecompression on the buffered data that is passing through. Temporal transforms are used when there is no time relation that is expressible between buffers going in and buffers coming out of a system. Such a transform writes the buffer to a file 804 on the storage medium. The buffer is pulled out at a later time, sent down the pipeline, and properly sequenced within the stream. Referring to FIG. 9, a C++ class hierarchy derivation of the program logic is shown. The TiVo Media Kernel (Tmk) 904, 908, 913 mediates with the operating system kernel. The kernel provides operations such as: memory allocation, synchronization, and threading. The TmkCore 904, 908, 913 structures memory taken from the media kernel as an object. It provides operators, new and delete, for constructing and deconstructing the object. Each object (source 901, transform 902, and sink 903) is multi-threaded by definition and can run in parallel. The TmkPipeline class 905, 909, 914 is responsible for flow control through the system. The pipelines point to the next pipeline in the flow from source 901 to sink 903. To pause the pipeline, for example, an event called "pause" is sent to the first object in the pipeline. The event is relayed on to the next object and so on down the pipeline. This all happens asynchronously to the data going through the pipeline. Thus, similar to applications such as telephony, control of the flow of MPEG streams is asynchronous and separate from the streams themselves. This allows for a simple logic design that is at the same time powerful enough to support the features described previously, including pause, rewind, fast forward and others. In addition, this structure allows fast and efficient switching between stream sources, since buffered data can be simply discarded and decoders reset using a single event, after which data from the new stream will pass down the pipeline. Such a capability is needed, for example, when switching the channel being captured by the input section, or when switching between a live signal from the input section and a stored stream. The source object 901 is a TmkSource 906 and the transform object 902 is a TmkXfrm 910. These are intermediate classes that define standard behaviors for the classes in the pipeline. Conceptually, they handshake buffers down the pipeline. The source object 901 takes data out of a physical data source, such as the Media Switch, and places it into a PES buffer. To obtain the buffer, the source object 901 asks the down stream object in his pipeline for a buffer (allocEmptyBuf). The source object 901 is blocked until there is sufficient memory. This means that the pipeline is self-regulating; it has automatic flow control. When the source object 901 has filled up the buffer, it hands it back to the transform 902 through the pushFullBuf function. The sink 903 is flow controlled as well. It calls nextFullBuf which tells the transform 902 that it is ready for the next filled buffer. This operation can block the sink 903 until a buffer is ready. When the sink 903 is finished with a buffer (i.e., it has consumed the data in the buffer) it calls releaseEmptyBuf. ReleaseEmptyBuf gives the buffer back to the transform 902. The transform 902 can then hand that buffer, for example, back to the source object 901 to fill up again. In addition to the automatic flow-controlbenefit of this method, it also provides for limiting the amount of memory dedicated to buffers by allowing enforcement of a fixed allocation of buffers by a transform. This is an important feature in achieving a costeffective limited DRAM environment. The MediaSwitch class 909 calls the allocEmptyBuf method of the TmkClipCache 912 object and receives a PES buffer from it. It then goes out to the circular buffers in the Media Switch hardware and generates PES buffers. The MediaSwitch class 909 fills the buffer up and pushes it back to the TmkClipCache 912 object. US 7,529,465 B2 9 10 The TmkClipCache 912 maintains a cache file 918 on a The user can switch to different storage devices. The Pushstorage medium. It also maintains two pointers into this Switch 1102 could output to a TmkClipWriter 1106, which goes onto a storage device 1107 or write to the cache transcache: a push pointer 919 that shows where the next buffer coming from the source 901 is inserted; and a current pointer form 1103. 5 An important feature of this apparatus is the ease with 920 which points to the current buffer used. The buffer that is pointed to by the current pointer is handed which it can selectively capture portions of an incoming sigto thevela decoder class 916. TheVela decoder class 916 talks nal under the control of program logic. Based on information to the decoder 921 in the hardware. The decoder 921 produces such as the current time, or perhaps a specific time span, or a decoded TV signal that is subsequently encoded into an perhaps via a remote control button press by the viewer, a analog TV signal in NTSC, PAL or other analog format. l o TmkClipWriter 1106 may be switched on to record a portion When the Vela decoder class 916 is finished with the buffer it ofthe signal, and switched off at some later time. This switchcalls releaseEmptyBuf. ing is typically caused by sending a "switch" event to the PushSwitch 1102 object. The structure of the classes makes the system easy to test An additional method for triggering selective capture is and debug. Each level can be tested separately to make sure it performs in the appropriate manner, and the classes may be 1s through information modulated into theVBI or placed into an gradually aggregated to achieve the desired functionality MPEG private data channel. Data decoded from the VBI or while retaining the ability to effectively test each object. private data channel is passed to the program logic. The program logic examines this data to determine if the data The control object 917 accepts commands from the user and sends events into the pipeline to control what the pipeline indicates that capture of the TV signal into which it was is doing. For example, if the user has a remote control and is 20 modulated should begin. Similarly,this information may also indicate when recording should end, or another data item may watching TV, the user presses pause and the control object 917 sends an event to the sink 903, that tells it pause. The sink be modulated into the signal indicating when the capture 903 stops asking for new buffers. The current pointer 920 should end. The starting and ending indicators may be explicstays where it is at. The sink903 starts taking buffers out again itly modulated into the signal or other information that is when it receives another event that tells it to play. The system 25 placed into the signal in a standard fashion may be used to is in perfect synchronization; it starts from the frame that it encode this information. stopped at. With respect to FIG. 12, an example is shown which demThe remote control may also have a fast forward key. When onstrates how the program logic scans the words contained the fast forward key is pressed, the control object 917 sends an within the closed caption (CC) fields to determine starting event to the transform 902, that tells it to move forward two 30 and ending times, using particular words or phrases to trigger seconds. The transform 902 finds that the two second time the capture. A stream of NTSC or PAL fields 1201 is prespan requires it to move forward three buffers. It then issues a sented. CC bytes are extracted from each odd field 1202, and reset event to the downstream pipeline, so that any queued entered in a circular buffer 1203 for processing by the Word data or state that may be present in the hardware decoders is Parser 1204. The Word Parser 1204 collects characters until it flushed. This is a critical step, since the structure of MPEG 35 encounters a word boundary, usually space, period or other streams requires maintenance of state across multiple frames delineating character. Recall from above, that the MPEG of data, and that state will be rendered invalid by repositionaudio and video segments are collected into a series of fixeding the pointer. It then moves the current pointer 920 forward size PES buffers. A special segment is added to each PES buffer to hold the words extracted from the CC field 1205. three buffers. The next time the sink 903 calls nextFullBuf it gets the new current buffer. The same method works for fast 40 Thus, the CC information is preserved in time synchronizareverse in that the transform 902 moves the current pointer tion with the audio and video, and can be correctly presented 920 backwards. to the viewer when the stream is displayed. This also allows A system clock reference resides in the decoder. The systhe stored stream to be processed for CC information at the tem clock reference is sped up for fast play or slowed down leisure of the program logic, which spreads out load, reducing for slow play. The sink simply asks for full buffers faster or 45 cost and improving efficiency. In such a case, the words stored slower, depending on the clock speed. With respect to FIG. in the special segment are simply passed to the state table 10, two other objects derived from the TmkXfrm class are logic 1206. placed in the pipeline for disk access. One is called TmkClipDuring stream capture, each word is looked up in a table 1206 which indicates the action to take on recognizing that Reader 1003 and the other is called TmkClipWriter 1001. Buffers come into the TmkClipWriter 1001 and are pushed to 50 word. This action may simply change the state of the recoga file on a storage medium 1004. TmkClipReader 1003 asks nizer state machine 1207, or may cause the state machine 1207 to issue an action request, such as "start capture", "stop for buffers which are taken off of a file on a storage medium 1005. A TmkClipReader 1003 provides only the allocEmpcapture", "phrase seen", or other similar requests. Indeed, a tyBuf and pushFullBuf methods, while a TmkClipWriter recognized word or phrase may cause the pipeline to be 1001 provides only the nextFullBuf and releaseEmptyBuf 55 switched; for example, to overlay a different audio track if undesirable language is used in the program. methods. A TmkClipReader 1003 therefore performs the Note that the parsing state table 1206 and recognizer state same function as the input, or "push" side of a TmkClipCache 1002, while a TmkClipWriter 1001 therefore performs the machine 1207 may be modified or changed at any time. For same function as the output, or "pull" side of a TmkClipCache example, a different table and state machine may be provided 1002. 60 for each input channel. Alternatively, these elements may be switched depending on the time of day, or because of other Referring to FIG. 11, a preferred embodiment that accomplishes multiple functions is shown. A source 1101 has a TV events. Referring to FIG. 11, a Pullswitch is added 1104 which signal input. The source sends data to a Pushswitch 1102 which is a transform derived from TmkXfrm. The Pushoutputs to the sink 1105. The sink 1105 calls nextFullBuf and Switch 1102 has multiple outputs that can be switched by the 65 releaseEmptyBuf to get or return buffers from the PullSwitch 1104. The PullSwitch 1104 can have any number of inputs. control object 1114. This means that one part of the pipeline can be stopped and another can be started at the users whim. One input could be an Actionclip 1113. The remote control US 7,529,465 B2 11 12 can switch between input sources. The control object 1114 data is handled, such as requiring certain authentication sequences andor decrypting the embedded information sends an event to the PullSwitch 1104, telling it to switch. It will switch from the current input source to whatever input according to some previously acquired key. Such a method source the control object selects. works for normal broadcast signals as well, leading to an An Actionclip class provides for sequencing a number of 5 efficient means of providing non-TV control information and different stored signals in a predictable and controllable mandata to the program logic. ner, possibly with the added control of viewer selection via a Additionally, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that although a VCR is specifically mentioned above, any remote control. Thus, it appears as a derivativeof a TmkXfrm object that accepts a "switch" event for switching to the next multimediarecording device (e.g., a Digitalvideo Disk-Ranl o dom Access Memory (DVD-RAM) recorder) is easily substored signal. This allows the program logic or user to create custom stituted in its place. sequences of video-output. A& number of video segments Although the invention is described herein with reference to can be lined up and combined as if the program logic or user the preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily were using a broadcast studio video mixer. TmkClipReaders appreciate that other applications may be substituted for those 1108, 1109, 1110 are allocated and each is hooked into the 1s set forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of PullSwitch 1104. The PullSwitch 1104 switches between the the present invention,For example, the invention can be used TmkC1i~Readers1108> 'Io9> to combine video and in the detection of gambling casino crime, The input section audio clips. Flow control is automatic because of the way the of the invention is connected to the casino's video surveilpipeline is constructed. The Push and Pull Switches are the lance system. Recorded video is cached and simultaneously same as video switches in a broadcast studio. 20 output to external VCRs. The user can switch to any video The derived class and resulting objects described here may feed and examine (i.e., rewind, play, slow play, fast forward, be combined in an arbitrary way to create a number of differetc.) a specific segment of the recorded video while the exterent useful configurations for storing, retrieving, switching nal VCRs are being loaded with the real-time input video. and viewing of TV streams. For example, if multiple input Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the and output sections are available, one input is viewed while 25 Claims included below. another is stored, and a picture-in-picture window generated The daimed is: by the second output is used to preview previously stored 1. A Process for a digital video recorder, comprising the streams. Such configurations represent a unique and novel application of software transformations to achieve the funcstoring a plurality of multimedia Programs in digital form tionality expected of expensive, sophisticated hardware solu- 30 on at least one storage device; tions within a single cost-effective device. wherein a user selects previously recorded multimedia prowith respect to FIG, 13, a high-level system view is shown gram(s) from said at least one storage device; which implements aVCR backup. The Output Module 1303 simultaneously retrieving for play back a video segment sends TV signals to the VCR 1307. This allows the user to from at least One said previously record TV programs directly on to video tape. The invention 35 multimedia program(s) and a video segment from a mulallows the user to queue up programs from disk to be recorded timedia program whose storage is in progress using on to video tape and to schedule the time that the programs are video segment identifying information generated by the sent to the VCR 1307. Title pages (EPG data) can be sent to digital video recorder for at least one video segment in theVCR 1307 before a program is sent. Longer programs can said at least One said previously be scaled to fit onto smaller video tapes by speeding up the 40 multimedia program(s) and video segment identifying play speed or dropping frames. information generated by the digital video recorder for The VCR 1307 output can also be routed back into the at least one video segment in said multimedia program Input Module 1301. In this configuration the VCR acts as a whose storage is in progress to cause delivery of selected backup system for the Media Switch 1302. Any overflow storage or lower priority programming is sent to the VCR 45 video segments to an output subsystem, the digital video recorder automatically generating video segment iden1307 for later retrieval. tifying information for specific video segments in mulThe Input Module 1301 can decode and pass to the remaintimedia programs as each multimedia program is being der of the system information encoded on thevertical Blankstored on said at least one storage device; and ing Interval (VBI). The Output Module 1303 can encode into wherein said simultaneously retrieving for play back step the output VBI data provided by the remainder of the system. 50 allows playback rate and direction of each multimedia The program logic may arrange to encode identifying inforprogram to be controlled individually and simultamation of various kinds into the output signal, which will be neously to perform any of fast forward, rewind, frame recorded onto tape using the VCR 1307. Playing this tape step, pause, and play functions. back into the input allows the program logic to read back this 2. The Process of claim 1, wherein said output subsystem identifying information, such that the TV signal recorded on 55 converts said at least one of said selected multimedia the tape is properly handled, F~~ example, a particular pro~rogram(s) said multimedia Program whose storage is in and gram may be recorded to tape along with information about Progress into display output signals. when it was recorded, the source network, etc. When this 3. The Process of claim 2, further comprising the step of program is played back into the Input Module, this informainserting on-screen displays into a display output signal. tion can be used to control storage of the signal, presentation 60 4. The process of claim 1, wherein a user controls playback to the viewer, etc. rate and direction of a multimedia program through a remote One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that such a control. mechanism may be used to introduce various data items to the program logic which are not properly conceived of as televi5. The process of claim 1, wherein said retrieving for play sion signals. For instance, software updates or other data may 65 back step sends a multimedia program to a multimedia be passed to the system. The program logic receiving this data recording device, allowing a user to record said multimedia from the television stream may impose controls on how the program. US 7,529,465 B2 13 14 6. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of: 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said output subcreating custom sequences of video andor audio output; system converts said at least one of said selected multimedia program(s) and said multimedia program whose storage is in and wherein said creating step allows any number of video progress into display output signals. andor audio segments of multimedia programs to be 5 12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: lined up and combined and stored on said at least one a module for inserting on-screen displays into a display storage device. output signal. 7. The process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a user controls playback rate and direction of a multimedia program through accepting analog andor digital multimedia program sigl o a remote control. nals using a plurality of input signal tuners; wherein each of said tuners is individually tuned to a spe14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: cific multimedia program; and a multimedia recording device, wherein said retrieving for play back module sends a multimedia program to said converting analog multimedia program signals into a digital representation. multimedia recording device, allowing a user to record 8. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of: 1s said multimedia program. 15. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: synchronizing video and audio components for proper playback. editing means for creating custom sequences of video a n d 9. The process of claim 7, wherein an input signal tuner or audio output; and receives any of: software updates or data. wherein said editing means allows any number of video 10. An apparatus for a digital video recorder, comprising: 20 andor audio segments of multimedia programs to be a module for storing a plurality of multimedia programs in lined up and combined and stored on said at least one digital form on at least one storage device; storage device. 16. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: wherein a user selects previously recorded multimedia program(s) from said at least one storage device; a plurality of input signal tuners; wherein said tuners accept analog andor digital multimea module for simultaneously retrieving for play back a 25 dia program signals; video segment from at least one of said selected previously recorded multimedia program(s) and a video segwherein each of said tuners is individually tuned to a spement from a multimedia program whose storage is in cific multimedia program; and progress using video segment identifying information a module for converting analog multimedia program siggenerated by the digital video recorder for at least one 30 nals into a digital representation. video segment in said at least one of said selected pre17. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising the step of: viously recorded multimedia program(s) and video segment identifying information generated by the digital means for synchronizing video and audio components for video recorder for at least one video segment in said proper playback. 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein an input signal multimedia program whose storage is in progress to 35 cause delivery of selected video segments to an output tuner receives any of: software updates or data. 19. The process of claim 1, wherein saidplaying back step subsystem, the digital video recorder automatically generating video segment identifying information for speplays back said at least one of said selected multimedia procific video segments in multimedia programs as each gram(~) and said multimedia program whose storage is in multimedia program is being stored on said at least one 40 progress in a picture in a picture format to a display device. 20. The process of claim 10, wherein said playing back storage device; and wherein said simultaneously retrieving for play back modmodule plays back said at least one of said selected multimeule allows playback rate and direction of each multimedia program(s) and saidmultimedia program whose storage is dia program to be controlled individually and simultain progress in a picture in a picture format to a display device. neously to perform any of: fast forward, rewind, frame 45 * * * * * step, pause, and play functions. UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. APPLICATION NO. DATED INVENTOR(S) : 7,529,465 B2 : 101081776 : May 5,2009 : James M. Barton et al. Page 1 of 1 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below: In Claim 20, at column 14, line 41 : "process" should be --apparatus-- Signed and Sealed this Twenty-third Day of June, 2009 JOHN DOLL Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Ofice

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