US 11991234

An analysis of US Patent 11,991,234 is provided below.

Summary of US Patent 11,991,234

• Title: Apparatus, system, and method for multi-bitrate content streaming
• Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC
• Inventors: David F. Brueck, Mark B. Hurst, R. Drew Major
• Filing Date: December 21, 2022
• Issue Date: May 21, 2024
• Abstract: An apparatus for multi-bit rate content streaming includes a receiving module configured to capture media content, a streamlet module configured to segment the media content and generate a plurality of streamlets, and an encoding module configured to generate a set of streamlets. The system includes the apparatus, wherein the set of streamlets comprises a plurality of streamlets having identical time indices and durations, and each streamlet of the set of streamlets having a unique bit rate, and wherein the encoding module comprises a master module configured to assign an encoding job to one of a plurality of host computing modules in response to an encoding job completion bid. A method includes receiving media content, segmenting the media content and generating a plurality of streamlets, and generating a set of streamlets.
• Litigation: The provided information indicates that this patent's family has been involved in litigation, including proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and in US District Courts. Specifically, PTAB cases IPR2024-00940 and IPR2024-00941 are mentioned, as well as cases in the Utah and Delaware District Courts and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims

A definitive analysis of the independent claims cannot be provided as the full text of the claims is not included in the source document. However, based on the abstract and detailed description, the independent claims likely cover three main aspects of the invention: an apparatus, a system, and a method for adaptive multi-bitrate streaming.

A hypothetical reconstruction of the independent claims in plain language is as follows:

• An Apparatus Claim: A claim for a physical device (likely a server) that is configured to perform the core process. This would involve components for:

  1. Receiving a media content file.
  2. A "streamlet module" for breaking the media file into small, sequential segments of a specific time duration (e.g., 2 seconds).
  3. An "encoding module" that takes each individual segment and creates multiple versions of it, with each version encoded at a different bitrate (quality level).

• A System Claim: A claim for an entire system that includes the apparatus described above, but also encompasses the client-side interaction. This system would likely claim:

  1. The server apparatus that creates and stores the multi-bitrate "streamlets."
  2. A client device that requests these streamlets.
  3. A process where the encoding of streamlets is distributed among multiple computers ("host computing modules"). A central "master module" assigns encoding tasks to these computers based on which one can complete the job fastest, determined by a bidding process.

• A Method Claim: A claim for the overall process of preparing content for adaptive streaming. The key steps of this method would be:

  1. Receiving media content.
  2. Segmenting the content into a series of short-duration "streamlets."
  3. For each streamlet, generating a "set" of identical-timed streamlets, where each one in the set has a unique bitrate.

This approach allows a client player to seamlessly switch between different quality streams by requesting the appropriate streamlet from the corresponding set based on current network conditions, thereby enabling adaptive bitrate streaming.