Presentation broadcasting

Details Presentation broadcasting Presentation broadcasting

1999-11-01

2004-04-27

Wiley, David (Department: 2143)

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput

Distributed data processing

Client/server

C709S217000, C709S223000, C709S227000, C709S231000, C709S248000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06728753

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally concerns online presentation broadcasting over a network, and more particularly, broadcast of a presentation that includes both a live portion and a predefined portion over the Internet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Online presentation broadcast technology allows people to “attend” a virtual presentation broadcast by broadcasting the presentation over a network to computers that are accessible to the attendees. Recent advancements in networking and online presentation broadcasting technology have led to a rapid increase in the use of such virtual presentation broadcasts, particularly over intranets within large corporations. Of course, the advantages of virtual presentation broadcasts are perhaps best realized over the Internet, which can reach an even greater audience. While these advancements have been dramatic, the ease of use in presenting and receiving such broadcasts have not kept pace.
A typical online broadcast of a presentation is performed in the following manner. A presentation designer, or design team, creates a presentation, which typically comprises a plurality of slides, including text and/or graphic content. The presenter then conducts a “live” performance of the presentation, which is recorded using one or more video cameras with microphones. The recorded presentation generally consists of video and audio content that is recorded on a magnetic tape media using an analog encoding format. For example, conventional television signals are encoded using one of three standard formats: National Television System Committee (NTSC—used in North America), Phase Alternating Line (PAL), or Sequential Color and Memory (SECAM). These standards define encoding schemes for mechanisms that can be used to encode and/or decode analog audio and video broadcasts or tape recordings. For instance, a camcorder designed for use in the United States will encode video and audio content using the NTSC analog format, so that the recorded video and audio content can be viewed on a conventional television when it is played on the camcorder (or other playback equipment).
Although the foregoing analog recording technology and encoding formats have worked well for many years, recordings that use these formats cannot be directly used to transmit audio and/or video content via an online broadcast, since computer networks cannot transfer content that is in an analog format. This problem is addressed by using special audio and video “capture” equipment, which converts the analog signals produced by audio and video recording (and broadcasting) equipment into a digital format, using a special type of encoding scheme and/or device called a codec. The term codec, which is an abbreviated form of coder/decoder, actually originated in the field of analog communications long before the first bit was transmitted digitally. NTSC, PAL, and SECAM are examples of analog codecs used in television broadcasting.
Through the use of one or more codecs, the capture equipment converts an analog recording (or original broadcast signal) into a digital format in the following manner. Typically, the recording is converted into a digital format by using a computer that includes one or more audio and/or video capture cards that receive an analog signal produced by the playback equipment (or which is directly produced by equipment such as a microphone or television broadcast camera) during the live presentation and converts it into a digital format using a particular codec that the cards are designed to implement. Such cards generally employ a special chip that is programmed with logic for converting an input analog signal to an encoded digital signal of a predetermined format, preferably in real-time.
Under Microsoft WINDOWS™ operating systems, codecs are usually implemented to be ACM (Audio Compression Manager)- or VCM (Video Compression Manager)-compatible, so that the output of the codecs can be directly read and used by ACM- and VCM-compatible software. Various ACM- and VCM-compatible codecs are used to produce audio and/or video content in several different formats, including .wav, avi. and .mov file formats, as well as MPEG and MP3 formats.
Once the audio and/or video content of the presentation is converted into an appropriate digital format, it can be sent to an online audience. In the past, this has been done after a request from each audience member causes the file or files comprising the content of the presentation to be downloaded to their own computers. Once the file is downloaded, the presentation can be viewed by “playing” the file with an appropriate codec player, such as Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER™, or the QUICKTIME™ player developed by the Apple Computer Corporation. In order to view a presentation in this manner, it is necessary that the appropriate player be already installed on the viewer's computer.
In addition to viewing presentations in the forgoing manner, recent advancements in streaming format technology have made it possible to receive audio and video content via live broadcasts over the Internet and other network environments. As opposed to conventional network file transfer schemes, streaming format technology allows content to be continuously “streamed” to one or more computers over a network rather than being first downloaded as a file. A typical example illustrating the use of streaming format technology is a live Internet concert, in which audio and video equipment at the performance site produce signals that are converted into a digital format in real- or near-real-time (or are already in a digital format if digital camera equipment is used), and the digital content is converted into an appropriate streaming format and broadcast to a large audience accessing the concert via an Internet Web page. In addition to concerts, streaming technology is presently used for broadcasting other types of live events, including presentations.
Although the foregoing schemes have greatly advanced the use of online broadcasting, they both have significant drawbacks when they are used for broadcasting an online presentation. Notably, when employing either of these methods, the screen area occupied by the video image seen by the online audience is quite small, often making the content of the presentation, especially presentation slides, difficult to view. The relatively small size of the video image is generally due to bandwidth and compression technology limitations, as well as quality considerations. For example, a video frame update rate of 30 frames per second (fps) is generally believed to be the minimum acceptable frame rate for rendering objects that move at a medium rate of motion, such as a person giving a live presentation. In addition, 30 fps is the accepted rate in the NTSC television standard, so most people are accustomed to viewing video content at this frame rate. Suppose that under a worst case scenario, the maximum bandwidth connection available to a person in the audience viewing a presentation is 28.8 Kilobits per second (Kbps). In order to handle this worst case scenario and maintain a frame rate of 30 fps, the video content and audio content of the presentation should be divided into 22 Kbps and 6 Kbps portions, respectively. Under Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS™ media technology, the 22 Kbps video content portion corresponds to a 22 Kilobit WINDOWS™ media encoder template that produces a video image of only 160×120 pixels, while the audio content portion is encoded by an appropriate codec as a monophonic audio signal at 6 Kbps (corresponding to a sampling rate of 8 KHz). When displayed on many of today's computer monitors, which typically provide a display resolution of 1024×768 pixels or greater, a video image of 160×120 pixels only occupies a small portion of the monitor's available display area. Therefore, a presentation slide that was originally designed using a monitor's entire display area will be difficult, if not impossible, to read. Accordingly, a live presentation

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