Universal object delivery and template-based file delivery

Abstract

Data objects can be delivered over a network using a file delivery system and universal object delivery and template-based file delivery. This might be done by forming source data into a sequence of data objects represented by symbols in packets, sending those to receivers on request, wherein a transmitter obtains a template file delivery table with delivery metadata for the data objects, and constructing a first transmission object identifier for a data object based on a transmission object identifier construction rule described in the template file delivery table. A receiver might receive packets, extract a second transmission object identifier, associate encoded symbols comprising the received data packet with the data object if the first transmission object identifier and the second transmission object identifier identify the same data object, and recover, at least approximately, the source data for the data object based on the encoded symbols associated with the data object.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of delivering one or more data objects from an electronic device or system over a packet-switched network, wherein source data of the one or more data objects is represented by encoded symbols in packets such that the source data is recoverable, at least approximately, from the encoded symbols, the method comprising:
 a) generating data in a structured form, including meta-data; and   b) generating meta-data using templates for delivering sequences of related objects.   
     
     
         2 . A method of delivering one or more data objects from an electronic device or system over a packet-switched network, wherein source data of the one or more data objects is represented by encoded symbols in packets such that the source data is recoverable, at least approximately, from the encoded symbols, the method comprising:
 a) generating data in a structured form, including meta-data; and   b) generating meta-data using multiplexed object transport encoding.   
     
     
         3 . A method of delivering a sequence of data objects from an electronic device or system over a network to a client device, wherein source data of the sequence of data objects is represented by encoded symbols in packets such that the source data is recoverable, at least approximately, from the encoded symbols, the method comprising:
 obtaining a template file delivery table that comprises delivery metadata for the sequence of data objects, the sequence of data objects comprising a plurality of data objects;   constructing a first transmission object identifier for a data object from the sequence of data objects based on a transmission object identifier construction rule described in the template file delivery table for the sequence of data objects;   receiving one or more data packets;   extracting a second transmission object identifier from a received data packet;   associating encoded symbols comprising the received data packet with the data object if the first transmission object identifier and the second transmission object identifier identify the same data object; and   recovering, at least approximately, the source data for the data object based on the encoded symbols associated with the data object.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein a start transmission time and end transmission time for the data object are constructed based on a start transmission time construction rule and an end transmission time construction rule for the sequence of data objects described in the template file delivery table, and wherein the client device receives data packets for the data object at times that are between the start transmission time and end transmission time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein more than one data object is recovered from the sequence of data objects. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein more than one sequence of data objects is described within the same session in the template file delivery table. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the template file delivery table also comprises information that relates how the sequence of data objects are associated with segments of a representation describe in a DASH MPD. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the template file delivery table also comprises the FEC object transmission information that is common to all objects in the sequence of data objects. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the template file delivery table comprises metadata delivery information for objects within the sequence of data objects that do not exist at the time that the template file delivery table is obtained by the client device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the transmission object identifiers described within the template file delivery table for all objects are unique. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein there are at least two sequences of objects described within the same delivery session within the template file delivery table and the transmission object identifiers for all objects are unique. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the transmission object identifiers for all objects with overlapping transmission times are unique, wherein the transmission object identifier and the start transmission time and end transmission time of each object in the sequence of data objects is described within the template file delivery table by a construction rule. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein there are at least two sequences of objects described within the same delivery session within the template file delivery table and the transmission object identifiers for all objects with overlapping transmission times are unique. 
     
     
         14 . A method of delivering a sequence of data objects from an electronic device or system over a network to a client device, wherein source data of the sequence of data objects is represented by encoded symbols in packets such that the source data is recoverable, at least approximately, from the encoded symbols, the method comprising:
 obtaining a template file delivery table that comprises delivery metadata for the sequence of data objects, the sequence of data objects comprising a plurality of data objects;   receiving one or more data packets;   extracting a transmission object identifier from a received data packet;   associating encoded symbols comprising the received data packet with a data object from the sequence of data objects that corresponds to the transmission object identifier as determined by the transmission object identifier construction rule for the sequence of data objects described in the template file delivery table; and   recovering, at least approximately, the source data for the data object based on the encoded symbols associated with the data object.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein a start transmission time and end transmission time for the data object are constructed based on a start transmission time construction rule and an end transmission time construction rule for the sequence of data objects described in the template file delivery table, and wherein the client device receives data packets for the data object at times that are between the start transmission time and end transmission time. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein more than one data object is recovered from the sequence of data objects. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein more than one sequence of data objects is described within the same session in the template file delivery table. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the template file delivery table also comprises information that relates how the sequence of data objects are associated with segments of a representation describe in a DASH MPD. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the template file delivery table also comprises FEC object transmission information that is common to all objects in the sequence of data objects. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the template file delivery table comprises metadata delivery information for objects within the sequence of data objects that do not exist at the time that the template file delivery table is obtained by the client device. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the transmission object identifiers described within the template file delivery table for all objects are unique. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein there are at least two sequences of objects described within the same delivery session within the template file delivery table and the transmission object identifiers for all objects are unique. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the transmission object identifiers for all objects with overlapping transmission times are unique, wherein the transmission object identifier and the start transmission time and end transmission time of each object in the sequence of data objects is described within the template file delivery table by a construction rule. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein there are at least two sequences of objects described within the same delivery session within the template file delivery table and the transmission object identifiers for all objects with overlapping transmission times are unique. 
     
     
         25 . An object delivery server for delivering a sequence of data objects over a network to one or more client device, wherein source data of the sequence of data objects is represented by encoded symbols in packets such that the source data is recoverable, at least approximately, from the encoded symbols, the object delivery server comprising:
 storage for a template file delivery table representing delivery metadata for the sequence of data objects, the sequence of data objects comprising a plurality of data objects;   a packet constructor that constructs a first transmission object identifier for a data object from the sequence of data objects based on a transmission object identifier construction rule described in the template file delivery table for the sequence of data objects and a second transmission object identifier for a different data object from the sequence of data objects based on a transmission object identifier construction rule described in the template file delivery table for the sequence of data objects; and   a packet output that outputs one or more data packets as constructed by the packet constructor for the data object and the different data object, wherein data objects are encoded with transmission object identifiers   
     
     
         26 . The object delivery server of  claim 25 , the data objects further comprising a start transmission time and end transmission time for the data object constructed based on a start transmission time construction rule and an end transmission time construction rule for the sequence of data objects described in the template file delivery table, such that the one or more client device receives data packets for the data object at times that are between the start transmission time and end transmission time. 
     
     
         27 . The object delivery server of  claim 25 , wherein more than one sequence of data objects is described within the same session in the template file delivery table. 
     
     
         28 . The object delivery server of  claim 25 , wherein the template file delivery table also comprises information that relates how the sequence of data objects are associated with segments of a representation describe in a DASH MPD. 
     
     
         29 . The object delivery server of  claim 25 , wherein the template file delivery table also comprises FEC object transmission information that is common to all objects in the sequence of data objects. 
     
     
         30 . The object delivery server of  claim 25 , wherein the transmission object identifiers described within the template file delivery table for all objects are unique. 
     
     
         31 . The object delivery server of  claim 30 , wherein there are at least two sequences of objects described within the same delivery session within the template file delivery table and the transmission object identifiers for all objects are unique. 
     
     
         32 . The object delivery server of  claim 25 , wherein the transmission object identifiers for all objects with overlapping transmission times are unique, wherein the transmission object identifier and the start transmission time and end transmission time of each object in the sequence of data objects is described within the template file delivery table by a construction rule. 
     
     
         33 . The object delivery server of  claim 32 , wherein there are at least two sequences of objects described within the same delivery session within the template file delivery table and the transmission object identifiers for all objects with overlapping transmission times are unique.