Peer-to-web broadcasting

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

0001This application is a continuation-in-part of assignee's pending application U.S. Ser. No. 11/584,405, filed on Oct. 20, 2006, entitled “Peer-to-Web Broadcasting.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0002The subject invention relates to multimedia broadcasting over the Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0003Traditionally, two architectures have been introduced to enable publishing or broadcasting video content, referred to as “video clips”, over the worldwide web; namely, a server-based architecture and a peer-to-peer architecture.

0004The server-based architecture requires that a creator of a video clip, referred to as a “content owner”, upload his video clip to an Internet server. The Internet server maintains a directory of content and allows users to view the content and download or stream the content. The disadvantages of this approach are: (1) it is time-consuming to upload large video files; and (2) the content owner must maintain his content on his own computer system and also on the Internet server, which is cumbersome. To speed up the upload process, the content owner generally reduces the size and quality of the video clips that are broadcast. Video normally seen in full-screen size when played locally from the owner's hard drive, becomes confined to small windows, one-fifth the size of the original, when streamed from a remote server over the Internet.

0005The peer-to-peer (P2P) computing architecture, which relies less upon dedicated servers, provides an alternative approach. Peer-to-peer computing involves sharing of computer resources and services through direct communication between peer computer systems. Conventional P2P computing enables peer computers to exchange files and to communicate directly between one another. As such, a peer computer may act as a client device or a server device, depending on the computing process and the needs of the network of peer computers.

0006The peer-to-peer architecture was initially introduced to enable interactive, person-to-person communication on the Internet. Early Internet Relay Chat (IRC) systems enabled people all over the world to participate in real-time text-based conversations. Using an IRC client, a user can exchange text messages interactively with other users. When logged into a chat session, a user “converses” by typing messages that are instantly sent to other chat participants. In recent years, instant messaging (IM) systems, such as AOL's Instant Messenger, Microsoft's MSN Instant Messenger and Yahoo!'s Pager have added the capability to transmit files, including video, sound and image rich media files, between peer computers. However, transmitting rich media files using IRC or IM systems has the disadvantage that the entire media file must be transmitted, which is cumbersome for the content owner, and the disadvantage that the content owner loses control over his media.

0007Some recent popular forms of P2P computing include the file-sharing services provided by Napster, Gnutella, Freenet and Groove. These file-sharing services allow peer computers to identify and share data files with other peer computers over the Internet. Napster, for example, utilizes a centralized directory service that is provided on one or more dedicated server computers connected to the Internet. To search for and discover a file, such as an MP3 song, to download from another peer computer, a Napster client queries the dedicated server computers and central directory therein, which responds with a list of other Napster configured peer computers that have the requested file. The requesting Napster client then connects directly with one of the identified other peer computers, to access and download the requested file. The other peer computer acts as a server to support the downloading process. A disadvantage of this approach is that the Napster server may not have up-to-date information about the Napster clients, and thus some content may be unavailable or out-of-date. Another disadvantage is that the central directory may indicate that certain content is available from a peer, but that peer may not be online and so a requesting peer would not be able to make a connection.

0008Unlike Napster, Gnutella does not rely on a centralized directory service, and thus does not require dedicated server devices. Instead, files are discovered by having peer computers directly communicate, and pass queries from peer computers to other neighboring peer computers. Upon receiving a query, a Gnutella peer computer may, for example, decide to do nothing, respond back to the requesting peer computer, such as by notifying the requester that the requested file has been found, or forward the query on to one or more other peer computers, thus widening the search for a given file. If the requested file is available for access and downloading from at least one of the other peer computers, then the requesting Gnutella peer computer, acting as a client device, connects to that peer computer and begins accessing and downloading the requested file. Here, again, the other peer computer acts as a server during the accessing or downloading process.

0009A general disadvantage of peer-to-peer file sharing is that if a client receives several requests simultaneously, then these requests compete for the relatively limited resources of bandwidth and disk access. Therefore, either the system degrades with each additional simultaneous requester, or the receiving client must refuse service to additional requestors. By contrast, with server-based approaches the provider of the service can add additional servers and load balance among them, and they can store multiple copies and cache often-requested media.

0010Disadvantageously, most P2P file-sharing services require a user to download an entire file. Although the downloading of a file gives a user certain advantages, the transfer of the file and subsequent viewing and/or listening can be undesirable from the perspective of a content owner. The relative ease with which a copy of a file can be obtained can lead to copyright violation. Further, the transfer of files can be in non-real time, which permits a user to transfer a substantial quantity of data from other users in a short period of time. This can undesirably occupy a large amount of network bandwidth for both the user who is copying the files and the users who are providing the files.

0011Music and video streaming was introduced to eliminate the disadvantages associated with downloading or uploading rich media files. Streaming enables a user to view a video clip as it is being received on their computer, without having to wait for the video file to be received in its entirety before playback can begin, and without saving a copy of the video file.

0012Thus, it would be of advantage to have a service that streams music and video, does not require that a content owner upload his media files to a server, provides up-to-date information about available media clips, caches often-requested media files on a server computer, and does not require special media playing software to view streamed videos, music and images.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

0013The subject invention concerns a third architecture for video broadcasting; namely, a peer-to-web broadcasting architecture. Using the subject invention, a user of a client peer computer can broadcast his media from his computer over the web. The user's media can be viewed within conventional web browsers that use conventional media players, such as a Windows Media Player or a Macromedia Flash player control. Such media players are generally available on most platforms and web browsers. As such, the subject invention does not require additional viewing software. The broadcaster, also referred to as a publisher, can organize his media into multiple broadcast channels, which viewers can then select from for viewing.

0014The subject invention overcomes drawbacks of conventional video broadcasting technology that uses a central server. Using the subject invention, an owner of video clips has complete control over the broadcast of his clips, and the people who have viewing privileges. No upload to a central hosting server is required. No coordination of instructions with a hosting server is required. No time is wasted uploading videos to a central server. The subject invention does not copy source files or upload source files to a central server. Media is prepared on a local client computer for web delivery, and original video clips are protected against copyright piracy.

0015The subject invention is particularly advantageous for independent filmmakers, artists and musicians, who can use peer-to-web broadcasting to show their media to potential employers, licensees and other such business leads. Broadcasters can set their broadcast channels as public, in which case they can be searched and found by the general public. Alternatively, broadcasters can set their broadcast channels as unlisted, in which case they can be viewed by invitation only.

0016The subject invention is also particularly advantageous for consumers who wish to share their personal recorded video clips with friends and family. The invention enables them to establish private channels.

0017The subject invention also enables peer-to-portal broadcasting, where publishers can broadcast their media to a third-party portal, for viewing by a general portal audience. The broadcast media appears to the audience as if it is being sourced from the portal's web server, whereas in fact it is being sourced from the publishers' peer computers.

0018There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention a method for peer-to-portal broadcasting, including providing a web page for a portal, the web page including an inline frame (iFrame), receiving meta-data for media files selected by a user for broadcast to the portal, and dynamically generating source code for the iFrame upon request, the source code including instructions for a web browser (i) to request an XML document that includes meta-data for user-selected media files, (ii) to transform the XML document to an HTML document using an XSLT transformation, and (iii) to insert the resulting HTML document into the web page for the portal.

0019There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention a system a system for peer-to-portal broadcasting, including a portal web server for a web portal, the portal web server storing a web page for a portal, the portal web page including an inline frame (iFrame) with a source originating at a broadcast server, a publisher computer, communicatively coupled with the portal web server, including a broadcast tool that enables a publisher to broadcast media files from the publisher computer to the web portal, a broadcast server, communicatively coupled with the portal web server and with the publisher computer, including an iFrame source generator for generating source code for the iFrame included in the portal web page, the source code instructing a web browser to transform at least one XML data-container document for broadcast media files, into at least one HTML page that assembles a plurality of web objects, and an XML document generator for generating XML data-container documents for broadcast media files, and a web client computer, communicatively coupled with the portal web server, including a web browser including a dynamic web page generator and assembler, for executing the iFrame source code generated by the broadcast server.

0020There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computing device to provide a web page for a portal, the web page including an inline frame (iFrame), to receive meta-data for media files selected by a user for broadcast to the portal, and to dynamically generate source code for the iFrame upon request, the source code including function calls (i) to request an XML document that includes meta-data for user-selected media files, (ii) to transform the XML document to an HTML document using an XSLT transformation, and (iii) to insert the resulting HTML document into the web page for the portal.

0021There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention a broadcaster for publishing media content, including a video transcoder for transcoding video content from a source format to a target format at at least one target bit-rate, an image processor, communicatively coupled with the video transcoder, for generating at least one thumbnail image representation of the video content, a database manager, for managing a table of broadcast channels, a table of media files within channels, and a table of cached media files, a command sequencer, communicatively coupled with the video transcoder, the image processor and the database manager, for queuing and sequencing commands issued to the video transcoder, the image processor and the database manager, and a network engine for sending the video content to a proxy server, for streamed delivery to at least one web client on-demand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0022The subject invention will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

0023<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a simplified block diagram of a peer-to-broadcast system, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0024<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> shows a sample web page for viewing media on a web client computer, the media being broadcast from a peer computer in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0025<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> shows a sample video viewing area overlaid on a sample web page, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0026<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is an illustration of a web page assembled from multiple sources, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0027<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> shows a sample web page for publishing media on a peer computer, for web broadcast, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0028<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is a simplified block diagram of a two-tier communication system for publishing media within the peer-to-broadcast system of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0029<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a simplified flow chart of a sequence of events within a peer-to-broadcast system, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0030<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is a simplified block diagram of a publisher system, for publishing media within the peer-to-broadcast system of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0031<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 9A-9E</figref> shows a sample portal web page including an embedded portion broadcast from a publisher, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention;

0032<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> is a simplified diagram of a peer-to-portal broadcasting system, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention; and

0033<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11</figref> is a simplified flowchart of a method for peer-to-portal broadcasting, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

0034The subject invention concerns peer-to-web broadcasting. Using the subject invention, a publisher can broadcast his media to the web from his peer computer, without uploading the media to a central server. As such the publisher retains complete control over his media assets, and who is able to view them.

0035Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, which is a simplified block diagram of a peer-to-broadcast system, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. Shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a broadcasting system <b>100</b> that enables peer computers, referred to as publishers, to broadcast their media over the web. The publishers stores their media, and web clients can view the broadcast media using conventional web browsers, without requiring additional client software. The broadcast media can be live video, pre-recorded video, music, pictures, presentations, slideshows and other forms of media.

0036Media can be published on a mobile phone <b>112</b>, a video camera <b>114</b>, a wireless device <b>116</b>, a home computer <b>118</b> and other such computing devices. Published media can be viewed on a television <b>122</b>, a mobile phone <b>124</b>, a portable player <b>126</b>, a home computer <b>128</b> and other such computing devices that run a web browser.

0037The present invention is readily implemented within the Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) architecture, used for dynamic HTML generation.

0038Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, which shows a sample web page <b>200</b> for viewing media on a web client computer, the media being broadcast from a peer computer in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. As can be seen in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, web page <b>200</b> is displayed by a conventional web browser, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

0039Shown in the upper left of web page <b>200</b> is a list of broadcast channels, each channel corresponding to a set of media related by a common theme that is generally the name of the channel. Channel <b>210</b> is named “Best Videos”, and is currently the channel being displayed in web page <b>200</b>. Channel <b>220</b> is named “Music” and channel <b>230</b> is named “Staff Pics”. To the right of the list of channels is the set of media for the currently selected channel. Each piece of media is represented by a thumbnail, which is a small image that designates the media. Thus thumbnails <b>240</b>, <b>250</b> and <b>260</b> correspond to videos from the “Best Videos” channel. By clicking on one of these thumbnails, a user can view the selected video within his web browser. The thumbnail images and the corresponding videos are generally stored on a peer computer of the publisher who created the channels.

0040Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, which shows a sample video viewing area overlaid on a sample web page <b>300</b>, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. When a user clicks on one of the video icons, such as icons <b>240</b>, <b>250</b> or <b>260</b> of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the corresponding video is streamed to the user and played within a viewing area <b>310</b>. Viewing area <b>310</b> includes typical video controls <b>320</b>, for play/pause, stop, fast forward, fast reverse and volume control.

0041Generally, the web page for viewing published media is assembled from multiple sources, including inter alia: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li id="ul0001-0001" num="0000"><ul id="ul0002" list-style="none"><li id="ul0002-0001" num="0042">(i) hosted programmatic and layout elements (graphics, CSS, JavaScript, HTML);</li><li id="ul0002-0002" num="0043">(ii) hosted content from broadcasting system <b>100</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>);</li><li id="ul0002-0003" num="0044">(iii) local multi-media content (video, image thumbnails);</li><li id="ul0002-0004" num="0045">(iv) local data container elements (XML documents);</li><li id="ul0002-0005" num="0046">(v) multi-media content (video, image thumbnails) from multiple remote publisher computers; and</li><li id="ul0002-0006" num="0047">(vi) data container elements (XML documents) from multiple remote publisher computers. <br /> Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, which is an illustration of a web page assembled from multiple sources (i)-(vi), in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. Shown at the top of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a web page, denoted by A, rendered by a standard browser. Web page A includes components assembled from multiple sources. </li></ul></li></ul>

0048A first source, denoted by <b>1</b>, is local broadcast content. A local host server, denoted by <b>4</b>, is treated as part of the domain for system <b>100</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>), by including a DNS entry for “localhost.pixpo.com” which is mapped to 127.0.0.1, where “pixpo” is a web server name for system <b>100</b>. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that effectively this DNS entry enables an Internet browser to treat the local host server as part of the domain for system <b>100</b>. This is significant since web browser security policies generally require that dynamic content, such as iFrames and scripts, have a single domain of origin. The DNS entry thus enables web pages to be assembled from both local and remote endpoints without violating security policies enforced by the browser.

0049It will thus be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the subject invention bridges multiple domain hosts to a single domain, and facilitates communication between a local host and main page data through JavaScript. The subject invention enables access to information from any IP address via a sub-domain of an origin server. For example, if an HTML page is sent from www.mixpo.com, then that HTML page, via the subject invention's JavaScript bridge, can access any *.mixpo.com URL. Thus a DNS entry for “amazon.mixpo.com” can be mapped so that it resolves to Amazon's search API servers. JavaScript on a www.mixpo.com HTML page can then make remote data requests to Amazon's servers directly. Generally, such multiple calls to services from multiple domains are blocked by a browser's single origin security policy. Using the subject invention, however, a browser makes multiple connections to multiple services because of the JavaScript bridge, which maps an external domain, such as amazon.com, to an internal domain, such as amazon.mixpo.com. The browser then allows these connections, even though they connect to external domains.

0050In distinction, prior art technology, such as Google's “IG” pages, assembles multiple components into a page by assembling the page completely on central servers before sending it to a browser.

0051A second source, denoted by <b>2</b>, is content from a broadcasting system <b>100</b>. A third source, denoted by <b>3</b>A, <b>3</b>B and <b>3</b>C, is content from multiple remote broadcasters John, George and Ringo desktop computers or other computing devices. The third source also includes data content 3D.

0052Shown at the bottom right of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a web page, denoted by <b>5</b>, for a broadcaster. Web page <b>5</b> also includes components assembled from multiple sources. A first source, denoted by <b>6</b>, is local broadcast content. A second source, denoted by <b>7</b>, is content from broadcasting system <b>100</b>.

0053As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, source <b>1</b> for local content uses a Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interface (API), for communicating with web page A and web page <b>5</b>. Information about REST is available on the Internet at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer.

0054Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, which shows a sample web page <b>500</b> for publishing media on a peer computer, for web broadcast, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. Web page <b>500</b> enables a publisher to create broadcast channels, such as the channels listed in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, and to populate the channels with his media. As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, a publisher has created a new channel <b>510</b>, temporarily named “New Channel”, and an explorer-type window <b>520</b> enables the publisher to select media files from his file system to broadcast within the new channel. Channels can be designated as public, in which case they are made publicly available, or as unlisted, in which case they are only made available to friends that the publisher invites to see his media.

0055In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, information about publishers and their broadcast channels is stored in a central database, which can be queried by web clients in order to conduct searches for content.

0056Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, which is a simplified block diagram of a two-tier communication system for publishing media within the peer-to-broadcast system of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. As described hereinabove with respect to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, the peer-to-broadcast system enables HTTP web clients <b>612</b> and <b>618</b> to view channels of media content broadcast by publishers <b>622</b> and <b>628</b>.

0057The system shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> includes two tiers of servers; namely, a first tier <b>630</b> of reverse proxy servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b>, and a second tier <b>640</b> of switchboard servers <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b>. Each server has its own local cache, and caches responses generally in accordance with the HTTP standard, which enable it to serve many clients while making only a small number of requests to another server.

0058When a publisher logs on to a switchboard server, the switchboard server writes a file to a master Andrew File System (AFS) directory. The file is named according to the username of the publisher, and the file contains the switchboard server's host name. Reverse proxy servers search the AFS directory for that file, to determine which switchboard server to contact for a designated publisher. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the AFS directory is essentially being used here as a database. Because multiple switchboard servers are able to write to the same file, cooperative locking is used. It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the subject invention may use an actual database, instead of a master AFS directory, for this purpose of maintaining a switchboard directory.

0059A distinction between the first tier servers and the second tier servers lies in the request to the next server. Specifically, the first tier reverse proxy servers extract a username from an HTTP request, and search the master directory for a file with that name. The file contains the name of a switchboard server. The second tier switchboard servers extract a username from an HTTP request, find a connected publisher with that username, and forward a request to the connected publisher. If a switchboard server receives a request for a publisher who is not connected, the switchboard server returns a 503 HTTP response code. JavaScript in the web client browser receives this response and handles it appropriately; e.g., redirecting to a “user not connected” page.

0060Each proxy server accepts regular HTTP connections on port 80, and forwards HTTP requests to an upstream server. The origin server is a publisher computer, which returns either data or an error code.

0061As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, each server has its own local cache. Cached items are indexed by URL, and each item has an expiration time and a cache validator. The cache validator is a last-modified date or an opaque identifier string, set by the origin server. If the URL is requested before it expires, its cached item is served right away from cache. Otherwise, if the URL has expired, a conditional request is made to the next server; i.e., to the switchboard server or to the origin server. The conditional request sends the cache validator to the next server. In turn, the next server uses the validator to determine whether the cached item for the URL is current. If the cached item is current, the next server returns an HTTP validation code, such as 304 Not Modified. Otherwise, if the cached data for the URL is not current, then the next server sends the updated data with an appropriate HTTP code, such as 200 OK.

0062In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, the servers aggregate requests. When a server receives three client requests for the same file, the file is fetched from the next server once, and served to all three clients. Aggregation occurs at each tier. Thus the reverse proxy servers aggregate many web clients, and the switchboard servers aggregate many reverse proxy servers. A proxy server does not invoke a second request for a specific URL while it is receiving a response for that URL. Instead, it adds a new client to the response being received. This mechanism protects publishers from receiving an excessive number of requests.

0063The servers are indifferent as to content type. All requests are processed through the aggregation and caching mechanisms, and all responses are treated as data streams. HTTP supports “keep-alive connections” and reuses connections for different web clients.

0064A load balancer <b>660</b> is used to distribute web client requests among servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b>.

0065A system server <b>670</b> is used (i) to authenticate publishers, (ii) to manage the database of publishers, their broadcast channels, and their channel media content, and (iii) to serve up web content, such as HTML, XML and static graphic assets, to web clients and publishers, such as the web pages illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2-5</figref> hereinabove. The video streams themselves are transmitted via the two tiers <b>630</b> and <b>640</b>. Thus, referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 2 and 3</figref>, the content in web pages <b>200</b> and <b>300</b>, and the broadcast channel information is transmitted from server <b>670</b> to web clients <b>612</b> and <b>618</b>, and the video stream that is played in viewing area <b>310</b> is transmitted from the two tiers <b>630</b> and <b>640</b>.

0066Server <b>670</b> includes an application server <b>672</b>, a web server <b>675</b> and a database management system <b>678</b>.

0067It will thus be appreciated by those skilled in the art that web page <b>300</b> synthesizes live content, static assets and hosted content in the same context. Specifically, content data, via XML documents, and media objects are transmitted to web clients <b>612</b> and <b>618</b>, and in turn the web clients transform and assemble the content, based on template pages served by server <b>670</b>. Transformations and page display are performed using XSLT, JavaScript and HTML code, as described hereinbelow in SOURCE CODE III-V. The subject invention's web page assembly technology enables displaying live content from multiple remote sources into a single web page. Multiple publisher content is assembled and presented in what appears to a user as a single coherent entity, whereas in fact it is a composite entity, built from multiple live broadcast sources.

0068It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the architecture of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> enables broadcast of multiple media streams from a single peer source; i.e., one-to-many broadcast from a single peer machine to multiple simultaneous viewers.

0069Details of operation of components of the system of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> are described hereinbelow.

Reverse Proxy Servers

632

,

635

and

638

0070Reverse proxy servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b> enable connections to publishers with dynamically assigned IP addresses. Specifically, these servers enable broadcasters to be connected to web clients using browsers that point to standard URLs. For example, if a publisher broadcasts from his home computer that has an internal IP address of 192.168.1.100 and a dynamically assigned IP address of 24.66.77.88, then HTTP servers enable the publisher to appear as http://liveweb.pixpo.com/john, and to serve content to a standard web client. The publisher does not have to run an HTTP server, and does not have to create a port for forwarding configurations for his NAT devices.

0071In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, reverse proxy servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b> operate as a cluster, with automatic dynamic failover in the event of a proxy failure. Reverse proxy servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b> run their proxies as a service. Proxy services have configurable options, including inter alia the options listed in TABLE I.

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00001" num="00001"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="217pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" rowsep="1">TABLE I</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>Configurable options for HTTP servers</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="3"><colspec colname="offset" colwidth="14pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="1" colwidth="49pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="154pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /><entry>Ports for</entry><entry>HTTP listen port</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>the server</entry><entry>Reference to an AFS-hosted file which stores the</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>to listen on</entry><entry>switchboard server addresses</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>Log files</entry><entry>General (for general monitoring and debugging)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>Access (Apache log file compatible)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>Pid (for Linux service management)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>Cache</entry><entry>Cache directory (path to a large volume)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>Cache minimum expire time</entry></row><row><entry /><entry namest="offset" nameend="2" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

Switchboard Servers

642

,

645

and

648

0072Firewalls and NAT routers are used in over 50% of home broadband users today. Nearly all firewalls and NAT routers block unsolicited inbound network traffic, which creates an obstacle for systems that involve peers on the Internet. One solution to overcoming this obstacle uses an intermediate Internet host to proxy network traffic. Firewalls and NAT routers generally block inbound traffic, but outbound traffic is allowed. Since TCP/IP is bi-directional, once a peer computer behind a firewall or NAT router establishes a connection to another host, that host can then send data back to the peer through the TCP/IP connection. Switchboard servers <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b> function as intermediate hosts.

0073Switchboard servers <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b> maintain connection tables with records of connections between HTTP web clients and publishers.

0074A load-balancing algorithm, based on least-loaded switchboard, is used to designate a switchboard server for each publisher. As such, generally any given publisher can connect to any switchboard server.

0075The architecture in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> does not rely on a “thread-per-connection” approach for publishers <b>622</b> and <b>628</b>. It has been found that a low commodity switchboard server can handle up to 20,000 simultaneous connections.

0076Switchboard servers <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b> run their switchboards as a service. Switchboard services have configurable options, including inter alia the options listed in TABLE II.

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00002" num="00002"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="217pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" rowsep="1">TABLE II</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>Configurable options for switchboard servers</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="2"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="42pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="175pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>Ports for</entry><entry>HTTP (HTTP servers should be configured to use this port)</entry></row><row><entry>the server</entry><entry>Switchboard (logon server should direct publishers to use</entry></row><row><entry>to listen on</entry><entry>this port)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>SOAPAdmin</entry></row><row><entry>Log files</entry><entry>General (for general monitoring and debugging)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>Access (Apache log file compatible)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>Pid (for Linux service management)</entry></row><row><entry>HTTP proxy</entry><entry>URLs for error page response lookups</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>Cache directory (path to a large volume)</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>Cache minimum expire time</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="2" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

Cache

650

0077Use of cache within the subject invention provides many advantages, including improved quality of service for web clients, and decreased load on publisher computers. In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, cache <b>650</b> is a large Andrew File System (AFS) volume, which all servers have access to, although it may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other cache volumes may be used instead. It has been found that a cache size of 200 GB suffices to hold several weeks' worth of data.

0078As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, each switchboard server and reverse proxy server features its own local cache. These caches reduce the amount of forwarded network requests necessary, and also support streaming incomplete portions of media files. In addition, the system includes the larger, global cache <b>650</b>, which stores complete media files. Switchboard servers <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b> write to cache <b>650</b>, and reverse proxy servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b> read from cache <b>650</b>.

0079In accordance with am embodiment of the subject invention, when a switchboard server receives a complete media file, it copies the media file to cache <b>650</b>, asynchronously from the HTTP request from the reverse proxy server. Cache <b>650</b> stores completely received media items from all switchboard servers. In general, dynamically generated items are not stored in cache <b>650</b>. Whether a file is dynamic or static is determined by the HTTP compliant cache policy specified by the response from a publisher. Cache <b>650</b> stores complete media items, and generally is not used for streaming.

0080In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, cache <b>650</b> is a size-limited file system-based most recently used (MRU) cache. Each item of content in the cache has a “last used” timestamp. When a new data item is pulled from a publisher, it is added to the cache. When a requested item is found in the cache, the requested item is promoted to the top of the cache by resetting its “last used” timestamp to the current time.

0081Further in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, a cache utility program monitors the space occupied by contents of cache <b>650</b>. The cache utility program accepts as parameters a path to a cache directory and a pre-specified size. If the space occupied by the cache contents exceeds the pre-specified size, the cache utility program deletes least recently accessed items until the occupied space is sufficiently reduced. The cache utility program may be scheduled to run on a timer, such as once every <b>30</b> minutes.

0082Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>, which is a simplified flow chart of a sequence of events within a peer-to-broadcast system, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. The flowchart of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is divided into three columns. The leftmost column includes steps performed by a web client computer, such as web client <b>612</b> or <b>618</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>), the middle column includes steps performed by a caching web proxy, such as HTTP server <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> or <b>638</b>, and the rightmost column includes steps performed by a publisher computer, such as publisher <b>622</b> or <b>628</b>.

0083At step <b>705</b> the publisher requests to log on to an application server using HTTPS/XML messaging, and the publisher is directed to a switchboard proxy server, such as switchboard server <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b>. At step <b>710</b> the publisher logs into the appropriate switchboard server and registers an endpoint, such as “/username/”.

0084At step <b>715</b> a web client requests a publisher URL, such as http://live.pixpo.com/username/<media_file>. At step <b>720</b> the caching web proxy receives the request and checks its cache for the requested media item. If it is determined at step <b>725</b> that the media item is present in the cache, then at step <b>730</b> the item is delivered to the web client from the cache, and at step <b>735</b> the web client receives the data it requested. Otherwise, if it is determined at step <b>725</b> that the media item is not present in the cache, then a determination is made at step <b>740</b> whether or not the publisher is currently connected.

0085If the publisher is not connected, then at step <b>745</b> the caching web proxy returns a “not found” error, and at step <b>750</b> the web client receives the error message instead of the requested data. If the publisher is connected, then at step <b>755</b> the caching web proxy proxies the request to the publisher. At step <b>760</b> the publisher receives the request from the caching web proxy, and at step <b>765</b> the publisher streams a response back to the caching web proxy.

0086At step <b>770</b> the caching web proxy writes the response received from the publisher into its cache, and at step <b>775</b> the caching web proxy sends the response back to the web client. Finally, at step <b>780</b> the web client receives from the caching web proxy the data it requested.

0087In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, cached partially streamed files can be accessed from cache. I.e., a file does not have to be streamed to completion in cache and stored in its entirety as a file before it can be accessed from cache. If a viewer A starts watching a broadcast from publisher B, the proxy server begins streaming content to viewer A and caching it to file. If viewer C then starts watching the same content from publisher B, the proxy server detects this condition and begins streaming content to viewer C from the partially completed stream in the cache. It will be appreciated that this mechanism enables a “multi-cast” from a single source broadcast to a plurality of viewers.

Load Balancer

660

0088Referring back to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, load balancer <b>660</b> forwards requests to HTTP servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b> and <b>638</b> based on a segmenting algorithm.

Server

670

, Application Server

672

, Web Server

675

and Database Management System

678

0089Server <b>670</b> is responsible for orchestrating the entire delivery of static and live content from publisher to web client. Application server <b>672</b> is responsible for authenticating publisher logins. Web server <b>675</b> is responsible for transmitting HTML pages to publishers <b>622</b> and <b>628</b> and to web clients <b>612</b> and <b>618</b>. Database management system <b>678</b> is responsible for managing a database that stores publisher broadcast channels, channel meta-data, and the meta-data for individual files published within those channels.

0090Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>, which is a simplified block diagram of a publisher system <b>800</b>, for publishing media within the peer-to-broadcast system of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. System <b>800</b> generally resides on publisher computers <b>622</b> and <b>628</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>), although in an alternate embodiment system <b>800</b> may reside within web application <b>670</b>. As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>, publisher system <b>800</b> includes a video transcoder <b>810</b>, for generating bit-rate targeted data streams, an image processor <b>820</b>, a network engine <b>830</b>, a database manager <b>840</b>, and a widget engine <b>850</b>. These components are described in detail hereinbelow.

0091In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, components <b>810</b>-<b>850</b> are accessed via an application programming interface (API). One such API is a Representational State Transfer (REST) interface. Information about REST is available on the Internet at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other APIs may also be used to interface components <b>810</b>-<b>850</b>.

Video Transcoder

810

0092Video transcoder <b>810</b> includes a transcoder that generates bit-rate targeted data streams in one or more formats, including inter alia Microsoft Advanced Streaming Format (WMV), Macromedia Flash VP6 (FLV) and DivX Networks v5.x (AVI). Video transcoder <b>810</b> transcodes any source video which can be viewed on the publisher's computer, from a source format to a target format. Since the target format is generally chosen to be a format with ubiquitous implementations on all viewing platforms, viewers can play the video without the need to download additional decoders on their computers. Thus a typical viewer, using a web browser, is able to view video for which he has no local decoder.

0093Further, and in conjunction with database manager <b>840</b>, the transcoding engine is able to generate multiple forms of an original source video stream; e.g., multiple bit-rate target forms of the video can be produced and stored as individual files on the local file system, with the quality (size and bit-rate targets) and other parameters being stored in the database. This allows the viewing component to request and select an appropriate bit-rate target. It also allows the system to create ‘clips’ from source video; e.g., the original source may an hour long video at high definition but, following processing by video transcoder <b>810</b>, can exist (i) as a short three minute sample clip at a quality and resolution suitable for delivery to a mobile phone, and (ii) as a full length, but lower quality and resolution version, suitable for delivery to a web browser across the Internet.

0094Video transcoder <b>810</b> generally operates within an environment where multiple simultaneous and asynchronous requests may occur; e.g., requests from image processor <b>820</b> for still image representations of a video stream. As such, video transcoder <b>810</b> relies on the “command queue” mechanism and dynamic thread pool mechanism provided by widget engine <b>850</b>, which is used across all components to sequence and manage the processing of asynchronous demands that are typical in a network environment where multiple viewers may be connected to a single broadcaster.

Image Processor

820

0095Image processor <b>820</b> includes graphic effects such as alpha channels for transparency, gradients and shadows. Image processor <b>820</b> also includes decoders for conventional image formats, including the recently established RAW camera format.

0096Image processor <b>820</b> interacts with video transcoder <b>810</b>, whereby video transcoder <b>810</b> can be requested to seek to and render one or more still image frames from a video stream. These still frames can then be further manipulated by image processor <b>820</b>; e.g., to provide small size thumbnail representations of the video. In addition, multiple frames extracted from relative time offsets in the video can be assembled into a multi-frame preview image, similar to a “contact sheet” view of the video. These thumbnails and multi-frame views can be used as user interface elements to present video content in static image formats, allowing a viewer to select which video he wants to view. Image processor <b>820</b> also cooperates with database manager <b>840</b>. Similar to the multiple representations of a video stream described hereinabove, image processor <b>820</b> can produce multiple representations of a still image, in varying degrees of size and quality, where the representations are stored in a file pool on the disk and are tracked via database manager <b>840</b>.

0097Image processor <b>820</b> generally operates within an environment where multiple simultaneous and asynchronous requests, such as requests to image processor <b>820</b> for still thumbnail representations of multiple files in a channel, are possible. As such, image processor <b>820</b> relies on the “command queue” mechanism and dynamic thread pool mechanism provided by widget engine <b>850</b>, which is used across all components to sequence and manage the processing of asynchronous demands typical in a network environment where multiple viewers may be connected to a single broadcaster.

Network Engine

830

0098Network engine <b>830</b> includes messaging engines for client-to-client and client-to-server connections. Network engine <b>830</b> provides bi-directional communication for sending and responding to messages from broadcaster client engines to a server, and from the server to the broadcaster client engines.

0099It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in a network where (i) there are multiple viewing clients, each of whom may be viewing different channels and/or requesting different video streams from a single publisher, and (ii) at the same time the publisher may be actively updating the contents of his broadcast, coupled with the fact that some operations are more time consuming than others, the goal of achieving a perception that the publisher is performing those multiple operations in a non-blocking way (i.e., both viewer A and viewer B can request the contents of different channels at exactly the same moment in time and neither should perceive that they are waiting for the other's operation to complete) requires a mechanism that efficiently queues incoming network requests and, at the same time, fits those queued requests into other activities which may materially affect the result of those requests. Network engine <b>830</b> relies on specific technologies provided by widget engine <b>850</b> that provide multiple simultaneous connections for inbound and outbound messages, while placing them in a context where the result of one inbound message may affect the result of the next message.

0100As an example, a broadcaster may be updating a channel with new content, while multiple viewers are actively browsing the contents of different channels, including the one being updated. The broadcaster's activities affect the database as new content is added, as well as invoke video transcoder <b>810</b> and image processor <b>820</b> when thumbnails and bit-rate targeted streams are generated in preparation for subsequent broadcast. Requests from viewers for channel content must be responded to, which may require processing by database manager <b>840</b>, transcoder <b>810</b> and image processor <b>820</b>. Multiple viewers will establish multiple asynchronous connections with network engine <b>830</b>, and data (e.g., textual content like channel information and meta-data, or video streams) will be streamed by network engine <b>830</b> to requesting viewers. Moreover, those viewers requesting information about the newly created channel must get up to date information, which means that network engine <b>830</b> must cooperate with database manager <b>840</b>, transcoder <b>810</b> and image processor <b>820</b> command request queue managers. Thus, while there may be multiple simultaneous connections held open on a particular publisher, each of those connections may result in one or more commands being queued to the database, transcoder or imaging command queues.

Database Manager

840

0101Database manager <b>840</b> includes an implementation of SQL. Database manager <b>840</b> also includes a command generator and sequencer. Database manager <b>840</b> is the core of the data management system for the publisher client. The database manages several key tables, including inter alia channel tables, files-in-channel tables and cache tables. In general, all persistent data for a publisher is stored in the database, and the database also exists in a context where there are multiple layers of volatile and non-volatile caching.

0102Database manager <b>840</b> satisfies two requirements of the overall system design; namely, (i) that requests and events throughout the publisher ecosystem are effectively simultaneous and asynchronous, and (ii) that requests must at times be handled in strict sequence. For example, a broadcaster may be updating a channel at the same time the channel content is being viewed by multiple viewers. The broadcaster's activities change the database, including inter alia the channels table and the files-in-channel table. At the same time, a viewer's activities may cause requests for thumbnails in the channel, in turn invoking image processor <b>820</b> for content not yet decoded, which in turn results in a request for a video frame transcode, which in turn results in a database update for the newly produced thumbnail-all of which must be correctly sequenced, yet fit into a framework where a second viewer's request for the same thumbnails will deliver them from the cache and/or database layers, where the in-memory cache itself is unpredictably volatile.

0103In order to accomplish this degree of simultaneous transaction handling in an on-demand/just-in-time environment, database manager <b>840</b> relies on the “command queue” mechanism and dynamic thread pool mechanism provided by widget engine <b>850</b>, which is used across all components to sequence and manage the processing of asynchronous demands typical in a network environment where multiple viewers may be connected to a single broadcaster, causing multiple and simultaneous asynchronous read/write commands to the database. Each write, for example, may be a multiple-faceted operation, as when a channel is updated with new files, causing several tables to be updated, while still allowing multiple reads to be simultaneously in progress. This requires multiple threads, and command queues to manage those threads in order to achieve dynamic responsiveness required of the database in an environment subject to multiple simultaneous transaction requests. Conventional native transaction handling found in database implementations is insufficient for this.

Widget Engine

850

0104Widget engine <b>850</b> supports widget layers such as vectors, strings and maps. Widget engine <b>850</b> also includes MAPI support. Optionally, widget engine <b>850</b> may also include support for third party widgets. Widget engine <b>850</b> includes two components—(i) a dynamic thread pool management sub-system, and (ii) generic command queue processors.

0105In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, multiple thread pool managers are created. Threads are pooled so that they can be re-used without the processor overhead that typically results from thread setup and tear down. However, in order to avoid proliferation of too many threads, which also results in processor overhead, each pool has a preset upper limit of running threads. A request for a thread to perform an operation will either be allocated to a dormant thread from the pool or, if all of the threads in the pool are currently active, be queued for later processing when one of the currently active threads is released. Threads are also subject to time-based automatic destruction. Specifically, threads which have been dormant for a preset length of time will exit, releasing system resources used by the thread.

0106Thread pools are used in the creation of command processing queues. A command queue is a series of generic commands which are executed in sequence under control of a thread, which in turn is managed by a thread pool manager. In order to enable multiple simultaneous event handling across multiple components which may need each other as resources, command queues are used to sequence “transactions” for all contexts, while still allowing multiple non-blocking event handling to exist across components.

0107For example, a request for a thumbnail representation of a video frame may be the result of an inbound message from network engine <b>830</b>. Network engine <b>830</b> has multiple threads from a managed thread pool available for handling inbound message requests. If one of those requests is for a video stream, network engine <b>830</b> will queue a request command for the stream location to database manager <b>840</b>, and the thread for that command will be blocked until the database command processing queue processes that command.

0108At the same time network engine <b>830</b> may receive a request for a thumbnail, and will queue a “get thumbnail” command to the imaging processor queue. Another thread from another pool manages the sequential execution of requests to image processor <b>820</b>. This second thread will also be blocked, waiting for the thumbnail to be returned. In the meantime, the database command queue will receive execution priority, retrieve the file location of the requested video stream, and the command will complete. The network thread for that connection will then unblock and start streaming the requested video. The image processor queue may then receive execution priority, and the thumbnail request command will execute. As a result of this execution, the video transcoder thread may be activated, and once it returns an extracted thumbnail, image processor <b>820</b> will queue a “store” command, for the database command thread to store the thumbnail; but since the thumbnail will be returned from in-memory cache, image processor <b>820</b> can immediately return the requested thumbnail without first waiting for the database command to complete. However, a subsequent request for the same thumbnail from the database will of necessity be queued behind the first “store” command. When the thread managing the database command queue executes, it will do so in the queued order, and thus the “store” and “retrieve” commands will be executed in the correct sequence, while still allowing the initial request to be satisfied immediately without waiting for the database queue.

0109The command queuing architecture described hereinabove is dictated by the fact that there are potentially many hundreds of requests that may be being processed for a single web page view, such as a page full of thumbnails, where some of the thumbnails are cached, some are in the database, and some have not even been decoded yet. Additionally, the same page of thumbnails may be requested by many other viewers at the same time. It is essential that image decodes, video transcodes and database accesses, which are processor intensive operations, do not get repeated over and over. Without the above command queuing process across multiple threads, there are cases where the same decode could be requested over and over and, in a worst case, multiple threads activated directly from network engine <b>830</b> to get the same thumbnail, when in fact it only need be decoded once and placed into the database and/or cache once.

0110The combination of multiple managed threads, each responsible for command sequencing queues for multiple components, is important to the success of the overall architecture in an asynchronous and on-demand environment which must deal with unpredictable and un-sequenced requests from an essentially unbounded and unpredictable viewer base. All components of system <b>100</b> exist within a cooperative on-demand framework. A goal of the command queuing architecture approach is to provide a processing workflow that is “as little as possible, as late as possible, as few times as possible”. Intensive processing, such as extracting a thumbnail from a video stream, or scaling a representation of a still image, is postponed until such time as it is necessary. Having undertaken the processing, the result is stored in multiple levels of volatile and non-volatile cache.

0111For example, an image may be added to a channel but has not yet been viewed in any context. When a viewer subsequently requests the contents of the channel, which can be minutes, days or weeks later, the system first checks to see if the image thumbnails for the content are in a volatile cache; typically, a bounded in-memory cache. If the images are in the memory cache, they are delivered from there directly. If the images are not in the memory cache, the framework determines if the images are in the database. If the images are in the database, the images are delivered from the database and placed in the in-memory cache. If the images are in neither the cache nor the database, image processor <b>820</b> is invoked and the thumbnails are decoded. Following decode, the thumbnail images are placed into the database and into the in-memory cache. Subsequent requests for the images, possibly from other viewers at a later time, are delivered directly from the in-memory cache. Should the memory version be purged, the next delivery is from the database, at the same time placing it into the in-memory cache.

0112The above general workflow applies to video thumbnail extraction, to database inquiries, and to other such operations. There are multiple levels of cache involved in many common operations that are processor intensive. Database manager <b>840</b>, image processor <b>820</b> and network engine <b>830</b> are subject to multiple simultaneous requests from both local publisher and remote server and viewer activities. The same “command queue” mechanism, with support from the dynamic thread pool mechanism in widget engine <b>850</b>, is used across all of these components to sequence and manage the processing of asynchronous demands typical in a network environment.

Portal Integration

0113In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art will realize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied to the methods and systems described. An important such variation is the ability for a publisher to broadcast his media to a web portal. Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 9A-9E</figref>, which show a sample portal web page including an embedded portion broadcast from a publisher, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. The portal site in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref> is a foreign site; i.e., a site that is not hosted within domains of broadcasting system <b>100</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In general, the portal site in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref> belongs to a third party. The style of the portal page, including inter alia headers and banners, designated by numeral <b>1</b><i>a, </i>comes from a portal owner's URL, designated by numeral <b>1</b><i>b. </i>The bulk of the content in the portal page, designated by numeral <b>1</b><i>c, </i>also comes from the portal owner's URL <b>1</b><i>b. </i>

0114The portal page illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref> contains mixed elements, such as the navigation element designated by numeral <b>2</b>, which contains both portal-specific entities “Site” and “About”, and entities from broadcasting system <b>100</b> including channel buttons “Tech Classics”, “Machinima”, “Twitch Culture”, “Cartoons”, “Movies” and “Fast Cars”, designated by numeral <b>3</b>.

0115The portal page includes an inline frame (iFrame) sourced from broadcasting system <b>100</b>, designated by numeral <b>4</b>. Area <b>4</b> is owned by broadcasting system <b>100</b>, which provides content in area <b>4</b>. The content provided by broadcasting system <b>100</b> is dynamically updated. An iFrame is an HTML construct that enables external objects to be included, such as an external HTML page. The source <ul id="ul0003" list-style="none"><li id="ul0003-0001" num="0000"><ul id="ul0004" list-style="none"><li id="ul0004-0001" num="0116"><IFRAME> SRC=URI </IFRAME> <br /> is used to embed content from a specified universal resource identifier (URI) into a web page. iFrames can act as targets for other links. </li></ul></li></ul>

0117Shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref> are thumbnails, designated by numeral <b>5</b>, that represent content sourced from system <b>100</b> by peer publishers on the edge of a network. Area <b>4</b> is dynamically generated whenever the portal page is constructed by system <b>100</b>, which has access to the group of publishers who are authorized to broadcast into the portal. System <b>100</b> determines which publisher content to include, and assembles the visible set of content for the specific channel, among the channels <b>3</b>, that is chosen. Determination of which publisher content to include by system <b>100</b> may be random, or based on most recent or most popular, or such other criteria.

0118The portal page also includes a search control element, designated by numeral <b>7</b>, which communicates with system <b>100</b>. As such, the portal owner does not have to provide search engine support; instead, the search is performed by system <b>100</b> and the results delivered into iFrame <b>4</b>. When a viewer selects a channel, such as the “Fast Cars” channel <b>3</b>, a view of the selected channel is displayed in iFrame <b>4</b>.

0119In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, a publisher is able to broadcast his own content directly into the portal. Specifically, a “My Broadcast” control, designated by numeral <b>8</b>, enables the publisher to add content into the portal. The content that the publisher adds appears as if it is coming from the portal, whereas in fact it is coming from the publisher's computer. Shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9B</figref> is a publisher's view of his own broadcast channel content, displaying media files designated by numeral <b>2</b>, which the publisher has added to his channel.

0120Shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9C</figref> is a user interface for the publisher to select media content, designated by numeral <b>1</b>, to add to his channel. In accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention, the in-page iFrame communicates with the publisher, which decodes the publisher's media and presents a preview thumbnail. Having selected a media file and added relevant meta-data, such as a title and a description, the publisher makes his content available to the entire portal audience by pushing an “Add to Channel” button, designated by numeral <b>2</b>. This event is communicated to the publisher computer, which transcodes the publisher's media into a bit-rate targeted form, stores meta-data, and communicates with system <b>100</b> that the publisher's media is ready for broadcast into the portal.

0121Shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9D</figref> is a user interface for the publisher to preview his local content. The publisher clicks on a “Preview” button, designated by numeral <b>1</b><i>a, </i>and the publisher computer then generates a preview window, designated by numeral <b>1</b><i>b, </i>and plays the publisher's media into the preview window. After adding the publisher's content into the portal, the publisher's transcoded media file is available directly to viewers from the portal page, as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9E</figref> and designated by A. The set of media, designated by numeral <b>1</b>, is dynamically updated to reflect the publisher's newly added content. Viewers can play the newly added media files. The video being played in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9E</figref>, designated by numeral <b>2</b>, appears to be integrated into the portal, but in fact it is actually being sourced from system <b>100</b> and not from the portal's web site. Similarly, other publishers' content, designated by numeral <b>3</b>, also appears as part of the channel, and can be viewed and played.

0122Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>, which is a simplified diagram of a peer-to-portal broadcasting system, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> includes four components; namely, a portal web server <b>1010</b> that serves web pages to a third party portal, a publisher peer computer <b>1020</b> that is operated by one or more individuals who wish to publish media to the portal, a broadcast server <b>1030</b> that feeds broadcast content into the portal, and a viewer computer <b>1040</b> that is operated by a user browsing the web portal. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that viewer computer <b>1040</b> and publisher computer <b>1020</b> may be the same computer, when the publisher is browsing the portal. Whereas <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> addresses the three components publisher peer computer, broadcast server and web client peer computer, <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> has the additional portal web server <b>1010</b>. Whereas in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> the web client views the publisher's media content while browsing a web page on the broadcast server, in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> the web client is browsing a web page on the third party web portal server. In both figures the publisher computer is proxied through the broadcast server.

0123The main web page for the web portal, stored on portal web server <b>1010</b>, includes an iFrame with an embedded SRC that points to broadcast server <b>1030</b>. Generally, while viewing a portal web page, a publisher initiates a broadcast to the portal by clicking on a control, such as the “My Broadcast” link shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref>. In turn a broadcast application <b>1050</b>, residing on publisher computer <b>1020</b>, receives the portal IP address and enables the publisher to select media files to broadcast. Broadcast application <b>1050</b> sends meta-data about the selected media files to broadcast server <b>1030</b>, and broadcast server stores the meta-data in a database <b>1060</b>, for later access.

0124Viewer computer <b>1040</b> includes a web browser <b>1070</b>, through which a user browses the Internet, and in particular, the web portal. When web browser <b>1070</b> navigates to the web portal URL, it requests the main portal page from portal server <b>1010</b>.

0125In order to serve the portal web page, portal server <b>1010</b> requests the SRC for the iFrame from broadcast server <b>1030</b>. Broadcast server <b>1030</b> includes an iFrame source code generator <b>1080</b>, which dynamically generates iFrame source code for the SRC, in response to the request from portal server <b>1010</b>. Broadcast server <b>1030</b> sends the iFrame source code thus generated to portal server <b>1010</b>. Portal server <b>1010</b> embeds the iFrame source code within the portal web page, and sends the updated portal web page with the embedded iFrame source code to web browser <b>1070</b>.

0126The iFrame source code includes JavaScript, which web browser <b>1070</b> executes when it renders the portal web page. The JavaScript requests an XML document from broadcast server <b>1030</b>. Upon receipt of the request, broadcast server <b>1030</b> retrieves the appropriate meta-data from database <b>1060</b> and dynamically generates an XML data container document on-the-fly. Broadcast server <b>1030</b> then sends the generated XML document to web browser <b>1070</b>.

0127After receiving the XML document, web browser <b>1070</b> continues executing the JavaScript, which loads an XSLT transformation and applies the transformation to the XML document. The result of the XSLT transformation on the XML document is an HTML snippet that is embedded into the iFrame following completion of the transformation. The HTML snippet includes code to support clickable thumbnail images that reference endpoints, represented by proxy endpoints, for the publisher's broadcast media on publisher computer <b>1020</b>.

0128After web browser <b>1070</b> renders the HTML snippet, a viewer of the portal can then click on a thumbnail image, and the portal launches a media player for playing the media associated with the thumbnail image, as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9E</figref>. The media content itself is streamed from publisher computer <b>1020</b>, via broadcast server <b>1030</b> acting as a proxy.

0129It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the functions of broadcast server <b>1030</b> may be distributed among a plurality of broadcast servers. In particular, a first group of broadcast servers may be dedicated to serving the iFrame source code, the XML documents and the XSLT transforms; and a second group of broadcast servers may be dedicated as a proxy to stream media from publisher computer <b>1020</b>. The second group of broadcast servers corresponds to servers <b>632</b>, <b>635</b>, <b>638</b>, <b>642</b>, <b>645</b> and <b>648</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>.

0130Reference is now made to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11</figref>, which is a simplified flowchart of a method for peer-to-portal broadcasting, in accordance with an embodiment of the subject invention. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11</figref> is divided into four columns, corresponding to the four components of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>. The leftmost column includes steps performed by publisher peer computer <b>1020</b>. The second-from-leftmost column includes steps performed by broadcast server <b>1030</b>, the second-from-rightmost column includes steps performed by portal web server <b>1010</b>, and the rightmost column includes steps performed by viewer web browser <b>1040</b>.

0131At step <b>1105</b> the publisher computer initiates preparation of a broadcast by clicking on a control within a portal web page, such as the “My Broadcast” link shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref>. The portal web page includes an iFrame with a SRC that points to the broadcast server. At step <b>1110</b> the publisher computer prompts the publisher to select specific media files for broadcast to the portal. At step <b>1115</b> the publisher computer sends meta-data about the selected media files to the broadcast server.

0132At step <b>1120</b> the broadcast server receives the meta-data from the publisher computer. At step <b>1125</b> the broadcast server stores this meta-data in a database, for later retrieval when required, at step <b>1160</b>, to generate an XML container document for the meta-data.

0133At step <b>1130</b>, the web browser navigates to the portal URL and requests the portal web page from the portal server. In response, at step <b>1135</b> the portal server requests the iFrame source code from the broadcast server. At step <b>1140</b> the portal server receives the iFrame source code from the broadcast server. At step <b>1145</b> the portal server embeds the iFrame source code in the portal page and passes it to the viewer web browser.

0134At step <b>1150</b> the viewer web browser, in rendering the portal web page, encounters the code in the iFrame, and executes the code. At step <b>1155</b> the code executing in the web browser requests an XML document from the broadcast server. At step <b>1160</b> the broadcast server retrieves the meta-data that was stored in the database previously at step <b>1125</b>, and generates an XML data-container document therefrom. At step <b>1165</b> the broadcast server receives the XML document from the broadcast server, and requests an XSLT transformation, to transform the XML data-container into an HTML document.

0135At step <b>1170</b> the broadcast server generates the XSLT transformation, which it sends to the viewer browser. At step <b>1175</b> the viewer browser receives the XSLT transformation from the broadcast server. At step <b>1180</b> the viewer browser transforms the XML document according to the XSLT transformation. The result of the transformation is a portion of HTML, referred to as a “snippet”. At step <b>1185</b> the viewer browser embeds the HTML snippet into the iFrame following completion of the transformation. The viewer browser then renders the portal web page at step <b>1190</b>, which now includes clickable thumbnail images that activate a media player to view streamed broadcast media, which originates at the publisher computer.

Implementation Details

0136Provided below are five portions of detailed sample source code, with line numbering for reference, for generating the portal web page shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref>, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The five source code portions are as follows: <ul id="ul0005" list-style="none"><li id="ul0005-0001" num="0137">SOURCE CODE I: HTML SOURCE FOR MAIN PORTAL WEB PAGE</li><li id="ul0005-0002" num="0138">SOURCE CODE II: HTML SOURCE FOR IFRAME (element <b>4</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref>)</li><li id="ul0005-0003" num="0139">SOURCE CODE III: XML DOCUMENT RETURNED FOR A MEDIA ITEM</li><li id="ul0005-0004" num="0140">SOURCE CODE IV: XSLT FOR TRANSFORMING THE XML INTO HTML</li><li id="ul0005-0005" num="0141">SOURCE CODE V: HTML OUTPUT FROM TRANSFORM</li></ul>

The five portions of source code step through the various phases of dynamic HTML generation, for broadcast from a publisher peer computer into a foreign web portal as illustrated in FIG. 9A.

0142Referring to SOURCE CODE I, the portal main page includes many kinds of elements, as desired by the portal owners. Lines 98-106 define an iFrame named “pixpo”, corresponding to area <b>4</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9A</figref>. This iFrame area is set aside by the portal owner, and includes code necessary to instantiate a network container used by broadcast server <b>1030</b>. The iFrame references the URL

0000http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/ <br /> view?container=techclassics&amp;pxLocation=

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00003" num="00003"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0" pgwide="1"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="280pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>SOURCE CODE I: MAIN PORTAL PAGE</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="2"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="21pt" align="char" char="." /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="259pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>1</entry><entry><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN”></entry></row><row><entry>2</entry><entry><html></entry></row><row><entry>3</entry><entry><head></entry></row><row><entry>4</entry><entry> <title>Tom's Guide : Tom's Hardware</title></entry></row><row><entry>5</entry><entry> <link rel=“stylesheet” type=“text/css” href=“inc/style.css”></entry></row><row><entry>6</entry><entry> <script>var pgml = 0;</script></entry></row><row><entry>7</entry><entry></head></entry></row><row><entry>8</entry><entry><body></entry></row><row><entry>9</entry><entry><div id=“banner”></entry></row><row><entry>10</entry><entry> <div class=“logo”><img src=“img/logo_01.gif” width=“165” height=“45”</entry></row><row><entry>11</entry><entry>border=“0” alt=“TwitchTV”></div></entry></row><row><entry>12</entry><entry> <div class=“topAd”><img</entry></row><row><entry>13</entry><entry>src=“http://www.kanoa.net/tgpub/img/728x90_07.jpg” width=“728” height=“90”</entry></row><row><entry>14</entry><entry>border=“0” alt=“Banner”></div></entry></row><row><entry>15</entry><entry> <div id=“topNav”><table cellspacing=“0”><tr></entry></row><row><entry>16</entry><entry><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>17</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=techclassics”</entry></row><row><entry>18</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Tech Classics</a></td></entry></row><row><entry>19</entry><entry><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>20</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=machinima”</entry></row><row><entry>21</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Machinima</a></td></entry></row><row><entry>22</entry><entry><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>23</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=twitchculture”</entry></row><row><entry>24</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Twitch Culture</a></td></entry></row><row><entry>25</entry><entry><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>26</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=cartoons”</entry></row><row><entry>27</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Cartoons</a></td></entry></row><row><entry>28</entry><entry><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>29</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=movies”</entry></row><row><entry>30</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Movies</a></td></entry></row><row><entry>31</entry><entry><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>32</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=fastcars”</entry></row><row><entry>33</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Fast Cars</a></td></entry></row><row><entry>34</entry><entry><td width=“80”> </td><a href=“#” class=“grey”>SITE</a></td><td><a</entry></row><row><entry>35</entry><entry>href=“#” class=“grey”>ABOUT</a></td><td</entry></row><row><entry>36</entry><entry>width=“10”> </td></tr></table><div class=“aero”></div></div></entry></row><row><entry>37</entry><entry></div></entry></row><row><entry>38</entry><entry><div id=“left”></entry></row><row><entry>39</entry><entry> <img src=“img/feature.jpg” width=“260” height=“195” border=“0”</entry></row><row><entry>40</entry><entry>alt=“Feature”></entry></row><row><entry>41</entry><entry> <div class=“teal”></entry></row><row><entry>42</entry><entry>  <table cellspacing=“0” height=“60”></entry></row><row><entry>43</entry><entry>   <form</entry></row><row><entry>44</entry><entry>action=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/search/results”</entry></row><row><entry>45</entry><entry>method=“get” target=“pixpo”></entry></row><row><entry>46</entry><entry>   <tr><td width=“9”></td></entry></row><row><entry>47</entry><entry>    <td><input type=“text” class=“search” name=“query”</entry></row><row><entry>48</entry><entry>value=“Search TwitchTV dude...”></td></entry></row><row><entry>49</entry><entry>    <td width=“5”></td></entry></row><row><entry>50</entry><entry>    <td><input type=“image” src=“img/btn_search.gif” value=“Search”</entry></row><row><entry>51</entry><entry>name=“Search” title“Search” alt=“Search” width=“60” height=“25”</entry></row><row><entry>52</entry><entry>border=“0”></td></entry></row><row><entry>53</entry><entry>   </tr></entry></row><row><entry>54</entry><entry>   </form></entry></row><row><entry>55</entry><entry>  </table></entry></row><row><entry>56</entry><entry>  <div class=“divvy”></div></entry></row><row><entry>57</entry><entry>  <div class=“padit”></entry></row><row><entry>58</entry><entry><p><a</entry></row><row><entry>59</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=techclassics”</entry></row><row><entry>60</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Tech Classics</a> Video interviews,</entry></row><row><entry>61</entry><entry>news reports and reviews from TwitchGuru, Tom's Hardware Guide, TG Daily</entry></row><row><entry>62</entry><entry>and other TG sites.</p></entry></row><row><entry>63</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>64</entry><entry><p><a</entry></row><row><entry>65</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=machinima”</entry></row><row><entry>66</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Machinima</a> Computer-generated imagery</entry></row><row><entry>67</entry><entry>(CGI), and 3D animation video, fan-created and customized movies based on</entry></row><row><entry>68</entry><entry>popular video games.</p></entry></row><row><entry>69</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>70</entry><entry><p><a</entry></row><row><entry>71</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=twitchculture”</entry></row><row><entry>72</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Twitch Culture</a> Random user-</entry></row><row><entry>73</entry><entry>generated video that focuses on the Twitch generation and its technology,</entry></row><row><entry>74</entry><entry>games, movies, music, comics, and entertainment.</p></entry></row><row><entry>75</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>76</entry><entry><p><a</entry></row><row><entry>77</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=cartoons”</entry></row><row><entry>78</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Cartoons</a> The latest and most popular</entry></row><row><entry>79</entry><entry>clips of vintage anime and cartoons from television, feature films and the</entry></row><row><entry>80</entry><entry>Web.</p></entry></row><row><entry>81</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>82</entry><entry><p><a</entry></row><row><entry>83</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=movies”</entry></row><row><entry>84</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Movies</a> Clips, previews and trailers of</entry></row><row><entry>85</entry><entry>the latest and most popular feature films and television shows, as well as</entry></row><row><entry>86</entry><entry>short films, spoofs, and customized re-edits.</p></entry></row><row><entry>87</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>88</entry><entry><p><a</entry></row><row><entry>89</entry><entry>href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=fastcars”</entry></row><row><entry>90</entry><entry>target=“pixpo” class=“uno”>Fast Cars</a> The latest hot rods,</entry></row><row><entry>91</entry><entry>gorgeous vintage automobiles, innovative concept cars, collectors items and</entry></row><row><entry>92</entry><entry>eye-catching add-ons and accessories.</p></entry></row><row><entry>93</entry><entry>  </div></entry></row><row><entry>94</entry><entry> </div></entry></row><row><entry>95</entry><entry></div></entry></row><row><entry>96</entry><entry><div id=“middle”></entry></row><row><entry>97</entry><entry> <div class=“padit”></entry></row><row><entry>98</entry><entry><iframe id=“pixpo” name=“pixpo”</entry></row><row><entry>99</entry><entry>src=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/view?container=tech</entry></row><row><entry>100</entry><entry>classics&pxLocation=”</entry></row><row><entry>101</entry><entry> width=“540” height=“280”</entry></row><row><entry>102</entry><entry> marginwidth=“0” marginheight=“0”</entry></row><row><entry>103</entry><entry> hspace=“0” vspace=“0”</entry></row><row><entry>104</entry><entry> frameborder=“0”</entry></row><row><entry>105</entry><entry> style=“background-color: #000;”></entry></row><row><entry>106</entry><entry></iframe></entry></row><row><entry>107</entry><entry>  <table cellspacing=“0”<</entry></row><row><entry>108</entry><entry>  <tr><td colspan=“3”<</entry></row><row><entry>109</entry><entry>    <div class=“channel”></entry></row><row><entry>110</entry><entry>     <div class=“pur”>TWITCHGURU FEATURES</div></entry></row><row><entry>111</entry><entry>     <table cellspacing=“0”<</entry></row><row><entry>112</entry><entry>      <tr><td width=“140” valign=“top” align=“left”><a</entry></row><row><entry>113</entry><entry>href=“http://twitchguru.com/2006/10/17/the_zombie_effect/”><img</entry></row><row><entry>114</entry><entry>src=“http://images.tomshardware.com/_teaser/160x200/grindhouse.jpg”</entry></row><row><entry>115</entry><entry>width=“140” border=“0” alt=“” class=“bord”></a></td></entry></row><row><entry>116</entry><entry>       <td width=“6”></td></entry></row><row><entry>117</entry><entry>       <td width=“396” valign=“top”><a</entry></row><row><entry>118</entry><entry>href=“http://twitchguru.com/2006/10/17/the_zombie_effect/”><em>The Zombie</entry></row><row><entry>119</entry><entry>Effect: How Horror Films and Video Games Have Bled</entry></row><row><entry>120</entry><entry>Together</em></a><br>Horror video games have become an increasingly popular</entry></row><row><entry>121</entry><entry>genre in recent years, thanks to the influence of many classic zombie and</entry></row><row><entry>122</entry><entry>slasher flicks. TwitchGuru explores the connection between horror games</entry></row><row><entry>123</entry><entry>and horror movies.</entry></row><row><entry>124</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>125</entry><entry><a href=“http://twitchguru.com/2006/10/13/the_fall_games_preview/”><em>The</entry></row><row><entry>126</entry><entry>Fall Games Preview, Part 1</em></a><br>The fall season has arrived, and</entry></row><row><entry>127</entry><entry>with it comes a lengthy list of new games for current consoles, PCs and</entry></row><row><entry>128</entry><entry>next generation hardware. Here's a look at nine top titles for the month of</entry></row><row><entry>129</entry><entry>October.</entry></row><row><entry>130</entry><entry><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>131</entry><entry><a href=“http://twitchguru.com/2006/08/30/cgi_gone_awry/”><em>CGI Gone</entry></row><row><entry>132</entry><entry>Awry: The Worst Special Effects of the Computer-Generated Era</em></a><br></entry></row><row><entry>133</entry><entry>Computer-generated imagery (CGI) has been used in film for nearly two</entry></row><row><entry>134</entry><entry>decades, but a string of poor films and cheesy effects has made CGI a four-</entry></row><row><entry>135</entry><entry>letter word for many. Here's a look at the worst offenders.</td></entry></row><row><entry>136</entry><entry>      </tr></entry></row><row><entry>137</entry><entry>     </table></entry></row><row><entry>138</entry><entry>    </div></entry></row><row><entry>139</entry><entry>   </td></entry></row><row><entry>140</entry><entry>  </tr></entry></row><row><entry>141</entry><entry>  <tr><td colspan=“3”></entry></row><row><entry>142</entry><entry>    <table cellspacing=“0” width=“100%”></entry></row><row><entry>143</entry><entry>     <tr><td width=“270” valign=“top”></entry></row><row><entry>144</entry><entry>       <div class=“channel”></entry></row><row><entry>145</entry><entry>        <div class=“red”>IMAGE GALLERY</div></entry></row><row><entry>146</entry><entry>        <table cellspacing=“0”></entry></row><row><entry>147</entry><entry>          <td width=“6”></td></entry></row><row><entry>148</entry><entry>          <td width=“264” valign=“top”><a</entry></row><row><entry>149</entry><entry>href=“http://twitchguru.com/2006/09/19/image_preview_september_14/index.htm</entry></row><row><entry>150</entry><entry>1”><em>Battlefield: Bad Company and Too Human </em></a><br><img</entry></row><row><entry>151</entry><entry>src=“http://images. tomshardware.com/_teaser/60x60/bfbc_01.jpg” width=“60”</entry></row><row><entry>152</entry><entry>height=“60” align=“right” hspace=“6”>The Battlefield series is coming to</entry></row><row><entry>153</entry><entry>next-generation consoles with a single player twinge and “90 percent</entry></row><row><entry>154</entry><entry>destructible” maps. And Too Human marks the arrival of yet another</entry></row><row><entry>155</entry><entry>exclusive Xbox 360 title. Let's take a look.</td></entry></row><row><entry>156</entry><entry>         </tr></entry></row><row><entry>157</entry><entry>        </table></entry></row><row><entry>158</entry><entry>       </div></entry></row><row><entry>159</entry><entry>      </td></entry></row><row><entry>160</entry><entry>      <td width=“2”></td></entry></row><row><entry>161</entry><entry>      <td width=“270” valign=“top”></entry></row><row><entry>162</entry><entry>       <div class=“channel”></entry></row><row><entry>163</entry><entry>        <div class=“red”>IMAGE GALLERY</div></entry></row><row><entry>164</entry><entry>        <table cellspacing=“0”></entry></row><row><entry>165</entry><entry>         <td width=“6”></td></entry></row><row><entry>166</entry><entry>          <td width=“264” valign=“top”><a</entry></row><row><entry>167</entry><entry>href=“http://twitchguru.com/2006/08/10/image_preview_august_09/index.html”></entry></row><row><entry>168</entry><entry><em>White Gold: War in Paradise and Call of Duty 3 </em></a><br><img</entry></row><row><entry>169</entry><entry>src=“http://images.tomshardware.com/_teaser/60x60/cod3-1.jpg” width=“60”</entry></row><row><entry>170</entry><entry>height=“60” align=“right” hspace=“6”>The future, near enough to be as we</entry></row><row><entry>171</entry><entry>know it? Military struggle? Caribbean islands and graphics not unlike Far</entry></row><row><entry>172</entry><entry>Cry? Hot damn, we have an FPS! Germans? Rangers? Rain? Mud? Hot damn, we</entry></row><row><entry>173</entry><entry>have a Call of Duty sequel!</td></entry></row><row><entry>174</entry><entry>         </tr></entry></row><row><entry>175</entry><entry>        </table></entry></row><row><entry>176</entry><entry>       </div></entry></row><row><entry>177</entry><entry>      </td></entry></row><row><entry>178</entry><entry>     </tr></entry></row><row><entry>179</entry><entry>    </table></entry></row><row><entry>180</entry><entry>     <div class=“channel”></entry></row><row><entry>181</entry><entry>     <div class=“pur”>TODAYS NEWS</div></entry></row><row><entry>182</entry><entry>     <table cellspacing=“0”></entry></row><row><entry>183</entry><entry>      <tr><td width=“268” valign=“top”><a</entry></row><row><entry>184</entry><entry>href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/apple_iphone_rumor/”</entry></row><row><entry>185</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>Apple files for iPhone trademark-rumor</a></em> <br></entry></row><row><entry>186</entry><entry><br></entry></row><row><entry>187</entry><entry><em><a</entry></row><row><entry>188</entry><entry>href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/cellphone_shipments_q3_2006/”</entry></row><row><entry>189</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>Mobile phone shipments keep growing on a fast</entry></row><row><entry>190</entry><entry>pace</a></em> <br> <br></entry></row><row><entry>191</entry><entry><em><a href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/sony_battery_recall/”</entry></row><row><entry>192</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>Battery recall estimated to cost Sony at least $430</entry></row><row><entry>193</entry><entry>million</a></em> <br> <br></entry></row><row><entry>194</entry><entry><em><a href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/18/sun_virtualization/”</entry></row><row><entry>195</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>Sun wants to be different in virtualization</entry></row><row><entry>196</entry><entry>market</a></em><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>197</entry><entry></td></entry></row><row><entry>198</entry><entry>       <td width=“6”></td></entry></row><row><entry>199</entry><entry>       <td width=“268” valign=“top”></entry></row><row><entry>200</entry><entry><a href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/china_internet_rumors_outlawed/”</entry></row><row><entry>201</entry><entry>target=“^—top”><em>Internet rumors outlawed in China </a></em> <br> <br></entry></row><row><entry>202</entry><entry><em><a href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/100gb_xbox_drive/”</entry></row><row><entry>203</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>100 GB Xbox 360 hard drive on the way?>/a></em> <br></entry></row><row><entry>204</entry><entry><br></entry></row><row><entry>205</entry><entry><em><a href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/nvidia_nvperfkit_21/”</entry></row><row><entry>206</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>Nvidia offers performance boosting debugging kit for</entry></row><row><entry>207</entry><entry>Linux and Windows</a></em> <br> <br></entry></row><row><entry>208</entry><entry><em><a href=“http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/19/invisible_cloak/”</entry></row><row><entry>209</entry><entry>target=“_top”><em>Scientists create ‘invisibility’ cloak that bends</entry></row><row><entry>210</entry><entry>microwaves</a></em><br><br></entry></row><row><entry>211</entry><entry></td></entry></row><row><entry>212</entry><entry>      </tr></entry></row><row><entry>213</entry><entry>     </table> </div></entry></row><row><entry>214</entry><entry>    </div></entry></row><row><entry>215</entry><entry>   </td></entry></row><row><entry>216</entry><entry>  </table></entry></row><row><entry>217</entry><entry>  </div></entry></row><row><entry>218</entry><entry></div></entry></row><row><entry>219</entry><entry><div id=“right”></entry></row><row><entry>220</entry><entry> <div class=“teal”><div class=“padit”><center><b><font</entry></row><row><entry>221</entry><entry>color=“#FF9900”>Broadcasting <br>on Twitch TV</font></b> </center><br></entry></row><row><entry>222</entry><entry>Twitch TV is an eclectic collection of what's hot right now in the Twitch</entry></row><row><entry>223</entry><entry>world and we want you in the mix.<br><br></entry></row><row><entry>224</entry><entry>To participate in this free flowing video love-in, just download the PIXPO</entry></row><row><entry>225</entry><entry>Broadcast Engine for Twitch TV Within minutes you can add your own video</entry></row><row><entry>226</entry><entry>to the Twitch TV mix-streaming right from your desktop. <br><br></entry></row><row><entry>227</entry><entry>The PIXPO Broadcast Engine for Twitch TV is a quick 3mb PC download that</entry></row><row><entry>228</entry><entry>you can install in less time than it takes to read this page. <br><br></entry></row><row><entry>229</entry><entry>Once installed and running, you'll find an easy “My Broadcast” link right</entry></row><row><entry>230</entry><entry>here within the Twitch TV page that gives you access to broadcast your</entry></row><row><entry>231</entry><entry>videos right into Twitch TV.<br><br></entry></row><row><entry>232</entry><entry>Once your computer is turned off your videos will not be available on</entry></row><row><entry>233</entry><entry>Twitch TV until your computer is turned back on.<br><br></entry></row><row><entry>234</entry><entry>Download the PIXPO Broadcast Engine for Twitch TV and join the party.</entry></row><row><entry>235</entry><entry></div></entry></row><row><entry>236</entry><entry></div></entry></row><row><entry>237</entry><entry></div></entry></row><row><entry>238</entry><entry><div></entry></row><row><entry>239</entry><entry></body></entry></row><row><entry>240</entry><entry></html></entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="2" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0143Referring to SOURCE CODE II, the iFrame includes dynamically generated content; i.e., iFrame source code generator <b>1070</b> on broadcast server <b>1030</b> generates SOURCE CODE II. In turn, the generated SOURCE CODE II contains calls to JavaScript in order to transform XML documents that are sourced from broadcast server <b>1030</b>.

0144Lines 241-252 define a framework for the iFrame. Lines 253 and 254 reference style sheets that allow the iFrame to have the look and feel of the framing portal. Lines 255-257 reference style sheets provided by the portal owners, and sourced from the owners' servers. Lines 258, 259 and 278-283 correspond to the bridge code described hereinabove with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, that allows 127.0.0.1 to be mapped to localhost.mixpo.com. Line 285 corresponds to channel specific generated code.

0145Lines 289-297 define a “My Broadcast” control that initiates an application for publishing media to the portal.

0146Lines 334-358 form a block of dynamically generated code to manage media elements in a channel. For each media item in the iFrame, one such block of code is dynamically generated. Within this block of code, lines 336 and 337 generate executable code, which contains calls to an interface that returns an XML document. The XML document returned from the interface is listed in SOURCE CODE III hereinbelow. The XML document contains meta-data and endpoints related to the actual live publisher's content. At lines 352-354 the XML document is transformed (this.transform( )) to HTML that contains the source code for placing clickable thumbnails onto the portal page, and the HTML is inserted dynamically (box.insertBefore( )) into the portal web page. The XSLT transformation, used to transform the XML document to HTML, is listed in SOURCE CODE IV hereinbelow. The HTML output from the transformation, which is inserted into the portal page, is listed in SOURCE CODE V hereinbelow.

0147Blocks 359-383 and 384-408 are similar to the block at lines 337-362, and are repeated for all items in the iFrame.

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00004" num="00004"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0" pgwide="1"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="259pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>SOURCE CODE II: IFRAME SOURCE</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="259pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>241 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN”</entry></row><row><entry>242 “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”></entry></row><row><entry>243 <html xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” lang=“en-CA” xml:lang=“en-CA”></entry></row><row><entry>244 <head></entry></row><row><entry>245 <base href=“http://partners.pixpo.com/group/twitchtv/container/” /></entry></row><row><entry>246 <meta http-equiv=“Content-Type” content=“text/html; utf-8” /></entry></row><row><entry>247 <meta name=“description” content=“Video sharing is quick and easy with</entry></row><row><entry>248 PiXPO. Free video share tool. Create your own video website in minutes.” /></entry></row><row><entry>249 <meta name=“keywords” content=“video sharing, video share, free video</entry></row><row><entry>250 sharing, share videos, share, website, community, websites, videos, pixpo”</entry></row><row><entry>251 /></entry></row><row><entry>252 <title>Portal Experience</title></entry></row><row><entry>253 <link href=“/css/site.css” rel=“stylesheet” type=“text/css” /></entry></row><row><entry>254 <link href=“/css/main.css” rel=“stylesheet” type=“text/css” /></entry></row><row><entry>255 <link href=“container.css” rel=“stylesheet” type=“text/css” /></entry></row><row><entry>256 <link href=“http://images.tomshardware.com/Design/style/twitchtv.css”</entry></row><row><entry>257 rel=“stylesheet” type=“text/css” /></entry></row><row><entry>258 <script type=“text/javascript”</entry></row><row><entry>259 src=“http://127.0.0.1:5278/api/client/localhost” charset=“utf-8”></script></entry></row><row><entry>260 <script type=“text/javascript” src=“/js/site.js” charset=“utf-8”></entry></row><row><entry>261 </script></entry></row><row><entry>262 <script type=“text/javascript” src=“/js/core.js” charset=“utf-8”></entry></row><row><entry>263 </script></entry></row><row><entry>264 <!--[if IE]></entry></row><row><entry>265  <script type=“text/javascript” src=“/js/ie-compatibility.js”</entry></row><row><entry>266 charset=“utf-8”></script></entry></row><row><entry>267 <![endif]--></entry></row><row><entry>268 </head></entry></row><row><entry>269 <body class=“main”></entry></row><row><entry>270 <noscript></entry></row><row><entry>271 <p>Javascript is required.</p></entry></row><row><entry>272 </noscript></entry></row><row><entry>273 <div id=“PxLoading”>Loading...</div></entry></row><row><entry>274 <div id=“page”></entry></row><row><entry>275 <script type=“text/javascript”></entry></row><row><entry>276 document.getElementById(‘page’).style.display = ‘block’;</entry></row><row><entry>277 </script></entry></row><row><entry>278 <iframe class=“bridge”</entry></row><row><entry>279 src=“http://localhost.pixpo.com:5278/srv/bridge.html”></iframe></entry></row><row><entry>280 <iframe class=“bridge”</entry></row><row><entry>281 src=“http://liveweb.pixpo.com/static_assets/bridge2.html”></iframe></entry></row><row><entry>282 <iframe class=“bridge”</entry></row><row><entry>283 src=“http://partners.pixpo.com/bridge.html”></iframe></entry></row><row><entry>284 <div id=“header” class=“contain”></entry></row><row><entry>285 <h1 id=“recent”>Now Playing: <span id=“fastcars” class=“containerName”>Fast</entry></row><row><entry>286 Cars</span></h1></entry></row><row><entry>287 <a id=“broadcastToday” href=“/group/twitchtv/becomebroadcaster”>Broadcast</entry></row><row><entry>288 Your Video Here</a></entry></row><row><entry>289 <script type=“text/javascript”></entry></row><row><entry>290 var myBroadcast = getE1(‘broadcastToday’);</entry></row><row><entry>291 if(localHost.user != null)</entry></row><row><entry>292 {</entry></row><row><entry>293 myBroadcast.id = ‘myBroadcast’;</entry></row><row><entry>294 myBroadcast.href = ‘/group/twitchtv/mybroadcast/index’;</entry></row><row><entry>295 myBroadcast.firstChild.nodeValue = ‘My Broadcast’;</entry></row><row><entry>296 }</entry></row><row><entry>297 </script></entry></row><row><entry>298 </div></entry></row><row><entry>299 <div id=“pageBody” class=“contain”></entry></row><row><entry>300 <div id=“mediaWrap”></entry></row><row><entry>301 <div id=“media” class=“contain”></entry></row><row><entry>302  <script type=“text/javascript”></entry></row><row><entry>303  var transform = new Transform(psb, ‘/xslt/video.xslt’);</entry></row><row><entry>304  var totalItems = 10;</entry></row><row><entry>305  var collectionSize = 6;</entry></row><row><entry>306  var requestedItems = 0;</entry></row><row><entry>307  var loadedItems = 0;</entry></row><row><entry>308  var page = 0;</entry></row><row><entry>309  var ugcTimer = new WaitTimer( );</entry></row><row><entry>310  ugcTimer.show = function( )</entry></row><row><entry>311   {</entry></row><row><entry>312   getE1(‘placeholder’).style.display = ‘block’;</entry></row><row><entry>313   this.pane = notifications.request.loading(‘placeholder’);</entry></row><row><entry>314   }</entry></row><row><entry>315  ugcTimer.hide = function( )</entry></row><row><entry>316   {</entry></row><row><entry>317   getE1(‘placeholder’).style.display = ‘none’;</entry></row><row><entry>318   }</entry></row><row><entry>319  function DoneLoading( )</entry></row><row><entry>320   {</entry></row><row><entry>321   requestedItems++;</entry></row><row><entry>322   ugcTimer.clear( );</entry></row><row><entry>323   if(requestedItems == collectionSize && loadedItems == 0)</entry></row><row><entry>324    {</entry></row><row><entry>325    if(page == 0)</entry></row><row><entry>326     getE1(‘media’).appendChild(createE1(‘p’, null, ‘Sorry but</entry></row><row><entry>327 there are no videos to view.’));</entry></row><row><entry>328    else</entry></row><row><entry>329     getE1(‘media’).appendChild(createE1(‘p’, null, ‘Sorry but</entry></row><row><entry>330 there are no more videos to view.’));</entry></row><row><entry>331    }</entry></row><row><entry>332   }</entry></row><row><entry>333  </script></entry></row><row><entry>334   <script type=“text/javascript”></entry></row><row><entry>335   ugcTimer.mark( );</entry></row><row><entry>336   var item = new Request(lwb, ‘/api/media/f49b07c6-1852-4621-bbd9-</entry></row><row><entry>337 f345cae6d241’);</entry></row><row><entry>338   item.setContainer(‘media’);</entry></row><row><entry>339   item.user = ‘johntv’;</entry></row><row><entry>340   item.xslt = transform;</entry></row><row><entry>341   item.onwait = function( ){ };</entry></row><row><entry>342   item.onerror = function( ){DoneLoading( );};</entry></row><row><entry>343   item.onclientoffline = function( ){DoneLoading( );};</entry></row><row><entry>344   item.onsuccess = function( )</entry></row><row><entry>345    {</entry></row><row><entry>346    loadedItems++;</entry></row><row><entry>347    DoneLoading( );</entry></row><row><entry>348    if(loadedItems <= totalItems)</entry></row><row><entry>349     {</entry></row><row><entry>350     var box = getE1(‘media’);</entry></row><row><entry>351     var div = createE1(‘div’, {className:‘item’});</entry></row><row><entry>352     box.insertBefore(div, getE1(‘placeholder’));</entry></row><row><entry>353     this.transform(‘ugc’, div, {user:‘johntv’,</entry></row><row><entry>354 container:‘fastcars’, page:page});</entry></row><row><entry>355     }</entry></row><row><entry>356    }</entry></row><row><entry>357   item.send( );</entry></row><row><entry>358   </script></entry></row><row><entry>359   <script type=“text/javascript”></entry></row><row><entry>360   ugcTimer.mark( );</entry></row><row><entry>361   var item = new Request(lwb, ‘/api/media/bdf6c944-a58e-4dc5-828c-</entry></row><row><entry>362 0786c96e9a57’);</entry></row><row><entry>363   item.setContainer(‘media’);</entry></row><row><entry>364   item.user = ‘johntv’;</entry></row><row><entry>365   item.xslt = transform;</entry></row><row><entry>366   item.onwait = function( ){ }</entry></row><row><entry>367   item.onerror = function( ) {DoneLoading( );};</entry></row><row><entry>368   item.onclientoffline = function( ) {DoneLoading( );};</entry></row><row><entry>369   item.onsuccess = function( )</entry></row><row><entry>370    {</entry></row><row><entry>371    loadedItems++;</entry></row><row><entry>372    DoneLoading( );</entry></row><row><entry>373    if(loadedItems <= totalItems)</entry></row><row><entry>374     {</entry></row><row><entry>375     var box = getE1(‘media’);</entry></row><row><entry>376     var div = createE1(‘div’, {className:‘item’});</entry></row><row><entry>377     box.insertBefore(div, getE1(‘placeholder’));</entry></row><row><entry>378     this.transform(‘ugc’, div, {user:‘johntv’,</entry></row><row><entry>379 container:‘fastcars’, page:page});</entry></row><row><entry>380     }</entry></row><row><entry>381    }</entry></row><row><entry>382    item.send( );</entry></row><row><entry>383    </script></entry></row><row><entry>384    <script type=“text/javascript”></entry></row><row><entry>385    ugcTimer.mark( );</entry></row><row><entry>386    var item = new Request(lwb, ‘/api/media/bcc90e13-d9ae-475a-b5c6-</entry></row><row><entry>387 2e13d153ebb6’);</entry></row><row><entry>388    item.setContainer(‘media’);</entry></row><row><entry>389    item.user = ‘johntv’;</entry></row><row><entry>390    item.xslt = transform;</entry></row><row><entry>391    item.onwait = function( ){ };</entry></row><row><entry>392    item.onerror = function( ){DoneLoading( );};</entry></row><row><entry>393    item.onclientoffline = function( ){DoneLoading( );};</entry></row><row><entry>394    item.onsuccess = function( )</entry></row><row><entry>395     {</entry></row><row><entry>396     loadedItems++;</entry></row><row><entry>397     DoneLoading( );</entry></row><row><entry>398     if(loadedItems <= totalItems)</entry></row><row><entry>399      {</entry></row><row><entry>400      var box = getE1(‘media’);</entry></row><row><entry>401      var div = createE1(‘div’, {className:‘item’});</entry></row><row><entry>402      box.insertBefore(div, getE1(‘placeholder’));</entry></row><row><entry>403      this.transform(‘ugc’, div, {user:‘johntv’,</entry></row><row><entry>404 container:‘fastcars’, page:page});</entry></row><row><entry>405      }</entry></row><row><entry>406     }</entry></row><row><entry>407    item.send( );</entry></row><row><entry>408    </script></entry></row><row><entry>409 </div></entry></row><row><entry>410 </div></entry></row><row><entry>411 <div id=“footer”></entry></row><row><entry>412 <p id=“poweredPiXPO”>Powered by <a href=“http://www.pixpo.com/”</entry></row><row><entry>413 target=“_blank”>PiXPO</a></p></entry></row><row><entry>414 </div></entry></row><row><entry>415 </body></entry></row><row><entry>416 </html></entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0148Referring to SOURCE CODE III, the XML document returned by the request at lines 336 and 337 is listed.

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00005" num="00005"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="217pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>SOURCE CODE III: XML DOCUMENT FOR MEDIA ITEM</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="2"><colspec colname="offset" colwidth="14pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="1" colwidth="203pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /><entry>417 </entry></row><row><entry /><entry>418 >ItemRecord type=“video”></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>419 <ID>51e2312b-ab79-491e-ba3d-634f0ea4402</ID></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>420 <FileName>e32006_army_wmv_512kbps.wmv</FileName></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>421 <Title>USArmy</Title></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>422 <Description></Description></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>423 <Tags></Tags></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>424 <VideoDescriptor></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>425 <Width>320</Width></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>426 <Height>240</Height></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>427 <BitRate>573Kbps</BitRate></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>428 <Duration>00:03:33.679</Duration></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>429 <Format>WMV</Format></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>430 <MSVideoTranscodeStatus code=“complete”></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>431 <TranscodeCompleteDescriptor></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>432 <Width>320</Width></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>433 <Height>240</Height></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>434 <BitRate>294Kbps</BitRate></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>435 <Duration>00:03:33.701</Duration></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>436 <TranscodeProfile></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>   ENCODERPROFILE_300KBPS_320PX_FULL</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>   </TranscodeProfile></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>437 </TranscodeCompleteDescriptor></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>438 </MSVideoTranscodeStatus></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>439 </VideoDescriptor></entry></row><row><entry /><entry>440 </ItemRecord></entry></row><row><entry /><entry namest="offset" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0149Referring to SOURCE CODE IV, the XSLT used to transform the XML to HTML, when invoked at lines 353 and 354, is listed. SOURCE CODE IV includes multiple transforms. The transforms for the publisher content are provided in lines 473-475 and 629-643. “UGC” below stands for user generated content. Lines 502-508 show the insertion of clickable thumbnail images for playing video content.

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00006" num="00006"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0" pgwide="1"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="280pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>SOURCE CODE IV: TRANSFORM FROM XML TO HTML VIA XSLT</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="280pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>441 </entry></row><row><entry>442 <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl=“http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform”</entry></row><row><entry>443 version=“1.0”></entry></row><row><entry>444 <xsl:output method=“html”/></entry></row><row><entry>445 <xsl:param name=“method”/></entry></row><row><entry>446 <xsl:param name=“host”/></entry></row><row><entry>447 <xsl:param name=“user”/></entry></row><row><entry>448 <xsl:param name=“container”/></entry></row><row><entry>449 <xsl:param name=“displayName”/></entry></row><row><entry>450 <xsl:param name=“page”/></entry></row><row><entry>451 <xsl:template match=“/”></entry></row><row><entry>452 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘videoadd’”></entry></row><row><entry>453  <xsl:call-template name=“videoadd”/></entry></row><row><entry>454 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>455 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘videoedit’”></entry></row><row><entry>456  <xsl:call-template name=“videoedit”/></entry></row><row><entry>457 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>458 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘videoerror’”></entry></row><row><entry>459  <xsl:call-template name=“videoerror”/></entry></row><row><entry>460 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>461 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘container’”></entry></row><row><entry>462  <xsl:call-template name=“container”/></entry></row><row><entry>463 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>464 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘transcodefailed’”></entry></row><row><entry>465  <xsl:call-template name=“transcodefailed”/></entry></row><row><entry>466 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>467 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘description’”></entry></row><row><entry>468  <xsl:call-template name=“description”/></entry></row><row><entry>469 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>470 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘result’”></entry></row><row><entry>471  <xsl:call-template name=“result”/></entry></row><row><entry>472 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>473 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘ugc’”></entry></row><row><entry>474  <xsl:call-template name=“ugc”/></entry></row><row><entry>475 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>476 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘ugc.search’”></entry></row><row><entry>477  <xsl:call-template name=“ugc.search”/></entry></row><row><entry>478 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>479 <xsl:if test=“$method = ‘ugcPopup’”></entry></row><row><entry>480  <xsl:call-template name=“ugcPopup”/></entry></row><row><entry>481 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>482 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>483 <xsl:template name=“videoadd”></entry></row><row><entry>484 <xsl:call-template name=“video”></entry></row><row><entry>485  <xsl:with-param name=“action” select=“‘video.add( )’”/></entry></row><row><entry>486  <xsl:with-param name=“label” select=“‘Add To Channel’”/></entry></row><row><entry>487 </xsl:call-template></entry></row><row><entry>488 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>489 <xsl:template name=“videoedit”></entry></row><row><entry>490 <xsl:call-template name=“video”></entry></row><row><entry>491  <xsl:with-param name=“action” select=“‘video.update( )’”/></entry></row><row><entry>492  <xsl:with-param name=“label” select=“‘Update Video’”/></entry></row><row><entry>493  <xsl:with-param name=“remove” select=“‘Remove From Channel’”/></entry></row><row><entry>494 </xsl:call-template></entry></row><row><entry>495 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>496 <xsl:template name=“video”></entry></row><row><entry>497 <xsl:param name=“action”/></entry></row><row><entry>498 <xsl:param name=“label”/></entry></row><row><entry>499 <xsl:param name=“remove”/></entry></row><row><entry>500 <xsl:choose></entry></row><row><entry>501  <xsl:when test=“ItemRecord/@type = ‘video’”></entry></row><row><entry>502   <div id=“thumbnail”></entry></row><row><entry>503    <img</entry></row><row><entry>504 src=“{$host}/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}?view=image&size=medthumb&</entry></row><row><entry>505 amp;cropstyle=43center”/></entry></row><row><entry>506    <a href=“#” onclick=“Action(‘video.preview( )’,</entry></row><row><entry>507 ‘{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}’); return false;”>Preview</a></entry></row><row><entry>508   </div></entry></row><row><entry>509   <form id=“videoInfo” action=“/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}”</entry></row><row><entry>510 method=“post” onsubmit=“Action(‘{$action}’, this); return false;”></entry></row><row><entry>511    <div></entry></row><row><entry>512     <div class=“element”></entry></row><row><entry>513      <label for=“title”>Title: </label><input id=“title”</entry></row><row><entry>514 type=“text” name=“title” value=“{ItemRecord/Title/text( )}” maxlength=“70”/></entry></row><row><entry>515     </div></entry></row><row><entry>516     <div class=“element”></entry></row><row><entry>517      <label for=“description”>Description: </label><textarea</entry></row><row><entry>518 id=“description” name=“description”><xsl:value-of select=</entry></row><row><entry>519 “ItemRecord/Description/text( )”/></textarea></entry></row><row><entry>520 </div></entry></row><row><entry>521     <div class=“nav contain”></entry></row><row><entry>522      <input type=“hidden” name=“container”</entry></row><row><entry>523 value=“{$container}”/></entry></row><row><entry>524      <input type=“hidden” name=“resId”</entry></row><row><entry>525 value=“{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}”/></entry></row><row><entry>526      <input type=“submit” name=“update” value=“{$label}”/></entry></row><row><entry>527      <xsl:if test=“$remove”></entry></row><row><entry>528       <input type=“button” name=“remove” value=“{$remove}”</entry></row><row><entry>529 onclick=“Action(‘video.remove( )’, this.form);”/></entry></row><row><entry>530      </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>531     </div></entry></row><row><entry>532    </div></entry></row><row><entry>533   </form></entry></row><row><entry>534  </xsl:when></entry></row><row><entry>535  <xsl:otherwise></entry></row><row><entry>536   <p>Sorry but at this time only video files are supported.</p></entry></row><row><entry>537  </xsl:otherwise></entry></row><row><entry>538 </xsl:choose></entry></row><row><entry>539 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>540 <xsl:template name=“videoerror”></entry></row><row><entry>541 <xsl:if test=“ErrorResult/Error/@code = ‘notFound’”></entry></row><row><entry>542  <p>The file you have selected could not be found by PiXPO on your</entry></row><row><entry>543 filesystem.</p></entry></row><row><entry>544 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>545 <xsl:if test=“ErrorResult/Error/@code = ‘typeNotSupported’”></entry></row><row><entry>546  <p>The file you have selected could is of a type not supported by</entry></row><row><entry>547 PiXPO.</p></entry></row><row><entry>548 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>549 <xsl:if test=“ErrorResult/Error/@code = ‘decodeFailure’”></entry></row><row><entry>550  <p>The file you have selected could not be decoded by PiXPO.</p></entry></row><row><entry>551 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>552 <xsl:if test=“ErrorResult/Error/@code = ‘error’”></entry></row><row><entry>553  <p>A fatal error occurred with PiXPO.</p></entry></row><row><entry>554 </xsl:if></entry></row><row><entry>555 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>556 <xsl:template name=“container”></entry></row><row><entry>557 <xsl:choose></entry></row><row><entry>558  <xsl:when test=“Items/@total = 0”></entry></row><row><entry>559   <p>You are currently <strong>not</strong> broadcasting any videos</entry></row><row><entry>560 into this channel. You should <strong><a</entry></row><row><entry>561 href=“add?container={$container}&displayName={$displayName}”>add</a></strong></entry></row><row><entry>562 some videos now.</p></entry></row><row><entry>563  </xsl:when></entry></row><row><entry>564  <xsl:otherwise></entry></row><row><entry>565   <xsl:for-each select=“Items/ItemRecord”></entry></row><row><entry>566    <div class=“item”></entry></row><row><entry>567     <xsl:choose></entry></row><row><entry>568      <xsl:when</entry></row><row><entry>569 test=“VideoDescriptor/MSVideoTranscodeStatus[@code = ‘error’]”></entry></row><row><entry>570       <a</entry></row><row><entry>571 href=“transcodefailed?videoGuid={ID/text( )}&container={$container}&</entry></row><row><entry>572 displayName={$displayName}” title=“Remove this failed video file”></entry></row><row><entry>573        <img src=“/images/error-thumbnail.gif”</entry></row><row><entry>574 class=“thumb”/></entry></row><row><entry>575        <span class=“button edit”>Remove</span></entry></row><row><entry>576        <span class=“title”><xsl:value-of</entry></row><row><entry>577 select=“Title/text( )”/></span></entry></row><row><entry>578       </a></entry></row><row><entry>579      </xsl:when></entry></row><row><entry>580      <xsl:otherwise></entry></row><row><entry>581       <a</entry></row><row><entry>582 href=“edit?videoGuid={ID/text( )}&container={$container}&displayName=</entry></row><row><entry>583 {$displayName}” title=“Edit this video”></entry></row><row><entry>584        <img</entry></row><row><entry>585 src=“{$host}/api/media/{ID/text( )}?view=image&size=medthumb&cropstyle=</entry></row><row><entry>586 43center” class=“thumb”/></entry></row><row><entry>587        <span class=“button edit”>Edit</span></entry></row><row><entry>588        <span class=“title”><xsl:value-of</entry></row><row><entry>589 select=“Title/text( )”/></span></entry></row><row><entry>590       </a></entry></row><row><entry>591      </xsl:otherwise></entry></row><row><entry>592     </xsl:choose></entry></row><row><entry>593    </div></entry></row><row><entry>594   </xsl:for-each></entry></row><row><entry>595  </xsl:otherwise></entry></row><row><entry>596 </xsl:choose></entry></row><row><entry>597 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>598 <xsl:template name=“transcodefailed”></entry></row><row><entry>599 <div id=“thumbnail”></entry></row><row><entry>600  <img</entry></row><row><entry>601 src=“{$host}/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}?view=image&size=medthumb&</entry></row><row><entry>602 amp;cropstyle=43center”/></entry></row><row><entry>603  <a href=“#” onclick=“Action(‘video.preview( )’,</entry></row><row><entry>604 ‘{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}’); return false;”>Preview</a></entry></row><row><entry>605 </div></entry></row><row><entry>606 <form id=“videoInfo” action=“/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}”</entry></row><row><entry>607 method=“post” onsubmit=“Action(‘video.remove( )’, this); return false;”></entry></row><row><entry>608  <div></entry></row><row><entry>609   <h3>Title:</h3></entry></row><row><entry>610   <p><xsl:value-of select=“ItemRecord/Title/text( )”/></p></entry></row><row><entry>611      <h3>Description:</h3></entry></row><row><entry>612   <p id=“description”><xsl:value-of</entry></row><row><entry>613 select=“ItemRecord/Description/text( )”/></p></entry></row><row><entry>614    <div class=“nav contain”></entry></row><row><entry>615    <input type=“hidden” name=“container” value=“{$container}”/></entry></row><row><entry>616    <input type=“hidden” name=“resId”</entry></row><row><entry>617value=“{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}”/></entry></row><row><entry>618    <input type=“submit” name=“remove” value=“Remove Broken File”/></entry></row><row><entry>619   </div></entry></row><row><entry>620  </div></entry></row><row><entry>621 </form></entry></row><row><entry>622 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>623 <xsl:template name=“description”></entry></row><row><entry>624 <h2><xsl:value-of select=“ItemRecord/Title/text( )”/></h2></entry></row><row><entry>625 <p><xsl:value-of select=“ItemRecord/Description/text( )”/></p></entry></row><row><entry>626 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>627 <xsl:template name=“result”></entry></row><row><entry>628 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>629 <xsl:template name=“ugc”></entry></row><row><entry>630 <a</entry></row><row><entry>631 href=“player?user={$user}&video={ItemRecord/ID/text( )}&container={$</entry></row><row><entry>632 container}&page={$page}” title=“Play this video”</entry></row><row><entry>633 onclick=“window.open(this.href, ‘ugcplayer’,</entry></row><row><entry>634 ‘width=630, height=430, scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,statusbar=no’);</entry></row><row><entry>635 return false;”></entry></row><row><entry>636 <img</entry></row><row><entry>637 src=“http://liveweb.pixpo.com/{$user}/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}?view=</entry></row><row><entry>638 image&size=medthumb&cropstyle=43center” class=“thumb”/></entry></row><row><entry>639  <span class=“button play”>Play</span></entry></row><row><entry>640  <span class=“title”><xsl:value-of select=“ItemRecord/Title/text( )”/></entry></row><row><entry>641 </span></entry></row><row><entry>642 </a></entry></row><row><entry>643 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>644 <xsl:template name=“ugc.search”></entry></row><row><entry>645 <a</entry></row><row><entry>646 href=“player?user={$user}&video={ItemRecord/ID/text( )}&page={$page}”</entry></row><row><entry>647 title=“Play this video” onclick=“window.open(this.href, ‘ugcplayer’,</entry></row><row><entry>648 ‘width=345,height=430,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,statusbar=no’);</entry></row><row><entry>649 return false;”></entry></row><row><entry>650  <img</entry></row><row><entry>651 src=“http://liveweb.pixpo.com/{$user}/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}?view=</entry></row><row><entry>652 image&size=medthumb&cropstyle=43center” class=“thumb”/></entry></row><row><entry>653  <span class=“button play”>Play</span></entry></row><row><entry>654  <span class=“title”><xsl:value-of select=“ItemRecord/Title/text( )”/></entry></row><row><entry>655 </span></entry></row><row><entry>656 </a></entry></row><row><entry>657 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>658 <xsl:template name=“ugcPopup”></entry></row><row><entry>659  <a href=“player?user={$user}&video={ItemRecord/ID/text( )}”</entry></row><row><entry>660 title=“Play this video” onclick=“Action(‘video.updateMovie( )’, ‘{$user}’,</entry></row><row><entry>661 ‘{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}’); return false;”></entry></row><row><entry>662  <img</entry></row><row><entry>663 src=“http://liveweb.pixpo.com/{$user}/api/media/{ItemRecord/ID/text( )}?view=</entry></row><row><entry>664 image&size=medthumb&cropstyle=43center” class=“thumb”/></entry></row><row><entry>665  <span class=“button play”>Play</span></entry></row><row><entry>666  <span class=“title”><xsl:value-of select=“ItemRecord/Title/text( )”/></entry></row><row><entry>667 </span></entry></row><row><entry>668 </a></entry></row><row><entry>669 </xsl:template></entry></row><row><entry>670 </xsl:stylesheet></entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0150Referring to SOURCE CODE V, the HTML output from applying the XSTL transformation in SOURCE CODE IV to the XML document in SOURCE CODE III is listed. It is noted that the HTML output corresponds to the section of code in the XSLT transformation at lines 629-643. The variable ID at line 631 is set to the media identifier 51e2312b-ab79-491e-ba3d-634f0ea4402, according to line 419 of XML document. Parameters such as $user, $container and $page at lines 447, 448 and 450, respectively, are calling parameters from lines 353 and 354.

0151The HTML output is inserted into the portal web page, according to line 352.

0000<tables id="TABLE-US-00007" num="00007"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0" pgwide="1"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="273pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>SOURCE CODE V: INSERT TRANSFORMED XML AS HTML INTO PAGE</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="273pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>671 <DIV class=“item”></entry></row><row><entry>672 <A</entry></row><row><entry>673  href=“player?user=twitchguru2&video=51e2312b-ab79-491e-ba3d-</entry></row><row><entry>674 0634f0ea4402&container=techclassics&page=0”</entry></row><row><entry>675  title=“Play this video” onclick=“window.open(this.herf, ‘ugcplayer’,</entry></row><row><entry>676 ‘width=630,height=430,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,statusbar=no’);</entry></row><row><entry>677 return false;”></entry></row><row><entry>678  <IMG</entry></row><row><entry>679   src=“http://liveweb.pixpo.com/twitchguru2/api/media/51e2312b-ab79-</entry></row><row><entry>680 491e-ba3d-0634f0ea4402?view=image&size=medthumb&cropstyle=43center”</entry></row><row><entry>681 class=“thumb”/></entry></row><row><entry>682  <SPAN class=“button play”></entry></row><row><entry>683 Play </SPAN></entry></row><row><entry>684  <SPAN class=“title”></entry></row><row><entry>685 USArmy   </SPAN></entry></row><row><entry>686 </A></entry></row><row><entry>687 </DIV></entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0152In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to the specific exemplary embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.