US-12621524-B2 - Management of standby of a multimedia stream reader terminal

US12621524B2US 12621524 B2US12621524 B2US 12621524B2US-12621524-B2

Abstract

A method for managing standby of a multimedia stream reader terminal, which is associated with a multimedia content restitution terminal via a communication link. The multimedia stream reader terminal detects a state of a link between the multimedia stream reader terminal and the restitution terminal on the communication link and goes into standby mode in the event of detection of an inactive state of the link.

Inventors

Hervé MARCHAND
Mathieu Rivoalen

Assignees

ORANGE

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231218
Priority Date: 20221219

Claims (7)

1 . A method for managing standby of a multimedia stream reader terminal, which is associated with a multimedia content restitution terminal via a communication link, wherein the method is implemented by a standby management device associated with said multimedia stream reader terminal and comprises: detecting a state of a link between said multimedia stream reader terminal and said restitution terminal on said communication link, said detecting comprising requesting at least two successive interrogations of the state of said link by said multimedia stream reader terminal; and placing said multimedia stream reader terminal on standby in the event of detection of an inactive state of said link, the inactive state of said link being detected when said link is considered inactive in response to said at least two successive interrogations by said multimedia stream reader terminal.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said link is a multimedia content protection session negotiated between said multimedia stream reader terminal and said restitution terminal.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detection of said inactive state of the link is accompanied by a request for restitution of an alert message.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein, in absence of a response to the alert message within a given time range, said multimedia stream reader terminal goes into standby mode.
5 . A standby management device for managing standby of a multimedia stream reader terminal, which is associated with a multimedia content restitution terminal via a communication link, wherein the standby management device is associated with said multimedia stream reader terminal and comprises: at least one processor; and at least one computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon which when executed by the at least one processor configure the device to: detect a state of a link between said multimedia stream reader terminal and said restitution terminal on said communication link, said detection comprising requesting at least two successive interrogations of the state of said link by said multimedia stream reader terminal; and place said multimedia stream reader terminal on standby in the event of detection of an inactive state of said link, the inactive state of said link being detected when said link is considered inactive in response to said at least two successive interrogations by said multimedia stream reader terminal.
6 . The device of claim 5 , wherein the standby management device is implemented in the multimedia stream reader terminal.
7 . A non-transitory computer readable data medium on which at least one series of program code instructions is stored which when executed by a processor of a standby management device configure the standby management device to perform a method of managing standby of a multimedia stream reader terminal, which is associated with a multimedia content restitution terminal via a communication link, wherein the method comprises: detecting a state of a link between said multimedia stream reader terminal and said restitution terminal on said communication link, said detecting comprising requesting at least two successive interrogations of the state of said link by said multimedia stream reader terminal; and placing said multimedia stream reader terminal on standby in the event of detection of an inactive state of said link, the inactive state of said link being detected when said link is considered inactive in response to said at least two successive interrogations by said multimedia stream reader terminal.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to and the benefit of French Patent Application No. FR 2213829, filed Dec. 19, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The field of the disclosure is that of digital multimedia content, namely digital audio and/or video content, in particular, but not exclusively, in the context of the routing of digital content within a local area communication network, such as a home network. More specifically, the disclosure relates to the optimization of network resources and energy resources of a communication operator and a client of a local area communication network, by improved management of the automatic standby of a multimedia stream reader terminal. PRIOR ART AND ITS DISADVANTAGES Access to multimedia content, such as television or video on demand, from an Internet type network, is possible today, for most restitution terminals, particularly when they belong to a local area communication network, such as a home network. The terminal generally emits a request to a server, indicating the chosen content and it receives in return a stream of digital data relating to this content. In the context of a local area communication network, such a request passes through the network access gateway, for example the residential gateway. The terminal is adapted to receive this digital content in the form of multimedia data and to restitute it. This restitution consists of providing the digital content at the terminal in a form accessible to the user. For example, received data corresponding to a video is generally decoded, then restituted at the terminal in the form of a display of the corresponding video with its associated soundtrack. In the following, for the sake of simplification, the digital content will be assimilated to a video and the restitution by the terminal, or consumption by the user of the terminal, will be assimilated to a visualization on the screen of the terminal. The broadcast of digital content on the Internet is often based on client-server protocols from the HTTP (“Hyper Text Transport Protocol”) family. In particular, progressive mode downloading of digital content, also called streaming, allows to transport and consume data in real time, that is to say that the digital data are transmitted over the network and restituted by the terminal as they arrive. For example, among the known techniques, adaptive progressive downloading, or HTTP Adaptive Streaming, abbreviated HAS, allows to broadcast and receive data in different qualities corresponding for example to different bit rates. There are several technical solutions to facilitate the distribution of such streaming content, such as the proprietary Microsoft® (registered trademark) Smooth Streaming, Apple® HLS, Adobe® HTTP Dynamic Streaming solutions or else the MPEG-DASH standard of the ISO/IEC organization. The consumption of digital content in adaptive progressive downloading (HAS) tends to become more widespread. It is used in particular by many streaming services, but also by certain TV decoders, or set-top-box, which use it to access delinearized content, such as video on demand (VOD), delayed broadcast of television programs (Replay), or else Network PVR (for “Network Personal Video Recorder” type offers, that is to say a digital content recording service, carried out by the content provider itself rather than at the end user's home). Furthermore, other devices such as real-time multimedia stream reader apparatuses also access digital content in adaptive progressive download mode for real-time (or Live) television content. This is the case, for example, of the Chromecast® apparatus developed by Google®, or the CléTV® from Orange®. Such apparatuses, more generically referred to as HDMI keys, can also be used to access video-on-demand content. Such apparatuses are conventionally plugged into the HDMI port of a television and communicate, via Wi-Fi connection, with another apparatus of the home communication network connected to a wide area communication network such as the Internet (residential gateway, computer, a smartphone, tablet, . . . ), in order to reproduce, on the television, the multimedia content received by a compatible software application. Subsequently these apparatuses will be referred to under the generic designation of HDMI key. Such apparatuses can also be used to access video-on-demand content, or to restitute personal content stored in the home network on the television, such as a video of the last vacation or the last family event. Thus, generally speaking, in a domestic environment, a multimedia stream reader terminal (for example a set-top box or an HDMI key) downloads multimedia content from a content distribution platform available on the wide area Internet network, and transmits it for restitution to a content restitution terminal (for example a television or a PC), to which it is generally