Method and apparatus for management of multimedia assets
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of accessing multimedia data comprising the steps of:
- defining a catalogue for said multimedia data having a plurality of catalogue elements each of which is associated with a portion of said multimedia data, said plurality of catalogue elements associated with a plurality of keywords of said catalogue, said plurality of keywords identifying said multimedia data, said plurality of keywords being interrelated by one or more of associative, whole-part and inheritance relationships;
specifying a search request;
identifying a result of said search request that satisfies said search request, said result containing one or more of said plurality of catalogue elements;
retrieving said portion of said multimedia data associated with said one or more of said plurality of catalogue elements;
storing in said catalogue said search request; and
storing in said catalogue said search result.
2 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is a generalized solution for management of multimedia assets. Generalized interfaces are used between a browser component, indexing server, archive server, tertiary storage manager, and method player components. The generalized interface defines a communication protocol that can be used by any browser, indexing server, archive server, tertiary storage manager, or method player component. Thus, system components supplied by multiple vendors can be interconnected to form a multimedia system that communicates using the generalized interfaces of the invention. A browser component can accept input such as search requests and display multimedia data. An indexing server component includes a data catalogue that catalogues multimedia data. The catalogue can be used to identify catalogue elements associated with data that can satisfy a search request. A search mechanism is used to identify the desired multimedia data. A search mechanism can create additional catalogues that are a subset of the catalogue provided on the indexing server. An archive server identifies a tertiary storage manager that manages the store containing the multimedia data. The tertiary storage manager retrieves the corresponding multimedia data from its store and sends it to a method play which plays it in a display region of the browser. The invention retains the content and results of a search such that it is only necessary to perform a search once. Search elements are used to store the content of a search, i.e., search criteria. A segment element is used to store the results of a search.
262 Citations
34 Claims
-
1. A method of accessing multimedia data comprising the steps of:
-
defining a catalogue for said multimedia data having a plurality of catalogue elements each of which is associated with a portion of said multimedia data, said plurality of catalogue elements associated with a plurality of keywords of said catalogue, said plurality of keywords identifying said multimedia data, said plurality of keywords being interrelated by one or more of associative, whole-part and inheritance relationships; specifying a search request; identifying a result of said search request that satisfies said search request, said result containing one or more of said plurality of catalogue elements; retrieving said portion of said multimedia data associated with said one or more of said plurality of catalogue elements; storing in said catalogue said search request; and storing in said catalogue said search result. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A multimedia system comprising:
-
a browser; a text interface coupled to said browser, said text interface comprising at least one class of methods configured to specify a request for multimedia data; an indexing server coupled to said text interface, said indexing server configured to maintain a catalogue comprising a plurality of catalogue elements associated with a plurality of keywords of said catalogue, said plurality of keywords identifying said multimedia data, said plurality of keywords being interrelated by one or more of associative, whole-part and inheritance relationships; a first media interface coupled to said browser, said interface configured to transmit a set of identifiers (IDs) associated with said multimedia data; an archive server coupled to said media interface, said archive server configured to locate and retrieve said multimedia data using said set of IDs; a second media interface coupled to said browser, said interface configured to transmit said multimedia data associated with said set of IDs; a method player coupled to said second media interface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An article of manufacture comprising:
-
a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for accessing multimedia data, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to define a catalogue for said multimedia data having a plurality of catalogue elements each of which is associated with a portion of said multimedia data, said plurality of catalogue elements associated with a plurality of keywords of said catalogue, said plurality of keywords identifying said multimedia data, said plurality of keywords being interrelated by one or more of associative, whole-part and inheritance relationships; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to specify a search request; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to identify a result of said search request that satisfies said search request, said result containing one or more of said plurality of catalogue elements; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to retrieve said portion of said multimedia data associated with said one or more of said plurality of catalogue elements; computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to store in said catalogue said search request; and computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to store in said catalogue said search result. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
Specification