Multi-format Index Data Structure (MIDS) for multimedia container format demultiplexers

Multimedia players typically provide a `random-access' feature (also known as seek-to-time) for the user to be able to set the current playing position. While the same is expected of multimedia players on embedded devices, the memory and processing power constraints of the embedded devices pose several challenges in being able to provide an efficient and responsive user experience. This is a particularly significant challenge for large files (especially High-Definition HD video files), and when the multimedia file resides on a slow Input- Output (I/O) device (such as Secure Digital or SD card). In this paper, we propose an indexing mechanism based on a Multi-format Index Data Structure (MIDS). Many previous attempts to create indexing tables have been made but this, we believe, is the first systematic attempt to provide a multi container format and multi-entry format indexing. The proposed index data structure has a time complexity of O (1) for entry retrieval and Ω (1) for entry addition, with a space complexity of O(1). The use of the index data structure in container format demultiplexers results in a dramatic reduction of the seek-to-time operation to about one-tenth (10%) or one-half (50%) of the original time, even with very small index table sizes (1 Kilo Bytes). The result is a more responsive user experience. The proposed index data structure can also be utilized in gaining efficiency through indexing multimedia files in Multimedia Content Servers (such as YouTube servers) and in indexing Flat File Data Bases.