Cloned Video Streaming

Abstract

The system and method include a clone server that receives high definition video streams from cameras. The clone server clones the high definition video streams to a clone of a clone server. The clone of a clone server generates low definition video streams from the high definition videos streams. The clone of a clone server streams the high definition video streams and the low definition video streams in parallel to a user computing device. The user computing device displays the received low definition video streams. A user selects one or more of the low definition video streams, and the user computing device displays a high definition video stream corresponding to the user selection.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, by a clone server, streaming video from a plurality of cameras;   cloning, between the clone server and a clone-of-a-clone server, at least a high definition video stream associated with each of the plurality of cameras; and   streaming, by the clone-of-a-clone server to a user computing device, at least one high definition video stream and at least one low definition video stream associated with a common camera.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each low definition video stream uses a common intermediate format (CIF) resolution of 320 by 240 pixels, and wherein each high definition video stream uses a 1080p resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the streaming video sent by at least one of the plurality of cameras comprises a high definition video stream and a low definition video stream. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the streaming video sent by at least one of the plurality of cameras consists of only a high definition video stream. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 generating, by at least one of the clone server or the clone-of-a-clone server, a low definition video stream from the high definition video stream.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 synchronizing frames of each of the video streams sent to the user computing device.   
     
     
         7 . A system, comprising:
 a clone server configured to
 receive streaming video from each of a plurality of cameras, and 
 transmit, to a clone-of-a-clone server, clones of the streaming video from 
   at least a subset the plurality of cameras; and   a clone-of-a-clone server configured to
 receive clones of the streaming video, and 
 stream, to a user computing device, a high definition video stream and a low definition video stream associated with each of at least a subset of the received clones of streaming video. 
   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein each low definition video stream uses a common intermediate format (CIF) resolution of 320 by 240 pixels and wherein each high definition video stream uses a 1080p resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein each low definition video stream is selected from the group consisting of CIF, VGA, 4CIF, and D1, and wherein each high definition video stream is selected from the group consisting of 720p, 1 Megapixel, and 1080p. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a plurality of cameras each configured to stream video to a clone server.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein at least one camera is configured to stream a high definition video stream and a low definition video stream to the clone server. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein at least one camera is configured to stream only a high definition video stream to the clone server. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the clone server is further configured to receive a high definition video stream from the at least one camera, and transmit a clone of the high definition video stream to the clone-of-a-clone server, and wherein the clone-of-a-clone server is configured to generate an associated low definition video stream from the clone of the high definition video stream. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein each streaming video received from a camera comprises a high definition video stream and wherein the clone-of-a-clone server is further configured to generate a low definition video stream from each high definition video stream. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the clone-of-a-clone server is configured to synchronize frames of each high definition video stream and low definition video stream that are streamed to the user computing device. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a plurality of clone servers, and   wherein the clone-of-a-clone server is configured to receive video streams from at least a subset of the plurality of clone servers.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a plurality of clone-of-a-clone servers, and   wherein each clone server is configured to send video streams to at least one of the plurality of clone-of-a-clone servers.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a user computing device configured to
 receive a plurality of low definition video streams and an associated plurality of high definition video streams, 
 display each of the received low definition video streams, 
 receive a user selection associated with one of the displayed low definition video streams, and 
 display a high definition video stream associated with the user selection. 
   
     
     
         19 . A system, comprising:
 a clone server configured to
 receive a high definition video stream from a camera, and 
 clone the high definition video stream onto a clone-of-a-clone server; and 
   a clone-of-a-clone server configured to
 receive a plurality of cloned high definition video streams, 
 generate an associated low definition video stream for each high definition video stream, and 
 selectively stream parallel video streams to a user computing device, and 
   wherein each parallel video stream comprises one of the plurality of high definition video streams and the associated low definition video stream.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein each low definition video stream has a common intermediate format (CIF) resolution of 320 by 240 pixels and wherein each high definition video stream has a 1080p resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels.