Kasenna Gets VOD Patents

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Kasenna announced today that it has been awarded three more key patents, adding to the company's rich patent portfolio in the area of media-on-demand and content management. Currently, the company holds 11 core patents with 6 additional patents pending, which are incorporated into Kasenna products such as the award-winning MediaBase(TM) XMP Video Server, vFusion(TM) video network management system, and the LivingRoom(TM) application for IP television.

US Patent 6,654,669, "System and method for media stream indexing," protects Kasenna's technique for implementing VCR "trick-modes" in a video-on-demand system. Trick-mode access allows users to pause, rewind, and fast-forward video or audio streams being served from a video server, the same way they currently interact with a VCR or DVD playback system. The patented technology provides a way for time synchronizing between a normal stream and a fast-forward or fast-reverse stream, and enables delivery of content from any selected time in the program material. This patent is used by all Kasenna customers and is at the core of any video server providing trick mode access to on-demand content.

US Patent 6,601,136, "Media server system and process having device independent near-online storage support," protects Kasenna's technique to connect and access large content libraries with a media server system that allows the content to move automatically and transparently among different storage hierarchies. This technique also provides a way for different storage systems to be added to a video network easily and transparently. This patent is the basis of technology that enables customers such as Japan's broadcaster NHK to create and manage large archives of content in various storage hierarchies.

US Patent 6,754,443, "Media server system and method having improved asset types for playback of digital media," protects Kasenna's header-injection technology, which is used for seamlessly playing back sequences of content such as MPEG-2 video. By extracting header information from the content, storing it as metadata, and making the metadata available to client decoders, this technique ensures that transitions between different clips are handled smoothly. This technology is useful in creating play lists, ad insertions, and other IP video features.

"Kasenna's innovations are igniting the market for on-demand video by making it easier and more cost-effective to deploy the world's most advanced video services," said Dr. Satish Menon, CTO of Kasenna. "These new patents show the continuing strength of our technology development resources, and add to our long history of technical leadership in IP video."

Kasenna Inc.