Adaptive Bitrate Asset Pre-provisioning in Content Delivery Networks

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Solution Overview

Problem

Adaptive bitrate (ABR) content delivery networks face issues with unfair bandwidth allocation and content fragmentation due to opportunistic client behavior and incomplete content storage at delivery nodes, leading to inefficient resource usage and user experience degradation.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method to pre-provision ABR assets based on historical delivery trends and network conditions, using a management node to determine delivery rules for each content delivery node, ensuring only necessary content representations are pre-provisioned and optimizing content defragmentation by pulling missing segments from other nodes based on established rules.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If all ABR asset representations are pre-provisioned at content delivery nodes, then content availability is improved, but network bandwidth usage and storage costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent availabilityVSAvoidnetwork bandwidth usage

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by delivering different representations of ABR assets to different content delivery nodes based on their specific characteristics. Each node receives only the representations appropriate for its served client population, optimizing both content availability and bandwidth efficiency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-provisioning only the necessary ABR asset representations at content delivery nodes before demand occurs, rather than waiting for requests or pre-provisioning all possible representations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Speed

If ABR assets are pre-provisioned without filtering, then content delivery speed is improved, but bandwidth costs and resource waste increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontent delivery speedVSAvoidbandwidth costs

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system determines which specific ABR asset representations to pre-provision at each content delivery node based on local delivery patterns and client device characteristics, ensuring fast delivery of relevant content while avoiding waste of bandwidth on unnecessary representations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies partial action by pre-provisioning only the subset of ABR representations that are actually needed based on historical delivery data, rather than pre-provisioning all possible representations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Ease of operation

If opportunistic client behavior is allowed, then client autonomy is maintained, but bandwidth allocation fairness deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveclient autonomyVSAvoidbandwidth allocation fairness

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses feedback from historical delivery patterns and client device information to determine pre-provisioning decisions, creating a self-correcting mechanism that maintains fairness while allowing client autonomy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary management node that mediates between client requests and content delivery, using delivery patterns to control resource allocation and ensure fairness

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Quantity of substance

If content is fragmented at delivery nodes, then storage space is reduced, but content completeness and user experience deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage spaceVSAvoidcontent completeness

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by determining which specific content segments to store at each delivery node based on local delivery patterns, ensuring content completeness for served clients while optimizing storage space

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-identifying and storing the necessary content segments before demand occurs, based on analysis of delivery patterns

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3063944B1System and method for pre-provisioning adaptive bitrate (ABR) assets in a content delivery network

Publication Date: 2020.05.06 TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)

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AI summary

A system and method for pre-provisioning ABR assets m a content delivery network (CDN), In an example, historical delivery patterns of one or more ABR assets downloaded at respective content delivery nodes of the CDN are monitored. For each. content delivery node, one or more delivery rules may be determined based on statistical distributions of the ABR assets delivered over a period of" time. When a particular content is determined to become popular at a specific content delivery node, a pre-provisloning policy may he modulated such that only certain representations or adaptation sets of the particular content's assets that pass the delivery rules are pre- provisioned for the specific content delivery node.