Adaptive Bitrate Deduplication for Time-Shifted Live Media
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming of live video lacks the ability to pause, rewind, or fast forward due to storage limitations in streaming devices and high costs for media servers to record live media content, with copyright restrictions further prohibiting time-shifting of live media content.
Innovation Solution
A method for deploying live media content as a time-shifted playback by receiving an initial content request from a client device, creating completion data for object files, and compiling a unique copy of the live media content using an object store and metadata database, allowing access through a private path for time-shifted playback, while preventing further access if a subsequent content request is made.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional ABR streaming is used, then video delivery is simple and cost-effective, but time-shifting capabilities (pause, rewind, fast forward) are not available
Solution Approach 1:
The live media content is divided into discrete segments stored as individual object files in the object store. Each segment represents a specific time interval of the live content, allowing the system to provide random access for time-shifting operations without requiring continuous storage of the entire stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-records and stores segments of live media content in the object store before they are needed for time-shifted playback. This preliminary storage action enables clients to pause, rewind, or fast forward by accessing already-stored segments rather than requiring real-time recording capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If media servers record delivered stream for individual customers, then time-shifted playback is enabled, but storage cost becomes prohibitive due to millions of subscribers requiring customized recordings
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple clients sharing the same live media content are served from a single consolidated copy stored in the object store. The system merges the storage requirements of multiple users by maintaining one master copy that can be accessed by all clients, eliminating the need for individual customized recordings for each subscriber.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating physical copies of the entire media stream for each customer, the system uses a single stored copy in the object store that can be simultaneously accessed by multiple clients. This virtual copying approach through shared access dramatically reduces the quantity of stored material while still enabling individualized time-shifted playback experiences.
3Quantity of substance
If de-duplication techniques using checksum matching are implemented, then storage efficiency improves, but computational cost and memory requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs de-duplication by checking whether segments already exist in the object store before storing new content. This preliminary check prevents redundant storage operations and reduces the computational burden of processing duplicate content, as the system only needs to verify existence rather than perform full comparisons.
4Measurement precision
If complete media content is stored in memory for checksum comparison, then de-duplication accuracy improves, but memory intensity becomes prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the necessary identification information (such as segment identifiers or minimal metadata) from the media content for comparison purposes, rather than loading complete media files into memory. This extraction approach maintains de-duplication accuracy by preserving unique identifying characteristics while dramatically reducing memory requirements.
5Speed
If media content is stored on the same physical server for comparison, then data access speed improves, but system scalability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a single-server architecture to a distributed object store architecture, moving data storage and access to a different dimensional framework. The object store provides a scalable distributed storage layer that maintains fast access speeds while enabling the system to scale horizontally across multiple servers and data centers.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments describe methods, systems, and devices for reducing the duplication of live media content stored by a computing device for later deployment as a time-shifted playback. A content request for a time-shifted playback of live media content may be received from a client computing device. A record of the content request may be created, wherein the record includes completion data for object files corresponding to segments of the live media content stored separately from the record. The completion data, unique to the content request, may enable playback of the time-shifted playback. The time-shifted playback may be compiled from the object files received from an object store and the completion data. The compiled time-shifted playback is unique to the content request as compared to compilations for other content requests. Access for the client computing device may be enabled to an assigned private path.