Adaptive Media Streaming Segment Delivery via Dynamic Connection Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing media streaming systems face challenges in efficiently managing multiple simultaneous connections to ensure seamless playback, as variations in network bandwidth can lead to disruptions due to slower connections, and existing adaptive streaming methods often rely on the server rather than the client device for segment selection.
Innovation Solution
A media player device requests and adapts segment data across multiple simultaneous connections by monitoring delivery rates and adjusting requests proportionally, prioritizing urgent data by potentially canceling or reducing requests on slower connections and increasing requests on faster connections to ensure timely delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple simultaneous connections are used to deliver media stream segments, then the overall data delivery capacity increases, but variations in connection speeds cause some connections to stall and disrupt playback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic connection management where the client device continuously monitors the delivery rate of each connection and adapts the distribution of segment requests in real-time. Fast connections receive more requests while slow connections receive fewer requests, creating a dynamic balancing mechanism that maintains playback continuity while utilizing multiple connections for increased throughput
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs feedback mechanisms where the client device monitors actual delivery rates from each connection and uses this information to adjust future request distribution. This closed-loop control ensures that connections performing poorly receive reduced traffic while high-performing connections handle more load, resolving the contradiction between utilizing multiple connections and maintaining reliable playback
2Adaptability or versatility
If the client device controls segment selection in adaptive streaming, then responsiveness to network changes improves, but the complexity of managing multiple simultaneous connections increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where the client device autonomously monitors connection performance, identifies delivery rate variations, and automatically adjusts request distribution without server intervention. This self-managing approach enables rapid adaptation to network changes while the automation of management tasks reduces the perceived complexity for users
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes operational parameters such as the number of requests sent over each connection and the timing of requests based on monitored delivery rates. By adjusting these parameters in real-time, the client device achieves high adaptability to network conditions while using systematic parameter management to handle the complexity of multiple connections
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems and devices are described to improve the performance of adaptive media streaming sessions. A media player device proactively requests segment data representing a media stream over multiple simultaneous network connections. Delivery of the requested segment data on each of the plurality of simultaneous connections is monitored, and subsequent requests for segment data are adapted based upon the monitored delivery of the requested segments on each of the plurality of simultaneous connections.