Bandwidth-Efficient Archiving of Real-Time Interactive Flows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Recording real-time interactive flows in network environments is challenging due to topology issues and bandwidth concerns, as flows may bypass central media elements or be encrypted, making traditional archiving methods impractical and quality-degrading.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an archival streaming agent that forks real-time interactive flows as archival streams at computing devices, allowing for adjustable streaming rates based on performance characteristics, ensuring bandwidth-efficient archiving while maintaining high-quality recordings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a central media element is used to record the real-time interactive flow, then archiving capability is provided, but the system cannot access flows that bypass or encrypt the central element
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network switch as an intermediary device that sits between the endpoints and can access the real-time interactive flow without being the central media element. The switch uses port mirroring orSPAN (Switched Port Analyzer) to create a copy of the traffic flow that can be sent to the recording device, while the original flow continues uninterrupted between endpoints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network function by separating the recording function from the central media element. Instead of requiring the media server to perform both media processing and recording, the recording capability is distributed to network switches that can capture traffic at the network layer, independent of the media processing location.
2Reliability
If the real-time interactive flow is duplicated at one endpoint, then archiving is achieved, but network bandwidth is overloaded and quality degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses network switch port mirroring to create a copy of the traffic flow at the network switch level. This copying mechanism duplicates only the necessary archive portion of the flow without requiring the endpoint to perform resource-intensive duplication, thereby conserving endpoint resources and reducing overall network bandwidth consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the recording function from the endpoint device and relocates it to the network switch infrastructure. By taking out the duplication burden from the endpoint, the system achieves archiving without overloading the endpoint's processing capabilities or consuming excessive bandwidth at the source.
3Reliability
If the real-time interactive flow is duplicated at one endpoint, then archiving is achieved, but the quality of the real-time interactive flow degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of the flow at the network switch level using port mirroring, which operates at the network layer before any processing or encoding occurs. This ensures the archived copy is an exact replica of the original flow quality without introducing degradation from endpoint processing, while the original flow continues uninterrupted with full quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The network switch acts as an intermediary that captures the flow without interfering with the original transmission path. By positioning the recording function at the switch rather than at the endpoint, the system ensures the original flow quality is preserved while obtaining a complete archive copy.
Data Source
AI summary
Bandwidth-efficient archiving of real-time interactive flows is disclosed herein. Related methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. In this regard, in one embodiment, a method for archiving a real-time interactive flow is provided. The method comprises receiving, by a computing device, a real-time interactive flow, and forking the real-time interactive flow at the computing device as an archival stream. The method also comprises streaming the archival stream from the computing device to an archival repository at an adjustable streaming rate. The method additionally comprises measuring a change in a performance characteristic of the real-time interactive flow, and modifying the adjustable streaming rate based on the change in the performance characteristic of the real-time interactive flow. In this manner, a real-time interactive flow may be duplicated in a bandwidth-sensitive fashion while capturing a high-quality archive of the real-time interactive flow.