Addressable Resource Index Track for Streaming Media
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current video streaming technologies face challenges in efficiently signaling the duration and size of addressable resources, leading to inaccurate bitrate signaling and increased requests for client devices, particularly in live streaming scenarios where fluctuating network conditions and content quality demand optimized client operations.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an Addressable Resource Index (ARI) track that provides a single index track describing addressable resources and subsets of a common media application format (CMAF) switching set, allowing for time-aligned documentation of properties and flexible retrieval of media data, enabling clients to determine optimal resource retrieval based on operation modes and network conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple index tracks are used to describe addressable resources in different media tracks, then comprehensive resource information is provided, but the number of requests from client devices increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple index tracks into a single unified Addressable Resource Index (ARI) track that describes addressable resources across all media tracks. This consolidation maintains complete resource information while reducing the number of separate index track requests clients must make, directly resolving the contradiction between information completeness and request efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The ARI track serves as a universal index that describes addressable resources for multiple media tracks simultaneously. Instead of requiring separate index tracks for each media track, this single universal index provides comprehensive resource information across the entire media presentation, reducing request overhead while maintaining information completeness
2Measurement precision
If detailed information about each addressable resource is provided, then accurate bitrate signaling is achieved, but the complexity of the index track increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ARI track into distinct entry structures, each containing specific fields for duration, size, and other resource properties. This segmentation organizes detailed information in a structured manner, providing accurate bitrate signaling while maintaining manageable index track complexity through systematic data organization
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces specific parameters and fields within ARI track entries (such as duration, size, and other resource characteristics) that enable precise bitrate signaling. By carefully selecting and defining these parameters, the system achieves accurate resource description without unnecessarily increasing overall index track complexity
3Productivity
If a single ARI track is used to describe all addressable resources, then the number of requests is reduced, but the size of the index track increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of duplicating full resource descriptions across multiple index tracks, the patent creates a single ARI track that serves as the authoritative copy of resource information. Clients retrieve resource details from this single source rather than making multiple requests to different index tracks, reducing request overhead while the structured format keeps data volume manageable
Data Source
AI summary
An example device for retrieving media data includes a memory configured to store media data; and one or more processors implemented in circuitry and configured to: retrieve data of an addressable resource information (ARI) track of a media presentation, the data of the ARI track describing addressable resources and subsets of a switching set of the media presentation, the switching set comprising a plurality of media tracks including the addressable resources, the ARI track being a single index track of the media presentation, the addressable resources comprising retrievable media data; determine durations and sizes of the addressable resources from the data of the ARI track; determine one or more of the addressable resources to retrieve using the data of the ARI track including the durations and sizes of the addressable resources; retrieve the determined addressable resources; and store the retrieved addressable resources in the memory.