Client Cache for Streaming Manifest Supplemental Content

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Solution Overview

Problem

In live streaming, the frequent updates to media presentation descriptions cause clients to re-resolve supplemental content opportunities, leading to resource wastage and inconsistent playback due to the removal of previously resolved instances, resulting in playback issues and increased overhead.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a data structure at the client to store previously resolved supplemental content opportunities, allowing retrieval instead of re-resolution, and using remote resolution to dynamically insert content before playback, thus maintaining a consistent presentation timeline and reducing resource usage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If clients re-resolve supplemental content opportunities on each manifest update, then the presentation remains consistent with current stream information, but computing resources are wasted and playback consistency is compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplayback consistencyVSAvoidcomputing resource usage

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by resolving supplemental content opportunities in advance and caching the resolution results before manifest updates occur. When a manifest is updated, the client retrieves previously resolved opportunities from cache rather than re-resolving them, thus performing the resolution action beforehand to avoid repeated processing and maintain playback consistency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses copying by creating and storing copies of resolution results for supplemental content opportunities in a cache. Instead of re-resolving opportunities on each manifest update, the client copies the previously resolved content from cache and reuses it, eliminating redundant resolution operations while maintaining presentation consistency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

2Loss of information

If all opportunities are re-resolved on each manifest update, then the manifest includes complete stream information, but bandwidth consumption increases due to repeated resolution responses

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestream information completenessVSAvoidbandwidth consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and caches the resolution results for supplemental content opportunities separately from the manifest updates. When a manifest is updated, the client extracts only the new opportunities that need resolution while retrieving previously resolved opportunities from cache, thus removing the need to re-resolve and retransmit data for all opportunities, reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining information completeness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary resolution and caching of supplemental content opportunities before manifest updates. This preliminary action ensures that when manifests are updated, the client already has the resolution information available locally, eliminating the need for repeated resolution requests and responses, thus reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining complete stream information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Adaptability or versatility

If remote resolution is used for supplemental content insertion, then ad opportunities can be dynamically inserted, but re-resolution causes inconsistent state representation during playout

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedynamic content insertionVSAvoidpresentation state consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by resolving and caching supplemental content opportunities before they are needed during playout. This ensures that when the client plays back supplemental content, the resolution is already complete and stored, preventing any re-resolution during playback that could cause state inconsistencies. The dynamic insertion capability is maintained through the caching mechanism.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses copying by storing copies of resolved supplemental content in cache and retrieving these copies during playout instead of performing new resolutions. This copying approach maintains the resolved state consistently throughout playback, preventing state representation issues while still allowing dynamic content insertion based on the cached resolution results.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS11765421B2Client based storage of remote element resolutions

Publication Date: 2023.09.19 HULU LLC

AI summary

In some embodiments, a method receives a manifest presentation description for a media presentation. The manifest presentation description includes an opportunity that requires resolution to determine supplemental content for the opportunity. A request to resolve the opportunity is sent where information for the supplemental content that is received from the request is inserted in an instance of the media presentation description. The method stores the information for the supplemental content in association with an identifier for the opportunity. An update to the manifest presentation description is received where the update includes the opportunity. The method retrieves the information for the supplemental content that was stored in association with the identifier for the opportunity and inserts the information for the supplemental content into the instance of the update to the manifest presentation description.