Common Mezzanine Distribution Format for Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Content providers face challenges in delivering media content with high availability and performance due to bandwidth limitations in content distribution networks, especially with the proliferation of adaptive streaming solutions, which require efficient management of bandwidth, storage costs, and encryption across various devices and networks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a common intermediary mezzanine distribution format (CMZF) that enables end-to-end content protection and efficient distribution, leveraging existing TS-based distribution networks and scalable workflow infrastructure, utilizing multicast and ad-insertion facilities, and supporting adaptive bitrate (ABR) workflows with multi-encryption schemes to minimize bandwidth and storage costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple encryption schemes are used to protect content for different device types and platforms, then content compatibility and security are improved, but bandwidth and storage costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple encryption schemes (DRM and ETS) into a single unified content package. The content is encrypted once with both schemes simultaneously, creating one master package that can be decrypted by devices supporting either scheme. This eliminates the need for separate encrypted versions of the same content, thereby reducing bandwidth consumption and storage requirements while maintaining compatibility across different device types and platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The content package is designed with universal compatibility by incorporating multiple decryption capabilities within a single package. The package structure allows it to serve multiple functions: it can be decrypted by DRM-equipped devices, ETS-equipped devices, or hybrid devices. This multi-functionality approach enables one content package to replace what would traditionally require multiple separate packages, thus reducing the overall quantity of data that needs to be transmitted and stored.
2Adaptability or versatility
If content is distributed in multiple formats to support different protocols and devices, then device compatibility is improved, but network infrastructure complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple format requirements into a single unified distribution format. By embedding multiple encryption scheme support within one package structure, the system eliminates the need for separate distribution channels for different formats. This simplifies the network infrastructure by reducing the number of format conversion points, storage locations, and distribution pathways that would otherwise be required to support multiple separate formats.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified package with multiple encryption schemes acts as an intermediary that bridges the gap between different device types and protocols. Rather than requiring the network infrastructure to convert content into multiple separate formats, this intermediary package carries all necessary decryption capabilities within itself, allowing a single distribution path to serve multiple device types without requiring complex format conversion infrastructure.
3Productivity
If adaptive streaming solutions are implemented to handle increasing consumer demands, then content delivery performance is improved, but bandwidth requirements and storage costs grow tremendously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple adaptive streaming format requirements into a single unified package that supports multiple decryption schemes. This allows the content delivery system to maintain high performance adaptive streaming while avoiding the need to create and manage separate encrypted versions of the same content for different adaptive streaming protocols. The unified package reduces redundant data transmission and storage while preserving the performance benefits of adaptive streaming.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method for distributing content in a network architecture using a common intermediary mezzanine distribution format (CMZF). A media content asset may be processed for packaging in a CMZF container structure configured to carry each bitrate representation of the media content in a valid CMZF stream scheme, the media content encrypted in one or more encryption schemes. The CMZF formatted media content may be provided to an origin server for file-based distribution over a network which is of one of the following types; unmanaged network, managed network, or a combination thereof, and/or to a streaming network node for stream-based distribution over a over a network which is of one of the following types; unmanaged network, managed network, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the CMZF container structure may be based on an MPEG-TS format extended to facilitate carriage of ISOBMFF track and track metadata data objects in PES payload in additional elementary streams. In another embodiment the CMZF container structure may be based on an MPEG-TS format to facilitate carriage of sample variants in PES payload.