Content Delivery Proxy for Stable ABR Multicast Levels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current m-ABR systems face inefficiencies due to clients frequently switching between different quality levels in the ABR hierarchy, leading to suboptimal use of multicast and unicast delivery, as multicast often lacks support for all available bit rates and requires significant resource changes to switch streams.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a proxy that monitors client requests, determines frequently requested bit rates, and adjusts delivery rates to align client requests with the most popular ABR levels, thereby optimizing multicast usage by concentrating requests around a subset of available bit rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multicast is used for content delivery, then network efficiency is improved, but multicast does not support all available bit rates causing clients to be unable to receive content at certain quality levels
Solution Approach 1:
The content delivery is segmented into two paths: multicast for frequently requested bit rates and unicast for less frequently requested bit rates. This segmentation allows the system to leverage multicast efficiency for popular content while maintaining full bit rate support through unicast fallback.
Solution Approach 2:
A proxy server is introduced as an intermediary between clients and the content delivery network. The proxy receives client requests, determines the appropriate delivery method (multicast or unicast) based on bit rate popularity, and forwards requests accordingly. This intermediary enables seamless integration of multicast and unicast delivery.
2Adaptability or versatility
If clients frequently switch between different quality levels in the ABR hierarchy, then clients can adapt to varying network conditions, but multicast stream switching becomes inefficient and resource-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-identifies and publishes the popularity ranking of different bit rates before clients make their requests. Clients can use this pre-computed information to make informed decisions about quality level selection, avoiding frequent switching by anticipating network conditions and choosing appropriate bit rates in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where client requests for different bit rates are monitored and used to update the popularity ranking. This feedback loop allows the system to adapt to changing network conditions and client preferences over time, while maintaining stable multicast stream assignments for popular bit rates.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all bit rates are delivered via unicast, then all quality levels are supported, but network efficiency deteriorates due to redundant data transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multicast and unicast delivery mechanisms into a hybrid architecture. Frequently requested bit rates are delivered through efficient multicast streams, while less frequently requested bit rates use unicast delivery. This combination allows the system to achieve both high network efficiency for popular content and full bit rate availability through unicast supplementation.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method of controlling the delivery rate of content to a client device to influence the quality level at which the client device requests subsequent content segments. The aim is to influence the client device so that it requests content segments at a consistent adaptive bit rate (ABR) level, where that level is one at which many client devices are requesting content segments. The result is that requests are more concentrated around a subset of the available ABR levels. This enables a more efficient and widespread use of any subsequent multicast.