Content Delivery Device Protocol Conversion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content delivery networks face challenges in providing streaming content to diverse user devices with different communication protocols, leading to increased network and computing resource utilization, as well as digital rights management issues when converting between formats.
Innovation Solution
A content delivery device that converts MPEG-DASH video and audio files into HLS-compatible transport stream files, generates HLS manifests, and performs encryption/decryption to ensure seamless playback across different devices, reducing the need for multiple server devices and optimizing resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a content delivery network provides streaming content to diverse user devices with different communication protocols, then content availability is improved, but network and computing resource utilization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a protocol conversion device as an intermediary between the content delivery network and user devices. This device receives content in one protocol format (e.g., HTTP Live Streaming) and converts it to another protocol format (e.g., MPEG-DASH), enabling seamless playback across different device types without requiring the content delivery network to maintain multiple dedicated servers for each protocol, thus reducing overall resource utilization while maintaining broad content availability
Solution Approach 2:
The protocol conversion device performs multiple functions: it acts as a content receiver, format converter, and content deliverer to various user devices. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate specialized servers, reducing the total number of servers needed while supporting diverse communication protocols and device types
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple server devices are deployed to support different communication protocols, then adaptability to diverse user devices is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protocol conversion device serves as a centralized intermediary that handles protocol translation between different formats. Instead of deploying multiple specialized servers each configured for a specific protocol, the system uses a single conversion device that mediates between the content source and various user devices, simplifying the overall server infrastructure while maintaining protocol compatibility across Android, iOS, and other platforms
3Adaptability or versatility
If content is converted between different formats for different devices, then content accessibility is improved, but digital rights management security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The protocol conversion device performs format conversion and encryption/decryption operations in advance before content is delivered to user devices. By pre-processing the content conversion and applying appropriate encryption schemes during the conversion process, the system ensures that content remains protected throughout the transformation and delivery chain, maintaining digital rights management security while enabling broad accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
The conversion device acts as a secure intermediary that maintains encryption integrity during protocol translation. It receives encrypted content, performs format conversion while preserving security protocols, and delivers the converted content with appropriate encryption schemes, thereby preventing security vulnerabilities that might arise from unauthorized or improper format conversion
Data Source
AI summary
A device can receive, from a user device, a request for content in a target format for playback. The device can determine information identifying the content in a source format based on the request for content associated with the target format. The device can request the content in the source format using the information identifying the content in the source format. The device can receive the content from a content source in the source format based on requesting the content in the source format. The device can convert the content in the source format to generate a set of files associated with the target format. The device can provide the set of files in the target format to a content delivery network associated with the user device.