Content Delivery System with Deep Packet Inspection for Bandwidth Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Service providers face challenges in managing and controlling the delivery of heavy bandwidth-consuming data, such as video content, which leads to network degradation and increased costs due to the inability of prior art solutions to effectively cache and authorize content efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a network interface, deep packet inspection (DPI) unit, storage, and content delivery unit that identifies content sources, inspects packets, caches popular content, and authorizes client access using a random ID, reducing network traffic and operational costs by delivering cached content directly from storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If deep packet inspection is performed on all packets to identify and cache content, then content delivery efficiency is improved, but network device processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary deep packet inspection to identify content sources and pre-cache popular content before actual user requests occur. This allows the system to prepare cached copies in advance, reducing the need for intensive real-time processing when users request content.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing deep packet inspection on all packets continuously, the system applies DPI selectively to identify content sources and inspect only relevant packets. This partial application of DPI reduces overall processing load while still achieving effective content identification and caching.
2Loss of energy
If all data is stored in caches to reduce network traffic, then bandwidth consumption is reduced, but the complexity of inspecting and managing each packet increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements selective caching where only popular content from identified content sources is cached, not all data. This local quality approach caches content based on its popularity and relevance, reducing the scope of inspection and management complexity while still achieving significant bandwidth savings.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically identifies content sources and determines which content to cache based on observed traffic patterns, without requiring manual configuration or complex external management. This self-service capability reduces the operational complexity of managing cached content.
3Speed
If content is cached to improve delivery speed, then network performance is improved, but authentication and authorization mechanisms become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary authentication mechanism where the network device acts as a mediator between users and cached content. This intermediary layer handles authorization by verifying user rights to access cached content without requiring complex direct authentication between users and content sources, simplifying the overall authorization process.
4Loss of energy
If popular content is identified and cached, then network traffic is reduced, but the ability to handle diverse content types and authentication requirements decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a universal caching mechanism that can handle multiple content types and authentication requirements through a single unified approach. The deep packet inspection capability is designed to be protocol-agnostic and can identify various content types, while the authentication mechanism is configured to handle different authorization schemes, making the system versatile across diverse content and authentication scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and methods thereof provide for efficient usage of network bandwidth and ability to identify whether a client is authorized to receive such bandwidth. Content provided by a content source for a first content consumer is stored in the apparatus located in between the content source and the content consumer allowing delivery of such content to another content consumer from the apparatus thereby reducing the overall network load. For protected content, the apparatus identifies the need for authorization and provides a random identification to the target content consumer and storing that random identification as well as at least another parameter associated thereto such that when revalidation is necessary the content consumer can be validated by the apparatus.