Content Source Selection for Streaming Playback Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Streaming media technologies face challenges in maintaining high playback quality due to network complexities and third-party content delivery issues, leading to interruptions and video quality degradation, which existing systems struggle to address effectively.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for selecting and switching content sources based on quality metrics and cost, where clients report playback quality to merchant systems, which generate rankings to guide content source selection, allowing seamless switching to higher-ranked sources during performance degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If streaming content is delivered over the Internet using third-party CDN providers, then content delivery capability is improved, but playback quality stability deteriorates due to network complexities and delivery issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a content source selection system that acts as an intermediary between the CDN provider and the client. This system monitors playback quality metrics and dynamically selects or switches content sources to maintain stable playback quality while utilizing third-party CDN infrastructure for content delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by monitoring playback quality metrics (such as rebuffering events, playback interruptions, and video quality degradation) and using this information to dynamically adjust content source selection. This closed-loop feedback ensures playback quality stability while maintaining high content delivery capability.
2Reliability
If multiple content sources are monitored and switched between, then playback quality is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The client device is empowered with self-service capabilities to autonomously monitor playback quality metrics and perform content source switching without requiring complex external control systems. This distributes the complexity to the client level while maintaining overall system simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing content source rankings and preparing alternative content sources before playback quality degradation occurs. This allows for smoother transitions and reduces the complexity of real-time decision-making during playback.
3Reliability
If content source switching is implemented dynamically, then playback interruptions are reduced, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The content source selection is made dynamic and adaptive, allowing the system to respond to changing network conditions and playback quality in real-time. This dynamic approach reduces playback interruptions by automatically switching sources when quality degradation is detected.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters (content source selection) based on monitored playback quality metrics. By adjusting which content source is used based on real-time performance data, the system maintains playback continuity while keeping control logic relatively simple through parameter-based adaptation.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments may include the generation and use of content source rankings for improving playback quality of content streams. In embodiments, a merchant system may collect and aggregate multiple quality metrics for different content streams that various content sources provide to various clients. The merchant system may utilize the quality metrics to generate rankings of content sources for clients. In some cases, a client itself may generate a ranking of content sources for use in the selection of content sources. The merchant system may provide such rankings to clients to improve the content stream playback experience on the client. For instance, at content acquisition time, a client may request a content stream from a content resource ranked highest on a content source ranking provided by the merchant. If the content stream degrades, the client may source subsequent portions of the content stream from another highly ranked content source of the ranking.