Difference-Based Content Delivery Network Update
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current content-centric networks (CCNs) require the entire content piece to be republished when updated, even if only minor changes are made, leading to inefficient data transfer as recipients must download the entire updated content, including unchanged parts.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a difference-based content delivery system where only the differences between versions are published, allowing recipients to construct the updated file by applying the differences to the older version, using a manifest to facilitate this process and reduce unnecessary data transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire content piece is republished when updated, then the content is ensured to be fully updated, but the data transfer efficiency deteriorates as recipients must download the entire content even when only minor changes are made
Solution Approach 1:
The content is divided into multiple versions with incremental updates. Instead of republishing the entire content piece, only the differences (delta) between versions are published. This segmentation allows recipients to download only the necessary update portion rather than the complete content, significantly improving data transfer efficiency while maintaining update completeness through versioned incremental deltas.
2Reliability
If the entire content piece is republished when updated, then the content consistency is maintained, but the network load increases due to unnecessary data transfer
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the necessary update information (differences between versions) from the complete content and publishes solely that extracted portion. This allows the system to maintain content consistency by applying precise diffs while dramatically reducing network load by eliminating the transfer of unchanged content portions.
3Loss of energy
If difference-based updates are implemented, then the data transfer efficiency is improved, but the system complexity increases due to the need for version management and difference calculation
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes a versioning framework where content is organized into sequential versions with predefined update mechanisms. By preparing the version management infrastructure in advance, the system simplifies the actual update process at runtime, reducing the operational complexity of difference-based updates while maintaining high data transfer efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for updating a content piece and delivering the updated content piece over a network. During operation, the system updates the content piece which corresponds to a original manifest and a set of objects referenced by the original manifest, and generates an update manifest for the updated content piece. The update manifest includes a reference to the original manifest and a reference to a set of update objects, and the set of update objects indicates differences between the content piece and the updated content piece. The system then publishes the update manifest and the set of update objects, thereby facilitating a requester for the updated content piece to retrieve the update manifest and the set of update manifest and to construct the updated content piece using the update manifest and the set of update objects.