Distributed Media Library Update via Gossip Protocol
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current multimedia delivery systems over the Internet fail to provide instantaneous media-on-demand due to insufficient communication capacity, unreliable networks, and high costs associated with scaling to meet increasing subscriber demand, leading to unsatisfactory viewing experiences with interruptions and delays.
Innovation Solution
A distributed network system where media files are fragmented into headers and segments, with headers cached locally and segments distributed across multiple devices, allowing for instantaneous playback and dynamic library updates using a gossip protocol to manage content distribution efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If media files are stored centrally on a server for video on demand, then users can access content through a single point, but network bandwidth requirements increase linearly with the number of subscribers, leading to high costs and insufficient capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides media files into multiple segments and distributes them across multiple peer devices in the network. Instead of one central server holding all content, each peer stores portions of multiple titles. This segmentation of content and distribution across multiple nodes reduces the bandwidth burden on any single point and allows scalable growth without linearly increasing central server capacity requirements.
2Productivity
If more subscribers are added to the system, then service coverage increases, but the cost and complexity of maintaining sufficient network capacity increases linearly
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a peer-to-peer architecture where each subscriber device (peer) actively contributes storage space and network bandwidth to serve other users. Instead of passively receiving content, each peer becomes a content distributor for portions of the library. This self-service model allows the network to scale organically - as more subscribers join, the total available capacity increases automatically without requiring proportional increases in centralized infrastructure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the library is updated with new titles, then content freshness improves, but all subscribers must be notified and updated, creating synchronization overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-generates multiple possible release packages at the time of title addition, rather than creating updates on-demand. When a new title is added to the library, the system immediately segments it and prepares distribution packages for different peer types. This preliminary action allows peers to receive updates asynchronously at their convenience without requiring coordinated synchronization, eliminating the time loss associated with waiting for all subscribers to be notified and updated simultaneously.
4Loss of energy
If media files are distributed across multiple devices, then network load on central servers decreases, but ensuring all peers have the necessary segments for playback becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of content distribution by shifting from centralized to distributed storage and from synchronous to asynchronous update models. Each peer device changes its role from passive consumer to active distributor, storing and serving segments of multiple titles. This parameter change in the system architecture reduces central server load while the complexity of distribution management is handled through automated peer-to-peer protocols where peers independently discover and exchange content segments.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for updating a library with a significant number of titles are disclosed. A library in each of the boxes in service is updated synchronously or asynchronously. Any release to update the library is performed by propagating data chunks by a gossip protocol to all boxes in service. A proper release package is then recovered in each box from the received data chunk to update the library. According to one aspect of the techniques, a small set of seeding boxes is designated to propagate at least some or all of respective received data chunks to a set of the boxes. Each of the set of the boxes is caused to recursively propagate its received data chunks to other boxes chosen to continue spreading, if necessary, some or all of the received data chunks among the boxes till each of the boxes in service has received a designated portion of the data chunks.