Distributed Media-on-Demand via Segmented Header and Segment Caching
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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 instant playback and dynamic library updates using a gossip protocol, enabling efficient resource utilization and reduced reliance on central servers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a centralized server stores and streams all movies for video on demand, then customers can select from a large variety of titles, but network capacity requirements become prohibitively high and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the media library into multiple distributed storage locations (home computers, office computers, server) rather than centralizing all content in one location. Each node stores portions of the library, allowing the system to provide comprehensive title variety while distributing network load across multiple connections rather than requiring one high-capacity centralized connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimensional centralized storage model to a multi-dimensional distributed network model. Content is organized across spatial dimensions (different locations) and functional dimensions (different types of nodes), enabling the system to scale capacity by adding nodes rather than upgrading a single centralized infrastructure.
2Productivity
If network bandwidth is increased to support more simultaneous streams, then more customers can access videos simultaneously, but infrastructure costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the streaming load across multiple network paths and nodes. Instead of routing all traffic through a single high-bandwidth connection, the system distributes request handling and content delivery across multiple lower-bandwidth connections to different locations, achieving high simultaneous stream capacity without requiring prohibitively expensive centralized bandwidth.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables participating computers to serve content requests from their local stored libraries. When a user requests a video, the system automatically routes the request to a node that has the content locally available, eliminating the need for centralized bandwidth to deliver every stream and reducing overall network infrastructure requirements.
3Loss of time
If all movie files are stored locally on each device, then instant playback is possible, but storage space requirements on each device become excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complete media library across multiple devices in the network. Each device stores a portion of the library rather than requiring every device to store the entire collection. This distribution enables fast local playback of available content while reducing the storage burden on individual devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-loads and caches video content on multiple nodes before it is requested. By having content already distributed and stored across the network in advance, the system enables instant playback without requiring each individual device to maintain complete local copies of the entire library.
4Device complexity
If a centralized server handles all requests, then system management is simplified, but the server becomes a bottleneck and point of failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the request-handling function across multiple distributed nodes rather than concentrating it in a single centralized server. Each participating computer can independently handle requests for content it stores, eliminating the single-point bottleneck and improving system reliability while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized peer-to-peer interaction protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables each node to autonomously manage its own content and respond to requests based on local conditions. Rather than requiring centralized control for every operation, each device operates with local decision-making capability, improving reliability by distributing control and reducing the criticality of any single node.
Data Source
AI summary
Various techniques for providing instantaneous media services are disclosed. Some of the techniques provide an instantaneous media-on-demand system, process and method for the same. Such a system offers a dynamic library with a significant number of titles from which a user may select and offers play back a desired title fairly instantly. To facilitate instant playback, a file pertaining to a title is fragmented into a header and segments. The header is seeded in all boxes in service and none, one or more segments are distributed to the network of boxes. When the title is ordered, the header is instantly played back while the segments, if not locally available, are streamed in respectively from the boxes having the segments to enable continuous playback of the ordered title.