Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation for Adaptive Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network management methods fail to efficiently allocate bandwidth among client devices based on media content complexity and device resource constraints, leading to uneven perceptual playback quality and inefficient bandwidth use.
Innovation Solution
Implement a method that aligns temporal segments of media content and selects segment representations for each client device based on a combination of sequence alignment and perceptual quality level values, ensuring a joint quality criterion is met across devices, thereby managing bandwidth allocation more efficiently and evenly distributing playback quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If nominal bandwidth allocations are provided to client devices based on subscription tiers, then network management is convenient to administer, but perceptual playback quality varies unevenly across devices and bandwidth is used inefficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic bandwidth allocation that adjusts resource distribution in real-time based on current network conditions, client device capabilities, and media content complexity. This allows the system to move from static nominal allocations to adaptive allocations that optimize both management efficiency and playback quality across varying conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of bandwidth allocation by introducing quality metrics and complexity assessments as dynamic variables. Instead of fixed allocations, the system adjusts bandwidth distribution based on measured parameters including playback quality thresholds and media complexity, enabling more efficient utilization while maintaining administrative control.
2Device complexity
If encoding bitrate values are used as a surrogate for perceptual playback quality metrics, then quality assessment is simplified, but the actual perceptual playback quality varies within a fixed bandwidth allocation based on media content complexity and device constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality assessment by evaluating playback quality at the specific level of each client device and media segment rather than using a uniform bitrate surrogate. This allows different quality metrics to be applied locally based on device capabilities and content characteristics, improving measurement precision while managing complexity through targeted assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical surrogate of bitrate values with a more sophisticated measurement system that directly assesses perceptual quality. This substitution introduces comprehensive quality metrics that account for media complexity and device constraints, replacing the simplified bitrate proxy with a more accurate but computationally intensive measurement approach.
3Ease of operation
If the same nominal bandwidth allocation is provided to all client devices in a subscription tier, then administrative simplicity is maintained, but some devices receive more bandwidth than needed while others receive insufficient bandwidth for satisfactory playback quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms the bandwidth allocation model by introducing quality metrics and complexity assessments as dynamic parameters. This allows allocations to be adjusted based on actual needs rather than uniform nominal values, improving playback quality satisfaction while maintaining administrative oversight through automated parameter-based decision-making.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a self-service mechanism where the system automatically adjusts bandwidth allocations based on measured quality metrics and device characteristics. This reduces the need for manual administrative intervention while ensuring that each device receives appropriate bandwidth based on its specific requirements, thereby improving reliability without sacrificing operational simplicity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Various implementations disclosed herein enable a more efficient allocation of one or more shared network resources (e.g., bandwidth, memory, processor time, etc.) amongst a number of client devices based on media content data complexity and client device resource constraints in order to better manage perceptual playback quality of adaptive streaming content. In some implementations, a method includes aligning sequences of one or more temporal segments; and, selecting segment representations for each temporal segment based on a combination of the sequence alignment and perceptual quality level values associated with available segment representations, such that a combination of resulting perceptual quality levels satisfies a joint quality criterion. Each sequence is associated with one of a number of client devices sharing a network resource. The one or more temporal segments of each sequence are used to provide segment representations of media content data to one of the client devices.