Edge Video Transcoding With Passthrough Segments for Low Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio and video transcoding methods face inefficiencies in computational load, storage requirements, and latency due to the need for pre-transcoding all renditions before streaming, which limits flexibility and customization.
Innovation Solution
A method for just-in-time transcoding that segments audio-video files based on keyframes, transcodes on-demand, and stores mezzanine segments, allowing dynamic rendition switching and reduced computational load by pre-transcoding at a publisher device into a passthrough rendition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all renditions are pre-transcoded before streaming, then all renditions are available for immediate streaming, but computational load and storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary transcoding only to a single passthrough rendition at the publisher device, rather than pre-transcoding all renditions. This preliminary action creates a intermediate form that can be quickly converted to any required rendition on-demand, reducing upfront computational load while ensuring availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The passthrough rendition serves as an intermediary format between the source video and various target renditions. Instead of directly transcoding from source to multiple target renditions, the system uses the passthrough rendition as a middle step, enabling efficient on-demand conversion to any required rendition with lower computational requirements.
2Reliability
If all renditions are pre-transcoded before streaming, then all renditions are available for immediate streaming, but storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential passthrough rendition from the source video at the publisher device, rather than creating and storing all possible renditions. This extraction approach stores only the minimum necessary data locally, while deriving other renditions on-demand through efficient transcoding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary processing only to create the passthrough rendition, establishing a foundation that enables rapid generation of other renditions without requiring all renditions to be pre-stored. This preliminary action minimizes storage requirements while maintaining rendition availability.
3Use of energy by stationary object
If transcoding is performed on-demand, then computational load is reduced, but latency increases due to real-time processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary encoding at the publisher device to create the passthrough rendition with optimized characteristics. This preliminary action prepares the video data in advance with a structure that enables fast on-demand conversion, reducing the time required for real-time transcoding while maintaining low computational load.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces traditional server-based transcoding mechanics with client-side decoding and re-encoding capabilities. By leveraging the computational power of modern user devices, the system performs transcoding locally with lower latency and reduced server computational load, substituting centralized processing with distributed processing.
4Ease of operation
If transcoding is performed at the server, then centralized control is maintained, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables user devices to perform their own transcoding operations locally using the passthrough rendition as input. Each device serves itself by decoding the passthrough rendition and re-encoding it to the required format, eliminating the need for complex server-based transcoding infrastructure while maintaining ease of operation through standardized interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The passthrough rendition serves multiple functions: it acts as a storage format, an input for on-demand transcoding, and a universal intermediate format that can be converted to any target rendition. This multi-functionality simplifies the overall system architecture by eliminating the need for multiple specialized encoding paths or complex server-based transcoding systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes: accessing a video in a passthrough rendition encoded according to a passthrough bitrate and a passthrough resolution; and segmenting the video. The method further includes transmitting a first passthrough segment to a first device in response to receiving a first request for a first playback segment of the video in the passthrough rendition from the first device, the first playback segment corresponding to the first passthrough segment. The method also includes, in response to receiving a second request for the first playback segment of the video in a first rendition from a second device, the first rendition defining a first bitrate below the passthrough bitrate and a first resolution below the passthrough resolution: transcoding the first passthrough segment into the first rendition segment in the first rendition according to the first bitrate and the first resolution; and transmitting the first rendition segment to the second device.