Federated CDN Assimilating Transparent Caches for Accurate Metrics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Content delivery networks (CDNs) face disruptions in end-to-end delivery capabilities due to lack of control over final links in the delivery chain, primarily caused by Telcos, which deploy transparent caching servers that intercept and serve content without CDN knowledge, leading to inaccurate metrics and revenue impacts for CDN operators.
Innovation Solution
An end-to-end federated CDN solution is implemented by assimilating transparent caching servers operated by Telcos into the CDN, allowing access to their logs for comprehensive tracking and monetization, thereby improving content delivery performance and accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If Telcos deploy transparent caching servers to intercept and serve content, then content delivery speed is improved, but CDN control and measurement accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a federated caching architecture where Telco transparent caches and CDN proxy caches coexist as intermediaries in the content delivery chain. The Telco cache serves as a local intermediary that accelerates content delivery to end users, while the CDN proxy cache acts as another intermediary that maintains CDN control and visibility. Both intermediaries work together in a federated system where the CDN can measure and account for content delivered through the Telco cache, thus preserving measurement accuracy while benefiting from the speed improvement of local caching.
2Productivity
If Telcos independently operate transparent caching servers, then local content delivery performance is improved, but CDN revenue and authorization control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the independently operated Telco transparent cache with the CDN proxy cache into a unified federated caching system. This combination allows the Telco cache to maintain its local delivery performance benefits while the CDN proxy cache provides authorization control and revenue tracking. The federated architecture combines the strengths of both independent systems, enabling local performance optimization without sacrificing CDN control over content distribution and revenue collection.
3Reliability
If CDN operators deploy proxy caches with full control, then content delivery authorization is improved, but delivery speed and local performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the content delivery function into two parts: the Telco transparent cache handles local performance optimization and rapid content delivery to end users, while the CDN proxy cache handles authorization control and content management. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in its strength - the Telco cache focuses on speed and local performance, while the CDN cache focuses on authorization and control - without compromising either function.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide an end-to-end federated CDN solution that assimilates a transparent caching server that is operated by a transparent caching server operator into a CDN that independently operates CDN caching servers. Specifically, the logs from the transparent caching server are assimilated into the CDN by aggregating the logs from the transparent caching server and processing the transparent caching server logs to identify network usage for content of a CDN content provider customer that is delivered by the transparent caching server. The network usage is then combined with the network usage that tracked by the CDN caching servers in order to provide comprehensive report metrics for the content provider customer and to bill the content provider customer for all network usage related to delivering the content provider customer's content irrespective of whether the content was delivered by a transparent caching server or a CDN caching server.