Gateway Streaming Service Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current broadband service providers face challenges in efficiently managing and delivering rich multimedia content to diverse user devices due to scalability issues, accuracy problems, and synchronization difficulties in centralized network operations, especially with the growing demand for personalized content and varied user contexts.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a gateway or 'serving node' that registers user devices, manages content delivery, and adapts to device capabilities and user preferences through a control manager and streaming server, enabling transcoding, quality management, and personalized content distribution across multiple devices and networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a centralized server resides within a NOC for each different type of network to deliver content to specific user devices, then content delivery capability is improved, but device complexity and operational costs increase due to managing multiple NOCs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal gateway that can deliver content to multiple types of user devices (TVs, laptops, mobile phones, tablets) through a single network operation center. The gateway is configured to identify device types and automatically adapt content delivery parameters, eliminating the need for separate NOCs for each device type while maintaining specialized delivery capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If service providers offer more services and applications to grow revenue, then service variety is improved, but operational costs increase due to larger NOCs
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway is designed as a multi-functional platform that can deliver various types of content (TV content, Internet content, cellular content) to multiple device types through a single infrastructure. This universal approach allows service providers to offer diverse services without proportionally increasing NOC size or operational costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts delivery parameters (bit rate, resolution, format) based on device capabilities and network conditions rather than maintaining separate infrastructure for each service type. This parameter-based adaptation enables service variety while controlling operational costs through efficient resource utilization.
3Device complexity
If conventional broadband networks assume user devices are dumb terminals with little ability to run rich multimedia applications, then network simplicity is maintained, but user experience and content delivery capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of assuming devices are dumb terminals and designing networks accordingly, the patent inverts the approach by having the gateway adapt to sophisticated devices. The system assumes devices have varying capabilities (screen size, processing power, connectivity) and dynamically adjusts content delivery parameters to match, thereby enhancing user experience while maintaining network manageability.
4Measurement precision
If service providers use multiple NOCs for different network types to deliver content, then content delivery accuracy is improved, but synchronization and coordination between NOCs become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates the functionality of multiple specialized NOCs into a single universal gateway that handles all device types. This merging eliminates synchronization and coordination difficulties between separate NOCs while maintaining accurate content delivery through device-specific parameter adaptation within the unified gateway architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A gateway for location at a user premises is provided. Bother users and user devices are registered with the gateway which is provided by a service provider. Users access services, such as video streaming, on their user devices via the gateway. The gateway allows users to share content. The gateway collects information about the user's patterns of behaviour for the system provider, and can be used to directly obtain feedback from the user.