Gateway Streaming Media Prioritization for Resource Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customer premises gateways and set-top boxes face resource limitations, such as network bandwidth and processing power, which lead to degradation in streaming media quality and service denials when simultaneously delivering adaptive and non-adaptive streaming content to multiple clients, as adaptive streaming consumes resources that could inhibit non-adaptive streaming and vice versa.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a prioritization scheme that allows users or service providers to prioritize either the total number of concurrent streaming sessions or the quality level of sessions, enabling the gateway or set-top box to manage resource allocation by adjusting bit rates and quality settings for adaptive and non-adaptive streams accordingly, ensuring efficient delivery of multiple streaming sessions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If adaptive streaming protocol is used to deliver content to multiple clients, then the quality of streaming media can be dynamically adjusted according to network conditions, but the computing resources and network bandwidth are consumed more heavily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic resource allocation where the gateway adjusts streaming parameters (bitrate, resolution, protocol selection) based on real-time resource availability and client requirements. The system transitions between adaptive and non-adaptive streaming modes dynamically, and prioritization schemes are adjusted in real-time based on current system state, resolving the contradiction between maintaining high quality and conserving computing resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes key parameters such as streaming protocol type (adaptive vs. non-adaptive), bitrate, resolution, and prioritization levels based on resource conditions. When resources are abundant, high-quality adaptive streaming is used; when resources are constrained, the system switches to lower-quality non-adaptive streaming or adjusts prioritization to maintain service for critical clients, thus resolving the quality-resource tradeoff.
2Productivity
If multiple concurrent streaming sessions are delivered to maximize client service, then the system utilization is improved, but the quality level of individual streams degrades due to resource sharing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments clients into different priority groups and resource pools, allowing the system to manage multiple concurrent sessions by allocating resources to high-priority clients first. This segmentation enables the gateway to maintain high quality for critical streams while still providing service to additional lower-priority clients, thus increasing overall system productivity without uniformly degrading all stream qualities.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway acts as an intermediary that mediates between multiple clients and the content server, implementing prioritization schemes to allocate limited resources fairly. The system introduces intermediate control mechanisms (prioritization policies, resource allocation algorithms) that prevent complete quality degradation across all streams while maximizing the number of concurrent sessions the system can support.
3Device complexity
If non-adaptive streaming protocol is used for simplicity, then the implementation complexity is reduced, but the system cannot dynamically adjust to network conditions causing quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway is designed to support multiple streaming protocols (both adaptive and non-adaptive) and can select the appropriate protocol based on client capabilities and network conditions. This multi-functionality allows the system to use simple non-adaptive streaming when appropriate while maintaining the option to switch to adaptive streaming when dynamic adjustment is needed, thus managing complexity while preserving adaptability.
4Reliability
If resource allocation prioritizes quality level of streams, then the streaming media quality is maintained, but the total number of concurrent sessions that can be supported is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The prioritization scheme is implemented dynamically, allowing the system to adjust between quality-focused and quantity-focused modes based on current resource availability and client priorities. When resources are abundant, the system can support more concurrent sessions; when resources are constrained, it maintains high quality for prioritized clients. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by making the tradeoff flexible rather than fixed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for delivering two or more concurrent streaming media sessions to client devices. In the method, a request is received from a client device to establish a new streaming media session while one or more ongoing streaming media sessions is in progress. A determination is made if resources are available to fulfill the request. When one or more resources needed to fulfill the request are unavailable, a response to the request is provided in accordance with a pre-established prioritization scheme that gives priority to either delivery of a total number of concurrent streaming media sessions or a quality level of the concurrent streaming media sessions being delivered.