Glitch-Free Media Streaming via Multi-Connection Byte-Range Requests
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current media content streaming services often result in glitches and poor playback quality due to long latency times and low data rates, especially when the available bandwidth is insufficient for real-time media playback, as HTTP servers do not consider real-time requirements and typically respond to media file requests like normal file downloads, leading to buffer underflow and overflow issues.
Innovation Solution
A client-based solution that establishes multiple transport protocol connections to read portions of media content, regulating data flow into a streaming media buffer by evaluating transmit rates and adjusting data segment sizes based on network bandwidth and playback requirements, ensuring consistent and controlled buffer management for glitch-free media streaming, independent of server capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If HTTP-based file downloading operations are used to view media content, then the server can support Web page browsing and file downloading, but the user must download the entire media file to a local machine which is very time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the media content file into multiple segments and establishes multiple transport protocol connections to download different segments simultaneously. This segmentation allows parallel downloading of media portions, significantly reducing the total download time while maintaining compatibility with standard HTTP servers that support byte-range requests.
2Speed
If multiple transport protocol connections are established to read portions of media content, then real-time media content streaming is achieved, but the data flow regulation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the client continuously monitors the playback position and compares it with the download progress of multiple connections. Based on this feedback, the client dynamically adjusts the data flow from each connection to prevent buffer underflow and overflow, ensuring smooth real-time playback while managing the complexity through systematic control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamic adjustment of data flow rates for each transport connection based on real-time buffer status and playback progress. The system adapts the downloading speed of each connection dynamically, increasing or decreasing data flow as needed to maintain consistent playback without glitches, thereby achieving real-time streaming performance.
3Speed
If the server provides real-time media content streaming service, then the user can view media content in real-time, but not all Web-based media content hosts can provide such service
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the server to provide real-time streaming capabilities, the patent inverts the approach by implementing the real-time streaming functionality on the client side. The client uses multiple transport protocol connections with byte-range requests to achieve real-time playback, making the solution adaptable to any standard HTTP server without requiring special server-side streaming support.
4Productivity
If data segment sizes are increased to reduce connection overhead, then network efficiency improves, but buffer underflow and overflow issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically adjusts the data segment sizes and flow rates for each transport connection based on real-time buffer status. When the buffer is filling up, the system reduces the data segment size or flow rate to prevent overflow. When the buffer is running low, it increases the data flow to prevent underflow. This dynamic adaptation maintains both network efficiency and playback quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors buffer levels and provides feedback to the data flow regulation mechanism. Based on this feedback, it adjusts the downloading parameters of multiple connections to maintain optimal buffer occupancy, preventing both underflow and overflow conditions while maximizing network efficiency through coordinated multi-connection downloading.
Data Source
AI summary
Glitch-free media streaming is provided by a client computing device (“client”) independent of whether a remote computing device (“host”) associated with media content provides real-time media content streaming services. Specifically, the client computing device (“client”) provides a user with real-time media content streaming services by establishing multiple connections to the host to read respective portions of the media content by sending byte-range transport protocol requests to the host. As the reading operations progress, the client evaluates transmit rates over respective ones of the connections in view of a real-time media content playback rate to regulate data flow into a streaming media buffer and provide the user with a consistent high-quality (glitch-free) streaming media presentation.