Hierarchical Content Store Trick Play Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current video on demand systems face challenges in supporting trick play options for content streamed from remote caches, as they require full program transfer before playback can begin, leading to delays and inefficient bandwidth usage.
Innovation Solution
The system allows streaming of content from a remote cache to a user device before the full program is stored locally, while supporting trick play commands by tracking and managing frames, allowing trick play data to be sent from the remote cache without retransmitting already received frames during normal playback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the full program is transferred from remote cache to local cache before streaming begins, then trick play commands can be supported, but the user experiences a delay equal to the full program transfer time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching and storing trick play data (I-frames and P-frames) in the local cache before the user actually requests trick play functionality. This allows the trick play data to be ready when needed, eliminating the delay that would otherwise occur when transferring the entire program beforehand.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the necessary trick play data (specifically I-frames and P-frames) from the remote cache and stores them locally, rather than transferring the complete program. This selective extraction enables trick play support while significantly reducing the transfer time and data volume required.
2Adaptability or versatility
If trick play data is requested from remote cache during normal playback, then trick play functionality is available, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements local quality by maintaining different types of data in the local cache with different qualities - full-quality video data for normal playback and compressed trick play data (I-frames and P-frames) for trick play operations. This allows the system to serve trick play requests from local storage without requiring additional bandwidth consumption from the remote cache.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-storing trick play data in the local cache during normal playback operations. When trick play is subsequently requested, the data is already available locally, eliminating the need for additional bandwidth consumption to retrieve it from the remote cache in real-time.
3Reliability
If only locally stored programs support trick play commands, then trick play is reliable, but user experience is confusing when some programs support it and others don't
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by enabling trick play functionality for all programs regardless of their storage location. By implementing pre-fetching of trick play data for remote cache programs, the system makes trick play reliably available for both locally stored and remotely stored content, eliminating the inconsistency in user experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The local cache acts as an intermediary between the remote cache and the user device. It stores trick play data for remote programs, mediating the delivery of trick play functionality uniformly across all programs whether they originate from local or remote storage, thus providing consistent user experience.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for supporting video on demand requests in a system supporting hierarchical content stores, e.g., program caches, is described. Requested content is requested by a local streaming device from a remote cache when it is not available in a local cache. Content, e.g., I, P and B frames, supplied by the remote cache is tracked and content delivery is initiated prior to receipt of the full program from the remote content store. Trick play content is requested as needed from the remote content store to respond to trick play commands. Frames which are received as part of the trick play content stream are tracked and not included in normal play data subsequently obtained from the remote cache. The storage of the trick play data along with subsequent normal play data results in a full set of the program content being received and stored in a local cache for streaming in response to a VOD request.