HLS ABR Video Distribution via Publishing Point Relay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current HTTP-based adaptive bit rate (ABR) video streaming systems for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) encoders are limited in scalability, requiring additional encoders to handle increased requests, which can lead to bottlenecks and inefficiencies in video distribution.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an HLS ABR encoding device that encodes video streams into multiple bit-rate files, a publishing point relay that transfers these files to edge publishing points, allowing edge publishing points to respond directly to HTTP requests, thereby eliminating the need for additional encoders and enabling scalable video distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If additional cache gateways are added to handle increased HTTP requests, then the system can service more requests, but additional encoders are required which increases system complexity and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates multiple publishing points that replicate the video content distribution function. Each publishing point can independently serve HTTP requests, eliminating the bottleneck at the cache gateway. The publishing points act as copies of the content source, allowing parallel request handling without requiring additional encoders.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the content distribution function from the encoding function. The single encoder produces content that is then distributed through multiple publishing points. This segmentation allows the encoding resource to be reused while multiple distribution points handle the request load, resolving the contradiction between handling capacity and encoder quantity.
2Device complexity
If a single cache gateway is used to distribute video content, then the system structure is simple, but the gateway becomes a bottleneck when request volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new dimension to the distribution architecture by adding publishing points at the edge of the network. Instead of scaling vertically (adding more power to a single gateway), the system scales horizontally by distributing content through multiple publishing points across different network locations, thereby increasing throughput without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Publishing points act as intermediaries between the encoder and end users. They receive content from the encoder and serve HTTP requests locally, reducing the load on the cache gateway. This intermediary layer distributes the request processing workload while maintaining a relatively simple overall system structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method and apparatus of distributing a video stream is provided. At a publishing point relay, a plurality of video files encoded from a portion of the video stream from a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Live Streaming (HLS) Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) encoding device are received. Each of the encoded video files having a different bit-rate, the encoded video files received using a protocol for transferring files. Edge publishing point servers are determined that are registered with the publishing point relay to distribute the audio/video stream. Each of the encoded video files received by the publishing point relay are relayed to each of the determined edge publishing points as each video file is received from the HTTP ABR encoding device.