IP Stream Ad Insertion via PMT Positional Markers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current targeted advertising systems face challenges in IP-based video streams due to time jitter, which limits ad delivery and requires larger buffers, and are constrained by bandwidth in QAM systems, making it difficult to synchronize ads with video content effectively.
Innovation Solution
The method involves inserting positional and referential content information, using a Program Map Table (PMT) with special descriptors like AT EDGE and APPROACHING EDGE markers, to synchronize ad streams with video streams in multicast IP delivery, ensuring MPEG compliance and seamless integration with existing systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If IP-based video streams are used for targeted advertising, then ad delivery flexibility and bandwidth utilization are improved, but time jitter increases requiring larger buffers
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by inserting positional and referential content information markers into the video stream in advance. These markers provide timing and synchronization data that allow the STB to prepare for ad insertion without requiring large buffers, thus resolving the contradiction between IP delivery flexibility and buffer size requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary elements (positional and referential content information markers) that mediate between the IP video stream and the ad insertion process. These markers act as synchronization signals that enable precise ad timing without requiring large buffers to compensate for time jitter, thus maintaining both flexibility and reducing buffer requirements.
2Measurement precision
If QAM systems are used for targeted advertising, then time synchronization is improved, but bandwidth availability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal solution that works across both QAM and IP systems by using MPEG-compliant positional and referential content information markers. This multi-functional approach allows the same synchronization methodology to be applied in different system types, enabling IP systems to achieve QAM-level synchronization accuracy without being constrained by QAM bandwidth limitations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If MPEG-compliant synchronization methods are implemented, then compatibility with existing systems is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by using existing MPEG-compliant infrastructure and markers that are already present in standard video streams. The STB uses its existing MPEG decoding capabilities to process the positional and referential content information, eliminating the need for specialized external synchronization hardware or complex additional processing systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for delivering targeted advertisements into a QAM or IP stream that provides accurate synchronization. The method includes synchronizing the internal content of a IP stream delivering video with an advertisement (ad) stream by providing content information in the IP stream and the network stream, the content information including positional information and/or referential information, wherein the positional information is inserted at key locations identified with a PTS value, and wherein the referential information refers to a position in the IP stream or the ad stream, the referential information including either a PTS value or a frame count.