Live Media Backset Delivery for Buffering Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users experience long buffering delays and transmission glitches when downloading live media transmissions over internet networks due to bandwidth limitations, degrading the viewing experience and causing parts of the media content to be unrecoverable.
Innovation Solution
A server processes digital data streams of live transmissions into discrete media assets that can be addressed by client devices without requiring the entire stream, allowing for earlier delivery of assets corresponding to earlier times in the transmission, and enabling clients to buffer data proactively, even during suboptimal throughput, by determining backsets based on network and device characteristics, and allowing parallel downloads from multiple sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the client device buffers data before displaying live transmission content, then playback continuity is improved during bandwidth limitations, but rebuffering delays increase when the buffered data is exhausted
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by backsetting the client device to download media assets from earlier time points in the live transmission before they are actually needed for playback. This proactive downloading ensures that buffer data is replenished in advance, preventing rebuffering delays and maintaining playback continuity even during bandwidth limitations.
2Reliability
If the server delivers the entire digital media stream before client devices can access it, then data completeness is ensured, but transmission time increases and live viewing experience is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the digital media stream into discrete, addressable media assets representing individual subsections of the live transmission. Each media asset can be independently downloaded and accessed by client devices without requiring the entire stream to be available, enabling parallel downloads from multiple sources and significantly reducing transmission time while maintaining data completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a temporal dimension to media asset delivery by allowing clients to access and download media assets from different time points in the live transmission simultaneously. This enables backsetting operations where clients can download earlier content while newer content continues to be generated, effectively operating in multiple temporal dimensions rather than a single sequential stream.
3Device complexity
If traditional streaming protocols are used for live transmission delivery, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but transmission reliability decreases due to packet loss and network issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates multiple copies of media assets distributed across different servers and network locations. Client devices can download these copied assets from multiple sources simultaneously, providing redundancy against packet loss and network failures. This copying approach maintains implementation simplicity by using standard HTTP-based protocols while dramatically improving transmission reliability through distributed delivery.
Data Source
AI summary
In general, this disclosure describes techniques of determining a backset for client devices attempting to download data of a live transmission. A backset is an amount of temporal delay that the client devices are delayed by when viewing the live transmission. As described herein, a media content provider may determine a recommended backset for each client devices based characteristics of the client device. Each client device may then be backset by the determined value, or may calculate its own backset based on the recommended backset. Establishing a backset for each client device may avoid rebuffering of live transmission data.