Media Server Content Fragment Insertion via Encoded Manifest Keys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Content service providers face challenges in delivering media content that originates from multiple sources, such as video-on-demand presentations with integrated ad content, to older or less capable media players that cannot handle content from multiple sources.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves generating manifest data with encoded URLs that include keys identifying interstitial periods of secondary content, allowing media servers to differentiate and retrieve content fragments from either primary or secondary sources, ensuring seamless playback even on devices that cannot handle composite manifests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If content from multiple sources is delivered to end user devices, then content variety and advertising integration are improved, but compatibility with older or less capable media players deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A content insertion server acts as an intermediary between the media player and content sources. The server receives requests from the media player, determines whether to insert secondary content (such as advertisements) based on the request characteristics, and retrieves appropriate content fragments from different sources. This mediator enables multi-source content delivery while maintaining compatibility with simpler media players that cannot natively handle composite manifests.
2Adaptability or versatility
If composite manifests with multiple content sources are used, then content integration capability is improved, but device complexity requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The content delivery system is segmented into separate functional components: a content insertion server that handles the complexity of manifest composition and content retrieval, and a simplified media player that only needs to handle basic streaming. The manifest is segmented into primary content segments and secondary content segments, each handled by appropriate servers, allowing the media player to remain simple while still receiving integrated content.
3Ease of operation
If transparent content delivery from multiple sources is implemented, then user experience is improved, but server-side processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The content insertion server performs preliminary actions by pre-determining content insertion points and preparing content fragments before delivery. The server analyzes media player requests in advance, identifies appropriate insertion points in the content stream, and prepares secondary content segments ready for insertion. This preliminary processing handles the complexity centrally, allowing transparent content delivery without increasing client-side processing requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques are described for providing media presentations that include content originating from multiple sources in ways that are effectively transparent to end user devices. Manifest data provided to an end user device include a key encoded in the URL for each of the content fragments. The key encodes one or more interstitial periods of secondary content within the overall presentation of primary content. When a media server receives a content request from the end user device, the media server determines from the key encoded in the URL and the range of content requested whether the request corresponds to the primary content or the secondary content.