Media Server On-the-fly Transcoding for Adaptive Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of managing and storing multiple replicas of video on demand content for adaptive streaming across various devices and encoding technologies leads to significant storage and management challenges, as content providers need to maintain hundreds or thousands of files to support adaptive streaming.
Innovation Solution
A media server performs on-the-fly transcoding of a single stored rendition of video on demand content, generating requested portions in real-time to offer multiple renditions for adaptive streaming, reducing storage requirements and utilizing a caching mechanism to reuse generated portions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple replicas of video content are stored for each device type and encoding technology to support adaptive streaming, then the system can provide adaptive streaming to multiple devices, but the storage requirements and management complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs transcoding operations in advance and stores the transcoded video segments in a cache memory. When a client requests video content, the pre-transcoded segments are readily available in the cache, eliminating the need to store multiple complete video replicas for different device types. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by preparing content beforehand while maintaining minimal storage requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a media server with cache memory as an intermediary between the source video content and multiple client devices. This intermediary performs on-the-fly transcoding of video segments according to the specific requirements of each client device, acting as a mediator that adapts the content without requiring pre-stored replicas for each device type. This resolves the contradiction by centralizing the adaptation function while minimizing storage needs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple replicas of video content are stored for different device types and encoding technologies, then adaptive streaming can be supported, but the management complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs transcoding operations in advance and stores the transcoded video segments in a cache memory. When a client requests video content, the pre-transcoded segments are readily available in the cache, eliminating the need to store multiple complete video replicas for different device types. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by preparing content beforehand while maintaining minimal storage requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a media server with cache memory as an intermediary between the source video content and multiple client devices. This intermediary performs on-the-fly transcoding of video segments according to the specific requirements of each client device, acting as a mediator that adapts the content without requiring pre-stored replicas for each device type. This resolves the contradiction by centralizing the adaptation function while minimizing storage needs.
3Quantity of substance
If a single rendition of video content is stored and transcoded on the fly for different renditions, then storage requirements are reduced, but the transcoding processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs transcoding operations in advance and stores the transcoded video segments in a cache memory. When a client requests video content, the pre-transcoded segments are readily available in the cache, eliminating the need to store multiple complete video replicas for different device types. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by preparing content beforehand while maintaining minimal storage requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a caching mechanism that stores previously transcoded video segments in cache memory. When the same or similar video segments are requested again, the system retrieves them directly from the cache without performing redundant transcoding operations. This continuity of useful action resolves the contradiction by eliminating repeated processing while maintaining low storage requirements through selective caching.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving a request at a media server from a computing device for a portion of a particular rendition of content that is available for adaptive streaming. The request received while the media server has access to a single rendition of the content. When the portion is part of the single rendition, the media server sends the portion retrieved from the single rendition to the computing device in response to the request. When the portion is not part of the single rendition, the media server generates the portion by transcoding a corresponding portion of the single rendition of the content, stores the generated portion in a cache of the media server, and sends the generated portion to the computing device in response to the request. The method further includes removing portions of one or more outdated renditions from the cache while maintaining the generated portion in the cache.