Multicast Router Tracking User Data Reception

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Multicast transmission in networks lacks the ability to identify receiving user devices, making it difficult to assess content quality and quantify data received by individual devices, as packets do not contain user device information.

Innovation Solution

A system where a network device receives join and leave requests from user devices, removes user device identifiers, and sends requests to a multicast flow analyzer to determine data received by each device during a multicast session, allowing for quality analysis and data quantification.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If multicast transmission is used to distribute content, then network efficiency is improved by reducing packet replication, but the ability to identify receiving user devices is lost

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenetwork efficiencyVSAvoiduser device identification information

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a multicast router as an intermediary device that receives multicast packets without user device identifiers and generates separate unicast packets for each user device. This intermediary resolves the contradiction by maintaining the efficient multicast transmission path while adding the capability to identify and track individual user devices through packet rewriting and forwarding.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Quantity of substance

If user device identifiers are removed from multicast packets, then network bandwidth is optimized, but content quality evaluation becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenetwork bandwidthVSAvoidcontent quality evaluation

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the multicast router tracks which user devices receive which content packets by generating and sending unicast copies. This feedback loop enables the system to evaluate content quality for each user device individually while maintaining optimized multicast bandwidth usage, as the router can monitor reception status and quality metrics for each device.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Productivity

If multicast packets are sent without user device information, then data distribution efficiency is improved, but data reception quantification becomes impossible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata distribution efficiencyVSAvoiddata reception information

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by having the multicast router pre-process incoming multicast packets to identify receiving user devices before forwarding. The router maintains tracking information about which devices should receive which content, enabling it to generate appropriate unicast packets and provide accurate data reception quantification while preserving the efficiency of the original multicast distribution.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20230246946A1Methods and systems for multicast communication session management

Publication Date: 2023.08.03 COMCAST CABLE COMM LLC

AI summary

A computing device may receive a request to join a multicast of content. The request may comprise a user device identifier associated with the user device. The computer device may receive a second request to leave the multicast of the content. The second request may comprise the user device identifier. The computing device may determine a quantity of data received by the user device from the multicast of the content. The computing device may determine the quantity of data received based on the request and the second request. The computing device may apply the quantity of data to an account associated with the user device.