Network Appliance Content Injection for SSAI

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing server-side ad insertion (SSAI) systems are costly, inefficient, and lack personalization and adaptability, as they rely on third-party servers that are distant from users and struggle with scalability and location-awareness.

Innovation Solution

Implementing content injection using network appliances that are closer to users, allowing for localized personalization, improved scalability, and adaptive advertisement insertion based on user location and context.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If third-party servers are used for server-side ad insertion, then ad insertion functionality is provided, but system cost increases and efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvead insertion efficiencyVSAvoidsystem cost
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the ad insertion functionality from external third-party servers and relocates it to the edge network appliance, eliminating the need for costly external services while maintaining the ad insertion capability locally at the network edge

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The edge network appliance acts as an intermediary between the content delivery network and end users, performing ad insertion operations locally rather than relying on external third-party servers, thus reducing system complexity and cost

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If third-party servers are used for ad insertion, then ad delivery is achieved, but personalization and location-awareness are limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepersonalization capabilityVSAvoiduser location context
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements location-aware ad insertion by utilizing the edge network appliance's local knowledge of user location and context, enabling personalized ad delivery that adapts to specific geographic and contextual conditions rather than using generic third-party server approaches

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the edge network appliance continuously monitors user location, device characteristics, and contextual information to dynamically adjust and personalize ad insertion decisions, improving adaptability through real-time data utilization

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Productivity

If traditional SSAI systems are used, then ad insertion is provided, but scalability is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem scalabilityVSAvoidsystem flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the centralized ad insertion function into distributed edge network appliances deployed across multiple locations, enabling the system to scale horizontally by adding more edge nodes rather than relying on a single centralized third-party server infrastructure

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4156651B1Content injection using a network appliance
Publication Date: 2025.05.14 INTEL CORP
  • EP4156651B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4156651B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4156651B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A network appliance includes quality of service circuitry to monitor operational context of the network appliance; and injection circuitry to: identify a content insertion slot in the stream; obtain a rule from a rule database; interface with analytics circuitry to determine inputs for the rule based on a context of the stream; interface with rule execution circuitry to execute the rule with the inputs for the rule, wherein the execution of the rule results in a determination to insert content into the stream; and in response to the determination to insert content into the stream: interface with the quality of service circuitry to determine insertable content to insert into the stream; and transmit over the egress port of the network appliance, the insertable content in the content insertion slot to a device consuming the stream, while buffering the stream in a memory device of the network appliance