Over-the-top Content Preloading for Reduced Start Delay
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Over-the-top (OTT) content delivery systems experience significant delays (5-8 seconds) when starting content due to the need for various operations such as content retrieval, device registration, and license activation, resulting in a poor user experience compared to traditional TV viewing.
Innovation Solution
Implementing preprocessing of preferred OTT content by user devices, which includes retrieving addresses, manifest files, and licenses, and storing chunks of content, allowing immediate playback upon user selection by leveraging a connected application server, CDN server, and license server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If OTT content delivery system performs content retrieval, device registration, and license activation operations before playback, then content security and proper authorization are ensured, but content start delay increases to 5-8 seconds
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs device registration, content retrieval, and license activation in advance before the user actually requests to play the content. By completing these authorization operations preliminarily and storing the results (device identifiers, content metadata, license keys) locally, the system ensures content security and authorization are already in place, so when playback is requested, no additional delay occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates local copies of necessary authorization data (device registration information, content metadata, license keys) and stores them in the user device's memory. These copies enable immediate playback without needing to repeatedly query remote servers, thus maintaining authorization reliability while eliminating start delay.
2Use of energy by moving object
If OTT content is delivered without preprocessing, then system resource usage is minimized, but user experience deteriorates due to 5-8 second start delay
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preprocessing operations (device registration, content metadata retrieval, license activation) in advance when the user device is connected to the network, rather than waiting until playback is requested. This preliminary action ensures all necessary data is ready locally, providing immediate content start and excellent user experience while efficiently utilizing network resources during idle connection periods.
3Extent of automation
If all authorization and content retrieval operations are performed remotely before playback, then centralized control is maintained, but network dependency increases and start delay occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs all necessary authorization operations remotely in advance under centralized control, storing the results locally on the user device. This maintains centralized automation for security and licensing while enabling fast local playback without network dependency during actual content delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates local copies of authorization data (device identifiers, content metadata, license keys) on the user device. These local copies enable immediate content delivery speed without requiring continuous network connectivity or remote server queries during playback, thus resolving the contradiction between centralized control and delivery speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A device receives information associated with over-the-top (OTT) content associated with a user of the device. The device retrieves, from an OTT content delivery system, an address a playback position, and a manifest file associated with the OTT content, where the manifest file identifies chunks of content associated with the OTT content. The device retrieves, from the OTT content delivery system, one or more chunks, of the chunks of content associated with the OTT content, based on the address, the playback position, and the manifest file, where the one or more chunks are fewer than all of the chunks. The device stores the one or more chunks in the memory, receives an instruction to play the OTT content after the one or more chunks are stored, and plays the one or more chunks, based on the instruction, while simultaneously obtaining remaining chunks of the OTT content.