P2P Media Ingestion with Missing Packet Caching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current IPTV systems face challenges in efficiently ingesting and distributing media content for time-shifted viewing, as multicast and unicast methods are either bandwidth-intensive or require significant infrastructure, while peer-to-peer distribution struggles with caching and sharing media content in a structured manner.
Innovation Solution
A method and system architecture for ingesting media content in a peer-to-peer network that identifies missing data packets and skips corresponding memory sections to efficiently insert them, using metadata to organize and share content blocks across network nodes, allowing for efficient caching and retrieval of media content without buffering large amounts of data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If unicast distribution is used for time-shifted content delivery, then individual user control and content availability are improved, but bandwidth consumption and server resources increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments media content into discrete blocks that can be independently cached and distributed across multiple peer nodes. Each peer caches specific blocks rather than complete streams, enabling efficient retrieval of time-shifted content without requiring full unicast delivery from central servers.
Solution Approach 2:
Peer nodes in the network automatically cache and share content blocks without requiring centralized coordination for each request. The system enables self-organizing content distribution where peers serve each other's content needs, reducing dependency on central server infrastructure and minimizing bandwidth consumption.
2Loss of energy
If multicast distribution is used for live TV streaming, then bandwidth efficiency is improved, but content cannot be accessed for time-shifted viewing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary caching of multicast content blocks at peer nodes before they are needed for time-shifted viewing. By pre-caching content blocks as they arrive through multicast streams, the system enables later retrieval and playback without requiring additional bandwidth for on-demand requests.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a temporal dimension to multicast content delivery by caching content across different time points. Content is received via efficient multicast in real-time, then stored and made available for retrieval at different times, transforming live-streaming content into time-shifted accessible content without additional bandwidth consumption.
3Loss of energy
If P2P distribution is used for content sharing, then bandwidth consumption is reduced, but structured caching and content retrieval become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides media content into standardized blocks with sequential identifiers, creating a simple hierarchical caching structure. Each peer caches specific blocks in order, and retrieval is achieved by requesting blocks by their sequential identifiers, eliminating the need for complex distributed hashing or peer coordination mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements homogeneous caching structures across all peer nodes, where each peer maintains blocks in the same sequential format with identical metadata structures. This uniformity simplifies the retrieval process, as any peer can serve any block using the same standardized protocol, reducing system complexity while maintaining P2P efficiency.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method and system hardware for ingesting media content in a peer-to-peer network from a data stream. The data stream is made up of a sequence of packets of media data, and each packet is identified by a sequence identifier. The method includes commencing caching of the data packets from the data stream. A missing data packet is identified using the sequence identifiers of the packets and the size of the missing data packet is determined. A portion of the memory medium is skipped to provide a skipped portion of medium having no data cached therein. The skipped portion has a size corresponding to the determined size of the missing data packet. The missing data packet is then retrieved and inserted into the skipped portion of the memory medium. The system includes an ingestion element configured to receive the content in a data stream, to define blocks of media data that make up the content, to generate metadata associated with each block, the metadata identifying the construction of the block from the data stream, and to transmit the data stream as a multicast stream to other network nodes. The other network nodes include at least one cache element configured to construct at least one of the blocks from the multicast data stream in accordance with the metadata, and to cache the data block. The system also includes a database accessible to network nodes, the database recording a location of each of the cached data blocks in the network.