Peer-to-Peer Media Streaming with Sequence Blocks for Low Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing streaming technologies face challenges in achieving low-latency media streaming for large-scale passive meetings due to high latency introduced by content delivery networks (CDNs) and buffering, while interactive meetings struggle to scale efficiently for a large number of users, leading to complexity in computer and network hardware requirements.
Innovation Solution
A streaming process that involves receiving and processing media samples in discrete blocks with sequence identifiers, allowing for low-latency streaming by reducing consecutive runs, reordering samples, dropping duplicates, and utilizing peer-to-peer delivery to manage media streams efficiently, thereby reducing overhead and latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If passive meetings use traditional CDNs and buffering for media delivery, then they can scale to handle global scale media delivery, but they experience significant latency of about 30 seconds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a peer-to-peer intermediary layer where client devices act as intermediate nodes for media distribution. Instead of direct server-to-client delivery through traditional CDNs, media flows through multiple peer devices that forward content to each other, reducing dependency on centralized CDN infrastructure and minimizing buffering latency while maintaining global scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the media delivery system into distributed peer nodes rather than relying on centralized CDN servers. Each peer device independently receives and forwards media segments, creating a distributed delivery network that reduces single-point bottlenecks and enables parallel media distribution paths, thereby reducing latency while preserving scaling capability.
2Loss of time
If interactive meetings are used to support interaction between participants, then low latency is achieved enabling meaningful interaction, but they are difficult to scale to a large number of users and require significant computer and network hardware complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes each peer device universally functional by enabling them to simultaneously consume media content and act as distribution nodes for other peers. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated server infrastructure, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining low-latency interactive capabilities across large user scales through the distributed peer network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the roles of media consumer and media distributor into a single peer device. By combining these functions, the system eliminates separate server hardware requirements and reduces overall hardware complexity while preserving low-latency interaction through the integrated peer-to-peer delivery mechanism.
3Adaptability or versatility
If interactive meetings scale to a moderate number of users, then interaction is supported, but significant complexity is added in terms of computer and network hardware, bandwidth, etc.
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic peer-to-peer media distribution where the network automatically adapts to the number of users. As users join or leave, the peer network dynamically reconfigures distribution paths without requiring static hardware provisioning, enabling scalable adaptability while minimizing fixed hardware complexity through software-defined routing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the peer network to self-organize and self-manage media distribution without centralized control or complex hardware provisioning. Each peer device autonomously discovers other peers, establishes connection paths, and manages media forwarding, allowing the system to scale adaptively while keeping hardware requirements minimal and managed through decentralized software logic.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides techniques and solutions for facilitating low-latency media streaming. Streaming techniques include sending or receiving blocks, where a block contains a sequence identifier for a media type and a single discrete sample of a particular media type. The block does not contain a sample of another media type. The sequence identifier can be used for purposes such as reducing the length of a run of blocks of a particular media type, reordering blocks, or duplicating duplicate blocks. The sequence identifiers also facilitate peer-to-peer streaming techniques, as they can assist in processing blocks that are received by a streaming client from multiple peers.