Predictive Positioning Agent for Streaming Trick Play Latency
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
There are significant delays in executing trick play operations such as fast-forward and rewind in streaming programs due to messaging and processing delays in client-server and peer-to-peer architectures, which affect the user experience by causing a lag between the input and the actual execution of these commands.
Innovation Solution
A predictive positioning agent on the user device calculates a predictive position based on measured delay times to compensate for the latency, allowing the streaming program to advance or rewind accordingly before the user inputs a play request, thereby minimizing the perceived delay and enhancing the user experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If trick play operations are executed through client-server messaging architecture, then the system maintains centralized control and reliability, but significant delays occur between user input and operation execution
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores predictive positions for trick play operations before the user actually inputs the command. When a user requests fast-forward or rewind, the system has already prepared the target positions in advance, allowing immediate execution without waiting for server round-trip messaging, thus reducing delay while maintaining centralized control through pre-computed predictions
Solution Approach 2:
The system compensates for anticipated messaging and processing delays by calculating predictive positions that account for the expected time lag. This cushioning approach ensures that when the trick play operation is finally executed, it lands at the correct position despite the inherent delays in the client-server architecture
2Measurement precision
If the streaming program waits for server confirmation before executing trick play operations, then data accuracy is maintained, but user experience suffers due to perceived lag
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of predictive positions and prepares the streaming program state in advance, so when the user inputs a trick play command, the system can execute immediately with pre-computed accuracy rather than waiting for server confirmation, thus improving user experience while maintaining position precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from historical trick play operations and messaging delay measurements to continuously refine its predictive position calculations. By analyzing past performance data and actual server response times, the system adjusts its predictions to maintain high accuracy without requiring real-time server confirmation for each operation
Data Source
AI summary
A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium to receive a streaming program, calculate a delay time that occurs between an instant in time when a trick play input is received and an instant in time proximate to an onset of executing the trick play input, and calculate a predicted position of the streaming program based on the delay time, the type of trick play input, the speed of the trick play input, and a difference in the streaming program progress resulting from the delay to execute the trick play input.