Pre-loading Follow-up Content via Local Buffering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content delivery systems experience significant start-up delays and playback issues when transitioning from one content item to another due to bandwidth limitations and the need for uninterrupted data transfer, leading to an unsatisfactory user experience.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a control system with a buffer that pre-fetches and buffers a portion of the next content item based on semantic or bibliographic attributes, allowing immediate playback upon termination of the current item, while dynamically optimizing data transfer rates according to available bandwidth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If content items are streamed or downloaded from a server via a data network, then playback can start as soon as enough data has been received, but significant start-up delays occur when transitioning to follow-up content items due to bandwidth limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching and buffering portions of follow-up content items during the playback of current content items. The control system determines which follow-up content items to prepare based on semantic or bibliographic attributes, and proactively downloads and buffers their portions before they are needed, eliminating start-up delays when users transition to related content.
2Reliability
If the system pre-loads follow-up content items to eliminate playback delays, then seamless transitions are achieved, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pre-loading entire follow-up content items, the system applies partial action by buffering only specific portions of these items. The control system determines appropriate portions to buffer based on content attributes and user behavior patterns, downloading and storing only the necessary segments required for seamless playback transitions, thus reducing overall bandwidth consumption while maintaining playback continuity.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If the buffer stores larger portions of follow-up content items, then playback continuity is ensured, but the buffer size requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by differentiating buffer allocation based on specific content characteristics and user behavior patterns. The control system analyzes semantic and bibliographic attributes of follow-up content items to determine optimal buffer sizes for each item, allocating larger buffers to high-priority content with longer expected retention times and smaller buffers to less critical content, thus optimizing buffer utilization without uniformly increasing overall buffer capacity requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Follow-up content items are determined for being played out when the current play-out of a content item has ended or is scheduled to end. The follow-up content items are determined, based on one or more bibliographic or semantic attributes of the item being played out and, on additional parameters such as the available bandwidth and the required data transfer rate. During the playing out of the content item, at least the first portions of the follow-up content items are retrieved and buffered in a buffer local to the equipment. Upon the playing-out of the content item being halted, the playing-out of the follow-up content items can be started right away from the buffer.