Remote Decisioning Service for Media Substitution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing media substitution systems require significant processing power at the receiver for decision-making and periodic updates of rules, which can be burdensome and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A remote decisioning service is used, where clients send decisioning requests to determine whether to output linear items or substitute them, with a router filtering requests to reduce the load on the decisioning server and allowing stateless scaling, and selecting ads based on client profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If media substitution decisions are made locally at the receiver, then substitution can be performed without remote server involvement, but processing power requirements at the receiver increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex decision-making logic from the receiver and relocates it to a remote decisioning service. The receiver only needs to send simple requests and receive decisions, while the heavy processing of profile matching, rule evaluation, and constraint resolution is performed remotely, significantly reducing local processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a remote decisioning service as an intermediary between the receiver and the media substitution process. This mediator handles all complex decision-making operations, allowing the receiver to maintain simple functionality while still achieving accurate substitution decisions through the intermediary's processing capabilities.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex rules are evaluated locally to resolve constraints between media items, then substitution accuracy improves, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-processing profile data, media item metadata, and constraint rules on the remote server before they are needed for actual substitution decisions. The decisioning service maintains pre-computed profiles and rule sets, so when a substitution request arrives, the complex evaluation has already been prepared, reducing real-time processing time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the receiver stores and processes multiple media items and profiles locally, then substitution decisions can be made independently, but device complexity and memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts profile storage and management from the receiver, placing these data structures on the remote decisioning service instead. The receiver only needs to communicate essential identification information, while the complex profile data, media catalogs, and constraint rules are maintained remotely, significantly reducing receiver complexity.
4Reliability
If periodic updates to substitution rules are implemented, then substitution accuracy is maintained, but system overhead and update frequency requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the decisioning service continuously monitors substitution performance and user responses. Based on this feedback, the service automatically updates profiles, rules, and media recommendations, maintaining high substitution accuracy without requiring frequent manual interventions or system-wide updates.
Data Source
AI summary
In a media substitution system, a client receives a channel including a defined break containing one or more substitutable spots. The client sends a decisioning request to a decisioning service, which determines from the decisioning request whether the client should output the linear item, or whether a substitution decision is required. In the former case, the decisioning service returns a message to the client indicating that no substitution is to take place in the relevant spot and the client outputs the linear item in the corresponding spot, without performing substitution. In the latter case, the decisioning service performs additional processing to select, from a list of items scheduled to the or each spot, an item to be output by the client in that spot, the selection being based on a profile associated with the client. The selection is communicated to the client, which outputs the selected item in the respective spot.