Sequence-Tagged Media Blocks for Low-Latency Streaming

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing streaming technologies face challenges in achieving low-latency media streaming for passive meetings due to high latency introduced by content delivery networks (CDNs) and buffering, while interactive meetings struggle to scale to large user numbers without significant complexity.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a process at a streaming client that involves receiving and processing media samples with sequence identifiers to facilitate low-latency streaming by reducing consecutive runs, reordering media samples, and dropping duplicates, utilizing peer-to-peer delivery, and employing a block format with sequence numbers for efficient media sample management.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If traditional CDN-based streaming is used for passive meetings, then media delivery can scale to global scale, but latency increases to about 30 seconds

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenumber of usersVSAvoidstreaming latency

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The media stream is segmented into individual media samples with sequence identifiers, allowing the streaming client to process and reorder samples independently rather than waiting for complete buffered segments, thereby reducing latency while maintaining scalability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The streaming client acts as an intermediary that receives media samples from multiple sources, uses sequence identifiers to reorder them correctly, and delivers them to the media player, eliminating the need for centralized CDN buffering while maintaining global scalability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of time

If interactive meetings are used to support participant interaction, then latency is reduced for meaningful engagement, but the system becomes difficult to scale beyond about 1,000 users

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinteraction latencyVSAvoidnumber of users

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The streaming client is designed to universally handle media samples from multiple sources with different latencies, using sequence identifiers to correctly reorder and combine them, enabling both low-latency interaction and global scalability in a single system

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

Media samples are pre-tagged with sequence identifiers at the source, allowing the streaming client to perform preliminary sorting and reordering operations without waiting for complete segments, reducing latency while maintaining system simplicity for scaling

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If buffering is implemented in traditional streaming, then media delivery reliability is improved, but latency increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemedia delivery reliabilityVSAvoidbuffering latency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The streaming client uses sequence identifiers as feedback mechanisms to monitor the arrival status of media samples from multiple sources, dynamically reordering and combining them in the correct sequence without requiring extensive buffering, thus maintaining reliability while reducing latency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS20250280048A1Interleaving operations at a streaming client in ultra-low latency streaming of real-time media

Publication Date: 2025.09.04 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

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.