Server-Side Manifest Generation for Ad Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Client devices face high development and processing overhead when inserting advertisements into media content streams, due to varying media playback functionalities, operating systems, and computing resources, which complicates scalable content playback across different devices.
Innovation Solution
A manifest file is generated at a server, referencing clips of both requested content and advertisements, allowing client devices to simply play back the combined stream without needing to buffer and interleave content and advertisement streams, thereby simplifying client-side software and enhancing scalability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If client-side software is used to buffer and interleave content and advertisement streams, then advertisement insertion functionality is achieved, but development and processing overhead increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the advertisement insertion functionality from the client device and relocates it to the server. The server generates manifest files that contain pre-arranged sequences of content and advertisement clips, eliminating the need for complex client-side buffering and interleaving software.
Solution Approach 2:
The server performs the advertisement insertion operation in advance by generating manifest files that already contain the interleaved sequence of content and advertisement clips. This preliminary action eliminates the need for real-time processing at the client device.
2Productivity
If client devices perform real-time buffering and interleaving of streams, then advertisement insertion is achieved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive buffering and interleaving operations from the client device and relocates them to the server, where resources are more abundant. The client device only needs to play back the pre-processed manifest file.
Solution Approach 2:
The server performs the resource-intensive stream interleaving operation in advance and stores the result as a manifest file. This eliminates the need for real-time processing at the client device, significantly reducing processing overhead and energy consumption.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex client-side software is implemented for ad insertion, then advertisement functionality is achieved, but scalability across different devices is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the device-specific complex processing requirements from the client side and consolidates them on the server side. This allows the same simple manifest file playback functionality to work across diverse client devices with varying capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The server-generated manifest file serves as a universal solution that can be played back on any client device regardless of its specific capabilities. The manifest file encapsulates all the complexity, allowing simple client software to achieve advertisement insertion functionality across multiple device types.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of server-side advertisement injection are described. In one embodiment, a computing device includes logic that receives a request for content from a client device. The logic identifies a targeted advertisement for a user of the client device based on information in the request. The logic further obtains a manifest file associated with the requested content, generates a second manifest file based on a combination of the first manifest file and the targeted advertisement, and transmits the second manifest file to the client device. Because the second manifest file includes references to clips of the content and the targeted advertisement, the client device can play back the content and advertisement without the necessary processing overhead required to manage client-side buffering and insertion of the advertisement within the content.