Streaming App Catch-Up via Segment Skippability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing live streaming systems face challenges in addressing latency issues, where users experience lag due to unstable networks or trick plays, leading to incomplete content presentation, either by never catching up or instantly skipping important segments, which can spoil the viewing experience.
Innovation Solution
The system intelligently determines skippable segments by using a manifest that includes segment information and skippable bit values, allowing users to select how much to catch up, while caching only important segments to minimize network usage and ensure seamless viewing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system keeps playing the content item behind the live streaming to avoid spoilers, then the user is protected from spoilers, but the user misses important scenes and cannot fully understand the content
Solution Approach 1:
The content item is divided into multiple segments with different skippable bit values. Important segments (e.g., goal moments in sports) are marked with disabled skippable bits, while less critical segments are marked with enabled skippable bits. This segmentation allows the system to selectively skip content based on importance, resolving the contradiction between catching up to live and preserving important content.
2Speed
If the system allows instant catch-up to live by skipping all missed segments, then the user catches up quickly, but important segments are skipped and user context is lost
Solution Approach 1:
Different segments of the content are assigned different qualities based on their importance. Segments with disabled skippable bits are treated as high-quality content that must be presented, while segments with enabled skippable bits are treated as lower-quality content that can be skipped. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between fast catch-up and content completeness.
3Loss of information
If the system presents all missed segments to ensure complete content, then the user understands context, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and identifies important segments from the missed content using skippable bit values in the manifest. Only these extracted important segments are transmitted and presented to the user, while non-important segments are omitted. This extraction approach resolves the contradiction between content completeness and network efficiency.
4Ease of operation
If the system provides no catching-up options to simplify operation, then the system is easy to operate, but the user cannot control their viewing experience
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the catching-up behavior based on user preferences. Users can select different catching-up options (e.g., catch up to a specific time, skip certain segments), and the system adapts its segment skipping strategy accordingly. This dynamic adaptability resolves the contradiction between operational simplicity and user control flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for skipping a presentation of a portion of segments to catch up to live based on a priority level value is disclosed. For example, a streaming application generates a content item for live streaming where the content item comprises a plurality of segments. In response to determining that playing of the content item lags behind the live streaming of the content item, the streaming application identifies a duration of lag and determines a priority threshold based on the lag. Based on a manifest which includes priority level information, the streaming application determines whether a respective segment needs to be cached. For example, if a priority level for a segment that is within the duration of the lag has a priority level that is higher the priority threshold, then the segment is stored in a cache from a respective network address and is played from the cache.