Streaming Platform Event Request Throttling Through Client Pauses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Streaming platform events, particularly live and interactive content, lead to overwhelming network and server resource issues due to unexpected client requests for updated content, causing server strain and bottlenecks.
Innovation Solution
A system generates client messages indicating the duration of a streaming platform event and targeted client device functionalities to be stopped, broadcasting these messages to client devices to reduce non-critical requests during the event, thereby alleviating server load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If client devices continuously monitor and request updated content during live streaming events, then content freshness and reliability are improved, but server load and network traffic increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching and caching content updates before they are actually needed during live events. Client devices maintain local caches of expected content updates, so when updates are needed during high-load events, the system can serve content from the cache rather than requiring real-time server requests, thus maintaining content freshness while reducing server load.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary caching layer between client devices and the server. This intermediary cache stores pre-fetched content updates and allows client devices to retrieve updates locally during live events, reducing direct server requests while maintaining content freshness. The cache acts as a mediator that decouples the continuous content refresh requirement from the server load constraint.
2Ease of operation
If client devices perform multiple background functionalities (logging, prefetching, probing) to ensure optimal streaming, then service quality is improved, but concurrent request volume increases during critical events
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by selectively disabling specific background functionalities (logging, prefetching, probing) during critical live events when server load is highest. Not all client functionalities are stopped uniformly, but rather the most request-intensive ones are temporarily reduced or disabled, while core streaming functionality remains operational. This partial throttling reduces concurrent request volume while maintaining essential service quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of client device functionalities based on real-time event conditions. Client devices dynamically enable or disable background services such as logging, prefetching, and probing based on the current state of the streaming event and server load conditions. During critical events, these functionalities are dynamically reduced or paused, and then re-enabled when the event concludes or conditions improve, thus optimizing the balance between service quality and request volume.
3Power
If the system disables background client functionalities during events, then server strain is reduced, but client device functionality and user experience may be degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments client device functionalities into critical and non-critical categories. Critical functionalities such as actual content streaming and playback are maintained and enabled during events, while non-critical background functionalities like detailed logging, prefetching, and probing are disabled. This segmentation allows the system to reduce server strain by disabling only the non-essential background services while preserving core user-facing streaming capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuity of useful action by ensuring that core streaming functionality continues uninterrupted during events. While background services are disabled to reduce server strain, the primary useful action of content delivery to users remains continuous and operational. The patent ensures that disabling background functionalities does not interrupt or degrade the main streaming service, thus maintaining useful action continuity.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method and system for reducing concurrent server requests during streaming platform events. For example, the disclosed method and system alleviate pressures on server and network resources during a streaming platform event by causing client devices to stop various targeted functionalities during the event. Once the streaming platform event ends, the disclosed method and system ensure that the targeted functionalities are again resumed on the client devices. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.