Unicast Adaptive Bitrate Streaming Bandwidth Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video delivery systems face challenges in efficiently managing bandwidth for both streaming and progressive download clients within the same premises, leading to potential disruptions and inadequate video quality due to conflicting delivery mechanisms and limited bandwidth.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of adaptive bitrate technology that dynamically allocates and manages bandwidth through a programmable allocation bandwidth divider, weighted fair queuing, and segment sharing mechanisms within a customer premises device, allowing for dynamic bitrate changes and efficient resource allocation between streaming and progressive download clients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If bandwidth is allocated to streaming clients, then video quality for streaming is improved, but bandwidth availability for progressive download clients deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the bitrate of unicast streaming clients based on real-time network conditions and bandwidth availability. The gateway device monitors network status and automatically changes the bitrate of streaming sessions to optimize video quality while ensuring sufficient bandwidth remains for progressive download clients. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making bandwidth allocation flexible rather than static.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the bitrate parameter of streaming video streams based on network conditions. By adjusting this key parameter, the system can deliver high-quality video when bandwidth is abundant while reducing bitrate to preserve bandwidth for progressive download clients when necessary, thus resolving the trade-off between video quality and bandwidth availability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple streaming clients are served simultaneously, then service coverage is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device merges multiple unicast streaming sessions by delivering a single shared video stream to multiple clients simultaneously. Instead of creating separate full-bitrate streams for each client, the system combines delivery efforts and uses segment sharing mechanisms where progressive download clients can access segments already delivered to streaming clients, thereby reducing total bandwidth consumption while maintaining service coverage for multiple clients.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses segment sharing where video segments delivered to streaming clients are copied and made available to progressive download clients. This copying mechanism allows multiple clients to access the same content without duplicating the full bandwidth consumption, as progressive download clients retrieve segments from the shared pool rather than receiving complete separate streams.
3Manufacturing precision
If bitrate is increased for higher video quality, then video quality is improved, but bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts bitrate based on real-time network conditions and client priorities. When progressive download clients are active, the gateway reduces the bitrate of unicast streaming clients to preserve bandwidth. When network conditions permit, bitrate is increased to improve video quality. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between video quality and bandwidth requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the bitrate parameter adaptively based on network status and client type. By modifying this critical parameter, the system can deliver high-quality video to streaming clients when bandwidth is sufficient while reducing bitrate to accommodate progressive download traffic, thus resolving the trade-off between video quality and bandwidth consumption.
4Loss of energy
If segment sharing is implemented between streaming and progressive download clients, then bandwidth efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device acts as an intermediary that manages segment sharing between unicast streaming clients and progressive download clients. It receives video segments from the content delivery network, delivers them to streaming clients via unicast, and simultaneously makes them available to progressive download clients through HTTP-based progressive download. This intermediary role simplifies the overall system architecture by centralizing segment management at the gateway rather than requiring complex peer-to-peer sharing mechanisms.
Data Source
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Figure 2A
AI summary
A method of delivering unicast adaptive bitrate (UABR) streaming includes receiving, at a content delivery network (CDN) node, a request for a video asset to be streamed at a selected bitrate; loading a manifest for the requested video asset; parsing the manifest for the requested video asset and preloading a plurality of segments across all represented bitrates into a preload cache buffer; fetching requested bitrate segments into a segment combiner; and streaming a combined stream to the requesting entity.