Uniform PDU Streaming for CDN Scalability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current content delivery networks face scaling challenges when streaming media data over the Internet, as unicast transmission methods require duplicate efforts and increased network and server resources, while multicast and broadcast are not well-suited for the Internet infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
A method where a content delivery network server creates a uniform protocol data unit (PDU) and aligns multiple user devices with unique IP addresses to receive the PDU simultaneously, reducing redundancy and load by communicating a single copy of the PDU over a unicast network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If unicast transmission is used to deliver media data to multiple user devices, then each user device can receive the data individually, but the server must create and transmit duplicate copies of the data to each device, increasing network bandwidth consumption and server processing load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple unicast transmission operations into a single multicast transmission. The server creates one copy of the media data and transmits it to multiple user devices simultaneously using multicast addressing, eliminating the need to create and transmit duplicate copies to each device individually. This reduces network bandwidth consumption while maintaining reliable data delivery to all recipients.
2Ease of operation
If unicast transmission is used to deliver media data to multiple user devices, then each user device can receive the data individually, but the server processing load and complexity increase due to duplicate packet formation and management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual unicast transmission tasks into a single multicast transmission operation. The server processes and transmits one copy of the media data to all user devices simultaneously, reducing server processing load and complexity while still enabling each device to receive the data individually through the multicast mechanism.
3Loss of energy
If multicast or broadcast transmission is used to deliver media data to multiple user devices, then network bandwidth consumption is reduced, but these methods are not well-suited for the Internet infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses IP multicast addressing, which is an existing Internet-standard mechanism that allows a single data copy to be efficiently distributed to multiple recipients. This approach maintains compatibility with Internet infrastructure while achieving the bandwidth efficiency of multicast, as IP multicast is already supported by Internet routing protocols and network infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for delivering content are disclosed. A media stream including media data is received from a content provider at a content delivery network (CDN) server. The CDN server creates a uniform protocol data unit (PDU) comprising the media data. A plurality of requests to receive the uniform PDU are received at the CDN server from a plurality of devices is received at a CDN server. Each device is associated with a unique IP address. The CDN server communicates the uniform PDU over a network to the plurality of devices using the unique IP address for each of the plurality of devices.