Media transcoding based on priority of media

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10764396-B2
Application number	US-201715845471-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Dec 18, 2017
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

In one example, the present disclosure describes a device, computer-readable medium, and method for transcoding digital media in an optimized manner based on media priority. For instance, in one example, a method includes obtaining a plurality of media content items awaiting transcoding before being distributed over a content distribution network, identifying a plurality of transcoding resources available to transcode the plurality of media items, and generating a schedule for transcoding the plurality of media content items using the plurality of transcoding resources, wherein the schedule prioritizes those media content items of the plurality of media content items that have the highest relative business value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining, by a processing system including at least one processor, a plurality of media content items awaiting transcoding before being distributed over a content distribution network;
identifying, by the processing system, a plurality of transcoding resources available to transcode the plurality of media content items;
constructing, by the processing system, a graph-based representation of the plurality of media content items and the plurality of transcoding resources;
generating, by the processing system, a plurality of paths through the graph-based representation, wherein each path of the plurality of paths represents a possible combination of one media content item of the plurality of media content items, one transcoding resource of the plurality of transcoding resources, one transcoding format of a plurality of transcoding formats, and one streaming origin of a plurality of streaming origins;
calculating, by the processing system, a plurality of costs, wherein each cost of the plurality of costs is associated with one path of the plurality of paths; and
generating, by the processing system and based at least in part on the plurality of costs, a schedule for transcoding the plurality of media content items using the plurality of transcoding resources, wherein each media content item of the plurality of media content items has a business value, wherein the schedule prioritizes those media content items of the plurality of media content items that have a higher relative business value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transcoding resources includes at least one private transcoding resource owned by an operator of the content distribution network and at least one public transcoding resource leased from a third party via a public cloud.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating comprises:
applying, by the processing system, a mathematical optimization to the graph-based representation to identify a cheapest possible way of transcoding the plurality of media content items.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the graph-based representation comprises:
a first plurality of nodes, wherein each node in the first plurality of nodes represents a different media content item of the plurality of media content items;
a second plurality of nodes, wherein each node in the second plurality of nodes represents a different encoding profile of a plurality of encoding profiles;
a third plurality of nodes, wherein each node in the third plurality of nodes represents a different transcoding resource of the plurality of transcoding resources; and
a fourth plurality of nodes, wherein each node of the fourth plurality of nodes represents a different final streaming origin of a plurality of final streaming origins for the plurality of media content items.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each path of the plurality of paths comprises a plurality of links connecting nodes of the first plurality of nodes, the second plurality of nodes, the third plurality of nodes, and the fourth plurality of nodes.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the mathematical optimization maximizes a number of the plurality of links.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the mathematical optimization limits a number of links that is made to public transcoding resources in the plurality of transcoding resources.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the mathematical optimization optimizes a number of links to result in a highest return on a cost associated with the number of links.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of links comprises:
a first link connecting a start node to a first node of the first plurality of nodes;
a second link connecting the first node to a second node of the second plurality of nodes;
a third link connecting the second node to a third node of the third plurality of nodes;
a fourth link connecting the third node to a fourth node of the fourth plurality of nodes; and
a fifth link connecting the fourth node to an end node.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein each link of the plurality of links is associated with a flow representing a number of allowed connections and a cost representing a monetary cost of the link.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first link is associated with a cost of zero, and a flow that considers all variants on the plurality of encoding profiles.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second link is associated with a cost modeled on a service-level agreement, and a flow that is fixed at one.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the third link is associated with a cost of computing cost per unit of time and an amount of time to create a variant of an encoding profile associated with the third node, and a flow that is based on a maximum number of available transcoding resources of the plurality of transcoding resources.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the fourth link is associated with a cost of computing cost per unit of time and an amount of time to create a variant of an encoding profile associated with the third node, and a flow that is based on a maximum number of available transcoding resources of the plurality of transcoding resources.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the fifth link is associated with a flow that is based on a total remaining capacity at the final streaming origin of the plurality of final streaming origins that is represented by the fourth node.

16. The method of claim 3 , wherein the mathematical optimization is a minimum cost, maximum flow analysis.

17. The method of claim 3 , wherein the mathematical optimization learns based on previous iterations of the obtaining, the identifying, and the generating.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein information learned based on the previous iterations includes an error rate encountered when transcoding media content items from certain sources.

19. A device, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a plurality of media content items awaiting transcoding before being distributed over a content distribution network;
identifying a plurality of transcoding resources available to transcode the plurality of media content items; and
constructing a graph-based representation of the plurality of media content items and the plurality of transcoding resources;
generating a plurality of paths through the graph-based representation, wherein each path of the plurality of paths represents a possible combination of one media content item of the plurality of media content items, one transcoding resource of the plurality of transcoding resources, one transcoding format of a plurality of transcoding formats, and one streaming origin of a plurality of streaming origins;
calculating a plurality of costs, wherein each cost of the plurality of costs is associated with one path of the plurality of paths; and
generating, based at least in part on the plurality of costs, a schedule for transcoding the plurality of media content items using the plurality of transcoding resources, wherein each media content item of the plurality of media content items has a business value, wherein the schedule prioritizes those media content items of the plurality of media content items that have a higher relative business value.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor,

Assignees

• Quickplay Media Co
• Directv Group Inc

Inventors

• Hooper Anthony

Classifications

• H04L67/565 Primary

  Conversion or adaptation of application format or content (adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561) · CPC title

• H04L67/62 Primary

  Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests · CPC title

• H04L67/61

  taking into account QoS or priority requirements · CPC title

• H04L67/2895

  Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data provider application, e.g. reverse proxies · CPC title

• H04N21/234309

  by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or from Quicktime to Realvideo (conversion of standards in analog television systems H04N7/01) · CPC title