System and method of minimizing network bandwidth retrieved from an external network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11539768-B2
Application number	US-202217648684-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2022
Priority date	Apr 28, 2005
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

A system and method are provided of minimizing network bandwidth used from an external network by client peers in a local network. The method can include the operation of organizing a plurality of clients each having media streamlets and a client parent in a structure within the local network. Mapping information propagates through the structure. The mapping information represents local streamlet locations as stored by the plurality of clients. Another operation is retrieving a local streamlet from a client identified in the mapping information as having the local streamlet for the requesting client.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A client device operating as one of a plurality of clients during streaming of a media stream made up of a series of media segments available from an external server via a network, the client device comprising a processor, an interface to a network and a non-transitory data storage configured to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform an automated process comprising:
providing, by the client device, segment mapping information to at least one other of the plurality of clients via the network, the segment mapping information describing a subset of the series of media segments representing at least a portion of the media stream that was previously obtained from the external server and that is now available directly from the client device, wherein the segment mapping information identifies each media segment in the subset that is available directly from the client device;
in response to a subsequent request received by the client device from another client device via the network, wherein the subsequent request comprises the segment mapping information of a requested media segment, the client device providing the requested media segment directly to the other client via the network to thereby allow the other client device to present the requested media segment to a viewer.

2. A client device as in claim 1 wherein the plurality of clients is linked in a hierarchical structure.

3. The client device as in claim 2 , wherein the automated process further comprises creating a defined number of tokens for an additional client that joins the hierarchal structure.

4. The client device as in claim 3 , wherein the creating a defined number of tokens comprises creating the defined number of tokens based on a maximum number of mapping information exchange connections that are supportable.

5. A client device as in claim 1 wherein the automated process further comprises:
sharing additional segment mapping information with the other client, the segment mapping information comprising an address of the at least one media segment that is usable by the other client to obtain the at least one media segment from the client device.

6. A client device as in claim 5 , wherein the sharing comprises distributing segment mapping information that includes information received from the other client.

7. A client device as in claim 1 wherein the other client obtains the media segments from the media client if the media segments are available from the media client, and otherwise obtaining the media segments from the external server.

8. A client device as in claim 1 , wherein the automated process further comprises the client device applying a priority policy rule defining segment quality priorities and network priorities that are used when obtaining the media segments for playback, and wherein the network priorities define the ordering in which media segments at defined qualities should be retrieved from other clients on the local network and servers on external networks.

9. A client device as in claim 1 wherein the plurality of clients is linked in a ring structure.

10. An automated process performed by a client device configured to operate as one of a plurality of clients in a local area network, the client device comprising a processor, memory and an interface to the local area network, wherein the client device is configured to obtain and playback a media stream made up of a series of media segments that are each made available from an external server, wherein the automated process comprises:
receiving segment mapping information from another client device of the plurality of clients, the segment mapping information comprising local addresses of media segments that are usable by the client device to obtain media segments directly from the other client device;
retrieving the series of media segments by the media player, wherein at least some of the series of media segments are retrieved directly from the other client device using the local addresses; and
playing back the media segments by the client device to thereby present the media stream to a viewer.

11. The automated process of claim 10 , wherein the client device is further configured to obtain additional segment mapping information from other ones of the plurality of clients and to retrieve additional media segments of the media stream from the other clients using the additional segment mapping information during playback of the media stream by the client device.

12. The automated process of claim 11 , wherein the client device is further configured to obtain the additional media segments from the other clients if the additional media segments are available from the other clients, and to otherwise obtain the additional media segments from the external server.

13. The automated process of claim 12 , wherein the client device is further configured to obtain the additional segments from the other client instead of the external server to thereby reduce consumption of network bandwidth.

14. The automated process of claim 13 wherein the client device further applies a priority policy rule defining segment quality priorities and network priorities that are used when obtaining media streamlets for media playback, wherein the segment quality priorities consider the particular quality of each segment.

15. The automated process of claim 14 wherein each segment comprises at least a portion of a data file that contains an individually identifiable and individually addressable portion of the media stream having a particular quality.

Assignees

• Dish Tech Llc

Inventors

• Hurst Mark B
• Larsen Loren
• Anderson David S
• Wang Lei

Classifications

• G06F15/16

  Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs {(coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B)} · CPC title

• H04L65/80

  Responding to QoS · CPC title

• H04L67/568

  Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching · CPC title

• H04N21/47202

  for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand · CPC title

• H04N21/8456

  by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments · CPC title