Dynamic packager network based abr media distribution and delivery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016308958-A1
Application number	US-201615098971-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 14, 2016
Priority date	Apr 17, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method, system and non-transitory computer-readable medium for distributing adaptive bitrate (ABR) media are disclosed. The method includes initially ingesting a first ABR media element at a first network node and receiving, at the first network node, a second ABR media element that was initially ingested at a second node. The method further includes initiating distribution of the first and second ABR media elements from the first network node to a first plurality of network nodes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for distributing adaptive bitrate (ABR) media in a network, the method comprising:
initially ingesting a first ABR media element at a first network node; receiving, at the first network node, a second ABR media element that was initially ingested at a second node; and initiating distribution of the first and second ABR media elements from the first network node to a first plurality of network nodes.

2 . The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising initially ingesting the first ABR media element in a national data center and initially ingesting the second ABR data element in a regional data center.

3 . The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising initially ingesting the first ABR media element in a domain owned by a first entity and initially ingesting the second ABR media element in a domain owned by a second entity.

4 . The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising maintaining a delivery database comprising locations from which ABR media elements can be retrieved.

5 . The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising responsive to determining that a request for the first ABR media element has been received from a client device, determining a best packager from which to obtain the first ABR media element and directing the client device to the best packager to retrieve the first ABR media element.

6 . The method as recited in claim 5 wherein determining the best packager comprises applying constraint-based routing to the delivery database.

7 . The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising, responsive to determining that a best packager is not available that meets a constraint for delivery of the first element of ABR media, initiating instantiation of a new packager that can meet the constraint and directing the client to the new packager to retrieve the first element of ABR media.

8 . The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising pushing the first element of ABR media from the first node to the first plurality of nodes along a distribution route.

9 . The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising pulling distribution of the first element of ABR media on-demand from the first node along a distribution route to a given node in the first plurality of nodes.

10 . The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising pushing the first element of ABR media to the first plurality of nodes along a first distribution route and pulling distribution the second element of ABR media on-demand from the first network node to a given network node along a second distribution route.

11 . The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising dynamically constructing a channel map for a client device based on client entitlements, business logic and delivery constraints associated with the ABR media to which the client is entitled.

12 . The method as recited in claim 5 wherein the first element of ABR media is one of a channel, a channel bundle, and a requested video-on-demand.

13 . A system comprising a plurality of network nodes for distributing adaptive bitrate (ABR) media, the system configured to:
initially ingest a first ABR media element at a first network node; receive, at the first packager, a second ABR media element that was initially ingested at a second network node; and initiate distribution of the first and second ABR media elements to a first plurality of nodes in a peer-to-peer manner.

14 . The system as recited in claim 13 wherein the system is further configured to maintain a delivery database comprising locations from which ABR media elements can be retrieved.

15 . The system as recited in claim 14 wherein the system is further configured to dynamically construct a channel map for a client based on client entitlements, business logic and delivery constraints associated with the ABR media.

16 . The system as recited in claim 15 wherein the system is further configured to create a service manifest associated with the first ABR media element when the first ABR media element is initially ingested, the service manifest comprising a plurality of directive elements.

17 . The system as recited in claim 16 wherein the system is further configured to exchange summary service manifests across boundaries between one of different regions of a provider and different providers.

18 . The system as recited in claim 17 wherein the system is further configured to use the summary manifest to enforce entitlements at the boundaries on behalf of a content provider for routed ABR media.

19 . The system as recited in claim 17 wherein the system is further configured to use the summary manifest to roll up ABR media delivery analytics from downstream providers to an upstream provider for routed ABR media.

20 . The system as recited in claim 17 wherein the system is further configured to use the summary manifest to enforce service level agreements by a downstream provider for routed ABR media.

21 . The system as recited in claim 17 wherein the system is further configured to use the summary manifests exchanged at the boundaries to enforce entitlements that are mandated by a content provider for a routed media element and included in a service manifest when the routed media element was initially ingested.

22 . The system as recited in claim 21 wherein the specific media element was initially ingested by a downstream provider on behalf of the content provider.

23 . The system as recited in claim 17 wherein the system is further configured to use the summary manifest to roll up, at the boundary, ABR media delivery analytics from downstream providers for a routed ABR media and to provide the ABR media delivery analytics to an upstream provider of the routed ABR media.

24 . The system as recited in claim 17 wherein the system is further configured to use the summary manifests to enforce a service level agreement by a downstream provider of routed ABR media.

25 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a sequence of program instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method for distributing adaptive bitrate (ABR) media, the method comprising:
initially ingesting a first ABR media element at a first network node; receiving, at the first network node, a second ABR media element that was initially ingested at a second node; and initiating distribution of the first and second ABR media elements from the first network node to a first plurality of network nodes in a peer-to-peer manner.

Assignees

• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Navali Prabhudev
• Nair Raj

Classifications

• H04L47/365

  Dynamic adaptation of the packet size · CPC title

• H04L67/1031

  Controlling of the operation of servers by a load balancer, e.g. adding or removing servers that serve requests · CPC title

• H04L67/104 Primary

  Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks · CPC title

• H04L65/80

  Responding to QoS · CPC title

• H04N21/2662

  Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities · CPC title