Video load balancing system for a peer-to-peer server network

• US 10,057,337 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2016
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apogem Capital LLC As Successor Administrative Agent
• Original Assignee: AvaSure, LLC
• Inventors: Kyser, Ryan, Meinke, Brian, Ensink, Brian John
• Primary Examiner(s): Boutah, Alina A
• Application Number:
  US15/241,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20180054476A1
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0013 Medical image data A61B1/00011, A61B6/56, A61B8/56 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0077 Devices for viewing the surface of the body, e.g. camera, magnifying lens
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1076 Resource dissemination mechanisms or network resource keeping policies for optimal resource availability in the overlay network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A live-feed video balancing system includes a peer-to-peer server network wherein each server communicates with the remaining servers of the peer-to-peer server network and each monitors corresponding performance criteria of a dedicated server of the peer-to-peer server network to define a hosting capacity for the dedicated server. The hosting capacity is communicated to the remaining servers and the servers cooperatively assess the corresponding hosting capacities from the monitoring servers to determine a potential hosting server having a first hosting capacity and the remaining servers have a range of second hosting capacities. The potential hosting server, in response to a hosting request, is placed in communication with an image capturing device that delivers the live video feed. The hosting server places the image capturing device in selective communication with the potential hosting server to deliver the live video feed to the customer terminal to define an active hosting server.

Claims

1. A live-feed video balancing system comprising:

a plurality of servers placed in communication to define a peer-to-peer server network, wherein each server of the peer-to-peer server network is placed in communication with each remaining server of the peer-to-peer server network, and wherein;

each server of the peer-to-peer server network defines a monitoring server that monitors at least one corresponding performance criteria of a dedicated server of the peer-to-peer server network;

each monitoring server defines a corresponding hosting capacity for the dedicated server, wherein the corresponding hosting capacity is based on the at least one corresponding performance criteria;

each monitoring server communicates the corresponding hosting capacity of the dedicated server to the remaining servers such that the corresponding hosting capacity is communicated to the remaining servers at predetermined intervals; and

the plurality of servers of the peer-to-peer server network cooperatively assess the communicated corresponding hosting capacities from all of the monitoring servers to determine a potential hosting server, wherein the potential hosting server has a first hosting capacity and the remaining servers have a range of second hosting capacities, wherein the first hosting capacity is greater than any of the corresponding hosting capacities within the range of second hosting capacities;

the potential hosting server, in response to a request for a live video feed from a customer terminal, is placed in communication with an image capturing device that delivers the live video feed, the potential hosting server being adapted to place the image capturing device in selective communication with the potential hosting server to deliver the live video feed to the customer terminal to define an active hosting server.

2. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring server also defines the dedicated server such that each monitoring server defines a self-monitoring server of the peer-to-peer server network that communicates the corresponding hosting capacity of the self-monitoring server to the remaining servers of the peer-to-peer server network.

3. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 1, wherein the image capturing device is one of a plurality of image capturing devices that are each in selective communication with the peer-to-peer server network.

4. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 3, wherein the customer terminal is one of a plurality of customer terminals that are each in selective communication with the peer-to-peer server network.

5. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one corresponding performance criteria includes remaining data capacity.

6. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 2, wherein when one of the self-monitoring servers of the plurality of servers defines a failure mode characterized by absence of a communication to the remaining servers regarding the corresponding hosting capacity of the corresponding dedicated server, the remaining servers of the peer-to-peer server network that are free of the failure mode define a reallocated peer-to-peer server network, wherein the self-monitoring server that defines the failure mode is placed out of communication with the remaining servers of the reallocated peer-to-peer server network and also out of communication with the customer terminal and the image capturing device.

7. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 6, wherein when one of the self-monitoring servers defines the failure mode, the self-monitoring servers of the reallocated peer-to-peer server network communicate a failure signal to a service module corresponding to the self-monitoring server defining the failure mode.

8. The live-feed video balancing system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of servers are positioned within at least two separate physical locations.

9. A method for live streaming a plurality of server-hosted video feeds, the method comprising steps of:

identifying a plurality of potential customer terminals;

identifying a plurality of image capturing devices;

coupling a plurality of servers to define a peer-to-peer server network, wherein each server of the peer-to-peer server network is in communication with each remaining server of the peer-to-peer server network;

determining a corresponding hosting capacity for each server of the plurality of servers, wherein each server defines a monitoring server that operates to monitor at least one performance criteria of one corresponding monitored server within the peer-to-peer server network, wherein each monitoring server assigns a corresponding hosting capacity for the corresponding monitored server based upon the at least one performance criteria of the corresponding monitored server, and wherein the corresponding hosting capacity of each corresponding monitored server of the peer-to-peer server network is communicated to each remaining server of the peer-to-peer server network;

delivering a video request from a requesting customer terminal of the plurality of potential customer terminals to the peer-to-peer server network, wherein the video request identifies a requested image capturing device of the plurality of image capturing devices that is to be placed in communication with the requesting customer terminal via a hosting server of the peer-to-peer server network;

identifying the hosting server, wherein the hosting server is defined as the server having a first corresponding hosting capacity and the remaining servers are defined as having a range of second corresponding hosting capacities, wherein the first corresponding hosting capacity is greater than any of the corresponding hosting capacities within the range of second corresponding hosting capacities; and

placing the requested image capturing device in communication with the hosting server and placing the hosting server in communication with the requesting customer terminal to deliver a live video feed from the requested image capturing device to the requesting customer terminal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each monitoring server is also the corresponding monitored server such that each server defines a self-monitoring server of the peer-to-peer server network that self-monitors the at least one performance criteria and communicates the at least one performance criteria to the remaining servers of the peer-to-peer server network.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of determining a hosting capacity occurs substantially continuously.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of determining a hosting capacity occurs at least after each video request is delivered.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein when one of the self-monitoring servers defines the hosting server with respect to at least one requested image capturing device and also defines a failure mode characterized by at least one of an absence of an outgoing communication to the remaining servers regarding the corresponding hosting capacity, the method further comprises the step of:

redefining the hosting server from the self-monitoring server that defines the failure mode to a self-monitoring server that is free of the failure mode and also defines the first corresponding hosting capacity.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises a step of:

the remaining servers communicating a failure signal to a service module corresponding the self-monitoring server defining the failure mode.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the redefining step is performed by the self-monitoring servers of the peer-to-peer server network that are free of the failure mode.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one corresponding performance criteria includes a percentage of memory utilization.

17. A method for live streaming a plurality of server-hosted video feeds, the method comprising steps of:

defining a server web defined by a plurality of self-monitoring servers, wherein each self-monitoring server of the server web is in communication with each remaining server of the server web, and wherein each self-monitoring server monitors at least one corresponding performance criteria of the respective self-monitoring server, and wherein each self-monitoring server communicates the corresponding performance criteria to each remaining server of the server web;

determining a potential hosting server, wherein the self-monitoring servers of the server web assess each corresponding performance criteria to define a first performance criteria that corresponds to the potential hosting server, and wherein each remaining performance criteria of the remaining self-monitoring servers collectively defines a range of second performance criteria;

identifying a plurality of potential customer terminals;

identifying a plurality of image capturing devices;

delivering a video request from a requesting customer terminal of the plurality of potential customer terminals to the server web, wherein the video request identifies a requested image capturing device of the plurality of image capturing devices that is to be placed in communication with the requesting customer terminal via a hosting server of the peer-to-peer server network;

placing the potential hosting server in communication with the requested image capturing device and the requesting customer terminal, wherein the potential hosting server defines an active hosting server that places the requested image capturing device in communication with the requesting customer terminal via the active hosting server; and

redetermining an updated potential hosting server wherein the active hosting server and the remaining self-monitoring servers of the server web communicates updated corresponding performance criteria to each other self-monitoring server of the server web to redefine an updated first corresponding performance criteria and an updated range of second corresponding performance criteria.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the server web defines a peer-to-peer server network.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising steps of:

receiving a video termination request from the requesting customer terminal that is in communication with the requested image capturing device via the active hosting server, wherein the termination request relates to selectively terminating the communication between the requesting customer terminal and the requested image capturing device;

stopping the live server-hosted video feed;

redetermining the corresponding performance criteria for each self-monitoring server in the server web; and

redetermining the updated potential hosting server wherein the active hosting server and the remaining self-monitoring servers of the server web communicates updated corresponding performance criteria to each other self-monitoring server of the server web to redefine an updated first corresponding performance criteria and an updated range of second corresponding performance criteria.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein when one of the self-monitoring servers defines the active hosting server with respect to at least one requested image capturing device and also defines a failure mode characterized by at least one of an absence of an outgoing communication to the remaining self-monitoring servers regarding the corresponding performance criteria, the method further comprising a step of:

redefining the active hosting server from the self-monitoring server that defines the failure mode to a self-monitoring server that is free of the failure mode and also defines the first corresponding performance criteria.