Content delivery framework with autonomous CDN partitioned into multiple virtual CDNs

• US 10,142,191 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2013
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Level 3 Communications LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Level 3 Communications LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Varney, Lewis Robert, Lipstone, Laurence R., Crowder, William, Swart, Andrew, Newton, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Keller, Michael A
• Application Number:
  US14/105,981
• Publication Number:
  US 20140223018A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,810 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0808 with cache invalidating means G06F12/0815 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/173 using an interconnection network, e.g. matrix, shuffle, pyramid, star, snowflake
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/177 Initialisation or configuration control processor initialisation G06F9/4405
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5083 Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5041 characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2503 : Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 : using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4535 : using an address exchange platform which sets up a session between two nodes, e.g. rendezvous servers, session initiation protocols [SIP] registrars or H.323 gatekeepers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/58 : Caching of addresses or names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 : Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 : Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 : specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1078 : Resource delivery mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2885 : Hierarchically arranged intermediate devices, e.g. for hierarchical caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 : Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 : Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 : Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 : Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 : Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/03 : Protocol definition or specification protocol conformance testing H04L1/244

Abstract

A content delivery network (CDN) includes a single autonomous CDN partitioned into multiple virtual CDNs, the multiple virtual CDNs being organized into a CDN hierarchy. Each virtual CDN is allocated separate physical resources. Within the CDN hierarchy, at least one parent virtual CDN has at least one child virtual CDN. A parent virtual CDN grants at least one privilege to at least one child virtual CDN.

Claims

1. A content delivery network (CDN) including a plurality of physical resources, said CDN comprising:

a single autonomous CDN partitioned into multiple virtual CDNs, said multiple virtual CDNs being organized into a CDN hierarchy, and said multiple virtual CDNs having at least some overlap,

each virtual CDN of said multiple virtual CDNs being allocated separate physical resources of said plurality of physical resources,

wherein at least one virtual CDN has at least one dedicated content delivery (CD) service selected from the group of CD services comprising;

cache services, rendezvous services, collector services, reducer services, and control services, and

wherein operation of at least one CD service in said CDN is based on control information received from a control service in said CDN, and

wherein, within said CDN hierarchy, at least one parent virtual CDN has at least one child virtual CDN, and wherein said at least one parent virtual CDN grants at least one privilege from a group of one or more privileges to said at least one child virtual CDN,

wherein said group of one or more privileges includes;

authority of the at least one child virtual CDN to use CD services inherited from the parent virtual CDN, and

wherein said at least one privilege granted to the at least one child virtual CDN is subject to one or more of;

(i) expiration, (ii) revocation, and (iii) renewal, and

wherein, when a first service in a child virtual CDN in said CDN hierarchy issues a request to a second CD service in a parent virtual CDN in said CDN hierarchy, said parent virtual CDN is configured to either;

(i) handle the request, or (ii) proxy the request to another CD service, or (iii) redirect the request to another CD service.

2. The CDN of claim 1 wherein said at least one privilege granted to the at least one child virtual CDN is selected from the group of privileges comprising:

(i) authority to run specific service types;

(ii) authority to manage specific hardware resources;

(iii) authority to bind specific properties to specific service types;

(iv) authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN of the at least one child virtual CDN;

(v) authority to grant specific privileges to descendant virtual CDNs of the at least one child virtual CDN.

3. The CDN of claim 2 wherein said authority to manage specific hardware resources comprises authority to manage specific machines or clusters.

4. The CDN of claim 2 wherein said authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN of the at least one child virtual CDN comprises:

authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN of the at least one child virtual CDN for requests related to certain properties.

5. The CDN of claim 1 wherein, when said at least one parent virtual CDN grants at least one privilege to said at least one child virtual CDN,

each particular child virtual CDN of said at least one child virtual CDN is provided with one or more of:

(i) a set of service types that said particular child virtual CDN can run,

(ii) a set of machines on which said particular child CDN can run said service types,

(iii) a set of properties that can be bound to each service type on said particular child virtual CDN, and

(iv) a set of rules constraining interactions with said particular child virtual CDN'"'"'s parent virtual CDN.

6. The CDN of claim 1 wherein each virtual CDN forms a physical boundary on the resources used to deliver content for a set of properties.

7. The CDN of claim 1, wherein said other service is in the child virtual CDN.

8. The CDN of claim 1, wherein said other service is in another CDN, distinct from both said child virtual CDN and said parent virtual CDN.

9. The content delivery network of claim 1, wherein said multiple virtual CDNs include a first virtual CDN and a second virtual CDN, and wherein first virtual CDN has first dedicated CDN services, and said second virtual CDN has second dedicated CDN services, and wherein said first dedicated CDN services include at least one kind of CDN service not in said second dedicated CDN services.

10. The CDN of claim 1, wherein a plurality of said virtual CDNs share at least one dedicated CDN service.

11. A method comprising:

(A) partitioning an autonomous content delivery network (CDN) into multiple virtual CDNs having at least some overlap, said autonomous CDN including a plurality of physical resources, wherein at least one virtual CDN has at least one dedicated content delivery (CD) service selected from the group of CD services comprising;

cache services, rendezvous services, collector services, reducer services, and control services, and

wherein operation of at least one CD service in said CDN is based on control information received from a control service in said CDN;

(B) forming a CDN hierarchy from said multiple virtual CDNs wherein, within said CDN hierarchy, at least one parent virtual CDN has at least one child virtual CDN;

(C) allocating separate physical resources of said plurality of physical resources to each of said multiple virtual CDNs; and

(D) said at least one parent virtual CDN granting at least one privilege from a group of one or more privileges to said at least one child virtual CDN,

wherein said group of one or more privileges includes;

authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN of the at least one child virtual CDN, and

wherein said at least one privilege granted to the at least one child virtual CDN is subject to one or more of;

(i) expiration, (ii) revocation, and (iii) renewal, and

wherein, when a first service in a child virtual CDN of said CDN issues a request to a second service in a parent virtual CDN of said CDN, said parent virtual CDN is configured to either;

(i) handle the request, or (ii) proxy the request to another CD service, or (iii) redirect the request to another CD service.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one privilege granted to said at least one child virtual CDN is selected from the group comprising:

(i) authority to run specific service types;

(ii) authority to manage specific hardware resources;

(iii) authority to bind specific properties to specific service types;

(iv) authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN of the at least one child virtual CDN; and

(v) authority to grant specific privileges to other descendant virtual CDNs of the at least one child virtual CDN.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said authority to manage specific hardware resources comprises authority to manage specific machines or clusters.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN comprises:

authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN for requests related to certain properties.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

a parent virtual CDN revoking at least one privilege from a child virtual CDN of said parent virtual CDN.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

a parent virtual CDN renewing said at least one privilege of a child virtual CDN of said parent virtual CDN.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein said granting at least one privilege to said at least one child virtual CDN by said at least one parent virtual CDN comprises:

providing each particular child virtual CDN of said at least one child virtual CDN with one or more of;

(i) a set of service types said particular child virtual CDN can run,

(ii) a set of machines on which said particular child virtual CDN can run said service types,

(iii) a set of properties that can be bound to each service type on said particular child virtual CDN, and

(iv) a set of rules constraining interactions with said particular child virtual CDN'"'"'s parent virtual CDN.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said other service is in the child virtual CDN.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said other service is in another CDN, distinct from both said child virtual CDN and said parent virtual CDN.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein said allocating separate physical resources in (C) comprises:

(C)(1) allocating separate physical clusters to each of said multiple virtual CDNs.

23. The method of claim 11, wherein said multiple virtual CDNs include a first virtual CDN and a second virtual CDN, and wherein first virtual CDN has first dedicated CDN services, and said second virtual CDN has second dedicated CDN services, and wherein said first dedicated CDN services include at least one kind of CDN service not in said second dedicated CDN services.

24. The method of claim 11, wherein a plurality of said virtual CDNs share at least one dedicated CDN service.

21. The method of 11 further comprising, for a particular virtual CDN of said multiple virtual CDNs:

configuring services for said particular virtual CDN.

22. The method of 21 further comprising:

binding properties to the services on said particular virtual CDN.

25. A method comprising:

(A) partitioning an autonomous content delivery network (CDN) into multiple virtual CDNs, said multiple virtual CDNs having at least some overlap, said autonomous CDN including a plurality of physical resources;

(B) forming a CDN hierarchy from said multiple virtual CDNs, wherein, within said CDN hierarchy, a parent virtual CDN has a child virtual CDN, wherein at least one virtual CDN has at least one dedicated content delivery (CD) service selected from the group of CD services comprising;

cache services, rendezvous services, collector services, reducer services, and control services, and wherein operation of at least one CD service in said CDN is based on control information received from a control service in said CDN;

(C) allocating separate physical resources of said plurality of physical resources to each of said multiple virtual CDNs; and

(D) said parent virtual CDN granting at least one privilege from a group of one or more privileges to said child virtual CDN, wherein said group of one or more privileges includes;

authority to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN of the at least one child virtual CDN, and wherein said at least one privilege granted to the at least one child virtual CDN is subject to one or more of;

(i) expiration, (ii) revocation, and (iii) renewal, and

wherein, when a first service in a child virtual CDN of said CDN issues a request to a second service in a parent virtual CDN of said CDN, said parent virtual CDN is configured to either;

(i) handle the request, or (ii) proxy the request to another CD service, or (iii) redirect the request to another CD service.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said at least one privilege is selected from the group comprising:

(i) authority for said child virtual CDN to run specific service types;

(ii) authority for said child virtual CDN to manage specific hardware resources;

(iii) authority for said child virtual CDN to bind specific properties to specific service types;

(iv) authority for said child virtual CDN to use services inherited from the parent virtual CDN; and

(v) authority for said child virtual CDN to grant specific privileges to descendant virtual CDNs of the child virtual CDN.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

the parent virtual CDN revoking a privilege from the child virtual CDN.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

the parent virtual CDN renewing said privilege of the child virtual CDN.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein said granting at least one privilege comprises:

providing said child virtual CDN with one or more of;

(i) a set of service types said child virtual CDN can run,

(ii) a set of machines on which said child virtual CDN can run said service types,

(iii) a set of properties that can be bound to each service type on said child virtual CDN, and

(iv) a set of rules constraining interactions between said child virtual CDN and said parent virtual CDN.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein said multiple virtual CDNs include a first virtual CDN and a second virtual CDN, and wherein first virtual CDN has first dedicated CDN services, and said second virtual CDN has second dedicated CDN services, and wherein said first dedicated CDN services include at least one kind of CDN service not in said second dedicated CDN services.