Remediation of the impact of detected synchronized data requests in a content delivery network

• US 10,154,074 B1
• Filed: 01/04/2016
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conviva Inc.
• Original Assignee: Conviva Inc.
• Inventors: Stoica, Ion, Zhang, Hui, Ganjam, Aditya Ravikumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Schell, Joseph O
• Application Number:
  US14/987,299
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3082 the data filtering being achieved by aggregating or compressing the monitored data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/32 with visual or acoustical indication of the functioning of the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• 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 67/1001 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 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• 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 69/40 : for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 : Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 : 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 Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 : Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/60 : Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client , e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 : directed to client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38

Abstract

Managing synchronized data requests is disclosed. Examples of synchronized data requests include viewer-induced synchronization, failure-induced synchronization, and player-induced synchronization. Information indicative of a potential occurrence of an amount of synchronized requests for audiovisual content that has a potential to have a detrimental impact on one or more components within a content delivery network is obtained. Subsequent to obtaining the information, one or more remediation actions are automatically caused to occur.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

one or more hardware processors configured to;

determine a load threshold beyond which a component in a content delivery environment will degrade;

collect, from a set of remote clients, quality information associated with receipt of audiovisual content;

detect, based at least in part on an evaluation of at least a portion of the quality information collected from the set of remote clients, a potential occurrence of an amount of synchronized requests for the audiovisual content that has a potential to cause the load threshold for the component to be exceeded; and

in response to detecting, based at least in part on the evaluation of the at least portion of the quality information collected from the set of remote clients, the potential occurrence of the amount of synchronized requests for the audiovisual content that has the potential to cause the load threshold for the component to be exceeded, prevent the load threshold from being violated at least in part by performing one or more remediation actions, wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises modifying, for a remote client, at least one of a protocol with which the remote client obtains audiovisual content, a source from which the remote client obtains audiovisual content, a retry rate, and a bitrate at which the remote client obtains audiovisual content; and

a physical memory coupled to the one or more hardware processors and configured to provide the one or more hardware processors with instructions.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the detecting is based at least in part on load information associated with the component.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the load threshold is determined based at least in part on capacity information associated with the component.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the determined load threshold includes one of a maximum number of concurrent connections, an available amount of bandwidth, and a rate at which new connections can be accepted.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the detecting includes analyzing at least one of real-time performance and load data to determine whether one or more performance metrics are indicative of degradation.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the one or more performance metrics includes at least one of buffering quality, connection failures, connection interruptions, time taken to setup a connection, and time taken to start streaming.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to collect at least one of peak concurrent viewer information, join information, join failure information, connection interruption information, and bitrate switching information.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the detecting is based at least in part on historical information and wherein the one or more remediation actions are performed based at least in part on a prediction using the historical information.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the historical information is associated with at least one of client patterns and load patterns associated with the component.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the detecting is based at least in part on information received from a server within a content delivery network.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the server comprises an authentication server.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the synchronized requests comprise at least one of viewer-induced requests, failure-induced requests, and player-induced requests.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the remediation actions treat premium clients preferentially from non-premium clients.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the remediation actions treat clients with longer engagements preferentially over clients with shorter engagements.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the remediation actions treat clients having longer wait times preferentially over clients having shorter wait times.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises sending a command to a client.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises instructing the remote client to perform at least one of changing a protocol with which it obtains content, switching a source from which it obtains content, reducing a retry rate, and reducing a bitrate.

18. A method, comprising:

determining a load threshold beyond which a component in a content delivery environment will degrade;

collecting, from a set of remote clients, quality information associated with receipt of audiovisual content;

detecting, based at least in part on an evaluation of at least a portion of the quality information collected from the set of remote clients, and using one or more hardware processors, a potential occurrence of an amount of synchronized requests for the audiovisual content that has a potential to cause the load threshold for the component to be exceeded; and

in response to detecting, based at least in part on the evaluation of the at least portion of the quality information collected from the set of remote clients, the potential occurrence of the amount of synchronized requests for the audiovisual content that has the potential to cause the load threshold for the component to be exceeded, preventing the load threshold from being violated at least in part by performing one or more remediation actions, wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises modifying, for a remote client, at least one of a protocol with which the remote client obtains audiovisual content, a source from which the remote client obtains audiovisual content, a retry rate, and a bitrate at which the remote client obtains audiovisual content.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the detecting is based at least in part on load information associated with the component.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the load threshold is determined based at least in part on capacity information associated with the component.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the determined load threshold includes one of a maximum number of concurrent connections, an available amount of bandwidth, and a rate at which new connections can be accepted.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein the detecting includes analyzing at least one of real-time performance and load data to determine whether one or more performance metrics are indicative of degradation.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the one or more performance metrics includes at least one of buffering quality, connection failures, connection interruptions, time taken to setup a connection, and time taken to start streaming.

25. The method of claim 18 further comprising collecting at least one of peak concurrent viewer information, join information, join failure information, connection interruption information, and bitrate switching information.

26. The method of claim 18 wherein the detecting is based at least in part on historical information and wherein the one or more remediation actions are performed based at least in part on a prediction using the historical information.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the historical information is associated with at least one of client patterns and load patterns associated with the component.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein the detecting is based at least in part on information received from a server within a content delivery network.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the server comprises an authentication server.

30. The method of claim 18 wherein the synchronized requests comprise at least one of viewer-induced requests, failure-induced requests, and player-induced requests.

31. The method of claim 18 wherein at least one of the remediation actions treat premium clients preferentially from non-premium clients.

32. The method of claim 18 wherein at least one of the remediation actions treat clients with longer engagements preferentially over clients with shorter engagements.

33. The method of claim 18 wherein at least one of the remediation actions treat clients having longer wait times preferentially over clients having shorter wait times.

34. The method of claim 18 wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises sending a command to a client.

35. The method of claim 18 wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises instructing the remote client to perform at least one of changing a protocol with which it obtains content, switching a source from which it obtains content, reducing a retry rate, and reducing a bitrate.

19. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

determining a load threshold beyond which a component in a content delivery environment will degrade;

collecting, from a set of remote clients, quality information associated with receipt of audiovisual content;

detecting, based at least in part on an evaluation of at least a portion of the quality information collected from the set of remote clients, a potential occurrence of an amount of synchronized requests for audiovisual content that has a potential to cause the load threshold for the component to be exceeded; and

in response to detecting, based at least in part on the evaluation of the at least portion of the quality information collected from the set of remote clients, the potential occurrence of the amount of synchronized requests for the audiovisual content that has the potential to cause the load threshold for the component to be exceeded, preventing the load threshold from being violated at least in part by performing one or more remediation actions, wherein performing the one or more remediation actions comprises modifying, for a remote client, at least one of a protocol with which the remote client obtains audiovisual content, a source from which the remote client obtains audiovisual content, a retry rate, and a bitrate at which the remote client obtains audiovisual content.