Adaptive multicast delivery of media streams

• US 10,412,464 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2017
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Major, Robert Drew, Hurst, Mark B., Muhlestein, Herrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, William J
• Application Number:
  US15/649,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20170311048A1
• Time in Patent Office: 789 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 Unicasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64738 Monitoring network characteristics, e.g. bandwidth, congestion level data switched network analysis H04L41/14; monitoring functioning in data switched networks H04L43/0817; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

Various systems, methods and devices adaptively manage the multicast delivery of multiple media programs. Each of the media programs is encoded into multiple media streams, each stream having a different bitrate, frame rate, resolution or other encoding parameter. A computer receives feedback about the delivery of the multiple streams and automatically adapts the number of streams available for at least one of the multiple media programs in response to the received feedback. This allows resources to be applied to those multicast streams having the greatest user demand.

Claims

1. A method executable by a computer system to adaptively manage the multicast delivery of a live media program to a plurality of client devices, wherein the method comprises:

encoding the live media program by the computer system in real time to create a number of encoded streams each representing the live media program, wherein each of the encoded streams has different encoding parameters than the other streams of the live media program, and wherein the number of encoded streams is at least two;

receiving feedback about the delivery of each of the encoded streams by the computer system; and

adapting, by the computer system, the number of streams encoded for at least one of the multiple media programs in response to the received feedback so that the encoding and delivery of at least one of the more popular encoded streams is continued while the encoding of at least one of the less popular encoded streams is terminated.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the encoded streams represents a copy of the same live media program encoded with a different bit rate.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the adapting comprises encoding fewer streams of the live media program when the feedback indicates a decrease in available bandwidth.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the adapting comprises directing that at least one of the plurality of client devices use a different encoded stream of the live media program when the encoding of the encoded stream previously used by the at least one of the plurality of client devices is terminated.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising the computer system directing that terminated streams be provided instead over a different delivery medium.

6. The method of claim 5 when the different delivery medium is a direct broadcast satellite medium.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the encoding and adapting are performed in real time by the computer as the number of encoded streams of the live media program are delivered to clients.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the feedback comprises demand information describing a real-time demand for each of the number of encoded streams, and wherein the adapting comprises discontinuing delivery of at least one encoded stream if the real-time demand for the at least one encoded stream is less than a threshold value.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the feedback is provided by a multicast delivery server, and wherein the adapting comprises the computer system communicating with the multicast delivery server to discontinue the delivery of the at least one encoded stream of the live media program.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the adapting comprises initiating an instruction to at least one of the client devices receiving a less popular encoded stream of the live media program that directs the at least one client device to subsequently obtain the terminated stream of the media program from a unicast delivery source that is different from the multicast delivery server.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein segments of the streams are delivered in response to HTTP requests received from the plurality of client devices.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the adapting comprises responding to the HTTP requests for the segments of terminated streams by providing an HTTP code indicating that the terminated stream is no longer available.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the HTTP code indicates an alternate source for the same content contained in the terminated stream.

14. A computer system having a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to adaptively manage the multicast delivery of a live media program that is encoded in real time into a plurality of streams, each stream made up of segments having different encoding parameters than the segments of the other streams of the live media program, and wherein the processor is further configured to adaptively manage the multicast delivery of the live media program to a plurality of client devices via a network by:

receiving requests from the plurality of client devices via the network, wherein each of the requests identify at least one of the plurality of streams;

delivering the segments associated with each of the streams in response to the requests received from the plurality of client devices via the network;

monitoring the number of requests received for each of the plurality of streams of the live media program; and

adapting a number of the streams of the live media program that are encoded for delivery to the plurality of client devices in response to the monitored number of requests so that encoding and delivery of at least one of the more popular encoded streams of the live media program is continued while encoding and delivery of at least one of the less popular encoded streams of the live media program is terminated.

15. The computer system of claim 14 wherein segments of the streams are delivered in response to HTTP requests received from the plurality of client devices.

16. The computer system of claim 15 wherein the adapting comprises responding to the HTTP requests for the segments of terminated streams by providing an HTTP code indicating that the terminated stream is no longer available.

17. The computer system of claim 16 wherein the HTTP code indicates an alternate source for the same content contained in the terminated stream.

18. A data processing system comprising:

an encoding system configured to produce a plurality of streams of a live media program in real time as the live media program is received, wherein each of the plurality of encoded streams represents a copy of the same live media program encoded using a different encoding parameter;

a multicast delivery system configured to provide multicast delivery of the plurality of encoded streams to each of a plurality of clients, to monitor the multicast delivery of the plurality of streams, and to provide feedback about the monitored delivery of the plurality of media streams; and

a resource management system configured to receive the feedback about the monitored delivery of the plurality of media streams and, responsive to the feedback, to adapt a number of the plurality of media streams representing the media program that are encoded by the content delivery system so that delivery of at least one of the more popular encoded streams of the live media program is continued while encoding and delivery of at least one of the less popular encoded streams of the live media program is terminated.

19. The data processing system of claim 18 wherein the feedback describes demand for each of the plurality of media streams representing the live media program, and wherein the resource management system is configured to adapt the plurality of media streams by directing the multicast delivery system to temporarily terminate delivery of streams of the media program having demand below a threshold.

20. The data processing system of claim 19 wherein the streams are delivered in response to HTTP requests received from the clients, wherein the multicast delivery system responds to the HTTP requests for terminated streams with an HTTP code indicating that the terminated stream is no longer available, and wherein the HTTP code indicates an alternate source for the same content contained in the terminated stream.