Input Queued Content Switching Using A Playlist

• US 20100223392A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 09/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Akamai Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Verivue Incorporated (Akamai Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Krishnan, Santosh, Zhu, Qin-Fan, Pond, Daniel, Branam, Steve, Hluchyj, Michael G., Frink, Craig, Radogna, Thomas V., Xu, Weidong
• Granted Patent: US 8,650,602 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP

Abstract

Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for input queued content switching using a playlist. A retrieval sequence is generated using a plurality of content requests based on content location information. A first portion of content is requested to be queued at a first content source, and a second portion of content is requested to be queued at a second content source. A content stream of the first portion and the second portion of content is generated using the retrieval sequence. The generating includes selecting the first portion of content from a queue associated with the first content source and transferring the first portion of content to an output buffer, then terminating transfer of the first portion of content and initiating transfer of the second portion of content from a queue associated with the second content source. The portion of content in the output buffer is transmitted to a client device.

Claims

1. A computerized method comprising:

generating, by a first computing device, a retrieval sequence using a plurality of content requests, the content requests being based on content location information;

requesting a first portion of content to be queued at a first content source and a second portion of content to be queued at a second content source using the retrieval sequence;

generating, at the first computing device, a content stream of the first portion of content and the second portion of content, the generating comprising;

selecting the first portion of content from a queue associated with the first content source using the retrieval sequence,

transferring the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to an output buffer,

terminating transfer of the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to the output buffer, and initiating transfer of the second portion of content from a queue associated with the second content source to the output buffer, by selecting the second portion of content from the queue associated with the second content source using the retrieval sequence; and

transmitting the portion of content in the output buffer to a client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating a retrieval sequence comprises:

generating a plurality of retrieval entries based on each content request;

inserting the retrieval entries into the retrieval sequence.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining a content access delay for each retrieval entry; and

determining a content request time based on the content access delay.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the content request time is based on a content type, a content length, a content source, a temporal value, or any combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting comprises:

sending a first content retrieval request to the first content source and a second content retrieval request to the second content source.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first content source and the second content source are of type transient buffer, persistent storage, network-based, or any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second portion of content is unavailable in the queue associated with the second content source, the selecting the second portion of content comprising:

selecting a substitute portion of content from a queue associated with a third content source based on the retrieval sequence.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first content source and the third content source are the same.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the content requests are based on session control information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content requests are based on a request from a client.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing the transferred portion of content to determine the existence of an indicator.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

inserting control information into the output buffer based on the indicator.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the content location information includes a primary content source, a proxy content source, or any combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the output buffer is a first-in first-out buffer.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the output buffer includes content delivery processing.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the first content source, the second content source, and the first computing device are connected by a switch fabric.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieval sequence is a data structure.

18. A computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device, the computer program product including instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:

generate, by a first computing device, a retrieval sequence using a plurality of content requests, the content requests being based on content location information;

request a first portion of content to be queued at a first content source and a second portion of content to be queued at a second content source using the retrieval sequence;

generate, at the first computing device, a content stream of the first portion of content and the second portion of content, the generating comprising;

selecting the first portion of content from a queue associated with the first content source using the retrieval sequence,

transferring the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to an output buffer,

terminating transfer of the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to the output buffer, and initiating transfer of the second portion of content from a queue associated with the second content source to the output buffer, by selecting the second portion of content from the queue associated with the second content source using the retrieval sequence; and

transmit the portion of content in the output buffer to a client device.

19. A system for input queued content switching, the system comprising:

a content request processor configured to;

generate, by a first computing device, a retrieval sequence using a plurality of content requests, the content requests being based on content location information,

request a first portion of content to be queued at a first content source and a second portion of content to be queued at a second content source using the retrieval sequence;

and

a content retrieval processor configured to;

generate, at the first computing device, a content stream of the first portion of content and the second portion of content, the generating comprising;

selecting the first portion of content from a queue associated with the first content source using the retrieval sequence,

transferring the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to an output buffer,

terminating transfer of the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to the output buffer, and initiating transfer of the second portion of content from a queue associated with the second content source to the output buffer, by selecting the second portion of content from the queue associated with the second content source using the retrieval sequence; and

transmit the portion of content in the output buffer to a client device.

20. A system for input queued content switching, the system comprising:

means for generating, by a first computing device, a retrieval sequence using a plurality of content requests, the content requests being based on content location information;

means for requesting a first portion of content to be queued at a first content source and a second portion of content to be queued at a second content source using the retrieval sequence;

means for generating, at the first computing device, a content stream of the first portion of content and the second portion of content, the generating comprising;

selecting the first portion of content from a queue associated with the first content source using the retrieval sequence,

transferring the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to an output buffer,

terminating transfer of the first portion of content from the queue associated with the first content source to the output buffer, and initiating transfer of the second portion of content from a queue associated with the second content source to the output buffer, by selecting the second portion of content from the queue associated with the second content source using the retrieval sequence; and

means for transmitting the portion of content in the output buffer to a client device.