ADAPTIVE MEDIA CACHING FOR VIDEO ON DEMAND

• US 20110093905A1
• Filed: 10/19/2009
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tarbox, Brian J., Chen, So C., McKinley, Brittain S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/92
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2885 Hierarchically arranged intermediate devices, e.g. for hierarchical caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/222 Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end provisioning of proxy services in data packet switching networks H04L67/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A method and on-demand computing system for hierarchical caching of content in an on-demand computing device. The method receives, at the on-demand computing device, a request to send media content to a playback device, where the media content is stored in a media library of a content server. The method retrieves the media content from a hierarchical cache for the on-demand computing device, and sends the media content to the playback device. The hierarchical cache includes a first cache, a second cache, and the content library, where the first cache has a length based on an age of the second cache.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at an on-demand computing device, a request to send media content to a playback device, wherein the media content is stored in a media library of a content server;

retrieving the media content from a hierarchical cache for the on-demand computing device, the hierarchical cache including a first cache, a second cache, and the content library, wherein the first cache has a length based on an age of the second cache; and

sending the media content to the playback device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the media content further comprises:

determining that the second cache includes the media content; and

retrieving the media content from the second cache.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

moving the media content in the second cache to a head of the second cache; and

updating a buy time associated with the media content in the second cache,

wherein the second cache is a least recently used cache.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the media content further comprises:

determining that the second cache does not include the media content;

sending a request to retrieve the media content from the media library of the content server; and

receiving the media content from the content server.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

when the first cache includes the media content;

updating a buy count associated with the media content in the first cache;

computing a popularity value associated with the media content in the first cache; and

when the popularity value exceeds a promote threshold;

moving the media content in the first cache to a mover pool; and

promoting the media content in the mover pool to the second cache.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

when the first cache does not include the media content;

adding the media content to the first cache.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a buy count for the media content to reflect a percentage of the media content sent to the playback device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

computing a window length for the first cache;

computing an age for a tail of the first cache; and

when the age for the tail of the first cache exceeds the window length;

setting a buy count for the tail of the first cache to zero; and

removing the tail of the first cache,

wherein the first cache is a least recently used cache.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein computing the window length further comprises:

computing an age for the tail of the first cache; and

dividing the age for the tail of the first cache by a divider.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when a size of the second cache exceeds a size limit;

removing a tail of the second cache; and

adjusting a used cache size for the second cache,

wherein the second cache is a least recently used cache.

21. A computer-readable medium, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computing device, perform the method of claim 1.

11. An on-demand computing system, comprising:

a memory device resident in the on-demand computing system; and

a processor disposed in communication with the memory device, the processor configured to;

receive a request to send media content to a playback device, wherein the media content is stored in a media library of a content server;

retrieve the media content from a hierarchical cache for the on-demand computing device, the hierarchical cache including a first cache, a second cache, and the content library, wherein the first cache has a length based on an age of the second cache; and

send the media content to the playback device.

12. The on-demand computing system of claim 11, wherein to retrieve the media content, the processor is further configured to:

determine that the second cache includes the media content; and

retrieve the media content from the second cache.

13. The on-demand computing system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

move the media content in the second cache to a head of the second cache; and

update a buy time associated with the media content in the second cache,

wherein the second cache is a least recently used cache.

14. The on-demand computing system of claim 11, wherein to retrieve the media content, the processor is further configured to:

determine that the second cache does not include the media content;

send a request to retrieve the media content from the media library of the content server; and

receive the media content from the content server.

15. The on-demand computing system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

when the first cache includes the media content;

update a buy count associated with the media content in the first cache;

compute a popularity value associated with the media content in the first cache; and

when the popularity value exceeds a promote threshold;

move the media content in the first cache to a mover pool; and

promote the media content in the mover pool to the second cache.

16. The on-demand computing system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

when the first cache does not include the media content;

add the media content to the first cache.

17. The on-demand computing system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

adjust a buy count for the media content to reflect a percentage of the media content sent to the playback device.

18. The on-demand computing system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

compute a window length for the first cache;

compute an age for a tail of the first cache; and

when the age for the tail of the first cache exceeds the window length;

set a buy count for the tail of the first cache to zero; and

remove the tail of the first cache,

wherein the first cache is a least recently used cache.

19. The on-demand computing system of claim 18, wherein to compute the window length, the processor is further configured to:

compute an age for the tail of the first cache; and

divide the age for the tail of the first cache by a divider.

20. The on-demand computing system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

when a size of the second cache exceeds a size limit;

remove a tail of the second cache; and

adjust a used cache size for the second cache,

wherein the second cache is a least recently used cache.