Scalable architecture for media-on-demand servers
First Claim
1. A media server for use in retrieving stored data streams from a storage system, the media server comprising;
- a plurality of scalable media server hosts, each including a plurality of stream pumping engines operative to retrieve requested data streams from corresponding storage devices of a storage system, and retrieved data stream outputs corresponding to each of the stream pumping engines; and
a plurality of stream multiplexers having inputs cross-connected to at least one of the retrieved data stream outputs of each of the scalable media server hosts, and operative to deliver the retrieved data streams in accordance with quality of service restrictions, wherein each of the multiplexers includes first and second buffers for holding peak rate state and mean rate state packets, respectively, such that two distinct priority levels are provided for transmission of packets to subscribers.
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Abstract
A scalable server architecture for use in implementing scaled media servers capable of simultaneous real-time data stream retrieval for large numbers of subscribers. A scalable server includes a plurality of stream pumping engines each accessing a particular storage device of a storage subsystem, and a server processor which receives retrieval requests from subscribers and directs the stream pumping engines to retrieve the requested data streams. Each of the stream pumping engines may include a storage controller coupled to its corresponding storage device for directing retrieval of the requested stream therefrom, a network controller for supplying the retrieved stream to a client network, and a processor for directing the operation of the storage and network controllers. Each of the stream pumping engines may also include a shared memory accessible by the corresponding stream pumping engine processor and the server processor. The shared memory facilitates communication with other stream pumping engines via the server processor and server system bus. A scaled media server may be implemented by cross-connecting several scalable servers with a plurality of stream multiplexers. Each of the stream multiplexers can include a separate packet input unit for processing the packets of each media stream such that two distinct levels of transmission priority are provided and quality of server restrictions are satisfied for all streams.
110 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A media server for use in retrieving stored data streams from a storage system, the media server comprising;
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a plurality of scalable media server hosts, each including a plurality of stream pumping engines operative to retrieve requested data streams from corresponding storage devices of a storage system, and retrieved data stream outputs corresponding to each of the stream pumping engines; and a plurality of stream multiplexers having inputs cross-connected to at least one of the retrieved data stream outputs of each of the scalable media server hosts, and operative to deliver the retrieved data streams in accordance with quality of service restrictions, wherein each of the multiplexers includes first and second buffers for holding peak rate state and mean rate state packets, respectively, such that two distinct priority levels are provided for transmission of packets to subscribers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A media server for use in retrieving stored data streams from a storage system, the media server comprising:
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a plurality of salable media server host, each including a plurality of stream pumping engines operative to retrieved data stream outputs corresponding storage devices of a storage system, and retrieved data stream outputs corresponding to each of the stream pumping engines; and a plurality of stream multiplexers having inputs cross-connected to at least one of the retrieved data stream outputs of each of the scalable media server hosts, and operative to deliver the retrieved data streams in accordance with quality of service restrictions, wherein a given one of the stream multiplexers further includes; a plurality of packet distribution circuits; and a plurality of J packet input units, wherein the packet distribution circuits distribute packets containing the retrieved data streams to packet input units, and each packet input unit is operative to accept a particular media stream on a packet-by-packet basis, to process the packets in accordance with the quality of service requirements of the particular stream, and to deliver the packets to a corresponding outputs buffer, wherein the J packet input units of a given stream multiplexer are serially interconnected with J delay circuits such that each of the J packer input units operates serially. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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Specification