Detecting problems in content distribution

• US 8,489,923 B1
• Filed: 05/14/2010
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conviva Inc.
• Original Assignee: Conviva Inc.
• Inventors: Lakshminarayanan, Karthik K., Ganjam, Aditya R., Stoica, Ion, Zhang, Hui
• Primary Examiner(s): Manoskey, Joseph D
• Application Number:
  US12/780,790
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4.1, 714/25, 714/26, 714/33, 714/38.1, 714/43, 714/46, 714/47.1, 714/47.2, 714/48, 714/57, 709/203, 709/224
• US Class Current: 714/26
• 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: G06Q 2220/10 Usage protection of distributed data files
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2812 describing content present in a home automation network, e.g. audio video content retrieval from the Internet G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 Generation of reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/062 related to network traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/067 using time frame reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• 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 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• 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 21/2547 : Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• 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 21/44204 : Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• 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 21/4424 : Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 : Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Detecting a problem in a content distribution is disclosed. Performance information associated with a first content player is received form a first client. Performance information associated with a second content player is received from a second client. The information received from the first client and the second client is aggregated. A determination is made, from the aggregated information, that a problem is indicated. Alternate techniques for detecting a problem in a content distribution are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for detecting a problem in a content distribution, including:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to;

receive performance information associated with a first content player from a first client;

receive performance information associated with a second content player from a second client;

aggregate the information received from the first client and the information received from the second client; and

diagnose a source of a problem based at least in part on a portion of the aggregated information; and

perform a remedial action based at least in part on the diagnosis.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the source of the problem implicates a content delivery network associated with the second client.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the source of the problem implicates a network link associated with the second client.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the source of the problem implicates a content item.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the source of the problem implicates the second client.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the diagnosis is made based at least in part on an analysis of a rendering rate of the second content player.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to display a representation of the aggregated information in a graphical user interface.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the remedial action includes sending to the second client at least one alternate source of a content item.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the second content player is associated with a first content delivery network and wherein the remedial action includes instructing the second client to connect to a second content delivery network.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein diagnosing the problem includes:

determining a performance metric associated with the second client; and

determining from the performance metric that the second client is experiencing a performance that is below a threshold.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the performance metric is a buffering rate of the second content player.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the performance metric is a join time of the second client.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein diagnosing the problem includes determining that a third client is experiencing a performance that is below a threshold.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein diagnosing the problem includes determining whether the first client and the second client share a common characteristic.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a content delivery network.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a network service provider.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a location.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes an operating system.

19. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a player platform.

20. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a browser.

21. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a client connectivity type.

22. The system of claim 14 wherein the common characteristic includes a content owner.

23. A method of detecting a problem in a content distribution, including:

receiving performance information associated with a first content player from a first client;

receiving performance information associated with a second content player from a second client;

aggregating the information received from the first client and the information received from the second client; and

diagnosing, using a processor, a source of a problem based at least in part on a portion of the aggregated information; and

performing a remedial action based at least in part on the diagnosis.

24. A system for detecting a problem in a distribution of content to a client, including:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to;

receive performance information from the client, wherein the performance information includes a rendering rate of the client; and

diagnose a source of a problem based at least in part on a portion of the received rendering rate; and

perform a remedial action based at least in part on the diagnosis.

25. A system for detecting a problem in a distribution of content to a client, including:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to;

receive performance information from the client, wherein the performance information includes buffer information associated with a content player; and

diagnose a source of a problem based at least in part on a portion of the received buffer information; and

perform a remedial action based at least in part on the diagnosis.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the buffer information corresponds to content that is received by the client from a plurality of sources.

27. A system for detecting a problem in a content distribution, including:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to;

receive first performance data associated with a content player from a client;

receive second performance data associated with a node that is different from the client; and

aggregate the data received from the client and the node that is different from the client;

diagnose a source of a problem based at least in part on a portion of the aggregated data; and

perform a remedial action based at least in part on the diagnosis.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the second performance data is received from a content delivery network.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the second performance data includes at least one of a load across a region, a load across a POP, and a specific server load.

30. The system of claim 27 wherein the second performance data is received from a content provider.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the second performance data includes one or more encoding parameters of a file.

32. The system of claim 27 wherein the problem is at least one of a problem with a content delivery network, an autonomous system, an Internet service provider, a geographical region, a content item, and the system.

33. The system of claim 27 wherein the problem includes a problem with a system resource of the client.