Detecting problems in content distribution

• US 9,239,750 B1
• Filed: 03/05/2014
• Issued: 01/19/2016
• 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:
  US14/198,525
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4.1, 714/25, 714/26, 714/33, 714/43, 714/46, 714/47.1, 714/47.2, 714/48, 714/57, 709/203, 709/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• 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: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• 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 21/42209 for displaying non-command information, e.g. electronic program guide [EPG], e-mail, messages or a second television channel
• 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 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38

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, including:

one or more interfaces configured to receive information associated with a first content player and a second content player from a first client device and a second client device, respectively;

an aggregator configured to combine the received information at least in part by performing one or more aggregation operations; and

a detector configured to detect, from at least a portion of the combined information, an indication of a problem.

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

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

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

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

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the detection 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 a representation of the combined information is caused to be displayed in a graphical user interface.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein a remedial action associated with the indicated problem is performed.

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

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the second content player is associated with a first content delivery network and wherein the remedial action includes instructing the second client device to connect to a second content delivery network.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein detecting an indication of a problem includes:

determining a performance metric associated with the second client device; and

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

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

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the performance metric is a join time of the second client device.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein detecting an indication of a problem further includes determining that a third client device is experiencing a performance that is below a threshold.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein detecting an indication of a problem further includes determining whether the first client device and the second client device share a common characteristic.

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

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes a network service provider.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes a location.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes an operating system.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes a player platform.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes a browser.

22. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes a client connectivity type.

23. The system of claim 15 wherein the common characteristic includes a content owner.

24. A method, including:

receiving, via one or more interfaces, information associated with a first content player and a second content player from a first client device and a second client device, respectively;

combining, using an aggregator, the received information at least in part by performing one or more aggregation operations; and

detecting, using a detector, and from at least a portion of the combined information, an indication of a problem.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the indicated problem implicates at least one of a content delivery network associated with the second client device, a network link associated with the second client device, a content item, and the second client device.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the detection is made based at least in part on an analysis of a rendering rate of the second content player.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein a representation of the combined information is caused to be displayed in a graphical user interface.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein a remedial action associated with the indicated problem is performed.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the remedial action includes sending to the second client at least one alternate source of a content item.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the second content player is associated with a first content delivery network and wherein the remedial action includes instructing the second client device to connect to a second content delivery network.

31. The method of claim 24 wherein detecting an indication of a problem includes:

determining a performance metric associated with the second client device; and

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

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the performance metric includes at least one of a buffering rate of the second content player and a join time of the second client device.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein detecting an indication of a problem further includes determining that a third client device is experiencing a performance that is below a threshold.

34. The method of claim 24 wherein detecting an indication of a problem further includes determining whether the first client device and the second client device share a common characteristic.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the common characteristic includes at least one of a content delivery network, a network service provider, a location, an operating system, a player platform, a browser, a client connectivity type, and a content owner.

36. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving, via one or more interfaces, information associated with a first content player and a second content player from a first client device and a second client device, respectively;

combining, using an aggregator, the received information at least in part by performing one or more aggregation operations; and

detecting, using a detector, and from at least a portion of the combined information, an indication of a problem.