Adaptive video-server reconfiguration for self-optimizing multi-tier IPTV networks

• US 9,247,208 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2006
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gemelos, Steven, Ou, Canhui, Li, Zhi
• Primary Examiner(s): Featherstone, Mark D
• Assistant Examiner(s): THOMAS, JASON M
• Application Number:
  US11/493,479
• Publication Number:
  US 20080046912A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,472 Days
• Field of Search: 725/116, 725/9, 725/10, 725/14, 725/105, 725114-115, 725/127, 725143-146
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/06 among broadcast stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/12 Arrangements for observation, testing or troubleshooting
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2225 Local VOD servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2405 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the server, e.g. server load allocation of resources in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/50; performance measurement of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/64761 directed to the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter provide apparatus, methods, and systems including an input to receive data associated with a channel viewership of a network; a distribution unit coupled to the input, the distribution unit to determine one or more relative viewership distributions based on the data; and a configuration unit coupled to the distribution unit, the configuration unit to provide one or more reconfiguration settings for one or more reconfigurable servers coupled to the network.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

detecting a transition to a first time period of a plurality of time periods associated with a predefined schedule of a plurality of channels that are used for delivery of media content to a plurality of subscriber devices by a content provider network;

selecting a first configuration set from a plurality of configuration sets according to the first time period that is detected, wherein the plurality of configuration sets are associated with the plurality of time periods, and wherein each configuration set of the plurality of configuration sets is determined by;

receiving data associated with selections of the plurality of channels by the plurality of subscriber devices within a past plurality of time periods;

determining a relative viewership distribution for each past time period of the past plurality of time periods based on the data associated with the selections, wherein the relative viewership distribution arranges the plurality of channels according to numbers of selections by the plurality of subscriber devices;

identifying a set of frequently requested channels of the plurality of channels for each past time period according to the relative viewership distribution, wherein the set of frequently requested channels correspond to providing a target percentage of total channel traffic for the plurality of channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

determining a total number of reconfigurable servers of a plurality of reconfigurable servers of the content provider network that are required for providing the set of frequently requested channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

assigning the frequently requested channels to a group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the total number of reconfigurable servers that is determined for providing the set of frequently requested channels; and

generating the configuration set of the plurality of configurations sets for configuring the group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the assigning of the frequently requested channels; and

transmitting the first configuration set to the plurality of reconfigurable servers to cause a first set of the frequently requested channels to be assigned to a first group of the plurality of reconfigurable servers such that the target percentage of the total channel traffic for the plurality of channels is predictably provided to the plurality of subscriber devices according to the data associated with the selections of the plurality of channels during the past plurality of time periods.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the selections further comprises a number of requests for a broadcast video stream during a second time window for each of a plurality of additional channels.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the relative viewership distribution corresponds to probabilities of selection for each channel of the plurality of channels during a second time window.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the selections is obtained by monitoring a plurality of requests by the plurality of subscriber devices during the past plurality of time periods.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise modifying the relative viewership distribution for the past time period.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the modifying of the relative viewership distribution is associated with a special event that is broadcast on a channel of the plurality of channels.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the modifying of the relative viewership distribution is associated with a seasonal viewing habit of the plurality of subscriber devices.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the relative viewership distribution is determined based on a historical averaging of the data associated with the selections over the past time period for two weeks.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise applying one of a smoothing technique, an interpolation technique, or a combination thereof to the data associated with the selections.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further coupled to the plurality of reconfigurable servers through a plurality of local switches.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the selections is received by monitoring over the content provider network the selections by the plurality of subscriber devices coupled to the content provider network.

12. A machine-readable storage device, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

detecting a first time period of a plurality of time periods associated with a plurality of channels that are used for delivery of media content to a plurality of subscriber devices by a content provider network;

selecting a first configuration set from a plurality of configuration sets according to the first time period that is detected, wherein the plurality of configuration sets are associated with the plurality of time periods, and wherein each configuration set of the plurality of configuration sets is determined by;

receiving data associated with selections of the plurality of channels by the plurality of subscriber devices within a past plurality of time periods;

determining a relative viewership distribution for each past time period of the past plurality of time periods based on the data associated with the selections;

identifying a set of frequently requested channels of the plurality of channels for each past time period according to the relative viewership distribution, wherein the set of frequently requested channels correspond to providing a target percentage of total channel traffic for the plurality of channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

determining a total number of reconfigurable servers of a plurality of reconfigurable servers of the content provider network that are required for providing the set of frequently requested channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

assigning the frequently requested channels to a group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the total number of reconfigurable servers that is determined for providing the set of frequently requested channels; and

generating the configuration set of the plurality of configurations sets for configuring the group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the assigning of the frequently requested channels; and

transmitting the first configuration set to the plurality of reconfigurable servers to cause a first set of the frequently requested channels to be assigned to a first group of the plurality of reconfigurable servers such that the target percentage of the total channel traffic for the plurality of channels is predictably provided to the plurality of subscriber devices according to the data associated with the selections of the plurality of channels during the past plurality of time periods.

13. The machine-readable storage device of claim 12, wherein a the relative viewership distribution arranges the plurality of channels according to numbers of selections by the plurality of subscriber devices.

14. The machine-readable storage device of claim 13, wherein a first of the plurality of reconfigurable servers is located in a first tier of the content provider network that is closest to the plurality of subscriber devices coupled to the content provider network.

15. The machine-readable storage device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise modifying the relative viewership distribution for the past time period.

16. The machine-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the modifying of the relative viewership distribution is associated with a special event that is broadcast on a channel of the plurality of channels.

17. The machine-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the modifying of the relative viewership distribution is associated with a seasonal viewing habit of the plurality of subscriber devices.

18. The machine-readable storage device of claim 12, wherein the relative viewership distribution is determined based on a historical averaging of the data associated with the selections over the past time period for two weeks.

19. A method comprising:

detecting, by a system comprising a processor, a first time period of a plurality of time periods associated with a plurality of channels that are used for delivery of media content to a plurality of subscriber devices by a content provider network;

selecting, by the system, a first configuration set from a plurality of configuration sets according to the first time period that is detected, wherein the plurality of configuration sets are associated with the plurality of time periods, and wherein each configuration set of the plurality of configuration sets is determined by;

receiving, by the system, data associated with selections of the plurality of channels by the plurality of subscriber devices within a past plurality of time periods;

determining, by the system, a relative viewership distribution for each past time period of the past plurality of time periods based on the data associated with the selections;

identifying, by the system, a set of frequently requested channels of the plurality of channels for each past time period according to the relative viewership distribution, wherein the set of frequently requested channels correspond to providing a target percentage of total channel traffic for the plurality of channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

determining, by the system, a total number of reconfigurable servers of a plurality of reconfigurable servers of the content provider network that are required for providing the set of frequently requested channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

assigning, by the system, the frequently requested channels to a group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the total number of reconfigurable servers that is determined for providing the set of frequently requested channels; and

generating, by the system, the configuration set of the plurality of configurations sets for configuring the group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the assigning of the frequently requested channels; and

transmitting, by the system, the first configuration set to the plurality of reconfigurable servers to cause a first set of the frequently requested channels to be assigned to a first group of the plurality of reconfigurable servers such that the target percentage of the total channel traffic for the plurality of channels is predictably provided to the plurality of subscriber devices according to the data associated with the selections of the plurality of channels during the past plurality of time periods.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the relative viewership distribution arranges the plurality of channels according to numbers of selections by the plurality of subscriber devices.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising modifying the relative viewership distribution for the past time period.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the modifying of the relative viewership distribution is associated with a special event that is broadcast on a channel of the plurality of channels.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the modifying of the relative viewership distribution is associated with a seasonal viewing habit of the plurality of subscriber devices.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein a length of time for the first time period varies according to a day of a week.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein a performance of the plurality of reconfigurable servers is modified based on a special event.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the determining the relative viewership distribution comprises counting a number of times that the plurality of subscriber devices select a particular channel of the plurality of channels during the past time period.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising applying one of a smoothing technique, an interpolation technique, or a combination thereof to the data associated with the selections.

28. A method, comprising:

receiving data associated with selections of a plurality of channels by a plurality of subscriber devices within a past plurality of time periods for delivery of media content to the plurality of subscriber devices by a content provider network;

determining a relative viewership distribution for each past time period of the past plurality of time periods based on the data associated with the selections;

identifying a set of frequently requested channels of the plurality of channels for each past time period according to the relative viewership distribution, wherein the set of frequently requested channels correspond to providing a target percentage of total channel traffic for the plurality of channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

determining a total number of reconfigurable servers of a plurality of reconfigurable servers of the content provider network that are required for providing the set of frequently requested channels to the plurality of subscriber devices;

assigning the frequently requested channels to a group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the total number of reconfigurable servers that is determined for providing the set of frequently requested channels; and

generating a configuration set of a plurality of configurations sets for configuring the group of reconfigurable servers of the plurality of reconfigurable servers according to the assigning of the frequently requested channels.