METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CACHING STREAMING MULTIMEDIA ON THE INTERNET

• US 20160028849A1
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sound View Innovations, LLC (Sound View Innovation Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Guo, Katherine H., Paul, Sanjoy, Ng, Tze Sing Eugene, Zhang, Hui, Hofmann, Markus A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,462,074 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1023 based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/288 Distributed intermediate devices, i.e. intermediate devices for interaction with other intermediate devices on the same level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

An apparatus and method to enhance existing caches in a network to better support streaming media storage and distribution. Helper machines are used inside the network to implement several methods which support streaming media including segmentation of streaming media objects into smaller units, cooperation of Helper machines, and novel placement and replacement policies for segments of media objects.

Claims

1. A method for servicing a client request for a streaming media (SM) object in a network having a content server which hosts SM objects for distribution over the network through a plurality of helper servers (HSs) to a plurality of clients, the SM object being comprised of a plurality of successive time-ordered chunks, the method comprising:

receiving a request for at least a portion of an SM object at a local HS, the request including a playback starting time;

determining whether a chunk having a starting time equal to the requested playback starting time resides on a disk associated with the local HS;

delivering to one of the plurality of clients the one or more chunks having an associated starting time equal to the requested playback starting time from the local HS and updating the playback starting time;

identifying a server in the network storing at least M chunks which have a starting time equal to the updated playback starting time and which satisfies a minimum cost criterion, if it is determined that the updated playback starting time is not equal to an end-time of the SM object; and

receiving the at least M chunks from the identified server at the local HS until it is determined that a next chunk to be retrieved is stored at the local HS.