DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR MANAGING AND ADJUSTING ADAPTIVE STREAMING TRAFFIC
Systems, devices and methods for managing and adjusting adaptive streaming traffic to optimize fairness are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method comprises: receiving a request for a media segment; locating the media segment; determining the bitrate of the requested media segment; and assigning priority information to the media segment, wherein a media segment having a lowest guaranteed bitrate is assigned a higher priority than media segments having higher bitrates.
1 . A method, comprising:
receiving a request for a media segment;
locating the media segment;
determining the bitrate of the requested media segment; and
assigning priority information to the media segment, wherein a media segment having a lowest guaranteed bitrate is assigned a higher priority than media segments having higher bitrates.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting the media segment with priority information to a network.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the media segment request is received from a client.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the receiving, locating, determining, and assigning is performed at a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server or HTTP proxy server.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the bitrate of the requested media segment comprises checking a manifest file or playlist for bitrate information.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning priority information comprises setting a Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) field of an Internet Protocol (IP) header for the media segment.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the DSCP field is selected from one of 12 DSCP levels of Assured Forwarding (AF).
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein assigning priority comprises selecting a DSCP value to represent one of the 12 DSCP levels.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein media segments having a lowest guaranteed bitrate are assigned the highest possible priority.
10 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, in periods of network congestion, media segments having a higher priority are transmitted before media segments having a lower priority.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein if a media segment having a lower priority is not transmitted, a request for the media segment having a lower bitrate may be received and assigned a higher priority.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the media segment having a lower priority is not transmitted because of bandwidth limitations in the network.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network in an Internet Protocol (IP) network.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the media segment comprises a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) adaptive streaming media segment.
15 . A system, comprising:
a content server having a processor that is configured to:
receive a request for a media segment;
locate the media segment;
determine the bitrate of the requested media segment; and
assign priority information to the media segment, wherein a media segment having a lowest guaranteed bitrate is assigned a higher priority than media segments having higher bitrates, and
a router having a processor that is configured to:
receive the media segment with priority information; and
transmit the media segment with priority information to a network.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the content server comprises a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server or HTTP proxy server.
17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the router comprises a core router or edge router.
18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein said determine the bitrate of the requested media segment comprises checking a manifest file or playlist for bitrate information.
19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein said assign priority information comprises setting a Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) field of an Internet Protocol (IP) header for the media segment.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the DSCP field is selected from one of 12 DSCP levels of Assured Forwarding (AF).
21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein said assign priority comprises selecting a DSCP value to represent one of the 12 DSCP levels.
22 . The system of claim 15 , wherein, in periods of network congestion, media segments having a higher priority are transmitted before media segments having a lower priority.
23 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the network in an Internet Protocol (IP) network.
24 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the media segment comprises a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) adaptive streaming media segment.