Processing of live multimedia content and/or data streams over a communication network

1. A method for streaming multimedia data over a communication network, said method comprising:

directly receiving, from a content provider by an ingest server of a chunk processing architecture via one or more processors, live multimedia content being broadcast by the content provider;

dividing, by the ingest server via the one or more processors, the received live multimedia content into multiple data chunks, said dividing comprising generating the multiple data chunks in real time as the live multimedia content is being received, said generated multiple data chunks collectively comprising the live multimedia content, each generated data chunk of the multiple data chunks having a first chunk size;

associating, by a chunk server of the chunk processing architecture via the one or more processors, each data chunk having the first chunk size with a respective portion of the live multimedia content, said ingest server and said chunk server being different hardware servers within the chunk processing architecture;

indexing, by the ingest server via the one or more processors, each data chunk having the first chunk size according to a time associated with the live multimedia content such that each data chunk having the first chunk size is associated with a unique time at which each data chunk having the first chunk size begins;

storing, by the chunk processing architecture via the one or more processors, the data chunks having the first chunk size in a storage within the chunk processing architecture in real time as the data chunks having the first chunk size are being generated, said storage being a database or a cache;

at a current time during said receiving the live multimedia content and during said storing the data chunks having the first chunk size, directly receiving, by the chunk server from a Content Delivery Network (CDN) via the one or more processors, a request for the live multimedia content starting at one stored data chunk having the first chunk size that begins at a prior time that precedes the current time, said receiving the request by the chunk server having occurred after the CDN had received the request originating from a client device;

in response to said receiving the request by the chunk server, converting by the chunk server via the one or more processors, the stored data chunks having the first chunk size, starting at the one stored data chunk, to a plurality of data chunks having a second chunk size that differs from the first chunk size; and

directly transmitting, by the chunk server to the CDN via the one or more processors, the data chunks having the second chunk size, for subsequent transmission of the data chunks having the second chunk size from the CDN to the client device over the communication network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said storing the data chunks having the first chunk size comprises storing the data chucks having the first chunk size in the storage in a universal or unified format independent of a format and a size associated with the client device that requested the multimedia content.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the transmitted data chunks having the second chunk size comprise different, non-contiguous portions of the live multimedia content spliced together.

4. The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising:

instantiating, by the one or more processors, resources required for processing the requested live multimedia content, in response to the request for the live multimedia content.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the live multimedia content is live video content.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prior time of the one stored data chunk having the first chunk size is at an earlier time than the time to which any other data chunk of the stored data chunks having the first chunk size is associated.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prior time of the one stored data chunk having the first chunk size is later than the time to which at least one other data chunk of the stored data chunks having the first chunk size is associated.

8. A computer system, comprising one or more processors and one or more computer readable hardware storage devices, said one or more hardware storage devices containing program code executable by the one or more processors to implement a method for streaming multimedia data over a communication network, said method comprising:

directly receiving, from a content provider by an ingest server of a chunk processing architecture via one or more processors, live multimedia content being broadcast by the content provider;

dividing, by the ingest server via the one or more processors, the received live multimedia content into multiple data chunks, said dividing comprising generating the multiple data chunks in real time as the live multimedia content is being received, said generated multiple data chunks collectively comprising the live multimedia content, each generated data chunk of the multiple data chunks having a first chunk size;

associating, by a chunk server of the chunk processing architecture via the one or more processors, each data chunk having the first chunk size with a respective portion of the live multimedia content, said ingest server and said chunk server being different hardware servers within the chunk processing architecture;

indexing, by the ingest server via the one or more processors, each data chunk having the first chunk size according to a time associated with the live multimedia content such that each data chunk having the first chunk size is associated with a unique time at which each data chunk having the first chunk size begins;

storing, by the chunk processing architecture via the one or more processors, the data chunks having the first chunk size in a storage within the chunk processing architecture in real time as the data chunks having the first chunk size are being generated, said storage being a database or a cache;

at a current time during said receiving the live multimedia content and during said storing the data chunks having the first chunk size, directly receiving, by the chunk server from a Content Delivery Network (CDN) via the one or more processors, a request for the live multimedia content starting at one stored data chunk having the first chunk size that begins at a prior time that precedes the current time, said receiving the request by the chunk server having occurred after the CDN had received the request originating from a client device;

in response to said receiving the request by the chunk server, converting by the chunk server via the one or more processors, the stored data chunks having the first chunk size, starting at the one stored data chunk, to a plurality of data chunks having a second chunk size that differs from the first chunk size; and

directly transmitting, by the chunk server to the CDN via the one or more processors, the data chunks having the second chunk size, for subsequent transmission of the data chunks having the second chunk size from the CDN to the client device over the communication network.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein said storing the data chunks having the first chunk size comprises storing the data chucks having the first chunk size in the storage in a universal or unified format independent of a format and a size associated with the client device that requested the multimedia content.

10. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the transmitted data chunks having the second chunk size comprise different, non-contiguous portions of the live multimedia content spliced together.

11. The computer system of claim 8 , said method further comprising:

instantiating, by the one or more processors, resources required for processing the requested live multimedia content, in response to the request for the live multimedia content.

12. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the live multimedia content is live video content.

13. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the prior time of the one stored data chunk having the first chunk size is at an earlier time than the time to which any other data chunk of the stored data chunks having the first chunk size is associated.

14. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the prior time of the one stored data chunk having the first chunk size is later than the time to which at least one other data chunk of the stored data chunks having the first chunk size is associated.

15. A computer program product, comprising one or more computer readable hardware storage devices having computer readable program code stored therein, said program code containing instructions executable by one or more processors to implement a method for streaming multimedia data over a communication network, said method comprising:

directly receiving, from a content provider by an ingest server of a chunk processing architecture via one or more processors, live multimedia content being broadcast by the content provider;

dividing, by the ingest server via the one or more processors, the received live multimedia content into multiple data chunks, said dividing comprising generating the multiple data chunks in real time as the live multimedia content is being received, said generated multiple data chunks collectively comprising the live multimedia content, each generated data chunk of the multiple data chunks having a first chunk size;

associating, by a chunk server of the chunk processing architecture via the one or more processors, each data chunk having the first chunk size with a respective portion of the live multimedia content, said ingest server and said chunk server being different hardware servers within the chunk processing architecture;

indexing, by the ingest server via the one or more processors, each data chunk having the first chunk size according to a time associated with the live multimedia content such that each data chunk having the first chunk size is associated with a unique time at which each data chunk having the first chunk size begins;

storing, by the chunk processing architecture via the one or more processors, the data chunks having the first chunk size in a storage within the chunk processing architecture in real time as the data chunks having the first chunk size are being generated, said storage being a database or a cache;

at a current time during said receiving the live multimedia content and during said storing the data chunks having the first chunk size, directly receiving, by the chunk server from a Content Delivery Network (CDN) via the one or more processors, a request for the live multimedia content starting at one stored data chunk having the first chunk size that begins at a prior time that precedes the current time, said receiving the request by the chunk server having occurred after the CDN had received the request originating from a client device;

in response to said receiving the request by the chunk server, converting by the chunk server via the one or more processors, the stored data chunks having the first chunk size, starting at the one stored data chunk, to a plurality of data chunks having a second chunk size that differs from the first chunk size; and

directly transmitting, by the chunk server to the CDN via the one or more processors, the data chunks having the second chunk size, for subsequent transmission of the data chunks having the second chunk size from the CDN to the client device over the communication network.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein said storing the data chunks having the first chunk size comprises storing the data chucks having the first chunk size in the storage in a universal or unified format independent of a format and a size associated with the client device that requested the multimedia content.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , said method further comprising:

instantiating, by the one or more processors, resources required for processing the requested live multimedia content, in response to the request for the live multimedia content.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the live multimedia content is live video content.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the prior time of the one stored data chunk having the first chunk size is at an earlier time than the time to which any other data chunk of the stored data chunks having the first chunk size is associated.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the prior time of the one stored data chunk having the first chunk size is later than the time to which at least one other data chunk of the stored data chunks having the first chunk size is associated.