Systems and methods for adaptive switching between multiple content delivery networks during adaptive bitrate streaming

1. An adaptive content delivery network switching device comprising:

a processor;

a network interface; and

a memory connected to the processor, where the memory contains a content delivery network switching application and a media playback application;

wherein the content delivery network switching application directs the processor to:

receive, at the adaptive content delivery network switching device, a manifest from a manifest server system describing a plurality of content delivery networks;

determine using the adaptive content delivery network switching device a first content delivery network selected from the received manifest;

receive, at the adaptive content delivery network switching device, content from the first content delivery network;

store the received content into a buffer;

determine a threshold based on the first content delivery network's available bandwidth;

when the amount of content in the buffer is below the threshold:

select, using the adaptive content delivery network switching device, an alternative content delivery network with a higher available bandwidth than the first content delivery network from the received manifest; and

receive, at the adaptive content delivery network switching device, new content from the alternative content delivery network.

2. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the content delivery switching application further directs the processor to:

if a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 404 error is detected, receive at the adaptive content delivery network switching device, new content from the alternative content delivery network.

3. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the content delivery switching application further directs the processor to:

if a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error is detected, receive at the adaptive content delivery network switching device, new content from the alternative content delivery network.

4. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the new content received is at the same quality level of the previously received content.

5. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the content delivery switching application further directs the processor to:

record any content delivery network that encounters a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error.

6. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the content delivery switching application further directs the processor to:

avoid receiving content from a second content delivery network from any content delivery network that is in the record of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) errors.

7. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the threshold comprises a minimum required buffer time.

8. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the threshold comprises a minimum playback bitrate threshold.

9. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein the content delivery switching application further directs the processor to:

play back the received content followed by the received new content.

10. The adaptive content delivery network switching device of claim 1 , wherein selecting the alternative content delivery network comprises selecting the alternative content delivery network with the highest available bandwidth from the received manifest.

11. A method for adaptive content delivery network switching comprising:

receiving, at a playback device, a manifest from a manifest server system;

determining, using the playback device, a first content delivery network from multiple specified content delivery networks in the manifest received from the manifest server system;

receiving, at the playback device, content from a first content delivery network;

storing the received content into a buffer;

determining a threshold based on the first content delivery network's available bandwidth;

when the amount of content in the buffer is below the threshold:

selecting, using the playback device, an alternative content delivery network with a higher available bandwidth than the first content delivery network from the received manifest; and

receiving, at the playback device, new content on the playback device from the alternative content delivery network.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, if a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 404 error is detected, receiving new content from the alternative content delivery network.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, if a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error is detected, receiving new content from the alternative content delivery network.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the new content received is at the same quality level of the previously received content.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising recording any content delivery network that encounters a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising avoiding receiving content from any content delivery network that is in the record of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) errors.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the threshold comprises a minimum required buffer time.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the threshold comprises a minimum playback bitrate threshold.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising playing back the received content followed by the received new content.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein selecting the alternative content delivery network comprises selecting the alternative content delivery network with the highest available bandwidth from the received manifest.