Methods and apparatus for asynchronous media requests

1. A system to support asynchronous media requests, the system comprising:

programmable circuitry;

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed or instantiated by the programmable circuitry, facilitate performance of operations including:

receiving a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) communication from a first client device, the first HTTP communication including a first request for a media segment;

in a second HTTP communication responsive to the first HTTP communication, transmitting metadata to the first client device, the metadata corresponding to the media segment;

responsive to the first HTTP communication, transmitting a datagram to the first client device and to a second client device, the datagram being transmitted using User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the first client device and the second client device configured to cause presentation of a same media stream;

receiving a third HTTP communication after the transmissions, the third HTTP communication including a second request for the media segment, the third HTTP communication from the second client device; and

in a fourth HTTP communication responsive to the third HTTP communication, transmitting the metadata to the second client device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:

transmitting the metadata to the first client device with a unicast protocol; and

transmitting the metadata to the second client device with a unicast protocol.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further include transmitting the datagram to the first client device and the second client device with a multicast protocol.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second request includes a header portion to describe a state of a buffer stored in the second client device.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the operations further include:

parsing the header portion from the second request;

determining, using the header portion, that the datagram is stored in the buffer; and

transmitting, based on the determination, the metadata but not the datagram to the second client device.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the media segment is a portion of a linear television channel or live stream; and

the first client device causes presentation of the media segment before the second client device causes presentation of the media segment.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the media stream is a first media stream;

the media segment is a portion of the first media stream; and

the operations further include:

in response to receiving the first request for the media segment from the first client device, determining a preceding request of the second client device identifies the first media stream;

in response to receiving the first request for the media segment from the first client device, determining a preceding request of a third client device identifies a second media stream; and

in response to the determinations, transmitting the datagram to the first client device and second client device but not the third client device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the programmable circuitry includes one or more of:

at least one of a central processor unit, a graphics processor unit, or a digital signal processor, the at least one of the central processor unit, the graphics processor unit, or the digital signal processor having control circuitry to control data movement within the processor circuitry, arithmetic and logic circuitry to perform one or more first operations corresponding to machine-readable data, and one or more registers to store a result of the one or more first operations, the machine-readable data in the memory;

a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), the FPGA including logic gate circuitry, a plurality of configurable interconnections, and storage circuitry, the logic gate circuitry and the plurality of the configurable interconnections to perform one or more second operations, the storage circuitry to store a result of the one or more second operations; or

Application Specific Integrated Circuitry (ASIC) including logic gate circuitry to perform one or more third operations.

9. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed or instantiated by programmable circuitry, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) communication from a first client device, the first HTTP communication including a first request for a media segment;

in a second HTTP communication responsive to the first HTTP communication, transmitting metadata to the first client device, the metadata corresponding to the media segment;

responsive to the first HTTP communication, transmitting a datagram to the first client device and to a second client device, the datagram being transmitted using User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the first client device and the second client device configured to cause presentation of a same media stream;

receiving a third HTTP communication after the transmissions, the third HTTP communication including a second request for the media segment, the third HTTP communication from the second client device; and

in a fourth HTTP communication responsive to the third HTTP communication, transmitting the metadata to the second client device.

10. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting the metadata to the first client device with a unicast protocol; and

transmitting the metadata to the second client device with a unicast protocol.

11. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting the datagram to the first client device and the second client device with a multicast protocol.

12. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the second request includes a header portion to describe a state of a buffer stored in the second client device.

13. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:

parsing the header portion from the second request;

determining, using the header portion, that the datagram is stored in the buffer; and

transmitting, based on the determination, the metadata but not the datagram to the second client device.

14. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein:

the media segment is a portion of a linear television channel or live stream; and

the first client device causes presentation of the media segment before the second client device causes presentation of the media segment.

15. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein:

the media stream is a first media stream;

the media segment is a portion of the first media stream; and

the operations further comprise:

responsive to receiving the first request for the media segment from the first client device, determining a preceding request of the second client device identifies the first media stream;

responsive to receiving the first request for the media segment from the first client device, determining a preceding request of a third client device identifies a second media stream; and

responsive to the determinations, transmitting the datagram to the first client device and second client device but not the third client device.

16. A method to support asynchronous media requests, the method comprising:

receiving a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) communication from a first client device, the first HTTP communication including a first request for a media segment;

in a second HTTP communication responsive to the first HTTP communication, transmitting metadata to the first client device, the metadata corresponding to the media segment;

responsive to the first HTTP communication, transmitting a datagram to the first client device and to a second client device, the datagram being transmitted using User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the first client device and the second client device configured to cause presentation of a same media stream;

receiving a third HTTP communication after the transmissions, the third HTTP communication including a second request for the media segment, the third HTTP communication from the second client device; and

in a fourth HTTP communication responsive to the third HTTP communication, transmitting the metadata to the second client device.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second request includes a header portion to describe a state of a buffer stored in the second client device.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

parsing the header portion from the second request;

determining, using the header portion, that the datagram is stored in the buffer; and

transmitting, based on the determination, the metadata but not the datagram to the second client device.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the media segment is a portion of a linear television channel or live stream; and

the first client device causes presentation of the media segment before the second client device causes presentation of the media segment.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the media stream is a first media stream;

the media segment is a portion of the first media stream; and

the method further comprises:

responsive to receiving the first request for the media segment from the first client device, determining a preceding request of the second client device identifies the first media stream;

responsive to receiving the first request for the media segment from the first client device, determining a preceding request of a third client device identifies a second media stream; and

responsive to the determinations, transmitting the datagram to the first client device and second client device but not the third client device.