Granted Patent B2

US 12,273,403 · App. 18/599,479 · Granted Apr 8, 2025

Inventors: Antti Heikkinen (Oulu, FI); Mikko Uitto (Tyrnävä, FI)

Assignee: Adeia Guides Inc.

H04L65/61H04L65/80H04W48/18

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device, first information identifying a first set of content delivery networks (CDNs), wherein each CDN of the first set of CDNs is available via a first network for accessing segments of a content item;

receiving, by the device, second information identifying a second set of CDNs, wherein each CDN of the second set of CDNs is available via a second network for accessing the segments of the content item;

identifying, based on the first information and the second information, one or more common CDNs, each common CDN being accessible via the first network and the second network;

identifying one or more multi-network communication paths, each multi-network communication path comprising a communication path between one of the one or more common CDNs and the device via the first network and the second network;

determining a respective performance metric for all of the each multi-network communication paths;

selecting a selected multi-network communication path based on the respective performance metrics of the one or more multi-network communication paths; and

requesting a transmission of a segment of the content item via the selected multi-network communication path.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected multi-network communication path comprises the communication path between one of the one or more common CDNs and the device via a first network interface of the device and a second network interface of the device, wherein the first network interface and the second network interface are different.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first network interface comprises a wi-fi internet interface, and the second network interface comprises a cellular internet interface.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected multi-network communication path comprises the communication path between one of the one or more common CDNs and the device via a first network interface, wherein the first network and the second network are both accessible by the device via the first network interface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network comprises a wi-fi internet network, and the second network comprises a cellular internet network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the respective performance metric for all of the each multi-network communication paths comprises, for each multi-network communication path:

retrieving a second segment of the content item via the multi-network communication path; and

determining the respective performance metric for the multi-network communication path based on the retrieval of the second segment of the content item.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected multi-network communication path is a first multi-network communication path, the method further comprising:

in response to determining that the respective performance metric of the first multi-network communication path is below a threshold level, switching to a second multi-network communication path for retrieval of additional segments of the content item.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at a regular interval:

determining a respective updated performance metric for the each respective multi-network communication path;

selecting an updated selected multi-network communication path based on the respective updated performance metrics; and

requesting a transmission of an additional segment of the content item via the updated selected multi-network communication path.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a first selected multi-network communication path based on the respective performance metrics of the one or more multi-network communication paths;

selecting a second selected multi-network communication path based on the respective performance metrics of the one or more multi-network communication paths;

requesting a transmission of a first segment of the content item via the first selected multi-network communication path; and

requesting a transmission of a second segment of the content item via the second selected multi-network communication path,

wherein at least a portion of the transmission of the first segment and the second segment occurs at the same time.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the first information and the second information based on a manifest file corresponding to the content item.

11. A system comprising:

input/output circuitry configured to:

receive, at a device, first information identifying a first set of content delivery networks (CDNs), wherein each CDN of the first set of CDNs is available via a first network for accessing segments of a content item; and

receive, at the device, second information identifying a second set of CDNs, wherein each CDN of the second set of CDNs is available via a second network for accessing the segments of the content item; and

control circuitry configured to:

identify, based on the first information and the second information, one or more common CDNs, each common CDN being accessible via the first network and the second network;

identify one or more multi-network communication paths, each multi-network communication path comprising a communication path between one of the one or more common CDNs and the device via the first network and the second network;

determine a respective performance metric for all of the each multi-network communication paths; and

select a selected multi-network communication path based on the respective performance metrics of the one or more multi-network communication paths;

wherein the input/output circuitry is further configured to request a transmission of a segment of the content item via the selected multi-network communication path.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the selected multi-network communication path comprises the communication path between one of the one or more common CDNs and the device via a first network interface of the device and a second network interface of the device, wherein the first network interface and the second network interface are different.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first network interface comprises a wi-fi internet interface, and the second network interface comprises a cellular internet interface.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the selected multi-network communication path comprises the communication path between one of the one or more common CDNs and the device via a first network interface, wherein the first network and the second network are both accessible by the device via the first network interface.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first network comprises a wi-fi internet network, and the second network comprises a cellular internet network.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine the respective performance metric for the each multi-network communication path by, for all of the each multi-network communication paths:

retrieving, via the input/output circuitry, a second segment of the content item via the multi-network communication path; and

determining the respective performance metric for the multi-network communication path based on the retrieval of the second segment of the content item.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the selected multi-network communication path is a first multi-network communication path, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

in response to determining that the respective performance metric of the first multi-network communication path is below a threshold level, switch to a second multi-network communication path for retrieval of additional segments of the content item.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the control circuitry is further configured to, at a regular interval:

determine a respective updated performance metric for the each respective multi-network communication path; and

select an updated selected multi-network communication path based on the respective updated performance metrics; and

the input/output circuitry is further configured to request a transmission of an additional segment of the content item via the updated selected multi-network communication path.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the control circuitry is further configured to:

select a first selected multi-network communication path based on the respective performance metrics of the one or more multi-network communication paths; and

select a second selected multi-network communication path based on the respective performance metrics of the one or more multi-network communication paths; and

the input/output circuitry is further configured to:

request a transmission of a first segment of the content item via the first selected multi-network communication path; and

request a transmission of a second segment of the content item via the second selected multi-network communication path,

wherein at least a portion of the transmission of the first segment and the second segment occurs at the same time.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine the first information and the second information based on a manifest file corresponding to the content item.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (32)