RU2671306C1 - Advertising replacing in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: data processing.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of advertising replacement in streaming video broadcasting. Advertising in streaming video broadcasting replacement method in computer networks includes steps of: receiving request to view video from the client device on at least one server; determining information about the advertising blocks to be replaced; saving information about advertising blocks to be replaced in the form of the advertising beginning, of advertising end and advertising schedule tags in the playlist file, which is used to replace the video stream that is downloaded and displayed on the client device; and performing the replacement either on the client device itself, or on at least one server, wherein both methods can be used within one client request to view video material, wherein the used method is modified based on at least one criterion selected from the group: servers availability, download speed, administrative policy change, which allow or prohibit the use of each device, wherein, when performing replacement on the server, performing containing the shown to the client advertising video segments files names change in accordance with the containing the requested by the client video material segments files names, at that, the video stream substitution is stopped in at least one of the following cases: all servers that insert the advertising tags into the playlist are unavailable, the advertisement tag has not been encountered in the playlist file for the set period of time, number of errors in the advertising video materials downloading has exceeded the established limit, and, in addition, performing the real time activity monitoring and synchronization of the all servers parameters.

EFFECT: enabling the advertising automatic replacement for video on demand, improving resilience against applications that block the advertising displaying, as well as reducing the broadcast delays.

5 cl, 1 dwg

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The claimed technical solution relates to the field of advertising in computer networks, and more particularly, to a method for the automated replacement of advertising in broadcasting streaming video in a computer network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional method is known for replacing advertisements in video broadcasts on a computer network (for example, the Internet), such as downloading and displaying advertising video material to a client during advertising blocks contained in a video requested by a client. This technology is applicable both for live video broadcasts (for example, viewing a live broadcast of a television company via the Internet), and for showing video on demand (for example, viewing a recording of a broadcast of a television company via the Internet).

The disadvantage of the traditional method is the need for the client to download an additional video stream containing the displayed advertising video material, which can lead to an overload of the client communication channel, and as a result, the demonstration of advertising material with a long delay, in low quality, or the complete impossibility of displaying the advertising video. Also, the need to process the second video stream requires additional computing resources from the device used by the client to view video material (computer, mobile phone, etc.), which, in case of insufficient computing resources, can lead to video playback with a reduced frame rate, with noticeable audiovisual defects, or the complete impossibility of displaying promotional video material.

To overcome these shortcomings, specialists have developed an advertising replacement technology that inserts advertising-containing video material into the video material requested by the client. One embodiment of advertising replacement technology is as follows.

Video material requested by the client consists of many small segments that are sequentially downloaded via a computer network (for example, the Internet) and shown to the client. Links for downloading segments, and information about the duration of segments is contained in the playlist file, which is also loaded by the client during viewing. If an advertising segment to be replaced is found (for example, based on advertising labels contained in the original video material), the server displaying the requested video material replaces in the playlist file links to segments containing the original advertising and links to segments containing advertising that must show to customer.

In accordance with this closest analogue of the claimed invention is a method of replacing ads on the Internet (WO 2016187592 A1, Viviso Inc., published 11.24.2016), in which segments containing advertisements are automatically detected and replaced in video material consisting of many segments. Moreover, if a segment contains both the video requested by the client and the advertisement to be replaced, this segment is divided into two sub-segments, one of which (containing the video requested by the client) is shown to the client, and the other (containing the advertisement to be replaced) is replaced. Also, this method delays the original broadcast for a time equal to the difference between the duration of the ad unit shown to the client and the duration of the ad unit contained in the original broadcast, and this delay can be eliminated during the demonstration of the next ad unit.

The disadvantages of this method are the support of only live video broadcasts and the inability to replace ads when showing video on demand. In addition, this method is not stable against special applications that block the display of ads. In addition, this method does not take into account the possible absence or insufficient amount of advertising intended for showing to the client, as well as the possible inaccessibility of the server on which the advertising video materials are located.

ESSENCE OF THE CREATED TECHNICAL SOLUTION

This technical solution is aimed at eliminating the disadvantages inherent in existing analogues.

The technical result from the use of this technical solution is to provide automatic replacement of advertising for video on demand, increasing stability against applications that block the display of advertising, as well as reducing broadcast latency.

In one of the preferred embodiments, a method of replacing an advertisement in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks is proposed, characterized in that: they receive a request to view video material from at least one client device on at least one server; determine information about the ad units to be replaced based on at least one criterion selected from the group: analysis of DTMF tags in the video requested by the client, analysis of SCTE-35 tags in the video requested by the client, image recognition in frames of the video requested by the client, recording in the corresponding a database stored on at least one machine-readable storage medium located on at least one server, while the analysis results of the video material requested by the client, if t Coy analysis was made, can be written in a corresponding database stored on the at least one computer-readable storage medium is located on at least one server; save information about the advertisement blocks to be replaced in the form of labels for the start of advertising, the end of the advertisement and the schedule of the advertisement in the playlist file, which are used to replace the stream of video downloaded and displayed on the client device; they are replaced either on the client’s device itself or on at least one server, and both methods can be used within the framework of one client’s request for viewing video material, and the method used is changed based on at least one criterion selected from the group: server availability, download speed, administrative policy change, while instead of video ads, at least one video splash screen is used when at least one criterion selected from the group is met: all ser The event on which the advertising video is placed, there is no advertising intended for display, the duration of the next advertising video exceeds the time remaining until the end of the replaced ad unit, while the video stream is no longer replaced in at least one of the following cases: all servers that insert advertising labels into playlist, in the playlist file, the advertisement label did not meet for a specified period of time, the number of errors in loading advertising materials exceeded the established limit, and in addition to On the other hand, they monitor the activity and synchronize the operation parameters of all servers in real time using the setup and fault detection tool connected to at least one server, and if a server failure condition is detected, the server is no longer used when processing client requests .

In accordance with a particular case of execution, at least one server is additionally connected to appropriate means of collecting and analyzing statistical information.

In accordance with a particular case of execution, a request is made for video material, analysis of DTMF tags or SCTE-35 tags in the requested video material, or image recognition in the frames of the requested video material and the analysis results are recorded in the appropriate database, including if the specified video material is not requested by the client.

This technical solution can be made in the form of a system for replacing advertisements in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks, comprising: at least one command processing device; at least one data storage device; one or more computer programs loaded into at least one of the aforementioned data storage devices and executed on at least one of the aforementioned command processing devices, while one or more computer programs contain the following instructions: receive a request to view video material from at least one client device on at least one server; determine information about the ad units to be replaced based on at least one criterion selected from the group: analysis of DTMF tags in the video requested by the client, analysis of SCTE-35 tags in the video requested by the client, image recognition in frames of the video requested by the client, recording in the corresponding a database stored on at least one machine-readable storage medium located on at least one server, while the analysis results of the video material requested by the client, if t Coy analysis was made, can be written in a corresponding database stored on the at least one computer-readable storage medium is located on at least one server; save information about the advertisement blocks to be replaced in the form of labels for the start of advertising, the end of the advertisement and the schedule of the advertisement in the playlist file, which are used to replace the stream of video downloaded and displayed on the client device; they are replaced either on the client’s device itself or on at least one server, and both methods can be used within the framework of one client’s request for viewing video material, and the method used is changed based on at least one criterion selected from the group: server availability, download speed, administrative policy change, while instead of video ads, at least one video splash screen is used when at least one criterion selected from the group is met: all ser The event on which the advertising video is placed, there is no advertising intended for display, the duration of the next advertising video exceeds the time remaining until the end of the replaced ad unit, while the video stream is no longer replaced in at least one of the following cases: all servers that insert advertising labels into playlist, in the playlist file, the advertisement label did not meet for a specified period of time, the number of errors in loading advertising materials exceeded the established limit, and in addition to On the other hand, they monitor the activity and synchronize the operation parameters of all servers in real time using the setup and fault detection tool connected to at least one server, and if a server failure condition is detected, the server is no longer used when processing client requests .

In accordance with a particular case of execution, at least one server is additionally connected to appropriate means of collecting and analyzing statistical information.

In accordance with a particular case of execution, a request is made for video material, analysis of DTMF tags or SCTE-35 tags in the requested video material, or image recognition in the frames of the requested video material and the analysis results are recorded in the appropriate database, including if the specified video material is not requested by the client.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. - scheme of a system for replacing advertising in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE CREATED TECHNICAL SOLUTION

In this device, north means a computer system, a computer (electronic computer), computerized control systems and any other devices that can perform a given, clearly defined sequence of operations (actions, instructions).

By a command processing device is meant an electronic unit or an integrated circuit (processor, microprocessor) that executes machine instructions (programs).

The command processing device reads and executes machine instructions (programs) from one or more data storage devices. Storage devices may include, but are not limited to, hard disks (HDDs), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), solid-state drives (SSDs), optical information storage devices (CD, DVD, Blue-Ray drives).

A program is a sequence of instructions for executing a command processing device.

Below we will consider some terms that will be used later in the description of the technical solution.

Tone dialing, tone (English Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency, DTMF) - a two-tone multi-frequency analog signal. Scope of tones: telephone signaling between devices, security systems, as well as commercial radio and television broadcasting.

ANSI / SCTE 35 2007 (first edition called SCTE 35 2004, Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message for Cable, Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE)), 2004. The international name for the standard is ITU-T Recommendation J.181. Describes the delivery of digital tags in a digital signal transport stream.

According to the proposed technical solution, the method of replacing advertising in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks includes the following steps:

Receive a request to view video from at least one client device on at least one server.

Information on the ad units to be replaced is determined based on at least one criterion selected from the group: analysis of DTMF tags in the video requested by the client, analysis of the SCTE-35 tags in the video requested by the client, image recognition in the frames of the video requested by the client, recording in the corresponding a database stored on at least one machine-readable storage medium located on at least one server, while the analysis results of the video material requested by the client, if t Coy analysis was made, can be written in a corresponding database stored on the at least one computer-readable storage medium is located on at least one server.

The information about the advertisement blocks to be replaced is saved in the form of labels for the start of advertising, the end of the advertisement and the schedule of the advertisement in the playlist file, which are used to replace the video stream downloaded and displayed on the client’s device.

Substitution is carried out either on the client device itself or on at least one server, and both methods can be used as part of the client’s request to view video material, and the method used is changed based on at least one criterion selected from the group: server availability, download speed, administrative policy change, while instead of video ads, at least one video splash screen is used when at least one criterion selected from the group is met: all ser The event on which the advertising video is placed, there is no advertising intended for display, the duration of the next advertising video exceeds the time remaining until the end of the replaced ad unit, while the video stream is no longer replaced in at least one of the following cases: all servers that insert advertising labels into playlist, in the playlist file, the advertisement label did not meet for a specified period of time, the number of errors in loading advertising materials exceeded the established limit, and in addition to On the other hand, they monitor the activity and synchronize the operation parameters of all servers in real time using the setup and fault detection tool connected to at least one server, and if a server failure condition is detected, the server is no longer used when processing client requests .

According to Figure 1, in one of the possible embodiments, the system of replacing advertisements in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks includes advertising recognition servers 2, recognition results databases 3, customer service servers 4 and management and monitoring server 7. Also involved in servicing customer requests , a video distribution server 1, a client device 5, and an advertising distribution server 6.

Advertising recognition servers 2 are connected to video distribution servers 1 through communication channels 8, to databases of recognition results 3 through communication channels 9 and to customer service servers 4 through communication channels 10. Customer service servers 4 are connected to client devices 5 via communication channels 11. Advertising servers 6 are connected either to client devices 5 via communication channels 12 (when replacing ads on a client device), or to customer service servers 4 through communication channels 13 (when replacing ads on a server). Management and monitoring servers 7 are connected to advertising recognition servers 2 through communication channels 14 and to customer service servers 4 through communication channels 15. In case of failure of advertising recognition servers 2, customer service servers 4 are connected to video distribution servers 1 through communication channels 16.

The direction of the arrows corresponds to the direction of data transfer when processing customer requests.

In one possible implementation option, the described technical solution consists of the following subsystems (programs, data warehouses):

Advertising recognition subsystem;

Recognition data storage subsystem;

Customer service subsystem;

Advertising replacement subsystem;

Subsystem of management and monitoring.

The advertising recognition subsystem provides at least one advertising recognition server (Fig. 1, item 2), on which the playlist file is modified by inserting the start, end and schedule marks (duration) of the advertisement block to be replaced. Information about the location and duration of the ad units is downloaded from the ad unit schedule database (Fig. 1, item 3), or, if there are no entries in the database, it is extracted from the video material using video decoding and analysis tools. The advertisement recognition server may be, in particular, one or more customer service servers (Fig. 1, item 4), or one or more specialized servers. If several such servers are used in the system, their functionality is duplicated on each of the servers.

The video stream decoding and analysis tools extract DTMF or SCTE-35 tags from the video material requested by the client, or analyze the frames of the video material using the pattern recognition algorithm. Label values or images in the video stream (for example, a video splash screen inserted before each ad unit) are interpreted as the start, end and duration labels of the ad unit to be replaced in accordance with the table of values specified in the configuration. The received information can be stored in the database of the schedule of ad units (Fig. 1, item 3). Video material for analysis is downloaded from video distribution servers (Fig. 1, item 1) and can be stored in the memory of an ad recognition server.

In an additional embodiment, the advertisement recognition servers can download video materials from the video distribution servers, analyze them using the decoding and analysis tools of the video stream, and store the received information in the database of the ad unit schedule even if the video was not requested by any client. The specified functionality allows you to reduce the load on the ad recognition server due to a more uniform use of decoding and video stream analysis tools. Also, this functionality allows you to detect the ad unit to be replaced even if the client did not start viewing the video material from the beginning and did not request segments containing tags or images indicating the beginning of the advertisement.

The recognition data storage subsystem provides at least one server on which, using the means of collecting and storing information, a database of the schedule of advertising blocks is created in the video materials available to the client (Fig. 1, item 3). Such a server can be, in particular, one or more advertising recognition servers (Fig. 1, item 2), or one or more specialized servers. If several such servers are used in the system, their functionality is duplicated on each of the servers.

The customer service subsystem provides at least one customer service server (Fig. 1, item 4), which provides the client with a playlist file and segment files of the requested video material. In this case, the playlist file and segment files of the requested video material are downloaded from the advertisement recognition servers (Fig. 1, pos. 2), and if they are unavailable, from the video distribution servers (Fig. 1, pos. 1) (in this case, the replacement advertising is not performed). If several customer service servers are used in the system, their functionality is duplicated on each of the servers.

In addition, customer service servers can be additionally equipped with caching tools for content that allow you to cache playlist files and video materials that are most frequently accessed by clients. Accounting of requests can be carried out by means of collecting and analyzing statistical information that can be located on servers. The specified caching allows you to increase the speed of processing a client’s request, as well as reduce the load on the ad recognition server.

The advertising replacement subsystem provides for the use of a special software package (hereinafter referred to as the “mixer”), which receives a playlist file and segment files from customer service servers. If it detects advertisement marks in the playlist file, the mixer connects to the advertisement distribution servers (Fig. 1, item 6), requests the advertising video intended for this client and replaces the video material requested by the client with this video. If the advertising video could not be loaded, or if the duration of the advertising video exceeds the time remaining until the end of the advertising block (provided that there are advertising schedule marks in the playlist file that indicate the duration of the advertising block), then the mixer instead of the video advertising uses a splash screen to replace the video, downloadable from customer service servers (Fig. 1, item 4). In the latter case, the use of a video splash screen avoids the occurrence of a live broadcast delay for the time required to complete the demonstration of the advertising video. A splash screen can also be used while downloading promotional video from distribution servers. The necessary parameters for work, including the addresses of the distribution servers, are downloaded by the mixer from the customer service servers. Information about the advertisement viewed by the client is sent to the advertisement distribution server using the SCTE-130 protocol.

In addition, if the beginning or end of the ad unit does not coincide with the beginning of the segment, the mixer downloads from the customer service servers only that part of the segment of the video requested by the client that is intended to be shown to the client and cannot be replaced. The division of the segment into sub-segments is carried out on the customer service servers (Fig. 1, item 4).

In addition, if during the playback of the advertising video the mixer receives the end mark of the advertising block, the loading of the following segments of the video requested by the client is delayed by the time remaining until the end of the played advertising video. At the same time, the mixer remembers the duration of the delay, and at the beginning of the next ad unit, reduces its duration by the amount of delay. Thus, the problem of delayed live broadcasts is eliminated due to the fact that the mixer remembers the duration of the delay, and at the beginning of the next ad unit, reduces its duration by the amount of delay.

In addition, if the customer service server becomes unavailable, or if the end label for the advertisement did not appear in the playlist file within a specified period of time after the start label of the advertisement, or if the number of errors in loading the advertising video materials exceeded the specified value, then the mixer may stop advertising substitution ( including by displaying a video splash screen) and start playing back the video requested by the client without replacing the advertisement.

The mixer can be performed either on the client device (Fig. 1, item 5) as part of a special software package for loading and displaying video material (player), or on customer service servers (Fig. 1, item 4). At the same time, the choice of the execution device is based on at least one of the criteria: availability of advertising distribution servers, download speed of video ads from advertising distribution servers, administrative policy that allows or prohibits the use of each device by the mixer. If these criteria change while the client is watching the requested video material, a change may occur in the device on which the mixer is running. Moreover, if the client uses a player that does not support the use of a mixer to view the video, the mixer is executed on the customer service server.

In addition, when the mixer is executed on the customer service server, the file names of segments containing the advertising video shown to the client are also changed, which impedes the implementation of ad blocking using special software running on client devices. Changing the name of the segments containing ads occurs in accordance with the names of the files containing the video requested by the client. For example, if the client requested the video material “video” consisting of segment files: “video-segment1.ts”, “video-segment2.ts”, “video-segment3.ts”, “video-segment4.ts”, and segment “ video-segment3.ts "contains the advertisement to be replaced, the file containing the advertising video shown to the client will be renamed to" video-segment3.ts ". If the number of segment files containing the advertising video shown to the client does not coincide with the number of segment files containing the video requested by the client, the names of the latter are changed in such a way as to preserve the continuity of the numbering of segment files.

The management and monitoring subsystem provides for at least one management and monitoring server (Fig. 1, item 7), which copies system configuration changes to all servers included in the system, and also constantly monitors all system servers to determine their activity by means of failure detection. The server is deprived of the active status and ceases to participate in the processing of client requests if it satisfies the denial condition: it is unavailable, or is overloaded, or the processing of too many percent of requests ends with a denial of service. Moreover, in the event of failure of all management and monitoring servers, the system will continue to service client requests using local copies of the configuration and the list of active servers. The management and monitoring server may be, in particular, one or more customer service servers (Fig. 1, item 4), or one or more specialized servers. If several management and monitoring servers are used in the system, their functionality is duplicated on each of the servers.

In an additional embodiment, the management and monitoring server can be additionally equipped with means for collecting and analyzing statistical information that download statistics of work and customer service from all servers of the system.

Interaction and data exchange between subsystems, as well as between subsystems and devices not included in the system, is carried out through communication channels, which can be either wired or wireless communication lines, such as WiFi, CDMA, LTE, etc., and in the case of placement several subsystems on the same server - through interprocess communication tools, such as shared files, shared memory, named pipes, etc.

From the foregoing, it will be clear to a specialist that the claimed technical solution provides automatic replacement of advertisements for video on demand, increases resistance against special applications that block the display of advertisements, and also reduces broadcast delays.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present technical solution has been described above, one skilled in the art will understand that the present technical solution is not limited to this preferred embodiment. Moreover, various changes and modifications can be made within the essence and scope of this technical solution, as defined in the following technical solution formula.

Claims (12)

1. The method of replacing advertising in streaming video broadcasts on computer networks, in which: - receive a request to view video from at least one client device on at least one server; - determine information about the ad units to be replaced based on at least one criterion selected from the group: analysis of DTMF tags in the video requested by the client, analysis of SCTE-35 tags in the video requested by the client, image recognition in frames of the video requested by the client, recording in the corresponding database data stored on at least one machine-readable storage medium located on at least one server, while the results of the analysis of the video requested by the client, if so second analysis was carried out, may be recorded in a database, stored on at least one computer-readable storage medium, which is located on at least one server; - save information about the advertisement blocks to be replaced in the form of labels for the start of advertising, the end of the advertisement, and the schedule of the advertisement in the playlist file, which are used to replace the video stream downloaded and displayed on the client device; - carry out the substitution either on the client device itself or on at least one server, and both methods can be used within the framework of one client’s request for viewing video material, and the method used is changed based on at least one criterion selected from the group: server availability, download speed, change of administrative policy that allows or prohibits the use of each device, and when performing a replacement on the server, they change the names of segment files containing the advertising video shown to the client, in accordance with the file names of the segments containing the video requested by the client, while at least one video splash screen is used instead of the video advertisement when at least one criterion selected from the group is fulfilled: all servers that host the advertising video are unavailable, there is no advertisement intended for display, the duration of the next advertising video exceeds the time remaining until the end of the replaced ad unit, while eo in at least one of the following cases: all servers that insert advertisement labels into the playlist are unavailable, the advertisement label did not meet in the playlist file for a specified period of time, the number of errors in loading advertising video materials exceeded the established limit, and, in addition, monitor the activity and synchronize the operation parameters of all servers in real time using the configuration and fault detection tool connected to at least one server, and if loviya server failure, the server will not be further used in the processing of customer requests. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further connected to appropriate means for collecting and analyzing statistical information. 3. The method according to p. 1, in which the request for video material, the analysis of DTMF tags or SCTE-35 tags in the requested video material, or the recognition of images in the frames of the requested video material and recording the analysis results in the appropriate database, including if the specified video material is not requested by customer. 4. A system for replacing advertisements in streaming video broadcasts on computer networks, comprising: - at least one command processing device; - at least one data storage device; - one or more computer programs loaded into at least one of the aforementioned data storage devices and executed on at least one of the aforementioned command processing devices, wherein one or more computer programs contain instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims . 1-3. 5. A computer-readable storage medium containing machine-readable instructions executed by one or more processors, which, when executed, implement a method for replacing advertising in streaming video broadcasts in computer networks according to any one of claims. 1-3.

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