Content Steering

Description

Content distributors often use multiple Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to distribute their content to the end-users. They may upload a copy of their catalogue to each CDN, or more commonly have all CDNs pull the content from a common origin. Alternate URLs are generated, one for each CDN, that point at identical content. DASH players may access alternate URLs in the event of delivery problems.

Content steering describes a deterministic capability for a content distributor to switch the content source that a player uses either at start-up or midstream, by means of a remote steering service. The DASH implementation of Content Steering also supports the notion of a proxy steering server which can switch a mobile client between broadcast and unicast sources.

Architecture