Aligning content packager instances

Abstract

Methods and systems for managing content are disclosed. As an example, a plurality of content fragment of a content asset may be generated and a plurality of time stamps may be associated with each of the plurality of fragments. A first time stamp may indicate a time a respective one of the plurality of fragments was generated and a second time stamp may represent an event time associated with one or more events of the network. As such, at least a portion of the plurality of content fragments may be transmitted to each of a plurality of content packagers, wherein at least the second time stamp associated with each of the plurality of fragments facilitates the alignment of the plurality of content packagers with each other.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, a fragment of a content asset, wherein the fragment comprises first information indicating a generation time of the fragment and second information indicating a time associated with a region of the content asset; and   causing, by the computing device, based at least on the second information, time alignment of the region of the content asset.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a content packager, and wherein causing time alignment of the region of the content asset comprises causing time alignment of the region of the content asset between the content packager and at least one other content packager. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second information indicates a time of an event associated with a beginning of the region of the content asset. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the event comprises one or more of: a startup time of an encoder of the content asset, an advertising marker, or a marker indicating a program or chapter of the content asset. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, based on the second information, a unique region identifier associated with the region. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first information or the second information comprises a network time protocol time stamp. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending, to a user device, the fragment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 causing, based at least on the second information, an association of the fragment with the region of the content asset; and   packaging, based on the association of the fragment with the region, the fragment for delivery to one or more user devices.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content asset comprises at least one of linear content, non-linear content, a video stream, an audio stream, a movie, a television program, data, or information. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the fragment comprises receiving, from a transcoder, the fragment. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein receiving the fragment comprises receiving the fragment via a multiple bitrate multicast transmission. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:   receive a fragment of a content asset, wherein the fragment comprises first information indicating a generation time of the fragment and second information indicating a time associated with a region of the content asset; and   cause, based at least on the second information, time alignment of the region of the content asset.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the apparatus comprises a content packager, and wherein causing time alignment of the region of the content asset comprises causing time alignment of the region of the content asset between the content packager and at least one other content packager. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the second information indicates a time of an event associated with a beginning of the region of the content asset. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the event comprises one or more of: a startup time of an encoder of the content asset, an advertising marker, or a marker indicating a program or chapter of the content asset. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to determine, based on the second information, a unique region identifier associated with the region. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein at least one of the first information or the second information comprises a network time protocol time stamp. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the content asset comprises at least one of linear content, non-linear content, a video stream, an audio stream, a movie, a television program, data, or information. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause:
 receiving a fragment of a content asset, wherein the fragment comprises first information indicating a generation time of the fragment and second information indicating a time associated with a region of the content asset; and   causing, based at least on the second information, time alignment of the region of the content asset.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein causing time alignment of the region of the content asset comprises causing time alignment of the region of the content asset among a content packager and at least one other content packager. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the second information indicates a time of an event associated with a beginning of the region of the content asset. 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the event comprises one or more of: a startup time of an encoder of the content asset, an advertising marker, or a marker indicating a program or chapter of the content asset. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions further cause determining, based on the second information, a unique region identifier associated with the region. 
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein at least one of the first information or the second information comprises a network time protocol time stamp. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the content asset comprises at least one of linear content, non-linear content, a video stream, an audio stream, a movie, a television program, data, or information.