Intelligent routing fabric for asset insertion in content

A method operable with a network element communicatively coupled to a plurality of content distributers and to a plurality of advertisement decision servers (ADSs), the method comprising:

• processing a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) 130-3 request from a first of the content distributers for advertisements to be inserted into a content selection provided to a subscriber by the first content distributer;
• in response to processing the SCTE 130-3 request:
• translating the SCTE 130-3 request into a Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) request;
• and
• in parallel, transferring the SCTE 130-3 request to at least one of the ADSs and transferring the VAST request to at least another one of the ADSs;
• receiving advertisements from at least a portion of the ADSs receiving the SCTE 130-3 request and the VAST request;
• determining a number of advertisement opportunities in the content selection;
• selecting a portion of the advertisements from each of the ADSs that fulfills all of the advertisement opportunities in the content selection;
• combining the selected portion of the advertisements from ADSs in a single SCTE 130-3 response;
• transferring the SCTE 130-3 response to the first content distributer for insertion into the content selection,
• processing a SCTE 130-3 PlacementStatusNotification from the first content distributer indicating placement of the advertisements in the content selection;
• and
• communicating viewing of the advertisements in the content selection to the ADSs.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a network element communicatively coupled to a plurality of content distributers and to a plurality of advertisement decision servers (ADSs), direct the network element to:

• process a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) 130-3 request from a first of the content distributers for advertisements to be inserted into a content selection provided to a subscriber by the first content distributer;
• in response to processing the SCTE 130-3 request:
• translate the SCTE 130-3 request into a Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) request;
• and
• in parallel, transfer the SCTE 130-3 request to at least one of the ADSs and transfer the VAST request to at least another one of the ADSs;
• receive advertisements from at least a portion of the ADSs receiving the SCTE 130-3 request and the VAST request;
• determine a number of advertisement opportunities in the content selection;
• select a portion of the advertisements from each of the ADSs that fulfills all of the advertisement opportunities in the content selection;
• combine the selected portion of the advertisements from ADSs in a single SCTE 130-3 response;
• transfer the SCTE 130-3 response to the first content distributer for insertion into the content selection,
• process a SCTE 130-3 PlacementStatusNotification from the first content distributer indicating placement of the advertisements in the content selection;
• and
• communicate viewing of the advertisements in the content selection to the ADSs.