Content Steering Beyond Multi-CDN: Intra-CDN Edge Cache Switching as a Use Case

Content Delivery Network (CDN) operators cannot reliably migrate active streaming sessions across Edge Cache Servers (ECSs) for maintenance, load balancing, failure recovery, or energy-aware consolidation without disrupting playback. Content steering, standardized for multi-CDN orchestration in DASH and HLS, provides a control loop that can be repurposed for this intra-CDN problem. Although interpreted as steering across distinct CDNs, the standard treats pathway identifiers as opaque labels and does not require them to map to different providers. We present an architectural use case that leverages this flexibility to either force traffic-router reentry within the same CDN or directly target specific ECSs, with a CDN control plane computing reassignment decisions and the Content Steering Server (CSS) enforcing them by cloning pathways or updating pathway priorities. The approach requires no player changes beyond existing content steering support, and bounds migration latency by the steering Time to Live (TTL) as a standards-aligned alternative to mid-session reassignment mechanisms.