Introduction

As in-flight entertainment (IFE) becomes a competitive differentiator for airlines, there’s growing urgency to optimize how digital content is delivered, stored, and refreshed on aircraft. Bandwidth remains limited—especially when relying on satellite links like Ku or Ka-band—and latency is unpredictable at 35,000 feet. Traditional CDNs struggle under these constraints.

That’s where Siden’s intelligent cache management platform enters the picture: offering airline operators and content providers fine-grained, API-driven control over what content is delivered to which aircraft—when and how.

Moving from Static Rules to Intelligent Edge Orchestration

Legacy IFE systems rely on fixed schedules to load or purge video content—typically during long maintenance windows. But with today’s dynamic passenger preferences, rotating regional catalogs, and episodic TV refresh cycles, that model is no longer sufficient.

Siden enables real-time edge cache control using a standardized API interface that conforms to the evolving IETF draft RFC8007bis, developed by the Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA) in collaboration with Siden.

Cache Buckets: Logical Containers for Content Intelligence

At the heart of the system lies the concept of a cache bucket—a logical grouping of content assets assigned to one or more Siden Edge Nodes (SENs). Each bucket is managed via secure, authenticated API calls and enables precise control over what gets prepositioned (pushed to the aircraft) or purged (removed from the edge node).

Example endpoint:

https://api.siden.io/cmd/cmi/trigger/id/<cache bucket>

By using cache buckets, content managers can create per-region, per-airline, or even per-aircraft groupings of content—tailoring prepositioning logic to real-time flight routes, passenger demographics, or business objectives.

API-Based Content Prepositioning

Prepositioning is more than just downloading files to an aircraft. It’s about predicting demand and delivering content with surgical precision.

Via the POST API endpoint, Siden allows clients to define content objects (e.g., HLS or DASH video manifests, text-based file lists) to be parsed, validated, and securely delivered to edge nodes during ground time or backhaul windows.

Here’s what makes it powerful:

  • Manifest-Aware Parsing: Siden supports recursive fetches of all video segments within HLS/DASH manifests.
  • Custom Metadata: Objects can include custom values like titles, versioning, or priority tags to improve tracking in Siden’s analytics dashboards.
  • On-Demand Triggering: Content can be pushed just-in-time—before a specific route or seasonal campaign goes live.
Architecture Diagram

Purging for Precision

Removing stale content is as vital as prepositioning. With Siden’s purge APIs, operators can dynamically delete outdated assets from edge caches—freeing up space for high-demand or urgent updates. This is especially useful for breaking news, time-sensitive ads, or region-specific regulatory compliance.

The purge flow is symmetric to prepositioning and uses the same trigger API schema.

Why This Matters for Aviation

In the aviation sector, edge caching is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s a necessity:

  • Inflight bandwidth is expensive and oversubscribed. Without smart prepositioning, streaming VOD or live content mid-air consumes high-cost satellite airtime.
  • Passenger expectations are rising. Travelers expect Netflix-like interfaces and instant playback. Without edge delivery, initial loading and buffering ruin the experience.
  • Routes change frequently. Different demographics and demand profiles require flexible content delivery—not static updates pushed quarterly.

Siden’s API-first cache control gives airlines agility and insight—allowing them to shift from reactive to predictive content strategies.

How Siden Differentiates
  • 🔐 Standards-Based & Secure: Siden’s API model follows CDNI IETF standards and is secured using JWT tokens provisioned through Auth0. Each client application or system must authenticate and authorize cache interactions, ensuring enterprise-grade security.
  • 🚀 Manifest-Intelligent Preloading: When an HLS or DASH manifest is submitted, Siden auto-fetches all child playlists and media segments—ensuring full video asset availability before takeoff.
  • 📊 Advanced Analytics: Every trigger, load, or purge operation is tracked in Siden’s analytics dashboards—helping ops teams correlate content performance, cache hit ratios, and prepositioning ROI.
  • 🌍 Tailored for Dynamic Environments: Whether it’s transatlantic routes or short-haul regional hops, Siden’s SEN-Policy framework ensures the right content is cached at the right edge node, every time.
Conclusion: A Smarter Way to Manage In-Flight Content

As in-flight digital experiences evolve, so too must the backend systems that power them. Siden’s Cache Management Interface provides a robust, standards-based, and future-proof platform for managing edge video delivery across aviation fleets.

From predictive prepositioning to intelligent purge logic, airlines now have the tools they need to streamline inflight content operations, improve passenger satisfaction, and optimize their satellite spend.

Interested in a live demo or API sandbox? Contact the Siden team to learn more about our aviation-focused edge delivery platform.

About Siden

Founded in 2018, Siden is at the forefront of revolutionizing connectivity in the aviation, maritime, and home broadband industries. Siden optimizes connectivity platforms through intelligent caching, enabling higher-quality content delivery while reducing network costs.