Out-of-band signaling and device-based content control

• US 10,038,927 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2011
• Issued: 07/31/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shatzkamer, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Donaghue, Larry
• Application Number:
  US13/334,401
• Publication Number:
  US 20130166690A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,413 Days
• Field of Search: 709219, 709223-224, 709232
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/262 Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

Systems and methods for performing content control in a mobile network using an out-of-band signaling channel are disclosed. In one embodiment, content control may be performed on a network device by collecting usage data for media consumption and caching from a mobile device via an out-of-band channel; receiving the usage data at an intermediate device via the out-of-band channel; building a predictive user profile based on the usage data; determining a schedule for downloading content from one or more media servers based on at least the predictive user profile; and sending instructions to perform one of time-shifting or pre-positioning to the one or more media servers according to the schedule for downloading content via an out-of-band channel.

Claims

1. A network device to control content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the network device comprising:

one or more computer processors;

a memory;

a first interface for communication with a mobile device via a first out-of-band channel;

a second interface for communication with one or more media servers via a second out-of-band channel; and

a signaling coordinator function in communication with the mobile device via the first interface and in communication with the one or more media servers via the second interface, the signaling coordinator function configured to;

receive, via the first interface, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device from the mobile device after a user delay; and

generate, based on the media consumption data, one of prefetching, caching or downloading instructions for content at the one or more media servers, wherein the instructions are sent to the one or more media servers via the second interface, whereafter the content is transferred to the mobile device based on the instructions, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data;

wherein the first out-of-band channel and the second out-of-band channel are configured to use a protocol that is different from a protocol used to deliver the content via the in-band channel to the mobile device.

2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to be in communication via the second interface with one or more advertising media servers for providing advertising content to the mobile device.

3. The network device of claim 1, wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to send instructions to the mobile device regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files.

4. The network device of claim 1, wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to send instructions based on the media consumption data to the mobile device to download specific media files during periods of relative network inactivity.

5. The network device of claim 1, wherein the protocol used over the second out-of-band channel is one of extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS), Diameter, and extensible markup language (XML).

6. The network device of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a user equipment (UE) and the mobile device is in communication with the one or more media servers via a long term evolution (LTE) mobile network.

7. A computer-implemented method to control content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at an intermediate device and from a mobile device via an out-of-band channel, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device after a user delay, wherein the out-of-band channel and the in-band channel are configured to use different protocols;

building a predictive user profile based on the media consumption data rather than the media transfer data;

determining, by operation of one or more computer processors and based on at least the predictive user profile, a schedule for downloading content from one or more media servers; and

generating, based on the schedule for downloading content, instructions to perform at least one of time-shifting and pre-positioning of the content at the one or more media servers, wherein the instructions are sent to the one or more media servers via the out-of-band channel, whereafter the time-shifted or pre-positioned content is transferred to the mobile device via at least the in-band channel, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

collecting additional usage data for advertising consumption; and

sending instructions to download advertisements to the mobile device to one or more advertising servers via the out-of-band channel.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising sending instructions to the mobile device via the out-of-band channel regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising selecting a network device for caching media files for a user based on the predictive user profile and based on a network distance from the mobile device to the network device.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein both time-shifting and pre-positioning of the content are performed at the one or more media servers, wherein the time-shifted and pre-positioned content is transferred to the mobile device via a plurality of distinct networks, wherein the time-shifting of the content permits the content to be downloaded during a specific time determined based on one or more current network conditions, wherein the pre-positioning of the content permits the content to be cached on the mobile device for subsequent use, wherein the time of watching the media file is different from the time of downloading the media file, wherein the media file comprises a first media file, wherein the content comprises a second media file different from the first media file.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein the predictive user profile is built based further on content popularity and subscriber media preferences, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises:

collecting additional usage data for advertising consumption;

sending instructions to download advertisements to the mobile device to one or more advertising media servers via the out-of-band channel;

sending instructions to the mobile device via the out-of-band channel regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files; and

selecting a network device for caching media files for a user based on the predictive user profile and based further on a network distance from the mobile device to the network device.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein the media consumption data further specifies the specific time to download and a specific speed of download of the media file, wherein the specific time to download is based on an estimated time that the at least one additional media file will be watched by the user, wherein the specific time to download is determined based further on a history of network accesses of the mobile device.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the media consumption data is generated by and transmitted from a monitor function executing on the mobile device and to a signaling coordinator function executing on the intermediate device, wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to generate the instructions to perform time-shifting and pre-positioning, wherein the mobile device is configured to:

receive directives from the intermediate device to perform low bitrate downloads during network off-peak periods; and

receive directives from the intermediate device to store media files in a local storage module of the mobile device and to delete media files from the local storage module.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the signaling coordinator function is further configured to generate instructions based on the media consumption data and send the instructions to the mobile device to download specific media files during periods of relative network inactivity;

wherein the media consumption data on which the predictive user profile is based is aggregated over two or more users regarding one or more media objects, the two or more users including the user.

24. The network device of claim 23, wherein the mobile device is a user equipment (UE), wherein the mobile device is in communication with the one or more media servers via a long term evolution (LTE) mobile network, wherein the protocol used over the out-of-band channel is, in respective instances, extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS), Diameter, and extensible markup language (XML).

11. One or more non-transitory tangible media that include code executable to perform an operation to control content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the operation comprising:

receiving, at an intermediate device and from a mobile device via an out-of-band channel, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device after a user delay, wherein the out-of-band channel and the in-band channel are configured to use different protocols;

building a predictive user profile based on the media consumption data rather than the media transfer data;

determining, by operation of one or more computer processors when executing the code, and based on at least the predictive user profile, a schedule for downloading content from one or more media servers; and

generating, based on the schedule for downloading content, instructions to perform at least one of time-shifting and pre-positioning of the content at the one or more media servers, wherein the instructions are sent to the one or more media servers via the out-of-band channel, whereafter the time-shifted or pre-positioned content is transferred to the mobile device via at least the in-band channel, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data.

12. The one or more non-transitory tangible media of claim 11, the operation further comprising:

collecting additional usage data for advertising consumption; and

sending instructions to download advertisements to the mobile device to one or more advertising servers via the out-of-band channel.

13. The one or more non-transitory tangible media of claim 11, the operation further comprising sending instructions to the mobile device via the out-of-band channel regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files.

14. The one or more non-transitory tangible media of claim 11, the operation further comprising selecting a network device for caching media files for a user based on the predictive user profile and based on a network distance from the mobile device to the network device.

15. A computer-implemented method for controlled content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the computer-implemented method comprising:

executing, by a mobile device, an application that displays media to a user;

storing the application and storing one or more media files;

generating, by operation of one or more computer processors, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device after a user delay, wherein the media consumption data is sent to the intermediate device via an out-of-band channel, wherein the out-of-band channel and the in-band channel are configured to use different protocols; and

downloading, via the in-band channel, at least one additional media file specified by the intermediate device and at a time specified by the intermediate device, wherein the at least one additional media file and the time for downloading are determined by the intermediate device based on the media consumption data rather than the media transfer data, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the mobile device is a user equipment (UE).

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising receiving directives from the intermediate device to perform low bitrate downloads during network off-peak periods.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising receiving directives from the intermediate device to store media files in a local storage module of the mobile device and to delete media files from the local storage module.