Methods and apparatus for predictive delivery of content over a network

• US 10,057,609 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2015
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Rieger, Remi, Brooks, Paul D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Rong
• Application Number:
  US14/739,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20150382030A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,163 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26241 involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42607 for processing the incoming bitstream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6338 directed to network
• 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

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for optimizing bandwidth utilization in a cable network. In one embodiment, the method comprises predicting which content will be requested by a set of users based upon the exhibited viewing habits of those users (and/or others). A server process gathers viewership data comprising a listing of programs requested by users at various times of the day. The server process aggregates the viewership data, identifies patterns within the aggregated data, and extrapolates a schedule of programs likely to be requested. In certain embodiments, the server process additionally gathers the capabilities of each cable device in an associated subnetwork. Based upon these capabilities, and based upon the total bandwidth predicted to remain available in the network over a target broadcast period, the server process may also select an optimal compression scheme and video quality level before broadcasting a certain program.

Claims

1. A computerized method of determining which of a plurality of digitally rendered content elements to distribute over a content delivery network at a given time, said computerized method comprising:

receiving, at a content server within said content delivery network, viewership data from a plurality of computerized devices serviced by said content server, said viewership data comprising at least data relating to historical bandwidth demand;

generating, utilizing a computerized process and based at least in part on said viewership data, data relating to bandwidth demand at a future period of time;

determining whether to deliver, at said future period of time, first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices in place of second ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements, said determination based at least in part upon said data relating to bandwidth demand and data indicative of available bandwidth in said content delivery network; and

delivering said first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices;

wherein said generating and determining occur prior to said delivering of any of said first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices.

2. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of patterns in said viewership data;

prioritizing at least one of said plurality of patterns identified in said viewership data; and

utilizing said prioritized pattern to predict a subset of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements.

3. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein said viewership data comprises data indicating which channels were requested at certain times of day and data indicating which programs were requested at said certain times of day.

4. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising replacing a lower quality version of an individual one of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements with a higher quality version of said individual one of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements when:

(i) each of said plurality of computerized devices can accommodate said higher quality version, and (ii) there is sufficient bandwidth available for replacing said lower quality version with said higher quality version.

5. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising replacing a higher quality version of an individual one of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements with a lower quality version of said individual one of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements when at least some of said plurality of computerized devices are not capable of decoding or utilizing said higher quality version.

6. Computer-readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, said plurality of instructions configured to, when executed by a processor apparatus:

evaluate viewership data associated with a plurality of computerized client devices in data communication with a content delivery network, said evaluation comprising identification of at least one recurring temporal period that exhibits a prescribed activity or behavior by at least a portion of said plurality of computerized client devices;

identify one or more of a plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements to be delivered over said content delivery network to said plurality of computerized devices at a plurality of future times, said identification based at least in part upon (i) a bandwidth predicted to be available in said content delivery network at said plurality of future times, and (ii) said identification of at least one recurring temporal period; and

cause delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements in a multiplexed stream to said plurality of computerized devices at said plurality of future times.

7. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 6, wherein said at least one recurring temporal period comprises a period occurring each of a plurality of days of a week, and said plurality of future times correspond to respective ones of at least some of said periods of said plurality of days.

8. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 7, wherein:

said prescribed activity or behavior comprises said at least a portion of said plurality of computerized devices tuning to or selecting a given program channel; and

said bandwidth predicted to be available in said content delivery network comprises bandwidth associated with at least said given program channel.

9. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 6, wherein said plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed by said processor apparatus, communicate with a switched digital video switching process to perform at least one of:

(i) said bandwidth prediction; and

/or (ii) said causation of delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements.

10. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 6, wherein said plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed by said processor apparatus:

receive capability data from said plurality of computerized devices, said capability data comprising respective display resolution capabilities of said plurality of computerized devices; and

select an optimal bit rate for said delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content element based at least in part on said display resolution capabilities.

11. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 6, wherein said viewership data comprises at least data relating to historical bandwidth demand, and said data relating to said historical bandwidth demand indicates that said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements will not be in demand at said plurality of future times, yet said delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements is based on an indication that said at least a portion of said plurality of computerized devices will be active at said plurality of future times, said indication based at least upon said prescribed activity or behavior by said portion of said plurality of computerized devices.

12. A computerized method of determining which of a plurality of digitally rendered content elements to distribute over a content delivery network at a given time, said computerized method comprising:

receiving, at a content server within said content delivery network, viewership data associated with a plurality of computerized devices serviced by said content server, said viewership data comprising at least data relating to historical bandwidth demand;

generating, utilizing a computerized process and based at least in part on said viewership data, data relating to bandwidth demand at a future period of time;

determining to deliver, at said future period of time, first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices in place of second ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements, said determination based at least in part upon;

(i) said data relating to bandwidth demand at a future period of time, and (ii) data indicative of available bandwidth in said content delivery network; and

delivering said first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices;

wherein said generating and determining occur prior to said delivering of any of said first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices.

13. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein the content delivery network comprises a managed content delivery network having a plurality of subscribers associated therewith, and at least a portion of the plurality of computerized devices comprise computerized devices associated with respective ones of said subscribers and selected based at least in part on demographic data associated with the plurality of subscribers.

14. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein demographic data associated with the plurality of subscribers is maintained by an operator of the managed content delivery network in a database wherein the identity of each of the plurality of subscribers is anonymized.

15. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the anonymization of the identity of each of the plurality of subscribers is accomplished at least in part via respective ones of cryptographic hashes.

16. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of computerized devices comprise computerized devices selected based at least in part on historical data indicating one or more temporally correlated patterns associated with program usage by the selected computerized client devices.

17. The computerized method of claim 16, wherein the one or more temporally correlated patterns associated with program usage by the selected computerized client devices comprises program usage by the selected computerized devices during a same time period of a same day on a recurring basis.

18. The computerized method of claim 12, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of patterns in said viewership data;

prioritizing at least one of said plurality of patterns identified in said viewership data; and

utilizing said prioritized pattern as part of said determining to deliver said first ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content elements.

19. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein said viewership data comprises data indicating which program channels were requested at certain times of day.

20. The computerized method of claim 12, further comprising replacing a first version of an individual one of said first digitally rendered content elements having a first bitrate with a second version thereof having a second bitrate, the second bitrate higher than the first bitrate, when:

(i) each of said plurality of computerized devices can accommodate said second version, and (ii) there is sufficient bandwidth available at said future period of time for replacing said first version with said second version.

21. The computerized method of claim 12, further comprising replacing a first version of an individual one of said first digitally rendered content elements with a second version thereof when at least some of said plurality of computerized devices are not capable of decoding or utilizing said first version, the first version encoded using a format different than that of the second version.

22. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein said data indicative of available bandwidth in said content delivery network comprises data indicative of projected available bandwidth in said content delivery network at said future period of time.

23. A computerized network apparatus configured to determine which of a plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements to distribute over a content delivery network, said computerized network apparatus comprising:

a storage device; and

processor apparatus in communication with said storage device and configured to execute at least one computer program thereon, said computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which are configured to, when executed by said processor apparatus;

analyze one or more historical data records to identify an interval over which to consider a plurality of viewership data, said plurality of viewership data aggregated over said interval, said aggregation comprising;

generation of data representative of a list of digitally rendered programs available over said interval;

retrieval of data representative of a list of said plurality of computerized devices in a portion of said content delivery network;

determination of individual ones of said digitally rendered programs that were requested by one or more said plurality of computerized devices when said digitally rendered programs were available during said interval; and

creation of a data structure, said data structure comprising data configured to indicate which of said digitally rendered programs were requested, said creation based at least in part on said determination;

determine which of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements are to be delivered over said content delivery network to a plurality of computerized devices at a future recurring time based at least in part upon consideration of said plurality of viewership data over said interval, said plurality of viewership data comprising data configured to indicate one or more recurring times of day; and

transmit said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements in a multiplexed stream to said plurality of computerized devices at said future recurring time;

wherein said future recurring time comprises a time period correlated to said one or more recurring times of said plurality of viewership data.

24. Computer-readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, said plurality of instructions configured to, when executed by a digital processor apparatus:

algorithmically evaluate viewership data associated with a plurality of computerized client devices in data communication with a content delivery network, said evaluation comprising identification of at least one recurring temporal period that exhibits a prescribed activity or behavior by said plurality of computerized client devices;

identify one or more of a plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements to be delivered over said content delivery network to said plurality of computerized devices at a plurality of future times, said identification based at least in part upon (i) bandwidth predicted to be available in said content delivery network at said plurality of future times, and (ii) said identification of at least one recurring temporal period; and

cause delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements to said plurality of computerized devices at said plurality of future times, said delivery being via a multiplexed transport.

25. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 24, wherein said at least one recurring temporal period comprises a period occurring each of a plurality of days of a week, and said plurality of future times correspond to respective ones of at least some of said periods of said plurality of days of said week.

26. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 24, wherein:

said prescribed activity or behavior comprises said at least a portion of said plurality of computerized devices tuning to or selecting a given radio frequency channel of said content delivery network; and

said bandwidth predicted to be available in said content delivery network comprises bandwidth associated with at least said given radio frequency channel.

27. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 24, wherein said plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed by said processor apparatus, communicate with a computerized switched digital video switching process to perform at least one of:

(i) said bandwidth prediction; and

/or (ii) said causation of delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content elements.

28. The computer-readable apparatus of claim 24, wherein said plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed by said processor apparatus:

receive capability data comprising display resolution capabilities of at least a portion of said plurality of computerized devices; and

select a bitrate for said delivery of said one or more of said plurality of unrequested digitally rendered content element based at least in part on said received capability data.