Apparatus and methods for managing delivery of content in a network with limited bandwidth using pre-caching
First Claim
1. An apparatus for management and distribution of content in a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising:
- at least one interface configured to communicate with a plurality of computerized client devices operatively coupled to said content delivery network;
one or more storage apparatus configured to;
store a plurality of digitally rendered content for distribution to subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices;
store data representative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of individual ones of said plurality digitally rendered content; and
store classification data related to said individual ones of said plurality of said digitally rendered content; and
a processing unit in data communication with said at least one interface and said one or more storage apparatus, said processing unit comprising computerized logic configured to;
based at least in part on said classification data, identify individual ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content that are high probability of viewership (HpoV) content for one of said subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices;
identify data representative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of said HpoV content from among said data representative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of said individual ones of said plurality of said digitally rendered content;
cause transmission of both (i) said HpoV content and (ii) said data representative of one or more rules to guide distribution of said HpoV content to said one of said subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices, where said transmission to said one of said subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices is configured to occur when network resource demand is below a predetermined threshold; and
schedule, using at least the computerized logic, said transmission of said HpoV content and said data representative of one or more rules to a different future time when said network resource demand is above said predetermined threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for managing provision of content to devices in a content delivery network. In one exemplary embodiment, content with a high probability of viewership is sent to consumer premises equipment (CPE) during off-peak periods and stored prior to viewing. An application is utilized to manage decisions related to content provision. The computer program will identify content that is likely to be of interest users associated with respective CPE, and schedule provision of that content in advance of viewing. Then, the system will develop a plan for optimal scheduling of transmission of content to CPEs, often including the use of trickle downloads. The scheduling plan is based collected statistical and historical data on network resource demand to make scheduling decisions. The system allows for the shifting of bandwidth utilization from periods of high demand to those of low demand, and increased performance with regard to user experienced latency.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus for management and distribution of content in a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising:
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at least one interface configured to communicate with a plurality of computerized client devices operatively coupled to said content delivery network; one or more storage apparatus configured to; store a plurality of digitally rendered content for distribution to subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices; store data representative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of individual ones of said plurality digitally rendered content; and store classification data related to said individual ones of said plurality of said digitally rendered content; and a processing unit in data communication with said at least one interface and said one or more storage apparatus, said processing unit comprising computerized logic configured to; based at least in part on said classification data, identify individual ones of said plurality of digitally rendered content that are high probability of viewership (HpoV) content for one of said subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices; identify data representative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of said HpoV content from among said data representative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of said individual ones of said plurality of said digitally rendered content; cause transmission of both (i) said HpoV content and (ii) said data representative of one or more rules to guide distribution of said HpoV content to said one of said subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices, where said transmission to said one of said subsets of said plurality of computerized client devices is configured to occur when network resource demand is below a predetermined threshold; and schedule, using at least the computerized logic, said transmission of said HpoV content and said data representative of one or more rules to a different future time when said network resource demand is above said predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of operating a content delivery network, said method comprising:
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identifying digitally rendered content with a high probability of viewership; during a period of predicted low network demand, providing, at a transmission rate less than that associated with a real-time presentation of said digitally rendered content, said digitally rendered content in an incomplete form and storage rules for said digitally rendered content, said digitally rendered content in said incomplete form rendered un-viewable without combination with a remaining portion of said digitally rendered content; when a demand for network resources spikes during said provision of said digitally rendered content in said incomplete form; stopping provision of said digitally rendered content; and rescheduling provision of said digitally rendered content in said incomplete form to a future time of predicted low network demand; and providing said remaining portion of said digitally rendered content. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A method of operating a content delivery network to one or more client devices, the method comprising:
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identifying digitally rendered high probability of viewership (HpoV) content, the identifying of the digitally rendered HpoV content comprising correlating programming content to at least one content consumption characteristic of one or more users of the one or more computerized client devices; and scheduling a portion of the digitally rendered HpoV content to be transmitted to the one or more computerized client devices during a period in which network usage is below a threshold, a size of the portion of the digitally rendered HpoV content scheduled to be transmitted being determined based on an algorithmic evaluation of a likelihood of viewership of the digitally rendered HpoV content by the one or more users; wherein the transmission of the digitally rendered HpoV content comprises transmission at a rate of data transmission that is lower than that required to view the digitally rendered HpoV content in real time. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer-readable apparatus comprising a storage medium having a computer program therein, said computer program comprising a plurality of instructions configured to, when executed by a processor apparatus of a computerized apparatus, cause said computerized apparatus to:
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cause identification of high probability of viewership (HpoV) content; and cause scheduling of transmission of said HpoV content to one or more computerized client devices of a content delivery network during an expected period of off-peak network demand, said scheduled transmission comprising a transmission rate less than that associated with a real-time presentation of said HpoV content; responsive to at least (i) initiation of said real-time presentation of said HpoV content on at least one of said one or more computerized client devices prior to completion of said scheduled transmission, and (ii) determination of a change in network demand during said real-time presentation of said HpoV content, cause increase of said transmission rate of said scheduled transmission; and responsive to (i) completion of said scheduled transmission, and (ii) a change in said network demand, cause enablement of access to said transmitted HpoV content stored on at least one of said one or more computerized client devices. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification