Video and digital multimedia acquisition and delivery system and method

• US 20030028890A1
• Filed: 10/10/2001
• Published: 02/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Comcast IP Holdings I LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast IP Holdings I LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Swart, William D., McCoskey, John S., Asmussen, Michael L.
• Application Number:
  US09/973,081
• Publication Number:
  US 20030028890A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/91
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2187 Live feed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25808 Management of client data terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303
• 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 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• 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 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 : for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6377 : directed to server one-way streaming services wherein the source is controlled by the destination H04L65/613
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/658 : Transmission by the client directed to the server
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 : involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An aggregator, operating in a digital communications network, includes a request and results processing server, a search engine server coupled to the request and results processing server and a content acquisition server coupled to the request and results processing server. A request and results processing server receives a request for content, the search engine server searches for the content and the content acquisition program acquires content for delivery to the user. The request and results processing server includes a search request processor that receives information related to a user'"'"'s search request and provides the information to a search results form builder that creates an electronic search request. The search request may be augmented by using a content suggestion engine to add additional search terms and descriptions to the search request. The aggregator may also include a decoder that decodes program content and program metadata from remote sources for storage at the aggregator, and an encoder that encodes content metadata and programs for delivery to the user. The aggregator may also comprise one or more crawlers, such as a content crawler, to look for program content in one or more digital communications networks.

Claims

1. A video and multimedia acquisition and delivery system, comprising:

a content acquisition system, comprising;

a content acquisition server that receives video and multimedia content requests and controls acquisition of the requested video and multimedia content,

one or more content acquisition routers coupled to the content acquisition server that route the video and multimedia content requests and acquired video and multimedia content, and

a content acquisition receiver system coupled to the one or more content acquisition routers, wherein the content acquisition receiver system receives video and multimedia content from remote sources and provides the received video and multimedia content to the one or more content acquisition routers; and

a content delivery system coupled to the content acquisition system, comprising;

a content delivery server, and

one or more content delivery routers coupled to the content delivery server.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the content acquisition server, comprises:

a content request processor and router that receives the video and multimedia requests from a user terminal;

a buffer coupled to the content request processor and router; and

a remote content download processor coupled to the content request processor and router, wherein the remote content download processor manages a connection from remote content sources.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the content delivery server maintains a connection to the user terminal for delivery of video and multimedia content.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the video and multimedia content includes the video and multimedia content and metadata related to the video and multimedia content, and wherein the video and multimedia content is routed through the video and multimedia content acquisition system.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the video and multimedia content includes metadata related to the video and multimedia content, and wherein the video and multimedia content is routed to the user terminal through a remote network gateway to the content delivery server coupled to the network gateway.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the content acquisition receiver system comprises:

one or more acquisition receivers;

one or more acquisition demodulators coupled to the one or more acquisition receivers, and

one or more acquisition demultiplexers coupled to the one or more acquisition demodulators, wherein the one or more acquisition demultiplexers demultiplex receive content to provide requested video and multimedia content to the content delivery system for delivery to a user terminal.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the content delivery server, comprises:

a local request processor; and

a content delivery processor coupled to the local request processor and wherein the content delivery system stores video and multimedia content in a local content source buffer until a connection to a user terminal is made.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the content delivery server comprises an advertisement processor that receives commands to insert specific advertisements into video and multimedia content, wherein the specific advertisements are stored at one of a remote location and a user terminal.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the content delivery server comprises a digital rights management (DRM) processor and an encryption processor, wherein the DRM processor comprises:

a storage module that determines if video and multimedia content may be stored at a user terminal, copied, forwarded to another user terminal, transferred to a computer-readable medium, and translated into an alternate file format and coding scheme; and

an encryption module that determines if the video and multimedia content may be encrypted, and wherein the encryption processor encrypts the video and multimedia content.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a system administrator that receives a notification of receipt of the requested video and multimedia content by a user terminal, and processes billing information based on receipt of the content.

11. A method for acquiring and delivering video and multimedia content, comprising:

receiving a content download request from a user terminal;

determining if the request is a local download or a remote download;

if the request is a remote download request, determining if the content is to be delivered directly or indirectly; and

if the delivery is to be delivered directly;

establishing a communications link from a remote content server to the user terminal,

delivering the requested content to the user terminal,

validating the delivery to the user terminal, and

logging the validated delivery in one of a local and a remote server database.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the request is a local download request, comprising:

analyzing metadata related to the requested content;

determining, based on the analyzed metadata, if the requested content is in a correct format for delivery to the user terminal;

if the requested content format is not correct;

retrieving the requested content,

decoding the requested content, and

reformatting the requested content into a required format for delivery to the user terminal;

if the requested format is correct, routing the requested content to a content delivery server;

analyzing a user profile associated with a user of the user terminal and the content metadata; and

based on the analyzed user profile and the content metadata;

applying a digital rights management scheme to the content delivery, and

incorporating one or more advertisements into the requested content,

wherein one or more of the one or more advertisements are targeted to a user of the user terminal.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the requested content is to be delivered indirectly, comprising:

acquiring the requested content at a remote acquisition server;

determining if the requested content should be stored at an aggregator local storage;

if stored at the aggregator local storage;

determining a format of the requested content,

if the format if the requested content is not correct for storage, reformatting the request content, and

if the format of the requested content is correct for storage, storing the requested content;

analyzing metadata related to the requested content;

determining, based on the analyzed metadata, if the requested content is in a correct format for delivery to the user terminal;

if the requested content format is not correct;

retrieving the requested content,

decoding the requested content, and

reformatting the requested content into a required format for delivery to the user terminal;

if the requested format is correct, routing the requested content to a content delivery server;

analyzing a user profile associated with a user of the user terminal and the content metadata; and

based on the analyzed user profile and the content metadata;

applying a digital rights management scheme to the content delivery, and

incorporating one or more advertisements into the requested content, wherein one or more of the one or more advertisements are targeted to a user of the user terminal.