Methods and apparatus for providing video services such as Video-on-Demand, news and advertising services
First Claim
1. A method of providing a program L time units in length to a user, comprising the steps of:
- storing a first segment of said program;
beginning the presentation of the stored first segment of said program to the user;
receiving a second segment of said program at least L time units after beginning to store the first segment of said program; and
presenting to the user the second segment of said program when the presentation of the first segment of said program is completed.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for distributing multi-media data, e.g., video and audio data, corresponding to television programs, movies, local advertising, etc. are described. Video on demand services such as pay-per-view (PPV) services are supported by caching initial portions of PPV programs in user devices such as cable set top boxes and satellite receivers. In response to a request for a PPV movie, the user is immediately presented with the movie by outputting data corresponding to the requested program from the cache. During the presentation of the PPV program to the user, the cached data is supplemented with broadcast data obtained from a time staggered repetitive broadcasting of the requested PPV movie. A variety of regional news programs are also made available to a user of the invention through the use of program segment caching. Regional news program segments are cached prior to presentation time. At presentation time, regional news segments corresponding to a user selected regional news program are retrieved from the cache and combined with broadcast non-regional news segments. By stitching together cached non-regional news segments and regional news segments, a wide variety of regional news programs can be provided to the user without having to broadcast complete copies of the regional news programs. Program segment caching and stitching is performed at the user premises reducing the complexity of the centralized server.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A method of providing a program L time units in length to a user, comprising the steps of:
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storing a first segment of said program;
beginning the presentation of the stored first segment of said program to the user;
receiving a second segment of said program at least L time units after beginning to store the first segment of said program; and
presenting to the user the second segment of said program when the presentation of the first segment of said program is completed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of providing a program to a user, comprising the steps of:
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receiving on a first communications channel, a first program segment;
storing the first segment of said program in a storage device;
receiving a second program segment on a second communications channel, the first and second program segments corresponding to the same program; and
presenting to the user the second segment of said program immediately following the presentation of the first segment of said program. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of presenting a program to an individual, comprising the steps of:
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operating a user device to record a broadcast of an initial portion of the program;
receiving information about the time and channel upon which copies of the program are broadcast;
operating the user device to detect a request to view said program;
in response to the request to view said program, operating the user device to begin presenting the initial portion of the program to the individual using the recorded initial portion of the program; and
operating the user device to obtain the data corresponding to a remaining portion of said program from one of said broadcast copies of said program. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of providing regional and non-regional program data to a plurality of users, the method comprising the steps of:
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broadcasting a plurality of regional program segments;
operating a plurality of user devices to store the regional program segments in a cache included in each of the plurality of user devices;
broadcasting program segment information about a plurality of regional programs, the program segment information for each regional program indicating the program segments included in the regional program;
broadcasting non-regional program segments after operating the user devices to store the regional program segments; and
operating the user device to present at least one regional program segment to the user by presenting at least one cached regional program segment and a broadcast non-regional program segment to the user. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A user device for processing program data, comprising:
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a receiver circuit for receiving broadcast program data;
a program cache coupled to the receiver circuit;
means for identifying and storing in said program cache initial portions of programs which are broadcast on a periodic basis;
means for detecting user input requesting the presentation one of the programs which are transmitted on a periodic basis;
means for outputting a cached initial portion of said user requested program in response to said user input requesting the presentation of one of the programs; and
means for obtaining, from a periodic broadcast of the user requested program which starts subsequent to caching of the initial portion of said user requested program, a remaining portion of said user requested program; and
means for outputting the remaining portion of said user requested program immediately following the output of the cached initial portion. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 46, 47)
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42. A device for processing program segments, comprising:
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a cache for storing program segments;
means for receiving on a first communications channel, a first program segment;
a cache controller for storing the program segment in the cache;
means for receiving a second program segment on a second communications channel, the first and second program segments corresponding to the same program; and
means for presenting to the user the second segment of said program immediately following the presentation of the first segment of said program. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45)
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48. A system for presenting a program to an individual, comprising the steps of:
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a server for broadcasting to the premises of multiple individuals, in a time staggered manner, copies of the program and information about the time and channel upon which copies of the program will be broadcast;
a user device in communication with said server, the user device including;
means for recording a broadcast of an initial portion of the program;
means for receiving information about the time and channel upon which copies of the program are broadcast;
means for detecting a request from a user to view said program;
means for presenting the recorded initial portion of the program, in response to the request to view said program, to the user; and
means for obtaining the data corresponding to a remaining portion of said program from a copy of said program.
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49. A system for providing regional and non-regional news to a plurality of users, the system comprising:
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a server for broadcasting a plurality of regional news segments, non-regional news segments and program information indicating the news segments included in each of a plurality of non-regional news segments;
a plurality of user devices in communication with said server, at least some of the user devices being located at different subscriber premises which are physically remote from each other and the server;
each of the plurality of said user devices including;
a cache for storing regional news segments;
means for accessing the broadcast program segment information to identify regional and non-regional news segments which are included in a non-regional news program;
means for presenting at least one regional news program by outputting at least one cached regional news segment and by outputting, immediately following the output regional news segment, at least one non-regional news segment corresponding included in the same regional news program as the output non-regional news segment.
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Specification