Methods for enabling near video-on-demand and video-on-request services using digital video recorders
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a request from a DVR for a VOD selection by a network server connected to the DVR over a data network;
retrieving the requested VOD selection from a storage device associated with the network server; and
transmitting first and second segments of the requested VOD selection in the form of a compressed multimedia data signal over the data network, whereby a receiving DVR is effective for receiving the compressed multimedia data signal containing the transmitted VOD selection, storing the received multimedia data signal on a local storage device, decompressing a first received segment of the received multimedia data signal, playing the first received segment for display on a display device, and simultaneously during the playing of the first received segment receiving and storing a second received segment of the received multimedia data signal while playing the first received segment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A near video-on-demand (VOD) service enabled using a digital video recorder (DVR) for the simultaneous storage and playback of multimedia data. A DVR is connected over a network to a multimedia network source. A VOD selection is requested by the DVR from the network source. A multimedia data signal is received by the DVR from the network source. The data signal contains the requested VOD selection. A first received portion of the received data signal is stored on the DVR. The first received segment is played by the DVR for display on a display device. Simultaneously during the playing of the first received segment, a second received segment of the received data signal is received from the network source and stored on the DVR while the first received segment is played the display device. Thus, the requested VOD selection begins playing on the display device prior to the reception of the entire compressed multimedia data signal so that a requested VOD selection can begin being displayed nearly instantaneously after the request for it is made. A video-on-request (VOR) service is also enabled using a DVR. VOR selection data is received by a centralized database device, such as a network server, from a plurality of users. Each VOR selection data includes at least one requested video selection and video recorder identifying information for identifying each particular video recorder. A transmission priority of requested video selections is determined dependent on the frequency of requests 1received from the plurality of users. A transmission channel and time is determined based on the transmission priority. DVR control signals are transmitted to automatically tune in the determined transmission channel at the determined transmission time and record the particular video selection.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a request from a DVR for a VOD selection by a network server connected to the DVR over a data network;
retrieving the requested VOD selection from a storage device associated with the network server; and
transmitting first and second segments of the requested VOD selection in the form of a compressed multimedia data signal over the data network, whereby a receiving DVR is effective for receiving the compressed multimedia data signal containing the transmitted VOD selection, storing the received multimedia data signal on a local storage device, decompressing a first received segment of the received multimedia data signal, playing the first received segment for display on a display device, and simultaneously during the playing of the first received segment receiving and storing a second received segment of the received multimedia data signal while playing the first received segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification