Distributed storage and aggregation of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway

• US 20050232210A1
• Filed: 03/30/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Seshadri, Nambirajan, Abrams, Marc, Karaoguz, Jeyhan
• Granted Patent: US 7,420,956 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/103 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2181 comprising remotely distributed storage units, e.g. when movies are replicated over a plurality of video servers distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21825 involving removable storage units, e.g. tertiary storage such as magnetic tapes or optical disks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23103 using load balancing strategies, e.g. by placing or distributing content on different disks, different memories or different servers storage management G06F3/0604; allocation of resources considering the load in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/505; techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system G06F9/5083; access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. load balancing, in data networks H04L67/1001
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• 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 21/4755 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 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/04 Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks

Abstract

A system and method for the aggregation of multimedia information storage via a broadband access gateway is disclosed. Information about storage resources accessible to a broadband access gateway may be collected and used in selecting storage capacity used for storing multimedia information such as, for example, streaming video, broadcast video, digitized video, digitized audio, text, and digitized images. The gateway may manage storage and retrieval of the multimedia information based upon user defined criteria and characteristics of the available storage resources. Multimedia information may be parsed for storage across multiple storage resources, and the location and nature of the storage resources used for storage of multimedia information items may be unknown to the user. Storage services accessible via a broadband connection may also be used as storage resources.

Claims

1. A system supporting distribution and aggregation of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway, the system comprising:

a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface, the gateway capable of selectively exchanging multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and of communicating with the plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;

the gateway capable of collecting, from at least a portion of the plurality of access devices, information identifying at least one storage resource available for the storage of multimedia information;

the gateway capable of receiving, from one of the plurality of access devices, a user request for storage of multimedia information;

the gateway capable of selecting from the at least one storage resource, aggregate storage capacity for storing the multimedia information using the collected information; and

the gateway capable of causing storage of the multimedia information using the selected aggregate storage capacity.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein the information identifying the at least one storage resource comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, a manufacturer identifier, a model identifier, and a type identifier.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with at least one of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

9. The system according to claim 8 wherein the cellular network comprises at least one of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

10. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

the gateway capable of receiving at least one of;

information identifying an access device and information identifying a user; and

the gateway capable of authenticating the user request based upon the received identifying information.

11. The system according to claim 10 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, a digital certificate, and a credit card number.

12. The system according to claim 10 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a manufacturer identifier, a model identifier, and a type identifier.

13. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

the gateway capable of saving information enabling retrieval of the stored multimedia information from the selected aggregate storage capacity; and

the gateway capable of managing retrieval of the stored multimedia information using the saved information.

14. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one storage resource comprises at least one of:

an access device, a hard disk drive, a compact disk (CD) drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD) drive, a digital video camera, and a storage service.

15. The system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a personal video recorder (PVR), a video cassette recorder (VCR), and a digital camera.

16. The system according to claim 1 wherein the request is received via the at least one wireless interface.

17. The system according to claim 1 wherein the request is received via the broadband network.

18. A method for supporting distribution and aggregation of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway, the method comprising:

collecting, from at least a portion of a plurality of access devices, information identifying at least one storage resource available for the storage of multimedia information;

receiving, from one of the plurality of access devices, a user request for storage of multimedia information;

selecting from the at least one storage resource, aggregate storage capacity for storing the multimedia information using the collected information; and

causing storage of the multimedia information using the selected aggregate storage capacity.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

exchanging multimedia information among at least one wireless interface and a broadband network.

20. The method according to claim 18 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

21. The method according to claim 18 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

22. The method according to claim 18 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

23. The method according to claim 18 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with at least one of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11 g, and 802.11 n standards.

24. The method according to claim 18 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

25. The method according to claim 24 wherein the cellular network comprises at least one of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

26. The method according to claim 18 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

27. The method according to claim 18 wherein the information identifying the at least one storage resource comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, a manufacturer identifier, a model identifier, and a type identifier.

28. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

receiving at least one of;

information identifying an access device and information identifying a user; and

authenticating the user request based upon the received identifying information.

29. The method according to claim 28 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, a digital certificate, and a credit card number.

30. The method according to claim 28 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a manufacturer identifier, a model identifier, and a type identifier.

31. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

saving information enabling retrieval of the stored multimedia information from the selected aggregate storage capacity; and

managing retrieval of the stored multimedia information using the saved information.

32. The method according to claim 18 wherein the at least one storage resource comprises at least one of:

an access device, a hard disk drive, a compact disk (CD) drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD) drive, a digital video camera, and a storage service.

33. The method according to claim 18 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a personal video recorder (PVR), a video cassette recorder (VCR), and a digital camera.

34. The method according to claim 18 wherein the request is received via the at least one wireless interface.

35. The method according to claim 18 wherein the request is received via the broadband network.

46. The machine-readable storage according to claim 18, wherein the code sections executable by a machine further causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

receiving at least one of;

information identifying an access device and information identifying a user; and

authenticating the user request based upon the received identifying information.

47. The machine-readable storage according to claim 46 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, a digital certificate, and a credit card number.

48. The machine-readable storage according to claim 46 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a manufacturer identifier, a model identifier, and a type identifier.

36. A machine-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections for operating a gateway supporting distribution and aggregation of multimedia information, the code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

collecting, from at least a portion of a plurality of access devices, information identifying at least one storage resource available for the storage of multimedia information;

receiving, from one of the plurality of access devices, a user request for storage of multimedia information;

selecting from the at least one storage resource, aggregate storage capacity for storing the multimedia information using the collected information; and

causing storage of the multimedia information using the selected aggregate storage capacity.

37. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein the code sections executable by a machine further causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

exchanging multimedia information among at least one wireless interface and a broadband network.

38. The machine-readable storage according to claim 37 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

39. The machine-readable storage according to claim 37 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

40. The machine-readable storage according to claim 37 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

41. The machine-readable storage according to claim 37 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with at least one of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11 g, and 802.11 n standards.

42. The machine-readable storage according to claim 37 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

43. The machine-readable storage according to claim 42 wherein the cellular network comprises at least one of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

44. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

45. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein the information identifying the at least one storage resource comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, a manufacturer identifier, a model identifier, and a type identifier.

49. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36, wherein the code sections executable by a machine further causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

saving information enabling retrieval of the stored multimedia information from the selected aggregate storage capacity; and

managing retrieval of the stored multimedia information using the saved information.

50. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein the at least one storage resource comprises at least one of:

an access device, a hard disk drive, a compact disk (CD) drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD) drive, a digital video camera, and a storage service.

51. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a personal video recorder (PVR), a video cassette recorder (VCR), and a digital camera.

52. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein the request is received via the at least one wireless interface.

53. The machine-readable storage according to claim 36 wherein the request is received via the broadband network.