Continuous data feeding in a distributed environment

• US 20060218217A1
• Filed: 03/09/2005
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Vvond, LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Ganesan, Prasanna, Rossmann, Alain, Miranz, Tony, Matloub, Shahriyar, Sze, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,635 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2312 Data placement on disk arrays data placement in general G06F3/0604
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2323 using file mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Techniques for transporting data in a distributed environment are disclosed. In a media system in which boxes are configured to supply each other needed data, stabilities of data transportation among the boxes are important. According to one aspect of the techniques, when one or more supplying boxes are identified to supply respective data portions to an ordering box, each communication session between the ordering box and one of the supplying boxes is constantly monitored. If the data is not transported correctly, a backup session by a backup box is activated to replace the session in which the data is not transported correctly. Without affecting the number of available boxes that may be designated to supply data to other ordering boxes, in one embodiment, one box is used to backup multiple boxes.

Claims

1. A method for transporting data in a distributed environment, the method comprising:

determining whether a communication session has been established with each of boxes designated to supply needed data segments in accordance with source information provided by a computing device over a network;

downloading concurrently the needed data segments respectively from the designated boxes only after the communication session has been successfully established with each of the designated boxes, wherein each of the needed data segments includes a plurality of data blocks sampled from a sequence of data blocks representing a file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the source information includes identifiers respectively identifying the designated boxes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the source information further includes additional identifiers respectively identifying a plurality of backup boxes, each backing up one or more of the designated boxes, and further comprising:

determining whether each of the needed data segments is received correctly; and

switching from one of the designated boxes to one of the backup boxes when one of the needed data segments is not received correctly from the one of the designated boxes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein another source information also includes the additional identifiers, the additional identifiers are updated when the one of the backup boxes becomes active.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining of whether each of the needed data segments is received correctly comprises determining whether each of the needed data segments is received at a required speed.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said switching from one of the designated boxes to one of the backup boxes comprises:

determining how much of the one of the needed data segments has been received from the one of the designated boxes;

continuing to download from the one of the backup boxes where the one of the designated boxes was switched.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the file is a collection of data together with any auxiliary data, if there is such auxiliary data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the file is divided into a sequence of data blocks, the sequence of data blocks partitioned into a header and a remaining portion, the data blocks in the header are consecutive, the remaining portion fragmented into a plurality of segments, none or at least one of the segments are to be distributed in the network.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the data blocks in the each of the segments are nonconsecutive.

10. A system for transporting data over a network, the system comprising:

a plurality of boxes, respectively coupled to the network, each associated with a user and providing a library of titles, each of the boxes including a storage space; and

a computing device configured to provide a response after receiving a request from one of the boxes (“

an ordering box”

hereinafter), the request including an order of one of the titles, the response including source information identifying a set of the boxes that are designated to provide respective data segments pertaining to the title, the source information further including identifiers identifying a plurality of backup boxes, each backing up one or more of the designated boxes,

wherein, in responding to the response, the ordering box proceeds with a playback of a header pertaining the title and establishes respective communication sessions with the set of the boxes.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein another source information designated for another ordering box also includes the identifiers, the identifiers are updated when the one of the backup boxes becomes active.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the ordering box is configured to perform operations of:

determining whether each of the respective data segments is received correctly; and

switching from one of the set of the boxes to one of the backup boxes when one of the data segments is not received correctly from the one of the set of the boxes.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said switching from one of the designated boxes to one of the backup boxes comprises:

determining how much of the one of the needed data segments has been received from the one of the designated boxes;

continuing to download from the one of the backup boxes where the one of the designated boxes was switched.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the file is a collection of data together with any auxiliary data, if there is such auxiliary data.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the file is divided into a sequence of data blocks, the sequence of data blocks partitioned into a header and a remaining portion, the data blocks in the header are consecutive, the remaining portion fragmented into a plurality of segments, none or at least one of the segments are to be distributed in the network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the data blocks in the each of the segments are nonconsecutive.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein any one of the set of the boxes that are designated to provide the respective data segments is configured to perform operations of:

determining whether one of the respective data segments is being uploaded correctly; and

switching to one of the backup boxes when the one of the respective data segments is being uploaded incorrectly.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said switching to one of the backup boxes comprises:

determining how much of the one of the backup boxes has been uploaded;

causing the one of the backup boxes to upload from where the one of the designated boxes was switched.

19. A software product to be executable in a computing device for transporting data in a distributed environment, the software product comprising:

program code for determining whether a communication session has been established with each of boxes designated to supply needed data segments in accordance with source information provided by a computing device over a network;

program code for downloading concurrently the needed data segments respectively from the designated boxes only after the communication session has been successfully established with each of the designated boxes, wherein each of the needed data segments includes a plurality of data blocks sampled from a sequence of data blocks representing a file.

20. The software product of claim 19, wherein the source information includes identifiers respectively identifying the designated boxes.

21. The software product of claim 20, wherein the source information further includes additional identifiers respectively identifying a plurality of backup boxes, each backing up one or more of the designated boxes, and further comprising:

program code for determining whether each of the needed data segments is received correctly; and

program code for switching from one of the designated boxes to one of the backup boxes when one of the needed data segments is not received correctly from the one of the designated boxes.

22. The software product of claim 21, wherein the program code for determining whether each of the needed data segments is received correctly comprises program code for determining whether each of the needed data segments is received at a required speed.