Manager/Remote Content Architecture
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising in a viewing system having a plurality of client devices configured to output content streamed from a content provider over a communication network:
- determining by at least one said client device whether another said client device is accessible to manage consumption of the content by the plurality of client devices; and
when the other said client device is not available, assuming a role of limited manager of the viewing system by the at least one said client device to manage consumption of the content by the plurality of client devices, wherein the at least one said client device does not include functionality related to content consumption that is available from the other said client device.
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Abstract
Embodiments of a manager/remote content architecture are described herein. The architecture, for instance, may provide management of content received from a content provider, such as to determine which client devices are authorized to output the content. Techniques are also described which allow one of the remote client devices to act as a “limited manager” to allocate content usage by the architecture when the manager client device is not available.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising in a viewing system having a plurality of client devices configured to output content streamed from a content provider over a communication network:
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determining by at least one said client device whether another said client device is accessible to manage consumption of the content by the plurality of client devices; and
when the other said client device is not available, assuming a role of limited manager of the viewing system by the at least one said client device to manage consumption of the content by the plurality of client devices, wherein the at least one said client device does not include functionality related to content consumption that is available from the other said client device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15)
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10. A method comprising:
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assuming a role of limited manager by a client device in a viewing system, wherein;
each client device in the viewing system is configured to consume content streamed over a network; and
the role of limited manager causes the client device to allocate the consumption of content by each said client device; and
monitoring availability of one or more said client devices to determine when a manager client device becomes available that is configured to allocate the consumption of the content by each said client device and to cause recordation of at least a portion of the content. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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16. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer executable instruction that, when executed, direct a client device to determine whether to enter a state to allocate content streamed over a communication network to a viewing system that is capable of consuming more content bandwidth than is available to the viewing system via the communication network, wherein the determination is based on:
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functionality available on the client device;
whether another client device in the viewing system is available to manage content allocation; and
comparison of a notification from the other client device with information generated by the client device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification