VIDEO-SWITCHED DELIVERY OF MEDIA CONTENT USING AN ESTABLISHED MEDIA-DELIVERY INFRASTRUCTURE

• US 20080059646A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ludvig, Edward A., Comito, John P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,996,459 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/631 Multimode Transmission, e.g. transmitting basic layers and enhancement layers of the content over different transmission paths or transmitting with different error corrections, different keys or with different transmission protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416

Abstract

A strategy is described for delivering media content to clients using a combination of switched media technology and established broadcast delivery technology (such as HFC technology). The strategy is advantageous because it provides the benefits of switched media environment without requiring significant revision to the established delivery infrastructure. The strategy includes a first version in which channels are not shared among clients, and a second version in which channels may be shared among clients which are accessing the same media content.

Claims

1. A method for delivering media content to a client, comprising:

assigning a channel to a client;

receiving a tune event which indicates an instruction to receive desired media content;

switching the desired media content such that it is deliverable over the assigned channel; and

delivering the desired media content to over the assigned channel, wherein the delivering takes place over a delivery infrastructure and delivery format developed for delivering media content items to clients over a plurality of channels associated with respective media content items, with the expectation that the clients receive the media content items by locally tuning to appropriate channels associated with the respective media content items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivery infrastructure includes a combination of coaxial cables and fiber optic cables.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the client includes a cable system set-top box.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the client is programmatically configured to remain fixed to the assigned channel, although initially developed to selectively receive other channels in response to tune events.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the switching uses Internet Protocol technology.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivering further comprises expediting the delivery of the desired media content after the tune event is generated.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether another channel is currently assigned to the desired media content in a node group associated with the client; and

allowing the client to receive the desired media content via that other channel if the determining is answered in the affirmative.

8. One or more machine-readable media containing machine-executable instructions for implementing the receiving, switching, and delivering of claim 1.

9. An operations center for delivering media content to a client, comprising:

a switching module configured to;

receive a tune event which indicates an instruction to receive desired media content; and

switch the desired media content such that it is deliverable over a channel that is assigned to the client; and

a delivery module configured to transmit the desired media content over the assigned channel wherein the delivering takes place over a delivery infrastructure and delivery format developed for delivering media content items to clients over a plurality of channels associated with respective media content items, with the expectation that the clients receive the media content items by locally tuning to appropriate channels associated with the respective media content items.

10. The operations center of claim 9, wherein the delivery infrastructure includes a combination of coaxial cables and fiber optic cables.

11. The operations center of claim 9, wherein the client includes a cable system set-top box.

12. The operations center of claim 9, wherein the client is programmatically configured to remain fixed to the associated channel, although initially developed to selectively receive other channels in response to tune events.

13. The operations center of claim 9, wherein the operations center is configured to use Internet Protocol technology in performing switching.

14. The operations center of claim 9, further comprising a fast-tune module configured to expedite the delivery of the desired media content after the tune event is generated.

15. A system for delivering media content to a client, comprising:

an operations center, comprising;

a switching module configured to;

receive a tune event which indicates an instruction to receive desired media content; and

switch the desired media content such that it is deliverable over a channel assigned to the client; and

a delivery module configured to transmit the desired media content to the user over the assigned channel;

a client configured to receive the desired media content over the assigned channel, which the client remains tuned to; and

delivery infrastructure for delivering the desired media content to the client, wherein the delivery infrastructure is developed for delivering media content items to clients over a plurality of channels associated with respective media content items, with the expectation that the clients receive the media content items by locally tuning to appropriate channels associated with the respective media content items.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the delivery infrastructure includes a combination of coaxial cables and fiber optic cables.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the delivery infrastructure includes a plurality of nodes, each node serving an assigned group of clients.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the client includes a cable system set-top box.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the client is programmatically configured to remain fixed to the associated channel, although initially developed to selectively receive other channels in response to tune events.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations center is configured to use Internet Protocol technology in performing switching.