System and method of providing video-on-demand content

• US 20080148322A1
• Filed: 12/18/2006
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Howcroft, Jerald Robert
• Application Number:
  US11/640,816
• Publication Number:
  US 20080148322A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/87
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2225 Local VOD servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for distributing video-on-demand content. In an embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes receiving data at a server of a first multimedia service provider. The received data identifies a multimedia program available from a second multimedia service provider as video-on-demand (VOD) content. Program guide data is sent to a multimedia receiver to display an indication that the multimedia program is available as VOD content concurrently with displaying an indication that the multimedia program is available as a scheduled program.

Claims

1. A method of providing video-on-demand content, the method comprising:

receiving video-on-demand (VOD) availability data at a server of a first multimedia service provider, the VOD availability data identifying a multimedia program available from a second multimedia service provider as VOD content; and

sending program guide data to a multimedia receiver, wherein the program guide data causes the multimedia receiver to display an indication that the multimedia program is available as VOD content concurrently with displaying an indication that the multimedia program is available as a scheduled program of the first multimedia service provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the program guide data includes current and future programming information to display a first program schedule at the multimedia receiver, and wherein the program guide data further includes historical programming information to display a second program schedule at the multimedia receiver.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving program scheduling data that identifies the multimedia program as a scheduled program of the first multimedia service provider;

determining that the multimedia program is identified by the VOD availability data and also identified by the program scheduling data; and

storing VOD indicator data to indicate that the multimedia program is available as VOD content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia program is indicated as available as VOD content after a scheduled program time of the multimedia program but is not indicated as available as VOD content before the scheduled program time.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a selection of the multimedia program from the multimedia receiver, wherein the selection is received after a scheduled program time of the multimedia program.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising sending VOD content charge data to the multimedia receiver, wherein the VOD content charge data causes the multimedia receiver to indicate a charge to receive the multimedia program as VOD content.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving an acceptance of the charge from the multimedia receiver.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an instruction to the second multimedia service provider to provide the multimedia program to the multimedia receiver as VOD content.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending a message to the multimedia receiver indicating the multimedia program is ready to play at the multimedia receiver.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first multimedia service provider is an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service provider that uses Internet Protocol (IP) multicast to provide scheduled program content, and wherein the second multimedia service provider uses IP unicast to provide VOD content.

11. A method of providing video-on-demand content, the method comprising:

sending a program guide to a display device, the program guide indicating that a multimedia program is available as a scheduled program of a first multimedia service provider and concurrently indicating that the multimedia program is available as video-on-demand (VOD) content;

receiving a selection of the multimedia program; and

sending a request to a second multimedia service provider to receive the multimedia program as VOD content.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving the multimedia program as VOD content via an Internet Protocol (IP) progressive download transmission.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising sending a notice to a display device when a sufficient portion of the VOD content has been received to enable uninterrupted playback.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the program guide indicates that the multimedia program is available as VOD content when the scheduled program has ended but does not indicate that the multimedia program is available as VOD content when the scheduled program has not ended.

15. A system to provide video-on-demand content, the system comprising:

a server to provide video-on-demand content to a first multimedia service provider from a second multimedia service provider, the server having a processor and a memory device accessible to the processor;

wherein the memory device includes instructions to send data identifying a plurality of multimedia programs to a channel content guide server of the first multimedia service provider, wherein a first multimedia program of the plurality of multimedia programs is distributed by the first multimedia service provider as a scheduled program; and

wherein the memory device includes instructions to receive a request from the channel content guide server to provide the first multimedia program as video-on-demand (VOD) content to a set-top box device (STB), wherein the request is received in response to a selection of the first multimedia program at the STB after the scheduled program has ended.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the memory device includes instructions to provide the first multimedia program as VOD content to the STB.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the memory device includes instructions to provide the first multimedia program to the STB via an Internet Protocol (IP) network of the first multimedia provider.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the memory device includes instructions to provide the first multimedia program to the STB via a cache server that is coupled to the IP network.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the memory device includes instructions to stream the first multimedia program to the STB.

20. A processor-readable medium tangibly embodying processor instructions to:

receive program scheduling data from a channel content server, the program scheduling data identifying a first plurality of multimedia programs and associated program schedule times;

receive video-on-demand (VOD) availability data from a VOD server, the VOD availability data identifying a second plurality of multimedia programs that are accessible as VOD content;

identify a multimedia program that is in the first plurality of multimedia programs and that is also in the second plurality of multimedia programs; and

store program guide data associating the multimedia program with the associated program schedule time and also associating the multimedia program with a VOD indicator.

21. The processor-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first plurality of multimedia programs are made available to a first set of subscribers by a first multimedia service provider, and wherein the second plurality of multimedia files are provided by a second multimedia service provider that does not provide scheduled multimedia programming to the first set of subscribers.

22. The processor-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the processor instructions include instructions to:

receive program selection data from a set-top box device (STB), the program selection data indicating a selection of the multimedia program and an associated program schedule time at the STB; and

send an instruction to the VOD server to provide the multimedia program to the STB as VOD content.

23. A set-top box device comprising:

a processor and a memory device coupled to the processor;

wherein the memory device includes instructions to display a graphical user interface (GUI), the GUI including a first program schedule that displays current and future scheduled programming available from a first multimedia service provider, the GUI including a second program schedule that displays past scheduled programming of the first multimedia service provider, wherein each program displayed in the second program schedule indicates video-on-demand (VOD) accessibility when the program is available as VOD content from a second multimedia service provider.

24. The set-top box device of claim 23, wherein the first program schedule displays a current time period and a plurality of future time periods, wherein the displayed time periods are navigable by a user of the STB via navigation commands received at the STB, and wherein the second program schedule is displayed when a navigation command to navigate to a time period before the current time period is received at the STB.

25. The set-top box device of claim 24, wherein the navigation command is a left-arrow signal received from a remote control device when a navigation cursor displayed at the first program schedule indicates the current time period.