MULTI-SOURCE BRIDGE CONTENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A method of distributing content from a plurality of different content providers to subscriber devices, comprising:
- receiving and storing content files from a plurality of different content providers at a multi-source data center;
connecting the multi-source data center to a plurality of multi-source content distribution providers over a multi-source distribution network, each multi-source content distribution provider associated with a selected group of subscriber devices for connection with the subscriber devices over at least one second network;
connecting at least one multi-source content distribution provider to a selected subscriber device in the associated group over the second network; and
providing the content of at least one requested content file from the multi-source data center to the selected subscriber device through the content distribution provider associated with the subscriber device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-source bridge content distribution system links multiple content owners with access network operators or content distribution providers leasing space on access networks so that multi-media content can be provided from multiple content owners to consumers through a multi-source bridge or data center. Content files and associated content owner preference settings are provided from a plurality of content sources or providers to the multi-source data center. Files stored at the data center or locally at an access network are provided to subscribers through the local access network Content files are provided if the content owner preference settings are a sufficient match with service provider access network preference settings set up by the service provider using the access network to provide content to subscribers.
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Citations
72 Claims
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1. A method of distributing content from a plurality of different content providers to subscriber devices, comprising:
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receiving and storing content files from a plurality of different content providers at a multi-source data center; connecting the multi-source data center to a plurality of multi-source content distribution providers over a multi-source distribution network, each multi-source content distribution provider associated with a selected group of subscriber devices for connection with the subscriber devices over at least one second network; connecting at least one multi-source content distribution provider to a selected subscriber device in the associated group over the second network; and providing the content of at least one requested content file from the multi-source data center to the selected subscriber device through the content distribution provider associated with the subscriber device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A multi-source bridge content distribution system, comprising:
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a first communication module configured to communicate with a plurality of content providers in order to receive content files and associated content owner preference settings from the content providers; a multi-source data storage module associated with the first communication module for receiving and storing content files and associated preference settings from the content providers; a second communication module configured to provide requested content files to content distribution providers linked to different groups of subscribers and to receive distribution provider preference settings from the content distribution providers; and a multi-source controller linked to the data storage module and communication modules and configured to control processing of content files for storage in the data storage module and operation of the communication modules to receive and distribute content files, the multi-source controller having a preference control module configured to compare the distribution provider preference settings of a distribution provider requesting a content file with the content owner preference settings associated with the requested content file and to control the second communication module to provide the requested content file to the content distribution provider only if there is a predetermined match between the distribution provider and content owner preference settings. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A multi-source bridge content distribution system, comprising:
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a plurality of multi-source content distribution providers each associated with a different group of subscribers for providing content to subscriber devices, each content distribution provider having a network for distributing content to the subscriber devices of the respective subscriber group; a multi-source data center having a first communication module configured to communicate with a plurality of content providers, a data storage module associated with the first communication module for receiving and storing content files from the content providers, a second communication module configured to provide requested content files to the content distribution providers, and a control module configured to process content files for storage in the data storage module and to operate the communication modules to receive and distribute content files; and a multi-source network linking the multi-source data center to the multi-source content distribution providers; whereby content from a plurality of different content providers can be provided from the multi-source data center to any subscriber device through the associated multi-source content distribution provider and network. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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Specification