Methods and apparatus for content delivery and replacement in a network
First Claim
1. In a cable-television network, a peer-to-peer software architecture adapted for the delivery and reconstitution of content among a plurality of peer client devices, the architecture comprising:
- a first software process disposed on a first of said plurality of peer client devices and configured to evaluate at least a portion of content received at said first client device; and
a second software process disposed on a first client device and in communication with said first process;
wherein said second process is configured to;
receive information relating to one or more content elements associated with said at least portion which require reconstitution;
communicate with respective software processes on at least one other of said plurality of devices to obtain uncorrupted ones of said one or more content elements; and
receive said one or more content elements from said at least one other of said plurality of devices.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing an alternate content delivery mechanism available to content-based network users. In one embodiment, the network comprises a cable television network, and subscribers are able to retrieve requested content from one or more other subscriber'"'"'s storage medium and without going outside the cable network (or accessing the network core in any significant capacity) using a peer-to-peer (P2P) network protocol. Using this approach, bandwidth consumption is advantageously pushed out to the edge of the network from the core, also obviating content requests outside the network (e.g., to third-party servers on the Internet). Methods of operating the aforementioned P2P network, and various business paradigms relating thereto, are also disclosed.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. In a cable-television network, a peer-to-peer software architecture adapted for the delivery and reconstitution of content among a plurality of peer client devices, the architecture comprising:
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a first software process disposed on a first of said plurality of peer client devices and configured to evaluate at least a portion of content received at said first client device; and a second software process disposed on a first client device and in communication with said first process; wherein said second process is configured to; receive information relating to one or more content elements associated with said at least portion which require reconstitution; communicate with respective software processes on at least one other of said plurality of devices to obtain uncorrupted ones of said one or more content elements; and receive said one or more content elements from said at least one other of said plurality of devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. Customer premises equipment (CPE) adapted for peer-based content delivery within a content-based network, comprising:
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a processor; a network interface; a storage device in data communication with at least one of said processor or interface; and a software process operative to run on said processor; wherein said software process is configured to; receive information from an external entity relating to a request for content; identify content stored on said storage device that can at least in part satisfy said request; and transmit said identified stored content to a network device via said interface. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. Customer premises equipment (CPE) adapted for peer-based content delivery within a content-based network, comprising:
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a processor; a network interface; a storage device in data communication with at least one of said processor or interface, said storage device having content stored thereon; and a software process operative to run on said processor; wherein said software process is configured to; evaluate at least a portion of said stored content; issue a request for content based at least in part on said evaluation; and receive said requested content via said interface. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. For use in a cable television network having at least one server and a plurality of client devices, a software architecture adapted to facilitate peer-to-peer delivery of content, the architecture comprising:
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a first process associated with said server; and second processes disposed on respective ones of at least a portion of said plurality of client devices; wherein said first process is adapted to facilitate identification of one or more of said at least portion of said plurality of client devices that can service at least a portion of a request for content issued by at least one of said at least portion of said plurality of client devices using content that is substantially indigenous to said one or more devices. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. Apparatus for use in a cable network having a plurality of client devices with associated client software processes, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor; a storage device in data communication with said processor; a network interface adapted to transmit and receive communications with said plurality of client devices; and a software process adapted to run on said apparatus, said software process being configured to; receive requests for content to download to one or more of said client devices; and facilitate providing said content from at least one of said client devices to said one or more devices over a local distribution portion of said cable network. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59)
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60. A method of operating a content based network, comprising:
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obtaining profile data from a requesting peer; transmitting the relevant profile information to at least one other network entity; selecting one or more prospective source peers; evaluating said one or more peers for processing requirements; performing or scheduling any necessary processing; and transmitting the requested content to said requesting peer. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63)
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Specification