Method and apparatus for sharing media files among network nodes

• US 20090025048A1
• Filed: 04/01/2006
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: WOND LLC
• Inventors: Ganesan, Prasanna
• Granted Patent: US 9,176,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/92
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/00 Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] real-time bi-directional transmission of motion video data H04N7/14 ; broadcast or conference over packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2312 Data placement on disk arrays data placement in general G06F3/0604
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2323 using file mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44245 Monitoring the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. its availability, bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Techniques for sharing data among a plurality of networked devices, also referred to network nodes, are discussed. To best use an available uploading bandwidth of a device sharing data with a receiving device, a portion of the data is uploaded within the available uploading bandwidth, and another portion of the data is uploaded from another device locally caching the same data. To satisfy the minimum transmission rate of the data to the receiving device, both portions of the data are concurrently uploaded from the two devices to the receiving device. In reference to a predetermined minimum uploading bandwidth and the available uploading bandwidth, the two portions of data are interleaved and must be reassembled to recover the data for consumption in the receiving device. A size of the first portion of the data is determined by a server in view of the available uploading bandwidth a designated supplying box has.

Claims

1. A method for sharing a file, the method comprising:

dividing at least some of the file into a sequence of data blocks;

forming k segments, each of the k segments including some of the data blocks, wherein k is a finite integer greater than 1 and determined in accordance with a predefined minimum uploading bandwidth;

causing at least a first device and a second device to locally cache at least one of the k segments; and

designating the first device to supply a first portion of the one of the k segments and the second device to supply a second portion of the one of the k segments to a third device at substantially similar time, wherein the first and second portions are interleaved and multiplexed to reassemble the one of the k segments in the third device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the file is a collection of data together with auxiliary data, if there is such auxiliary data.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the designating of the first device to supply the first portion of the one of the k segments and the second device to supply the second portion of the one of the k segments to the third device happens when an uploading bandwidth of either one of the first and second devices is below the predefined minimum uploading bandwidth.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the designating of the first device to supply the first portion of the one of the k segments and the second device to supply the second portion of the one of the k segments to the third device happens when a remaining uploading bandwidth of the first device is below the predefined minimum uploading bandwidth.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the first device is concurrently uploading at least another one of the k segments.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the remaining uploading bandwidth of the first device is a portion of an uploading bandwidth available to the first device.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein a FIFO data buffer in the third device is fed with the k segments, where the one of the k segments being continuously received from the first and second devices is reassembled before being provided to the FIFO data buffer.

8. A method for sharing a file, the method comprising:

dividing a file pertaining to a title into a sequence of data chunks, wherein the title is included in a release to update the library in each of boxes in service;

designating an initial set of seeding boxes to receive the data chunks collectively, each of the seeding boxes receiving at least some of the data chunks; and

causing each of the seeding boxes to propagate at least some or all of the received data chunks to a set of the boxes, wherein one of the boxes receives one of the data chunks from a first one and a second one of the seeding boxes concurrently, and

wherein data from the first one and the second one is interleaved and multiplexed to recover the one of the data chunks.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

each of the set of the boxes is caused to recursively propagate its received data chunks to other boxes chosen to continue spreading, if necessary, some or all of the received data chunks among the boxes till each of the boxes in service has received a designated portion of the data chunks.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining a minimum uploading speed of a network the boxes are coupled to;

determining a required transmission rate for a smooth playback of the title; and

calculating a segment number with reference to the minimum uploading speed and the required transmission rate.

11. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the sequence of data chunks represents k segments, and k is a finite integer, and wherein each of the k segments is a decimated version of the file, and the method further comprising:

sampling, repeatedly and simultaneously, k consecutive data blocks from the sequence of data chunks, each of the k consecutive data blocks going to one of the k segments.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the file is a collection of data together with auxiliary data, if there is such auxiliary data.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the file includes video data representing one or more of (i) at least one movies, (ii) news footage, (iii) commercial videos, and (iv) one or more games.

14. A system for sharing a file, the system comprising:

at least a first device and a second device, each locally caching a data segment;

an ordering device configured to receive the data segment; and

a server configured to designate the first device to upload a first portion of the data segment to the ordering device, and the second device to upload a second portion of the data segment to the ordering device in accordance with respective uploading bandwidths for the first and second devices, wherein the first and second portions are interleaved determine.

15. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein data from the first and second portions must be multiplexed to recover the data segment in the ordering device.

16. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein an uploading bandwidth of the first device is below a predefined minimum uploading bandwidth so that only the first portion of the data segment can be uploaded,

17. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein, a remaining uploading bandwidth of the first device is below a predefined minimum uploading bandwidth so that only the first portion of the data segment can be uploaded while the first device is uploading another data segment alone.

18. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the data segment is one of k segments pertaining to a title, data from the k segments must be available concurrently to recover an original data stream to support a playback of the title.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein a downloading bandwidth of the ordering device is at least k times a predefined minimum uploading bandwidth.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the k segments pertain to a collection of data together with auxiliary data, if there is such auxiliary data, and wherein the data includes video data representing one or more of (i) at least one movies, (ii) news footage, (iii) commercial videos, and (iv) one or more games.