APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OBTAINING MEDIA CONTENT

• US 20100077438A1
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ansari, Ahmad
• Granted Patent: US 8,997,154 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/91
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234354 by altering signal-to-noise ratio parameters, e.g. requantization
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 Unicasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server having a controller to receive a request for media content from a set top box of an Internet Protocol Television System, perform a search of one or more storage devices associated with other set top boxes for the media content based at least in part on a user profile associated with the set top box where the other set top boxes are located remotely from the set top box, receive the media content, and adjust a format of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box based at least in part on the user profile. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a request for media content from a set top box of a customer premises network;

performing a first search of one or more storage devices associated with the customer premises network for the media content;

performing a second search of one or more storage devices associated with other customer premises networks for the media content based at least in part on a user profile associated with the customer premises network;

performing a third search of at least one of the Internet and an out-of-network database for the media content;

receiving the media content located by one of the first, second or third searches; and

performing at least one of transrating and transcoding on the media content prior to delivery to the set top box when the media content is retrieved from the Internet or the out-of-network database.

2. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for performing a conversion of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box according to a Digital Rights Management policy.

3. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for performing at least one of the transrating and the transcoding on the media content based at least in part on the user profile.

4. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the user profile is a group profile identifying each of the customer premises network and the other customer premises networks as members.

5. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first, second and third searches are commenced at least substantially simultaneously.

6. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more storage devices associated with the customer premises network comprise a desktop computer storage device and a digital video recorder.

7. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the second search is performed by communicating with a media monitoring device in communication with the other customer premises networks, and wherein the media monitoring device monitors available media content at the other customer premises networks.

8. A server comprising a controller to:

receive a request for media content from a set top box of a customer premises network;

perform a first search of one or more storage devices associated with the customer premises network for the media content;

perform a second search of one or more storage devices associated with other customer premises networks for the media content based at least in part on a user profile associated with the customer premises network, wherein the second search is based on content availability data maintained by a monitoring device in communication with at least one of the customer premises network and the other customer premises networks; and

receive the media content.

9. The server of claim 8, wherein the controller is adapted to:

perform a third search of at least one of the Internet and an out-of-network database for the media content; and

adjust a format of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box when the media content is retrieved from the Internet or the out-of-network database.

10. The server of claim 9, wherein the first, second and third searches are commenced at least substantially simultaneously.

11. The server of claim 9, wherein the format of the media content is adjusted based at least in part on the user profile.

12. The server of claim 8, wherein the controller is adapted to select the media content from multiple copies of the media content based on the user profile.

13. The server of claim 8, wherein the controller is adapted to perform a conversion of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box according to a Digital Rights Management policy.

14. The server of claim 8, wherein the controller is adapted to adjust a format of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box.

15. A server comprising a controller to:

receive a request for media content from a set top box of an Internet Protocol Television System;

perform a search of one or more storage devices associated with other set top boxes for the media content based at least in part on a user profile associated with the set top box, the other set top boxes being located remotely from the set top box;

receive the media content; and

adjust a format of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box based at least in part on the user profile.

16. The server of claim 15, wherein the controller is adapted to perform another search of at least one of the Internet and an out-of-network database for the media content.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the adjustment to the format comprises at least one of transrating and transcoding.

18. The server of claim 15, wherein the controller is adapted to perform a conversion of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box according to a Digital Rights Management policy.

19. A set top box comprising a controller to:

store a user profile;

obtain a request for media content;

transmit the request to a server of an Internet Protocol Television System, the server performing first, second and third searches based on the request, the first search being of storage devices associated with the set top box, the second search being of storage devices associated with remote set top boxes, the third search being of at least one of the Internet and an out-of-network database; and

receiving the media content located by one of the first, second or third searches, the media content being transrated by the server prior to delivery to the set top box.

20. The set top box of claim 19, wherein the media content is transcoded by the server prior to delivery to the set top box.

21. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for media content from a set top box of a customer premises network;

performing a first search of one or more storage devices associated with the customer premises network for the media content;

performing a second search of one or more storage devices associated with other customer premises networks for the media content;

receiving the media content; and

performing at least one of transrating and transcoding on the media content prior to delivery to the set top box.

22. The method of claim 21, comprising identifying the other customer premises networks based on a user profile associated with the set top box.

23. The method of claim 21, comprising performing a third search of at least one of the Internet and an out-of-network database for the media content.

24. The method of claim 21, comprising performing a conversion of the media content prior to delivery to the set top box according to a Digital Rights Management policy.

25. The method of claim 21, comprising selecting the media content from multiple copies of the media content based on a user profile associated with the set top box.