System and Method for Multicasting in a Network Environment

• US 20100118754A1
• Filed: 11/13/2008
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Burton, Joseph B., Sarkar, Shantanu
• Granted Patent: US 8,385,245 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1881 with schedule organisation, e.g. priority, sequence management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests

Abstract

An apparatus is provided in one example embodiment and includes a content player that receives a request for content from an endpoint and evaluates whether a given portion of the content has already been multicasted. If the portion has been multicasted, then the endpoint is connected to a multicast version of the portion of the content, and if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is added to a multicast transmission schedule. In more specific embodiments, the content player requests a piece of content from a content source and segments the piece of content into clips to be delivered to one or more endpoints. In still other embodiments, if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is sent over a unicast channel.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for content from an endpoint; and

evaluating whether a given portion of the content has already been multicasted, wherein if the portion has been multicasted, then the endpoint is connected to a multicast version of the portion of the content, and wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is added to a multicast transmission schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting a piece of content from a content source; and

segmenting the piece of content into clips to be delivered to one or more endpoints.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is sent over a unicast channel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is based on some subscription model, a previous query, or profile information of an end user associated with the endpoint.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the endpoint includes a proxy that coordinates with a content player to receive the multicast version.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the proxy is coupled to a browser that enables the multicast version to be used by an end user of the endpoint.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the content player includes a multiplexing function, and wherein the content player can tune multicast activities it conducts based on bandwidth utilization in a network.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the content player evaluates data being transmitted over a time interval and determines if there are enough endpoints requesting a content piece that is the same such that the piece of content is sent over a multicast channel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein an update is sent to the endpoint to configure a proxy in the endpoint for multicasting activities.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a content player that receives a request for content from an endpoint and evaluates whether a given portion of the content has already been multicasted, wherein if the portion has been multicasted, then the endpoint is connected to a multicast version of the portion of the content, and wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is added to a multicast transmission schedule.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the content player requests a piece of content from a content source and segments the piece of content into clips to be delivered to one or more endpoints.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is sent over a unicast channel.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the request is based on some subscription model, a previous query, or profile information of an end user associated with the endpoint.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the endpoint includes a proxy that coordinates with the content player to receive the multicast version, and wherein the proxy is coupled to a browser that enables the multicast version to be used by an end user of the endpoint, and wherein the content player evaluates data being transmitted over a time interval and determines if there are enough endpoints requesting a content piece that is the same such that the piece of content is sent over a multicast channel.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the content player includes a multiplexing function, and wherein the content player can tune multicast activities it conducts based on bandwidth utilization in a network.

16. Logic encoded in one or more tangible media for execution and when executed by a processor operable to:

receive a request for content from an endpoint; and

evaluate whether a given portion of the content has already been multicasted, wherein if the portion has been multicasted, then the endpoint is connected to a multicast version of the portion of the content, and wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is added to a multicast transmission schedule.

17. The logic of claim 16, wherein the code is further operable to:

request a piece of content from a content source; and

segment the piece of content into clips to be delivered to one or more endpoints.

18. The logic of claim 16, wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is sent over a unicast channel, and wherein the request is based on some subscription model, a previous query, or profile information of an end user associated with the endpoint.

19. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a request for content from an endpoint; and

means for evaluating whether a given portion of the content has already been multicasted, wherein if the portion has been multicasted, then the endpoint is connected to a multicast version of the portion of the content, and wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is added to a multicast transmission schedule.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for requesting a piece of content from a content source;

means for segmenting the piece of content into clips to be delivered to one or more endpoints, wherein if the portion has not been previously multicasted then the portion of content is sent over a unicast channel; and

means for tuning multicast activities for a content player based on bandwidth utilization in a network.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein an update is sent to the endpoint to configure a proxy in the endpoint for multicasting activities.