SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRNASFERRING A PARTIALLY VIEWED MEDIA CONTENT FILE

• US 20100154021A1
• Filed: 12/15/2008
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ceballos, Doug, Howarter, Jamie
• Granted Patent: US 8,813,166 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/141
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosed invention include a system and a method for transferring a partially viewed media content file from a digital video recorder to a mobile device. In one embodiment, the method transfers only a remaining portion of a partially viewed media content file to the mobile device. In other embodiments, the method may transfer the entire partially viewed media content file with an indicator of the current viewing point of the partially viewed media content file. The indicator enables the mobile device to begin playing of the partially viewed media content file starting at the current viewing point.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for transferring a partially viewed media content file from a digital video recorder to a mobile device, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving a request to transfer a remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file from the digital video recorder to the mobile device;

determining a current viewing point of the partially viewed media content file; and

transferring to the mobile device the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file starting from the current viewing point.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the partially viewed media content file is a video file.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the request to transfer the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file from the digital video recorder to the mobile device is initiated using the mobile device.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising displaying a user interface on the mobile device to enable selection of the partially viewed media content file from a plurality of media content files stored on the digital video recorder.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the request to transfer the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file from the digital video recorder to the mobile device is initiated using the digital video recorder.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a user interface on a display unit associated with the digital video recorder to enable a user to select the mobile device from a plurality of devices.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising appending a buffer containing a viewed portion of the partially viewed media content file to the remaining portion prior to transferring the remaining portion from the digital video recorder to the mobile device.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising using an SMS protocol to transfer the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file to the mobile device.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transferring the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file from the digital video recorder to the mobile device over a direct wireless connection.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file using a digital rights management encryption key.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request to transfer a second remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file from the mobile device to a third device;

determining a second current viewing point of the partially viewed media content file; and

transferring to the third device the second remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file starting from the second current viewing point.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein the second remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file is smaller than the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein the second remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file is the same size as the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein the third device is the digital video recorder.

16. A computer implemented method for transferring a partially viewed media content file from a digital video recorder to a mobile device, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving a request to transfer the partially viewed media content file from the digital video recorder to the mobile device;

determining a current viewing point of the partially viewed media content file; and

transferring to the mobile device the partially viewed media content file along with an indicator of the current viewing point.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 16, wherein the indicator of the current viewing point enables the mobile device to view the partially viewed media content file starting at the current viewing.

18. A digital video recorder comprising:

memory for storing computer usable program code;

a processing unit in communication with the memory, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable program code to;

receive a request to transfer a remaining portion of a partially viewed media content file from the digital video recorder to a mobile device;

determine a current viewing point of the partially viewed media content file; and

transfer to the mobile device the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file starting from the current viewing point.

19. The digital video recorder of claim 18, wherein the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file is completely downloaded by the digital video recorder prior to transferring the remaining portion of the partially viewed media content file to the mobile device.

20. The digital video recorder of claim 18, wherein the request is initiated by the mobile device.