NETWORK RECORDING SYSTEM

• US 20100218223A1
• Filed: 02/20/2009
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2009
• 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: Simpson, Anita Hogans, Bedingfield, James Carlton SR.
• Granted Patent: US 9,667,918 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/58
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44209 Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

A network recording system records multimedia programs responsive to transport streams being unavailable. A first portion of a multimedia program may be stored on a customer premises equipment and a second portion stored on the network recording system. The network recording system may transport the multimedia program via file download or real-time streaming.

Claims

1. A process for recording a multimedia program, the process comprising:

receiving a user selection of the multimedia program;

determining whether any transport stream is available for streaming the multimedia program to a user; and

responsive to determining that no transport stream is available, storing the multimedia program on a network recording system.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying an indication to the user of said storing.

3. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

storing metadata for the stored multimedia program on the network recording system.

4. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

transporting the stored multimedia program to a user customer premises equipment (CPE) device.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein said transporting includes streaming the stored multimedia program while the multimedia program is presented by the user CPE device.

6. The process of claim 4, wherein said transporting includes downloading the stored multimedia program.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein said downloading includes downloading the stored multimedia program by file transfer protocol.

8. The process of claim 1, wherein said receiving includes receiving a user selection to record the multimedia program.

9. The process of claim 8, wherein said determining includes determining whether a transport stream will be available at a future time.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein the future time corresponds to a scheduled broadcast of the multimedia program.

11. The process of claim 1, wherein said receiving includes receiving a user selection to view the multimedia program immediately.

12. The process of claim 11, further comprising:

storing a pointer that corresponds to a current position of the multimedia program.

13. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the multimedia program is stored on the network recording system;

responsive to determining that the multimedia program is stored on the network recording system, storing a pointer corresponding to the user selection.

14. The process of claim 13, further comprising:

deleting the pointer in response to user input to delete the multimedia program.

15. A network recording server comprising a tangible computer readable medium with computer executable instructions including:

rules module instructions for;

receiving a user request to record a multimedia program; and

determining whether to record the multimedia program;

scheduling module instructions for scheduling the recording of the multimedia program in response to determining to record the multimedia program;

recording module instructions for recording the multimedia program; and

transport module instructions for transporting the recorded multimedia program.

16. The network recording server of claim 15, wherein said instructions for determining include instructions for comparing a required capacity for recording the multimedia program to an allotted capacity.

17. The network recording server of claim 15, wherein said instructions for determining include instructions for determining whether the multimedia program is previously recorded.

18. The network recording server of claim 15, wherein said rules module instructions further comprise instructions for:

storing a start time for a user responsive to determining that the multimedia program is previously recorded.

19. The network recording server of claim 18, further comprising:

storing an end time for the user.

20. The network recording server of claim 15, wherein said instructions for transporting include instructions for downloading the multimedia program.

21. The network recording server of claim 15, wherein said instructions for transporting include instructions for streaming the recorded multimedia program while the multimedia program is presented by a user customer premises equipment (CPE) device.

22. The network recording server of claim 15, wherein said instructions for determining whether to record the multimedia program include instructions for determining whether the multimedia program is scheduled for recording by a CPE device, wherein said instructions for determining whether the multimedia program is scheduled for recording include instructions for determining whether the CPE device is scheduled to record a first portion of the multimedia program, and wherein said instructions for recording the multimedia program include instructions for recording a second portion of the multimedia program remotely from the CPE device.

23. A service for recording a multimedia program, the service comprising:

receiving a user request to receive a multimedia program;

detecting whether any transport stream is available to transport the multimedia program to a user customer premises equipment (CPE) device;

responsive to detecting that no transport stream is available, storing the multimedia program; and

responsive to detecting that a transport stream is available, transporting the stored multimedia program to the user CPE device.

24. The service of claim 23, wherein said detecting comprises detecting whether any Internet protocol television transport stream is available.

25. The service of claim 23, wherein said transporting the stored multimedia program includes downloading the stored multimedia program.

26. The service of claim 23, wherein said transporting the multimedia program includes streaming the stored multimedia program during a presentation by the user CPE device.