TECHNIQUES FOR UNGRADING SOFTWARE IN A VIDEO CONTENT NETWORK
First Claim
1. A method comprising the steps of:
- determining that a substantial portion of set-top terminals connected to a video content network require a software upgrade;
allocating in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade;
broadcasting said software upgrade to said set-top terminals from a carousel in a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said set-top terminals have received said software upgrade; and
subsequent to said predetermined number of said set-top terminals receiving said software upgrade, de-allocating said in-band video bandwidth and making said software upgrade available out-of-band, to a remaining portion of said set-top terminals, via individual sessions with an application server in a second remote node of said video content network.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
It is determined that a substantial portion of set-top terminals connected to a video content network require a software upgrade. In-band video bandwidth (e.g., video-on-demand or switched digital video) is allocated for the software upgrade. The software upgrade is broadcast to the set-top terminals from a carousel in a first remote node of the video content network, via the allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of the set-top terminals have received the software upgrade. Subsequent to the predetermined number of set-top terminals receiving the software upgrade, the in-band video bandwidth is de-allocated and the software upgrade is made available out-of-band to the remaining portion of the set-top terminals, via individual sessions with an application server in a second remote node of the video content network. An exemplary system, which can implement the method, includes a controller, a dynamic bandwidth allocation device, the carousel, and the application server.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
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determining that a substantial portion of set-top terminals connected to a video content network require a software upgrade; allocating in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade; broadcasting said software upgrade to said set-top terminals from a carousel in a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said set-top terminals have received said software upgrade; and subsequent to said predetermined number of said set-top terminals receiving said software upgrade, de-allocating said in-band video bandwidth and making said software upgrade available out-of-band, to a remaining portion of said set-top terminals, via individual sessions with an application server in a second remote node of said video content network.
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2. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined number comprises a predetermined fraction of said set-top terminals.
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3. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined number comprises a predetermined absolute number of said set-top terminals.
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4. The method of claim 1, wherein said application server has a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads of said software upgrade per unit time, further comprising monitoring, during said broadcasting step, a number of said set-top terminals downloading said software upgrade from said carousel per unit time, wherein said predetermined number corresponds to a number of said set-top terminals which have received said software upgrade from said carousel at a point in time when said number of said set-top terminals downloading said software upgrade from said carousel per unit time is no greater than said threshold capacity.
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5. The method of claim 1, wherein said application server comprises a hypertext transfer protocol server and said carousel comprises a digital storage media command and control object carousel.
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6. The method of claim 1, wherein said application server comprises a trivial file transfer protocol server and said carousel comprises a common download carousel.
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7. The method of claim 1, wherein said first and second remote nodes are identical and comprise a head end of said video content network.
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8. The method of claim 1, wherein:
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said allocating of said in-band video bandwidth comprises a controller; requesting said in-band video bandwidth, for said carousel, from a dynamic bandwidth allocation device; and indicating, in a transport field of an extended application information table broadcast to said set-top terminals, that said software upgrade is available on said allocated in-band video bandwidth; and said de-allocating of said in-band video bandwidth comprises said controller; advising said dynamic bandwidth allocation device to de-allocate said bandwidth from said carousel; and indicating in said transport field of said extended application information table broadcast to said set-top terminals that said software upgrade is now available via said individual sessions with said application server.
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9. A system for interacting with a plurality of set-top terminals over a video content network, said system comprising:
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a controller configured to facilitate determining that a substantial portion of the set-top terminals connected to the video content network require a software upgrade; a dynamic bandwidth allocation device, coupled to said controller, configured to allocate in-band video bandwidth on the video content network for said software upgrade; a carousel, coupled to said controller and said dynamic bandwidth allocation device, configured to broadcast said software upgrade to the set-top terminals, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of the set-top terminals have received said software upgrade; and an application server coupled to said dynamic bandwidth allocation device and said controller; wherein said controller and said dynamic bandwidth allocation device are cooperatively configured such that, subsequent to said predetermined number of said set-top terminals receiving said software upgrade, said in-band video bandwidth is de-allocated and said software upgrade is made available out-of-band, to a remaining portion of said set-top terminals, via individual sessions with said application server over the video content network.
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10. The system of claim 9, wherein said predetermined number comprises a predetermined fraction of the set-top terminals.
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11. The system of claim 9, wherein said predetermined number comprises a predetermined absolute number of the set-top terminals.
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12. The system of claim 9, wherein said application server has a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads of said software upgrade per unit time, and wherein said controller is further configured to monitor, during said broadcasting, a number of the set-top terminals downloading said software upgrade from said carousel per unit time, wherein said predetermined number corresponds to a number of the set-top terminals which have received said software upgrade from said carousel at a point in time when said number of the set-top terminals downloading said software upgrade from said carousel per unit time is no greater than said threshold capacity.
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13. The system of claim 9, wherein said application server comprises a hypertext transfer protocol server and said carousel comprises a digital storage media command and control object carousel.
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14. The system of claim 9, wherein said application server comprises a trivial file transfer protocol server and said carousel comprises a common download carousel.
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15. The system of claim 9, wherein said controller, said dynamic bandwidth allocation device, said carousel, and said application server are located in a head end of the video content network.
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16. The system of claim 9, wherein:
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said controller allocates said in-band video bandwidth by; requesting said in-band video bandwidth, for said carousel, from said dynamic bandwidth allocation device; and indicating, in a transport field of an extended application information table broadcast to the set-top terminals, that said software upgrade is available on said allocated in-band video bandwidth; and said controller de-allocates said in-band video bandwidth by; advising said dynamic bandwidth allocation device to de-allocate said bandwidth from said carousel; and indicating in said transport field of said extended application information table broadcast to the set-top terminals that said software upgrade is now available via said individual sessions with said application server.
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17. An apparatus comprising:
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means for determining that a substantial portion of set-top terminals connected to a video content network require a software upgrade; means for allocating in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade; means for broadcasting said software upgrade to said set-top terminals from a carousel in a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said set-top terminals have received said software upgrade; and means for, subsequent to said predetermined number of said set-top terminals receiving said software upgrade, de-allocating said in-band video bandwidth and making said software upgrade available out-of-band, to a remaining portion of said set-top terminals, via individual sessions with an application server in a second remote node of said video content network.
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18. A computer program product comprising a tangible computer readable recordable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, said computer readable program code comprising:
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computer readable program code configured to determine that a substantial portion of set-top terminals connected to a video content network require a software upgrade; computer readable program code configured to allocate in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade; computer readable program code configured to broadcast said software upgrade to said set-top terminals from a carousel in a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said set-top terminals have received said software upgrade; and computer readable program code configured to, subsequent to said predetermined number of said set-top terminals receiving said software upgrade, de-allocate said in-band video bandwidth and making said software upgrade available out-of-band, to a remaining portion of said set-top terminals, via individual sessions with an application server in a second remote node of said video content network.
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19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein said predetermined number comprises a predetermined fraction of said set-top terminals.
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20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein said predetermined number comprises a predetermined absolute number of said set-top terminals.
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21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein said application server has a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads of said software upgrade per unit time, further comprising computer readable program code configured to monitor, during said broadcasting step, a number of said set-top terminals downloading said software upgrade from said carousel per unit time, wherein said predetermined number corresponds to a number of said set-top terminals which have received said software upgrade from said carousel at a point in time when said number of said set-top terminals downloading said software upgrade from said carousel per unit time is no greater than said threshold capacity.
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22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein said application server comprises a hypertext transfer protocol server and said carousel comprises a digital storage media command and control object carousel.
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23. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein said application server comprises a trivial file transfer protocol server and said carousel comprises a common download carousel.
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24. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein said first and second remote nodes are identical and comprise a head end of said video content network.
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25. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein:
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said computer readable program code configured to allocate said in-band video bandwidth comprises; computer readable program code configured to request said in-band video bandwidth, for said carousel, from a dynamic bandwidth allocation device; and computer readable program code configured to indicate, in a transport field of an extended application information table broadcast to said set-top terminals, that said software upgrade is available on said allocated in-band video bandwidth; and said computer readable program code configured to de-allocate said in-band video bandwidth comprises; computer readable program code configured to advise said dynamic bandwidth allocation device to de-allocate said bandwidth from said carousel; and computer readable program code configured to indicate in said transport field of said extended application information table broadcast to said set-top terminals that said software upgrade is now available via said individual sessions with said application server.
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Specification