HYBRID VIDEO SELECTION, DELIVERY, AND CACHING

• US 20120131622A1
• Filed: 11/23/2010
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: MCDYSAN, David E., O'CALLAGHAN, Daniel J., LEIDEN, Stevan H., PASKO, Douglas M., RATHKE, John E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,438,935 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/222 Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end provisioning of proxy services in data packet switching networks H04L67/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23113 involving housekeeping operations for stored content, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; snloading stored programs G06F9/445; housekeeping operations in file systems, e.g. deletion policies G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 Unicasting

Abstract

One or more devices, in a video content delivery network, store video content for one or more customer premise devices in a hierarchical storage, and provide real time video content from the hierarchical storage, via multicast or unicast, to the one or more customer premise devices. The one or more devices also provide non-real time video content from the hierarchical storage to the one or more customer premise devices during idle time periods associated with the network. The one or more devices further establish a license with the one or more customer premise devices to view video content in multiple formats, and establish a license with the one or more customer premise devices to view video content via multiple customer premise devices.

Claims

1. A method implemented by one or more computing devices in a network that delivers video content, the method comprising:

storing, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, video content for one or more customer premise devices in a hierarchical storage;

providing, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, real time video content from the hierarchical storage, via multicast or unicast, to the one or more customer premise devices;

providing, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, non-real time video content from the hierarchical storage to the one or more customer premise devices during idle time periods associated with the network; and

establishing, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, a license, with the one or more customer premise devices, to view video content in multiple formats or to view video content via multiple customer premise devices.

2. The method of claim 1, where the one or more computing devices are provided in one or more of:

a super head end (SHE) of the network,

a video hub office (VHO) of the network, or

a video serving office (VSO) of the network.

3. The method of claim 1, where providing real time video content includes:

providing Internet protocol television (IPTV) content from the hierarchical storage, via multicast, to the one or more customer premise devices; and

providing video on demand (VOD) content from the hierarchical storage, via unicast, to the one or more customer premise devices.

4. The method of claim 3, where providing the IPTV content includes:

receiving requests for the same IPTV content from different customer premises associated with the network;

batching the requests for the same IPTV content into a single request; and

providing, based on the single request, the same IPTV content to the different customer premises at the same time.

5. The method of claim 1, where storing video content includes:

storing broadcast television content at a video serving office (VSO) of the network;

storing Internet protocol television (IPTV) content and video on demand (VOD) content at a video hub office (VHO) of the network; and

storing the non-real time video content at the one or more customer premise devices.

6. The method of claim 1, where providing non-real time video content includes:

receiving congestion feedback information associated with the network;

determining a schedule for providing the non-real time video content based on the congestion feedback information; and

providing the non-real time video content from the hierarchical storage to the one or more customer premise devices based on the determined schedule.

7. The method of claim 6, where receiving congestion feedback information includes one or more of:

receiving congestion feedback information based on an explicit congestion notification (ECN) method;

receiving congestion feedback information based on a pre-congestion notification (PCN) method;

receiving congestion feedback information based on a re-inserted feedback explicit congestion notification (ECN) method;

or

receiving congestion feedback information based on a low extra delay background transport (ledbat) method.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a particular customer premise device of the one or more customer premise devices and based on the license, a request to change a format of video content provided to the particular customer premise device; and

providing, to the particular customer premise device, the requested format of the video content.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a particular customer premise device of the one or more customer premise devices and based on the license, a request to change to another particular customer premise device for viewing video content being viewed by the particular customer premise device; and

enabling the video content to be viewed by the other particular customer premise device.

10. The method of claim 1, where the non-real time video content includes one or more of:

over the top (OTT) video content,

Internet protocol (IP) unicast video content,

pre-recorded video content,

previous television episodes, or

advertisements.

11. One or more computing devices provided in a network that delivers video content, where at least one of the one or more computing devices is to:

cache video content for one or more customer premise devices in a hierarchical storage;

provide real time video content from the hierarchical storage, via multicast or unicast, to the one or more customer premise devices;

provide non-real time video content from the hierarchical storage to the one or more customer premise devices during idle time periods associated with the network;

establish a license, with the one or more customer premise devices, to view video content in a plurality of desired formats; and

establish a license, with the one or more customer premise devices, to view video content via multiple customer premise devices.

12. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, where the one or more computing devices are provided in one or more of:

a video hub office (VHO) of the network, or

a video serving office (VSO) of the network.

13. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, where the real time video content includes one or more of:

broadcast television content,

Internet protocol television (IPTV) content, or

video on demand (VOD) content.

14. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, where the non-real time video content includes one or more of:

over the top (OTT) video content,

Internet protocol (IP) unicast video content,

pre-recorded video content,

previous television episodes, or

advertisements.

15. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, where, when providing the real time video, at least one of the one or more computing devices is further to:

receive requests for the same real time video content from different customer premises associated with the network;

batch the requests for the same real time video content into a single request; and

provide, based on the single request, the same real time video content to the different customer premises at the same time.

16. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, where, when caching video content, at least one of the one or more computing devices is further to:

store broadcast television content at a video serving office (VSO) of the network;

store Internet protocol television (IPTV) content and video on demand (VOD) content at a video hub office (VHO) of the network; and

store the non-real time video content at the one or more customer premise devices.

17. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, where, when providing non-real time video content, at least one of the one or more computing devices is further to:

receive congestion feedback information associated with the network;

determine a schedule for providing the non-real time video content based on the congestion feedback information; and

provide the non-real time video content from the hierarchical storage to the one or more customer premise devices based on the determined schedule.

18. The one or more computing devices of claim 17, where the congestion feedback information is provided via one or more of:

an explicit congestion notification (ECN) method,

pre-congestion notification (PCN) method,

a re-inserted feedback explicit congestion notification (ECN) method, or

a low extra delay background transport (ledbat) method.

19. The one or more computing devices of claim 11, at least one of the one or more computing devices is further to:

receive, from a particular customer premise device of the one or more customer premise devices and based on the license, one of;

a first request to change a format of video content provided to the particular customer premise device, or

a second request to change to another particular customer premise device for viewing video content being viewed by the particular customer premise device;

provide, to the particular customer premise device and when the first request is received, the requested format of the video content; and

enabling, when the second request is received, the video content to be viewed by the other particular customer premise device.

20. A system, comprising:

one or more devices to;

store video content for one or more customer premise devices, associated with a network for delivering video content, in a hierarchical storage,

provide real time video content from the hierarchical storage, via multicast or unicast, to the one or more customer premise devices,

provide non-real time video content from the hierarchical storage to the one or more customer premise devices during idle time periods associated with the network,

establish a license, with the one or more customer premise devices, to view video content in a plurality of desired formats or to view video content via multiple customer premise devices,

receive, from a particular customer premise device of the one or more customer premise devices and based on the license, one of;

a first request to change a format of video content provided to the particular customer premise device, or

a second request to change to another particular customer premise device for viewing video content being viewed by the particular customer premise device,

provide, to the particular customer premise device and when the first request is received, the requested format of the video content, and

enable, when the second request is received, the video content to be viewed by the other particular customer premise device.