SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMICALLY SWITCHING BETWEEN UNICAST AND MULTICAST DELIVERY OF MEDIA CONTENT IN A WIRELESS NETWORK
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- accessing, by a user device over a wireless network, a unicast stream carrying data representative of a media content program;
detecting, by the user device during the accessing of the unicast stream, an instruction to switch to a multicast stream carrying data representative of the media content program; and
switching, by the user device in response to the instruction, from the accessing of the unicast stream to accessing the multicast stream by way of the wireless network.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for dynamically switching between unicast and multicast delivery of media content are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a user device 1) accessing, over a wireless network, a unicast stream carrying data representative of a media content program, 2) detecting, during the accessing of the unicast stream, an instruction to switch to a multicast stream carrying data representative of the media content program, and 3) switching, in response to the instruction, from the accessing of the unicast stream to accessing the multicast stream by way of the wireless network. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.
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25 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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accessing, by a user device over a wireless network, a unicast stream carrying data representative of a media content program; detecting, by the user device during the accessing of the unicast stream, an instruction to switch to a multicast stream carrying data representative of the media content program; and switching, by the user device in response to the instruction, from the accessing of the unicast stream to accessing the multicast stream by way of the wireless network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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detecting, by the media content provider subsystem during unicast streaming of a media content program over a wireless network, that concurrent demand for the media content program satisfies a predefined maximum demand threshold; and switching, by the media content provider subsystem in response to the detecting that the concurrent demand for the media content program satisfies the predefined maximum demand threshold, from the unicast streaming of the media content program to multicast streaming of the media content program over the wireless network. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method comprising:
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detecting, by a media content delivery system, a change in concurrent demand for access to a media content program over a wireless network; and dynamically switching, by the media content delivery system, between unicast delivery and multicast delivery of the media content program over the wireless network in response to the detecting of the change in the concurrent demand for access to the media content program; wherein the dynamically switching comprises using an in-stream instruction to instruct one or more user devices accessing the media content program to switch between accessing the media content program by way of the unicast delivery of the media content program and accessing the media content program by way of the multicast delivery of the media content program. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. A system comprising:
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at least one processor; and a media delivery management facility configured to direct the at least one processor to detect a change in concurrent demand for access to a media content program over a wireless network, and dynamically switch between unicast delivery and multicast delivery of the media content program over the wireless network in response to the detecting of the change in the concurrent demand for access to the media content program; wherein the dynamic switch includes using an in-stream instruction to instruct one or more user devices accessing the media content program to switch between accessing the media content program by way of the unicast delivery of the media content program and accessing the media content program by way of the multicast delivery of the media content program.
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Specification