Inflight Entertainment System with Selectively Preloaded Seat End Video Caches
First Claim
1. An inflight entertainment (IFE) system, comprising:
- head end equipment having a library of prerecorded video entertainment programs and a selection metric stored thereon; and
seat end equipment communicatively coupled with the head end equipment and having a video cache, wherein the head end equipment is configured to select a subset of the prerecorded video entertainment programs from the library using the selection metric and download the selected subset to the video cache independent of any play request made by a passenger using the IFE system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inflight entertainment (IFE) system preloads from head end equipment onto seat end video caches subsets of prerecorded video entertainment programs from a library of prerecorded video entertainment programs stored on the head end equipment. Preloading is done independent of play requests made by passengers using the IFE system. The selected subsets are selected using selection metrics such as program popularity, passenger demographics and/or passenger preferences. The same or a different subset may be selected for different passengers. As a result of the selective preloading of the seat end video caches, if the head end equipment or the distribution system becomes inoperable during the flight, the IFE system is able to continue to deliver a limited offering of popular, demographically indicated and/or passenger preferred video entertainment from the seat end video caches, without requiring a large multiplier in storage capacity or loading time.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An inflight entertainment (IFE) system, comprising:
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head end equipment having a library of prerecorded video entertainment programs and a selection metric stored thereon; and seat end equipment communicatively coupled with the head end equipment and having a video cache, wherein the head end equipment is configured to select a subset of the prerecorded video entertainment programs from the library using the selection metric and download the selected subset to the video cache independent of any play request made by a passenger using the IFE system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for selectively preloading a seat end video cache in an inflight entertainment (IFE) system, comprising the steps of:
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selecting, by head end equipment, using a selection metric stored on the head end equipment, a subset of prerecorded video entertainment programs from a library of prerecorded video programs stored on the head end equipment; and downloading, from the head end equipment to a video cache of seat end equipment, independent of any play request made by a passenger using the IFE system, the selected subset, wherein the selecting and downloading steps are performed independently of any play request made by a passenger using the IFE system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification