DISTRIBUTING CONTENT BY GENERATING AND PRELOADING QUEUES OF CONTENT

• US 20130238761A1
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Published: 09/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Headwater Partners II LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Original Assignee: Headwater Partners II LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Inventors: Raleigh, Gregory, Tellado, Jose
• Granted Patent: US 9,338,233 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Embodiments of methods, systems and apparatuses for distributing content by generating and preloading queues of content, are disclosed. One content distribution system includes at least one network content server coupled over one or more communication networks to a plurality of user devices, and a one or more storage elements associated with the plurality of user devices, wherein each of the plurality of user devices is associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements. The at least one network content server includes at least one processor configured to generate a queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with each of the plurality of user devices, and assist preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

Claims

1. A content distribution system, comprising:

at least one network content server coupled over one or more communication networks to a plurality of user devices, and a one or more storage elements associated with the plurality of user devices, wherein each of the plurality of user devices is associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements;

the at least one network content server comprising at least one processor configured to;

generate a queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with each of the plurality of user devices; and

assist preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

2. The content distribution system of claim 1, further comprising the network content server receiving selections of the queue of content from at least one of the plurality of user devices, and the network content server completing a transaction with a user of the at least one of the plurality of user devices.

3. The content distribution system of claim 1, further comprising the network content server operative to compile analytics of at least one user of at least one of the plurality of user devices, and wherein generating the queue of content for the at least one of the plurality of user devices is additionally based on the compiled analytics.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is further based on information associated with other content available on the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated the user device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is further based on information associated with at least one communication network assisting in the preloading the at least the portion of the queue of content, or the information of at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the information associated with the at least one communication network comprises a communication network cost of preloading the at least the portion of the queue of content.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the information of at least one of the one or more storage elements comprises a storage element cost of storing the preloaded queue of content.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is further based on information associated with at least one of the one or more communication networks assisting in presenting at least a portion of the queue of content at one or more of the plurality of user devices.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the information associated with at least one of the one or more communication networks comprises a communication network cost of presenting at least a portion of the queue of content.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server determining an association of the one of the one or more storage elements with a second plurality of user devices, and wherein generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is further based on the plurality of user devices or a plurality of users associated with the second plurality of user devices.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server determining an association of one of the one or more storage elements with two or more of the plurality of user devices, and wherein generating the queue of content for each of the two or more user devices is further based on the two or more user devices or a plurality of users associated with the two or more user devices.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements assisting in deleting of at least a portion of a second content available on the at least one storage element.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with a first or a second storage element of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device, assisting in moving at least a portion of a second content available on the first of the one or more storage elements associated the user device to the second or the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements preloading the at least the portion of the content to the at least one of the one or more storage elements, comprising:

classifying each of the one or more storage elements based on parameters of the plurality of available content, based on the storage capabilities, and based on a plurality of user parameters;

generating the queue based on the classifications.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements assisting in presentation of information related to the queue of content to a user device of the plurality of user devices associated with the at least one of the one or more storage elements.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements obtaining information associated with a value metric for at least one the plurality of available content based on prior preloading of the content, and evaluating interaction with the preloaded content, wherein generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is further based on the value metric.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements operative to:

select a first plurality of storage elements;

preload at least a portion of the queue of content onto the first plurality of storage elements, wherein the first plurality of storage elements are associated with a first plurality of user devices;

obtain information associated with a value metric from the at least a portion of the queue of content preloaded onto the first plurality of storage elements;

wherein generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is further based on the value metric.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the queue of content comprises an advertisement, and further comprising the at least one network content server or a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements operative to:

select the advertisement;

assist in presentation of the advertisement to at least one of the plurality of user devices.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein a cost for consuming at least a portion of the queue of content is based on a cost parameter associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements or a communication network.

20. A content broker distribution system, comprising:

at least one network content server coupled over one or more communication networks to a plurality of user devices, and a one or more storage elements associated with the plurality of user devices, wherein each of the plurality of user devices is associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements;

the at least one network content server comprising at least one processor operative to;

obtain storage element value metric information of the one or more storage elements;

generate a queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based on the storage element value metric information; and

assist a content provider in preloading at least a portion of a queue of content onto one or more of the at least one storage element associated with the plurality of user devices based on the storage element value metric information.

21. A method of distributing content over one or more communication networks, comprising:

generating, by at least one network content server, a queue of content for each of a plurality of user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of at least one of a one or more storage elements associated with each of the plurality of user devices; and

assisting, by at least one network content server, preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

22. A method of a user device receiving content over one or more communication networks, comprising:

receiving over the one or more communication networks a plurality of available content from at least one network content server;

generating, as directed by software operable on the user device, a queue of content based on parameters of the plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of one or more storage elements associated with the user device; and

assisting, as directed by the software operable on the user device, preloading at least a portion of the queue of content to the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

23. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of distributing content over one or more communication networks, the method comprising:

generating a queue of content for each of a plurality of user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with each of the plurality of user devices; and

assisting preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.