DISTRIBUTED NON-REAL-TIME CONTENT

• US 20140208375A1
• Filed: 10/04/2013
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: FAY, Luke, ZUSTAK, Frederick J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,257,564 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/110
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/433 Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72

Abstract

A method is provided for a reception apparatus to access non-real-time (NRT) content. The method includes receiving, by the reception apparatus, a selection of the NRT content included in a digital television broadcast signal broadcast by a content source. The reception apparatus determines whether the selected NRT content is stored in a memory of the reception apparatus. When the selected NRT content is determined not to be stored in the memory, the reception apparatus determines whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via a communication network. When the selected NRT content is determined to be downloadable from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, the reception apparatus downloads the selected NRT content from the external device.

Claims

1. A reception apparatus, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive non-real-time (NRT) content included in a digital television broadcast signal broadcast from a content source;

a memory configured to store the NRT content;

at least one processor configured

to receive a selection of the NRT content;

to determine whether the selected NRT content is stored in the memory,

when the at least one processor determines that the selected NRT content is not stored in the memory, to determine whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via a communication network, and

when the at least one processor determines that the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, to download the selected NRT content from the external device.

2. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured, when the at least one processor determines that the selected NRT content cannot be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, to download the selected NRT content from the digital television broadcast signal broadcast by the content source.

3. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the receiver is configured to receive a list of the NRT content broadcast from the content source, and

the at least one processor is configured to receive the selection of the NRT content from the list of the NRT content.

4. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the reception apparatus is a mobile device,

the receiver is configured to receive the NRT content from a mobile network operator (MNO) that receives the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source and downloads the NRT content from the digital television broadcast signal, and

the at least one processor is configured to download the selected NRT content from the external device associated with the MNO.

5. The reception apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is configured, when the at least one processor determines that the selected NRT content cannot be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, to download the selected NRT content from an evolved Multicast Broadcast Multimedia Service (eMBMS) signal broadcast from the MNO.

6. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the content source is a digital television broadcaster,

the receiver is configured to receive the digital television broadcast signal, including the NRT content, from the content source, and

the at least one processor is configured to determine whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via the communication network based on identification information included in a Service Signaling Channel (SSC) of the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source.

7. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the NRT content is associated with primary content included in the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source, and

the receiver is configured to receive the digital television broadcast signal that includes the NRT content and the primary content.

8. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured

to determine whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device connected to a same subnet as the reception apparatus, and

when the at least one processor determines that the selected NRT content cannot be downloaded from an external device connected to the same subnet as the reception apparatus, to determine whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device connected to another subnet different from the subnet of the reception apparatus.

9. The reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to store a subset of the NRT content included in the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source based on user preference information.

10. A method of a reception apparatus for accessing non-real-time (NRT) content, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor of the reception apparatus, a selection of the NRT content included in a digital television broadcast signal broadcast by a content source;

determining whether the selected NRT content is stored in a memory of the reception apparatus;

when the selected NRT content is determined not to be stored in the memory, determining whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via a communication network; and

when the selected NRT content is determined to be downloadable from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, downloading the selected NRT content from the external device.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

when the selected NRT content is determined not to be downloadable from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, downloading the selected NRT content from the digital television broadcast signal broadcast by the content source.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

receiving, by a receiver of the reception apparatus, a list of the NRT content broadcast from the content source, wherein

the step of receiving the selection includes receiving the selection of the NRT content from the list of the NRT content.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein

the reception apparatus is a mobile device, and

the step of downloading the selected NRT content from the external device includes downloading the selected NRT content from the external device associated with a mobile network operator (MNO) that receives the digital television broadcast signal and downloads the NRT content from the digital television broadcast signal.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

when the selected NRT content is determined not to be downloadable from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, downloading the selected NRT content from an evolved Multicast Broadcast Multimedia Service (eMBMS) signal broadcast from the MNO.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein

the content source is a digital television broadcaster, and

the method further includes

receiving, by the reception apparatus, the digital television broadcast signal, including the NRT content, from the content source, and

determining whether the selected NRT content is downloadable from an external device that is accessible via the communication network based on identification information included in a Service Signaling Channel (SSC) of the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein

the NRT content is associated with primary content included in the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source, and

the method further includes receiving, by the reception apparatus, the digital television broadcast signal that includes the NRT content and the primary content.

17. The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of determining whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via the communication network comprises:

determining whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device connected to a same subnet as the reception apparatus, and

when the selected NRT content is determined not to be downloadable from an external device connected to the same subnet as the reception apparatus, determining whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device connected to another subnet different from the subnet of the reception apparatus.

18. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

storing, in the memory, a subset of the NRT content included in the digital television broadcast signal broadcast from the content source based on user preference information.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embedded therein instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for accessing non-real-time (NRT) content, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a reception apparatus, a selection of the NRT content included in a digital television broadcast signal broadcast by a content source;

determining whether the selected NRT content is stored in a memory of the reception apparatus;

when the selected NRT content is determined not to be stored in the memory, determining whether the selected NRT content can be downloaded from an external device that is accessible via a communication network; and

when the selected NRT content is determined to be downloadable from an external device that is accessible via the communication network, downloading the selected NRT content from the external device.