PREDICTIVE CACHING FOR CONTENT

• US 20160080444A1
• Filed: 11/30/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Winograd, Richard J., Freeman, II, James Marvin, Bromberg, Aaron M., Herron-Patmon, Bryant F., Karmacharya, Nush, Barnard, Joshua B., Chen, Peter Wei-Chih, Slotnick, Stephen A., Dubey, Abhishek, Watts, Andrew J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,444,861 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/167 using a common memory, e.g. mailbox
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/068 using time-dependent keys, e.g. periodically changing keys cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for controlling usage of secret information H04L9/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for predictive caching of content to facilitate instantaneous use of the content. If a user is likely to commence use of a content item through a client, and if the client has available resources to facilitate instantaneous use, the client is configured to predictively cache the content item before the user commences use. In doing so, the client may obtain metadata for the content item and an initial portion of the content item from a server. The client may then initialize various resources to facilitate instantaneous use of the content item by the client based at least in part on the metadata and the initial portion.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by at least one computing device, a set of recommended media content items based at least in part on a media consumption history of a client and real-time behavior data of the client;

selecting, by the at least one computing device, a subset of the set of recommended media content items based at least in part on an amount of available resources in the client;

preparing, by the at least one computing device, the client for instantaneous playback of the subset of the set of recommended media content items before a selection of any of the subset of the set of recommended media content items for playback; and

performing, by the at least one computing device, processing of a first recommended media content item of the subset of the set of recommended media content items in response to the first recommended media content item being selected for playback after the client is prepared for instantaneous playback of the first recommended media content item.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising streaming, by the at least one computing device, the first recommended media content item from at least one server.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the at least one computing device, that the client is likely to commence use of a second recommended media content item of the set of recommended media content items.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining, by the at least one computing device, that the first recommended media content item is to be purged from the client.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising deallocating, by the at least one computing device, at least a portion of the amount of available resources in the client that were previously allocated to the first recommended media content item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining for each of the subset of the set of recommended content items, in the client, a corresponding decryption key, a corresponding manifest, and an initial portion of media content from at least one server; and

initializing for each of the subset of the set of recommended content items, in the client, decryption logic for decrypting the initial portion of media content using the corresponding decryption key.

7. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

a predictive caching system executable in the at least one computing device, wherein when executed the predictive caching system causes the at least one computing device to at least;

determine a set of recommended content items based at least in part upon a media consumption history of a client;

select a particular recommended content item of the set of recommended content items based at least in part on a bandwidth profile of the client;

send at least an initial portion of the particular recommended content item and metadata associated with the particular recommended content item from to the client prior to an indication that use of the particular recommended content item is desired; and

cause processing relative to the metadata to be performed in the client to prepare the client for playback of the particular recommended content item prior to the indication that use of the particular recommended content item is desired.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the client is a mobile device and the bandwidth profile is one of a plurality of bandwidth profiles, wherein each of the plurality of bandwidth profiles is location-dependent.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein when executed the predictive caching system further causes the at least one computing device to determine a bitrate for the initial portion of the particular recommended content item based at least in part on the bandwidth profile of the client.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the initial portion of the particular recommended content item corresponds to a distinct time segment.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the particular recommended content item is further selected based as least in part on an amount of available resources associated with the client.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein when executed the predictive caching system further causes the at least one computing device to:

determine that the client is likely to commence use of a subsequent portion of the particular recommended content item; and

determine that the initial portion of the particular recommended content item is to be purged based at least in part upon the amount of available resources associated with the client.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the metadata includes a decryption key for decrypting the particular recommended content item.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processing includes adding the decryption key to a secure data store of the computing device, and selecting the particular recommended content item is further based at least in part on whether the secure data store has available memory to accommodate the decryption key.

15. A method, comprising:

determining, in a computing device, a recommended content item;

determining that the computing device has available resources to facilitate instantaneous use of the recommended content item; and

in response to determining that the computing device has available resources to facilitate instantaneous use of the recommended content item and before use of the recommended content item;

obtaining, in the computing device, metadata for the recommended content item from a server;

obtaining, in the computing device, at least an initial portion of the recommended content item from the server; and

initializing, in the computing device, the available resources to prepare for instantaneous use of the recommended content item based at least in part on the metadata and the initial portion of the recommended content item.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining that the computing device has the available resources to facilitate instantaneous use of the recommended content item further comprises determining that a predictive cache in the computing device has sufficient space to accommodate the metadata and the initial portion of the recommended content item.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, in the computing device, an additional recommended content item;

determining that the computing device has the available resources to facilitate instantaneous use of the additional recommended content item;

obtaining, in the computing device, an initial portion of the additional recommended content item from the server; and

determining, in the computing device, to initialize the available resources to prepare for instantaneous use of the additional recommended content item based at least in part upon an amount of the available resources.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising purging, in the computing device, the initial portion of the recommended content item based at least in part upon the amount of the available resources.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising initializing, in the computing device, decryption logic for decrypting the initial portion of the recommended content item using a decryption key.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising adding, in the computing device, the decryption key to a secure data store of the computing device.