METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A VIRTUAL ONLINE VIDEO CHANNEL
First Claim
1. A method for playback of a virtual online linear video channel, comprising:
- generating a schedule for the virtual online linear video channel, wherein the virtual online linear video channel includes a plurality of video sources and each of the plurality of video sources is selected to distribute a video stream for at least a portion of the schedule;
generating a manifest file with a manifest server, the manifest file corresponding to the schedule for the virtual online linear video channel and identifying the selected video source from which the video stream is distributed at each portion of the schedule;
receiving a request to play the virtual online linear video channel from a video player; and
transmitting the manifest file to the video player.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for providing a virtual online live video channel is disclosed. The virtual video channel is generated without requiring a dedicated content provider and encoder for the channel. A schedule server stores a schedule for the virtual online live video channel, and the schedule may include one or more of live streaming video content, stored video content, and advertising. A video player establishes communication with a manifest server and requests playback of the video channel. The manifest server generates a per-user manifest file corresponding to the schedule of the video channel and delivers the per-user manifest file to the video player. The video player may then retrieve the desired video content from the content delivery network to produce the virtual online video channel.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for playback of a virtual online linear video channel, comprising:
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generating a schedule for the virtual online linear video channel, wherein the virtual online linear video channel includes a plurality of video sources and each of the plurality of video sources is selected to distribute a video stream for at least a portion of the schedule; generating a manifest file with a manifest server, the manifest file corresponding to the schedule for the virtual online linear video channel and identifying the selected video source from which the video stream is distributed at each portion of the schedule; receiving a request to play the virtual online linear video channel from a video player; and transmitting the manifest file to the video player. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for providing a virtual online linear video channel, comprising:
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a channel scheduler operative to; receive a plurality of selections from a user interface, wherein each selection identifies a video source and a time for receiving the video source and wherein the plurality of selections identify at least two video sources, generate a schedule for a video channel corresponding to the plurality of selections, and store the schedule for the video channel; and a manifest server, operative to; receive a request to play the video channel from a video player, obtain the schedule for the video channel from the schedule server, generate a manifest file corresponding to the schedule, and deliver the manifest file to the video player. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for playback of a virtual online linear video channel, comprising:
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selecting a video channel for playback on a video player; transmitting an indication of the selected video channel to a manifest server from the video player; receiving at the video player a manifest file from the manifest server, wherein; the manifest file is generated by the manifest server to correspond to a schedule of the selected video channel, the schedule for the video channel identifies a plurality of video sources and each of the plurality of video sources is distributed on the video channel for at least a portion of the schedule, and the manifest file identifies one of the plurality of video sources from which a video stream will be provided to the video player for each portion of the schedule. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification