Multimedia on-demand server having different transfer rates
First Claim
1. A method for storing and transmitting a plurality of sets of program information comprising:
- storing said multiple sets of program information on a storage device;
selecting a first set of program information to be transmitted on a transmission medium;
transmitting said selected first set of program information on said transmission medium to independent viewers at a first transfer rate using a first compression algorithm;
selecting a second set of program information to be transmitted on said transmission medium; and
transmitting said second set of program information on said transmission medium to other independent viewers at a second transfer rate using a second compression algorithm, said second transfer rate being different than said first transfer rate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multimedia on-demand server including a randomly-accessible library of multimedia programs (such as movies stored on magnetic or optical disks), a limited amount of RAM to buffer and store selected portions of programs retrieved from the library, and an interface that switchably routes program material from the library and RAM buffers to an audience of viewers. The server employs a restricted retrieval strategy and a novel storage allocation scheme that enable different portions of one or more programs to be continuously retrieved and selectively routed to a large number of on-demand viewers, while at the same time minimizing the amount of the RAM required to effect this service. The on-demand server also responds to viewer-generated commands to control the viewing of a program. In a particular embodiment, these commands include video tape player-like operations such as fast-forward, rewind and pause.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for storing and transmitting a plurality of sets of program information comprising:
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storing said multiple sets of program information on a storage device; selecting a first set of program information to be transmitted on a transmission medium; transmitting said selected first set of program information on said transmission medium to independent viewers at a first transfer rate using a first compression algorithm; selecting a second set of program information to be transmitted on said transmission medium; and transmitting said second set of program information on said transmission medium to other independent viewers at a second transfer rate using a second compression algorithm, said second transfer rate being different than said first transfer rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for storing and transmitting a plurality of sets of program information comprising:
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storing said multiple sets of program information on a first storage device wherein each set of program information is stored in a plurality of blocks at different transfer rates; selecting a first set of program information to be transmitted on a transmission medium; transmitting said first selected set of program information on the transmission medium in blocks to independent viewers at a first transfer rate using a first compression algorithm; selecting a second set of program information to be transmitted on the transmission medium; and transmitting said second set of program information in blocks on the transmission medium to other independent viewers at a second transfer rate using a second compression algorithm, said second transfer rate being different than said first transfer rate. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification