Server for notifying items of interest and delivering locally accessed video in a WAN to client stations on demand

• US 6,163,795 A
• Filed: 06/30/1997
• Issued: 12/19/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: PDACO LIMITED
• Original Assignee: Elonex PLC (Elonex Uk Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kikinis, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Kenneth S.
• Application Number:
  US08/885,676
• Time in Patent Office: 1,268 Days
• Field of Search: 370/420, 370/428, 395/200.33, 395/200.49, 348/7, 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4004 Coupling between buses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21 Server components or server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23 Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A service for delivering locally accessed video to client stations on demand includes a plurality of client stations used by a client and adapted to receive and play digital video entities. A plurality of file servers remote from the client stations are connected on a wide area network (WAN), the file servers also have connections to video input apparatus and receive and store digital video entities including newly downloaded locally accessed video entities and are also connected to at least one of the plurality of client stations by a digital communication link. The file servers automatically transmit in bursts the newly downloaded locally accessed video entities to each of the plurality of file servers on the network through the WAN connections, store details of connected clients'"'"' interests provided by the client, notify the connected clients of new video entities available conforming to the stored details of the clients interests, and transmit selected video entities to at least one of the client stations on demand. The file servers in most embodiments have all of the functions of the other file servers on the WAN including a local client base. In some embodiments the the file servers are located in or near population centers in a global network and the locally accessed video entities are news programs from in or near the population centers related to the file servers.

Claims

1. A video delivery system, comprising:

a plurality of client stations used by a client and adapted to receive and play digital video entities; and

a plurality of file servers remote from the client stations, the file servers connected on a wide area network (WAN), the file servers also having connections to video input apparatus for receiving and storing digital video entities including newly downloaded locally-accessed video entities, and connected to at least one of the plurality of client stations by a digital communication link;

wherein the file servers automatically transmit in bursts the newly downloaded locally-accessed video entities to each of the plurality of file servers on the network through the WAN connections, store details of connected clients interests provided by the client, notifies the connected clients of new video entities available conforming to the stored details of the clients interests, and transmits selected video entities to at least one of the client stations on demand.

2. The video delivery system of claim 1, further comprising an accounting subsystem adapted to monitor client access to available video entities and to accumulate transactional information and client charges.

3. The video delivery system of claim 1 wherein the digital communication link is an analog telephone modem link.

4. The video delivery system of claim 1 wherein the digital communication link is an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) data link.

5. The video delivery system of claim 1 wherein the digital communication link is a microwave link.

6. The video delivery system of claim 1 wherein file servers are located in or near population centers in a global network and the locally accessed video entities are news programs from in or near the population centers related to the file servers.

7. The video delivery system of claim 1 wherein each of the file servers have all of the functions of the other file servers on the WAN including a local client base.

8. The video delivery system of claim 6 wherein and the locally accessed video entities are news programs from in or near the population centers related to the file servers.

9. A method for providing video entities to clients, comprising steps of:

(a) storing details of client interests in a database on a file server;

(b) loading video entities including locally accessed video entities to the database of the file server having a connection to a plurality of file servers over a wide area network (WAN);

(c) transmitting the video entities automatically including the locally accessed video entities to the other file servers on the WAN;

(d) notifying a client connected to one of the plurality of file servers by a local digital data link of available video entities matching the details of client interests; and

(e) downloading selected video entities to the client on demand via the local digital data link.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising a step of accumulating information on client accesses and providing accounting for individual clients, the accounting including billing for use.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the file servers notify clients of available video entities by e-mail, and wherein the client places the download demand by e-mail.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein each of the file servers are located in a different population center and the locally accessed video entities are news programs from in or near the population center wherein the located file server loads, stores and transmits the news programs to the other file servers on the WAN.