Method and system for customized television viewing using a peer-to-peer network
First Claim
1. A peer-to-peer communication device, comprising:
- a network I/O port connectable to a network;
a receive/display I/O port connectable to a receive/display device; and
a component configurable to locally record at least a portion of a media broadcast in accordance with a request, and to transmit said locally recorded portion to another peer-to-peer communication device of said network upon request.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a network of peer-to-peer communication devices controlled by a central controller. Using respective peer-to-peer communication devices, users can submit customized program schedules to the central controller, for media broadcasts that the users wish to record and view at a later time. The central controller maintains a global schedule of individual user-entered program schedules, and directs the peer-to-peer communication devices to record and re-play the content as requested in the schedules. The requested content may be recorded locally by any peer-to-peer communication device and transmitted upon request to a different peer-to-peer communication device of the network.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A peer-to-peer communication device, comprising:
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a network I/O port connectable to a network; a receive/display I/O port connectable to a receive/display device; and a component configurable to locally record at least a portion of a media broadcast in accordance with a request, and to transmit said locally recorded portion to another peer-to-peer communication device of said network upon request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A controller comprising:
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an I/O port connectable to a network that includes a plurality of peer-to-peer communication devices; and a storage device and a processing unit coupled to said storage device; wherein said storage device and processing unit are configurable to; receive user input on said I/O port entered on a first peer-to-peer communication device of said network, said user input specifying at least a portion of a media broadcast to be viewed on a receive/display device coupled to said peer-to-peer communication device; and issue a request to a second peer-to-peer communication device to locally record said portion of a media broadcast. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A controller, comprising:
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an I/O port connectable to a network that includes a plurality of peer-to-peer communication devices; a storage device and a processing unit coupled to said storage device; wherein said storage device and processing unit are configurable to implement a plurality of user-input program schedules received from a plurality of said peer-to-peer communication devices, each of said program schedules specifying at least a portion of a media broadcast to be viewed on respective receive/display devices coupled to respective peer-to-peer communication devices. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A computer-usable medium tangibly embodying computer-executable instructions, said instructions when executed implementing a process comprising:
causing a first peer-to-peer communication device to locally record at least a portion of a media broadcast in accordance with user input, and to transmit said locally recorded portion to a second peer-to-peer communication device of said network upon request. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
- 17. A computer-usable medium tangibly embodying computer-executable instructions, said instructions when executed causing a controller of a network that includes a plurality of peer-to-peer communication devices to implement a plurality of user-input program schedules received from a plurality of said peer-to-peer communication devices, each of said program schedules specifying at least a portion of a media broadcast to be viewed on respective receive/display devices coupled to respective peer-to-peer communication devices.
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20. A system comprising:
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a plurality of peer-to-peer communication devices interconnected via a network, and each peer-to-peer communication device further connected to a receive/display device; a controller connected to said network, to control said plurality of peer-to-peer communication devices in accordance with user-input program schedules, said program schedules respectively specifying at least a portion of a media broadcast to be viewed on respective receive/display devices coupled to respective peer-to-peer communication devices; wherein said controller is configurable to cause a first peer-to-peer communication device to record at least a portion of a media broadcast specified in a program schedule entered by a user of a second peer-to-peer communication device different from said first peer-to-peer communication device. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. In a network including interconnected peer-to-peer communication devices and a controller of said peer-to-peer communication devices, a method comprising:
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receiving, at said controller, user input entered on a first peer-to-peer communication device specifying at least a portion of a media broadcast to be viewed on a receive/display device coupled to said first peer-to-peer communication device; causing a second peer-to-peer communication device different from said first peer-to-peer communication device to locally record said portion of a media broadcast; and causing said second peer-to-peer communication device to transmit said locally recorded portion of a media broadcast to said first peer-to-peer communication device upon request. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification