Personal video recording with pools and groups

• US 7,532,809 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2002
• Issued: 05/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, Boston, Stephen B., Hately, Andrew Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Thai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chowdhury; Nigar
• Application Number:
  US10/180,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20030237086A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,513 Days
• Field of Search: 386/1, 386 45- 46, 386125-126, 725/58, 725 91- 92
• US Class Current: 386/294
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/00 Driving, starting, stopping record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor; Control thereof; Control of operating function ; Driving both disc and head
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children

Abstract

Automated personal video recording, including selecting a lender from among one or more lenders, in which the selecting is carried out in dependence upon a deficit amount, the lenders include at least one user having free storage space and at least one pool having free storage space. The method also includes borrowing, in dependence upon the deficit amount, from the selected lender for a borrower, at least one loan amount of storage space, the borrower having allocated storage space on the PVR optionally including free space, and recording a show for the borrower, the show having a storage space requirement exceeding the borrower'"'"'s free space by the deficit amount. The borrower can be an individual user or a group comprised of more than one user.

Claims

1. A method for automated personal video recording, the method comprising:

creating a pool, including assigning storage space to the pool;

wherein assigning storage space to the pool comprises allocating storage space from at least one user to the pool, the user being a user having free space;

authorizing lending from a pool including creating a lending authorization record identifying a pool as a lender;

authorizing lending to a group including creating a lending authorization record identifying a group as a borrower;

selecting a lender from among one or more lenders, wherein the selecting is carried out in dependence upon a deficit amount, the lenders comprise at least one user having free storage space and at least one pool having free storage space;

wherein the selected lender is a pool and wherein the borrower is a group; and

borrowing, in dependence upon the deficit amount, from the selected lender for a borrower, at least one loan amount of storage space, the borrower having allocated storage space on the PVR optionally including free space; and

recording a show for the borrower, the show having a storage space requirement exceeding the borrower'"'"'s free space by the deficit amount.