Method and apparatus for scheduling broadcast information
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for delivering objects to one or more receiver units, comprising:
- using a computer to perform the steps of;
receiving a number of incoming objects, each object corresponding to one or more classes;
maintaining objects from a variety of classes in an object schedule,wherein each object has a utility factor comprising one or more of the importance of the object, the timeliness of the object, and the number of objects previously transmitted in a same or related class as the current object; and
delivering selected objects from the object schedule to the one or more receiver units,wherein each class has a utility factor that is calculated by combining, via a sub-linear function, the utility factors of those scheduled objects that correspond to the class; and
wherein the sub-linear function includes a square-root function.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for efficiently scheduling incoming information objects so that timely objects from a variety of content classes are scheduled for broadcast. The incoming information objects are preferably received from one or more information sources, and are tagged with attributes that associate each object with one or more classes of information (e.g., sports, news, etc.), and provide a gauge of the timeliness or ‘age’ of the object. The tags can be used to select and broadcast objects from a variety of classes, and to identify the most timely objects at any give time.
32 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for delivering objects to one or more receiver units, comprising:
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using a computer to perform the steps of; receiving a number of incoming objects, each object corresponding to one or more classes; maintaining objects from a variety of classes in an object schedule, wherein each object has a utility factor comprising one or more of the importance of the object, the timeliness of the object, and the number of objects previously transmitted in a same or related class as the current object; and delivering selected objects from the object schedule to the one or more receiver units, wherein each class has a utility factor that is calculated by combining, via a sub-linear function, the utility factors of those scheduled objects that correspond to the class; and wherein the sub-linear function includes a square-root function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for scheduling objects for delivery to one or more receiver units, the method comprising:
using a computer to perform the steps of; receiving one or more incoming objects, each having a utility factor; scheduling the objects for delivery in an initial scheduling order, the value of the utility factor for each of the objects being dependent, at least to some degree, on the position of the object in the schedule; calculating an overall schedule utility factor for the schedule by combining the utility factors of each of the scheduled objects using a predefined function; reordering the scheduled objects so that the overall schedule utility factor is increased, wherein reordering the scheduled objects includes; moving a selected object up one position in the schedule; calculating an updated overall schedule utility factor; determining if the undated overall schedule utility factor is greater than the previous overall schedule utility factor; and retaining the new position of the selected object if the undated overall schedule utility factor is greater than the previous overall schedule utility factor; and delivering one or more of the objects from the top of the schedule. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An information delivery system, comprising
a receiver for receiving a stream of incoming objects, each object corresponding to one or more classes; -
object schedule for storing a set of the incoming objects, wherein each object has a utility factor comprising one or more of the importance of the object, the timeliness of the object, and the number of objects previously transmitted in a same or related class as the current object; object scheduler for determining which of the incoming objects to add to the object schedule and which of the cached objects to evict from the object schedule, such that objects from a variety of classes are maintained in the object store; and delivery means for delivering selected cached objects from the object schedule to one or more receiver units based on the position of the object in the object schedule, wherein each class has a utility factor that is calculated by combining, via a sub-linear function, the utility factors of those scheduled objects that correspond to the class, and wherein the sub-linear function includes a square-root function. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for scheduling objects for delivery to one or more receiver units, the method comprising:
using a computer to perform the steps of; receiving one or more incoming objects, each having a utility factor; scheduling the objects for delivery in an initial scheduling order, the value of the utility factor for each of the objects being dependent, at least to some degree, on the position of the object in the schedule; calculating an overall schedule utility factor for the schedule by combining the utility factors of each of the scheduled objects using a predefined function; reordering the scheduled objects so that the overall schedule utility factor is increased, wherein reordering the scheduled objects includes; moving a selected object to a random position in the schedule; calculating an updated overall schedule utility factor; determining if the updated overall schedule utility factor is greater than the previous overall schedule utility factor; and retaining the new position of the selected object if the updated overall schedule utility factor is greater than the previous overall schedule utility factor; and delivering one or more of the objects from the top of the schedule. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
Specification