Management of streaming content

• US 7,634,652 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2006
• Issued: 12/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wagner, Mark, Potrebic, Peter J., Taylor, Thomas H., McEnroe, Elizabeth Rose
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustin, Evens J
• Application Number:
  US11/275,530
• Publication Number:
  US 20070162392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/101, 455/426, 709/219
• US Class Current: 713/153
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

Embodiments of streaming content management are described herein. For example, techniques may be employed to manage streams received by client devices such that the client devices may receive content and share functionality.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a manager client device by a processor configured to execute instructions that, when executed by the processor, direct the manager client device to perform acts comprising:

receiving a broadcast of multimedia content at the manager client device indirectly from a content provider via a remote client device;

responsive to the receiving, transmitting a request from the manager client device to the content provider for the multimedia content received via the remote client device;

obtaining the multimedia content at the manager client device from the content provider and not via the remote client device;

upon receipt of a request for the multimedia content from the remote client device, streaming the multimedia content obtained from the content provider and not via the remote client device to the remote client device, wherein the remote client device unjoins the broadcast of multimedia content from the content provider and renders the streaming multimedia content received from the manager client device instead of the broadcast of multimedia content from the content provider.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the manager client device initially receives the broadcast of multimedia content that the remote client device received in a unicast from the content provider over a communication network.

3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the request from the manager client device to the content provider for the multimedia content received via the remote client device is a multicast join message which causes the content provider to stream the multimedia content to the manager client device and to the remote client device.

4. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving another broadcast of multimedia content at the manager client device indirectly from a content provider via the remote client device responsive to the remote client device performing acts comprising;

receiving an input from a user to retrieve another stream of multimedia content;

sending a unicast join message to the content provider requesting the another broadcast of multimedia content; and

receiving the multimedia content via a unicast from the content provider.

5. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

storing the multimedia content on the manager client device, wherein storing multimedia content received via the remote client device is stopped and instead storing of the multimedia content received from the content provider and not via the remote client device is started responsive to obtaining the multimedia content from the content provider and not via the remote client device.

6. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising performing a time-shifting function in the streaming of the multimedia content obtained from the content provided and not via the remote client device to the remote client device.

7. A method as described in claim 6, wherein the time-shifting function is a pause, skip-back, fast forward, jump ahead or a rewind.

8. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising

allocating multimedia content consumption in a viewing system that includes at least the manager client device and the remote client device, wherein the manager client device maintains tokens that determine if the remote client device is authorized to receive the multimedia content.

9. A method implemented on a remote client device by a processor configured to execute instructions that, when executed by the processor, direct the remote client device to perform acts comprising:

during receipt of a first content at the remote client device streamed from a manager client device, receiving an input to retrieve a second content;

transmitting a unicast join message from the remote client device to a content provider, wherein the unicast join message specifies the second content;

receiving a unicast stream of the second content from the content provider;

streaming the second content from the remote client device to the manager client device, wherein

the manager client device stores the second content in a storage and;

the manager client device transmits a multicast join message to the content provider such that the content provider streams

the second content via a multicast to both the manager client device and the remote client device simultaneously; and

receiving the second content from the storage of the manager client device instead of from the content provider.

10. A method as described in claim 9, further comprising performing a time-shifting function in the streaming of the content from the manager client device to the remote client device.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

upon receipt of the second content from the storage of the manager client device, rending the second content received from the storage of the manager client device;

stopping rendering of the stream of second content received directly from the content provider;

transmitting a request to the manager client device to perform a time-shift operation, wherein time-shift operation is provided through use of the storage of the manager client device;

receiving a time-shifted content from the manager client device; and

rendering the time-shifted content.

11. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising computer executable instruction that, when executed, direct a remote client device to perform acts comprising:

forming a message for communication to a content provider to receive a stream of content from the content provider;

receiving the stream of content from the content provider;

up on receipt of the stream of content from the content provider, render the stream of content on a display device and stream the content to a manager client device, wherein the manager client device stores the stream of content in a storage;

upon receipt of a request from a user to perform a time-shift operation on the stream of content, forming a request for communication to the manager client device to perform the time-shift operation;

receiving a stream of content from the storage; and

rendering the stream of content from the storage on the display device instead of the stream of content from the content provider.

12. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 11, wherein the time-shift operation comprises a pause, a skip-back a fast forward, a jump ahead, or a rewind.

13. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 11, wherein the stream of content is a television program.

14. One or more computer-readable storage media as described in claim 11, wherein the receipt of the stream of content at the manager client device from the remote client device causes the manager client device to transmit a message to the content provider to cause the content provider to stream the content to the manager client device and the remote client device simultaneously in a multicast.

15. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer executable instruction that, when executed, direct a manager client device to:

provide time-shifting content streaming to a remote client device, stream content received from a content provider to the remote client device, wherein the content matches content originally received by the manager client device from the content provider via the remote client device.