Method of maintaining broadcast data stream

• US 7,797,418 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2002
• Issued: 09/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TVWorks LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Drewry, Raymond, Bulkowski, Brian, Vickers, Mark, Mao, Weidong, Leonard, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): EL CHANTI, HUSSEIN A
• Application Number:
  US10/213,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20040030760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,961 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-224, 709/231, 725/2, 725/32, 725/36, 725/93, 725/115, 725/116, 725/136
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and network oriented systems are discussed for estimating system, e.g. web site, usage removed from the web site, as well as scheduling and directing a data broadcast source to provide content based on web site usage estimates and predictions in a broadcast data stream.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting a broadcast data stream to a plurality of client devices, said broadcast data stream including data representing a plurality of URLs, said method comprising:

determining whether a number of requests from one or more of the client devices for a first URL of the plurality of URLs exceeds a threshold;

adding a locally-stored version of content corresponding to said first URL to said broadcast data stream responsive to the number of said requests being determined to exceed said threshold,

wherein determining whether the number of requests for the first URL exceeds the threshold comprises;

determining at least one hit-count using a first node by a collection of at least two of the client devices within a first of a time-interval of said first URL to create a URL-hit-count within said first time-interval for said first URL; and

estimating usage of said first URL based upon said URL-hit-count within said first time-interval for said first URL to create said usage estimate for said first URL,

wherein said first node is configured to communicate with said members of said client collection, and

wherein the method further comprises;

sending said usage estimate for said first URL to a second node ogsa4d nodes-to create a node usage estimate from said first node at said second node; and

integrating said node usage estimate to create an integrated usage estimate for said first URL.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprises:

further comprising scheduling a web site with said first URL for data broadcast by included in said broadcast data stream based upon said node usage estimate from said node.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling a web site with said first URL for data included in said broadcast data stream based upon said integrated usage estimate for said first URL.

4. A system, comprising:

a computer comprising an interface with a network and configured to;

receive from the network via the interface a first indication of a number of times that a universal resource locator (URL) is requested by a first plurality of client devices in the network,

receive from the network via the interface a second indication of a number of times that the URL is requested by a second plurality of client devices in the network, and

determine a value based upon the first and second indications; and

a data transmission apparatus configured to;

determine, based on the value, whether to add content to a broadcast data stream, and if so, adding the content to the data stream, and

transmit the broadcast data stream including the added content to the first and second pluralities of client devices.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first indication represents a number of requests for the URL from only a portion of the first plurality of client devices, and wherein the data transmission apparatus is configured to transmit the broadcast data stream including the added content to all of the first plurality of client devices.