Methods and systems for using in-stream data within an on demand content delivery path

• US 7,860,013 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2005
• Issued: 12/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Holdings LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Michel, Walter F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ferris; Derrick W
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHENG, CHI TANG P
• Application Number:
  US11/075,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20060218601A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,120 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 36, 725 30- 31, 370/241, 370/242, 370/244, 370/245, 370/248, 370/250, 714/25, 714/1, 714/2, 714/800, 714/758
• US Class Current: 370/241
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23892 involving embedding information at multiplex stream level, e.g. embedding a watermark at packet level
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An on demand content delivery platform for delivering on demand digital assets includes a network transport composed of network elements. A content delivery path extends from an application server, through the network transport, to a client. During content delivery, at a network element, data is inserted into the content delivery path to produce a content stream containing inserted in-stream data. In one implementation, the content is conditioned in accordance with instructions present in the in-stream data. In another implementation, the in-stream data represents session information and is utilized for stateless recovery of session information.

Claims

1. A method for on demand content delivery in an on demand platform, the method comprising:

delivering content using a content delivery path;

during content delivery, at a network element, inserting data into the content delivery path to produce a modified content stream containing inserted in-stream data, the inserted data including diagnostic information, comprising validation and source identification information about the content, the inserted data also including session state information of at least one device in the content delivery path downstream from the network element; and

processing the modified content stream to encrypt the content using a plurality of entitlement control messages and entitlement management messages and perform state information recovery of at least one device in the content delivery path, and extracting the diagnostic information, comprising the validation and source identification information from the modified content stream to perform diagnostic analysis, as content passes through the content delivery path.

wherein the plurality of entitlement management messages are stored for use in future sessions.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the in-stream data is inserted into the content delivery path at an originating application server.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the in-stream data is inserted into the content delivery path at an intervening application server.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the in-stream data is inserted into the content delivery path at an intervening network element.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

extracting the in-stream data at a network element in a transport network.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the modified content stream includes replacing a portion of the modified content stream with replacement content.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the modified content stream includes conducting flow control procedures.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the in-stream data includes signed identification information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the modified content stream at a conditioning device to condition the modified content stream as the modified content stream passes through the content delivery path, the modified content stream being conditioned in accordance with instructions present in the in-stream data, whereby the in-stream data is actively used in the network to direct content conditioning as the modified content stream traverses the network transport.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one device for which state recovery is performed includes an edge modulator.

11. A system comprising:

an application server configured to receive a modified content stream containing on demand content through a content delivery path containing a network element, the modified content stream being encrypted using a plurality of entitlement control messages and entitlement management messages such that access to the modified content stream is determined through use of stored secure tokens, the modified content stream also containing inserted in-stream data, the inserted in-stream data including diagnostic information, comprising validation and source identification information about the content, the inserted in-stream data also including session state information of at least one device in the content delivery path downstream from the network element;

the network element configured to extract the diagnostic information, comprising the validation and source identification information from the modified content stream to perform diagnostic analysis; and

the network element further configured to use the received in-stream data from the modified content stream to restore a session.