Instantaneous media-on-demand

• US 8,099,511 B1
• Filed: 06/11/2005
• Issued: 01/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Vudu Incorporated (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Ganesan, Prasanna, Matloub, Shahriyar, Miranz, Tony, Rossmann, Alain, Sze, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Blair, Douglas
• Assistant Examiner(s): AILES, BENJAMIN A
• Application Number:
  US11/150,653
• Time in Patent Office: 2,411 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/231, 725/88, 725/89
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2225 Local VOD servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23116 involving data replication, e.g. over plural servers synchronization of replicated data G06F11/1658; error detection or correction by means of data replication G06F11/2053; replication in distributed file systems G06F16/10; replication in distributed file systems G06F16/27; replication or mirroring of data in data networks H04L67/1095
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand

Abstract

Various techniques for providing instantaneous media services are disclosed. Some of the techniques provide an instantaneous media-on-demand system, process and method for the same. Such a system offers a dynamic library with a significant number of titles from which a user may select and offers play back a desired title fairly instantly. To facilitate instant playback, a file pertaining to a title is fragmented into a header and segments. The header is seeded in all boxes in service and none, one or more segments are distributed to the network of boxes. When the title is ordered, the header is instantly played back while the segments, if not locally available, are streamed in respectively from the boxes having the segments to enable continuous playback of the ordered title.

Claims

1. A method of providing media-on-demand services over a network, the method being implemented using one or more processors that perform steps comprising:

on one or more servers that provide the services, communicating with a plurality of devices in order to receive a playback request for a desired media content in a library of media content from a first device;

responsive to receiving the playback request for the desired media content, selecting two or more second devices from a plurality of devices that communicate with the one or more servers, in order to transmit two or more distributed objects that can be played back to produce the media content on the first device, wherein each of the two or more distributed objects includes decimated data blocks from data pertaining to the media content so that each of the two or more distributed objects includes a different set of data blocks, each set of data blocks comprising every n-th data block of the decimated data blocks with n being an integer; and

enabling the first device to achieve instantaneous and continuous playback of the desired media content by (i) seeding the first device with a header segment for each media content of the library, including the desired media content, (ii) initiating instant playback of the desired media content using the header segment of the desired media content, (iii) causing the two or more second devices, that are each independently capable of making the playback request for any media content in the library, to transmit the two or more distributed objects of the desired media content concurrently to the first device, and (iv) multiplexing the header segment with the two or more distributed objects that are transmitted to the first device from the two or more second devices, concurrently, in order to restore an original order in which the distributed objects are to be played back.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying, on the one or more servers, whether the playback request is authorized upon receiving the playback request; and

determining, on the one or more servers, in accordance with a scheme, the two or more second devices designated to supply the distributed objects to the first device upon verifying that the playback request is authorized.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the scheme is based on at least one of:

(i) a time zone, or (ii) a working status of the two or more second devices.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a set of backup devices designated to provide another set of distributed objects pertaining to the desired media content, wherein the other set of distributed objects is substantially equivalent to the distributed objects provided by the two or more second devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing authentication information to the first device to facilitate secured communications between the first device and the two or more second devices.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the authentication information includes security information for deciphering at least one of the distributed objects.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more distributed objects are received concurrently by the first device from each of the two or more second devices.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a length of playback using the residing object is determined for purposes of ensuring continuous playback of the entire media content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein none of the distributed objects are provided by the one or more servers during playback of the media content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the library includes a plurality of different media content available for selection and immediate playback by a user, and wherein neither the first device nor the two or more second devices stores a complete data item pertaining to each of the different media content.

11. A method for providing media-on-demand services on a first device coupled to a network, the method comprising:

enabling selection of a media content from a library of media content;

generating a request when the media content is selected, the request including title information;

transmitting the request over the network to a server configured to generate a response;

receiving the response from the server, the response including source information identifying two or more devices designated to provide two or more distributed objects pertaining to the selected media content to enable continuous playback of the selected media content on the first device, wherein each of the two or more designated devices is configurable to generate a request for playback of the media content, and wherein each of the two or more distributed objects includes decimated data blocks from data pertaining to the media content so that each of the two or more distributed objects includes a different set of data blocks, each set of data blocks comprising every n-th data block of the decimated data blocks with n being an integer;

initiating playback of the selected media content using a residing object stored on the first device while using the source information to retrieve the two or more distributed objects from the two or more designated devices, concurrently, as two or more streams of data; and

continuing the playback of the media content using the two or more streams of data once the playback of the media content using the residing object is completed, including multiplexing the two or more streams of data with the data of the residing object when the residing object is played back in order to restore an original order in which the two or more streams of data are to be played back.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising making a determination on the server as to whether a user is authenticated to initiate playback of the selected media content prior to generating the request.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising deciphering at least one of the residing object or the distributed objects based, at least in part, on the response.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting a second set of requests to the two or more designated devices in accordance with the source information provided by the server.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein using the source information to retrieve the two or more distributed objects comprises:

determining a download rate for each of the streams of data; and

switching to a backup device upon determining that a respective download rate for at least one of the streams of data is below a predetermined threshold.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein none of the two or more distributed objects are provided by the server for playback.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the library includes a plurality of different media content available for selection and instant playback, and wherein, for each of the different media content, the first device is configured to store less than a complete data file pertaining thereto.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving an instruction to update the library with new media content;

receiving, in accordance with the instruction, a set of data blocks pertaining to the new media content; and

recovering from the set of data blocks pertaining to the new media content a release package including at least a header segment for each new media content identified by the instruction.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising enabling a selection of the new media content from the library.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the set of data blocks pertaining to the new media content comprises receiving the set of data blocks pertaining to the new media content from the two or more designated devices.

21. A system for providing media-on-demand services over a network, the system comprising:

a plurality of devices coupled to the network, each of the plurality of devices including a storage element provided for storing a header segment and one or more distributed segments for each of a plurality of media content;

a server coupled to the network and configured to provide source information to a first device of the plurality of devices, in response to a request from the first device for playback of a selected one of the plurality of media content, the source information identifying two or more of the plurality of devices being designated to provide respective distributed segments pertaining to the selected media content to the first device to enable continuous playback of the selected media content on the first device, wherein each of the plurality of devices is configurable to submit a request for playback of the selected media content; and

wherein, upon receiving the source information, the first device is configured to

(i) initiate a playback of the media content using a stored header segment,

(ii) concurrently retrieve respective distributed segments from the two or more designated devices using the received source information, and (iii) multiplex the retrieved distributed segments with the stored header segment in order to restore an original order in which the distributed objects are continuously played back;

wherein each of the retrieved distributed segments includes decimated data blocks from data pertaining to the selected media content so that each of the retrieved distributed segments includes a different set of data blocks, each set of data blocks comprising every n-th data block of the decimated data blocks with n being an integer.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the server does not provide any of the distributed segments to the first device.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein, in response to the request from the first device, the server provides the first device with one or more identifiers for identifying a set of backup devices designated to provide another set of distributed segments pertaining to the selected media content, wherein the other set of distributed segments is substantially equivalent to the distributed segments provided by the two or more designated devices.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the server further provides authentication information to the first device to facilitate secured communications between the first device and the two or more designated devices.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the source information further includes security information for deciphering at least one of the header segment or the distributed segments pertaining to the selected media content.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein each of the two or more designated devices identified by the source information is determined based on at least one of:

(i) a geographic location, (ii) a time zone, or (iii) a working status of the respective device.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the server is configured to designate a set of seeding devices to receive a sequence of data blocks pertaining to a second media content, the set of seeding devices being configured to update the library in the first device and the two or more second devices by transmitting copies of at least a portion of the received sequence of data blocks to at least one of the first device or the two or more designated devices.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the set of seeding devices is further configured to transmit at least a portion of the sequence of data blocks to at least one of the first device or the two or more second devices while concurrently receiving the sequence of data blocks pertaining to the second media content.

29. A manufacture comprising non-transitory computer readable media storing information therein that is executable in a computing device for providing media-on-demand services over a network, the manufacture comprising:

program code for receiving a request from a first device coupled to the network, the request including an order for playback of a media content in a library;

program code for identifying two or more second devices coupled to the network, the two or more second devices being designated to provide distributed objects pertaining to the media content, wherein each of the distributed objects includes decimated data blocks from data pertaining to the media content so that each of the distributed objects includes a different set of data blocks, each set of data blocks comprising every n-th data block of the decimated data blocks with n being an integer; and

program code for providing identification information corresponding to the two or more second devices to the first device to enable continuous playback of the media content on the first device, wherein the first device initiates instantaneous playback of the media content using a residing object pertaining to the media content while using the identification information to receive the distributed objects from the two or more second devices, concurrently, data from the received distributed objects being multiplexed in order to restore an original order in which the received distributed objects are to be played back, and wherein each of the two or more second devices is configurable to submit a request for playback of the media content.

30. The software product of claim 29, further comprising:

program code for making a determination as to whether the order is authorized upon receiving the request; and

program code for determining, in accordance with a scheme, the two or more second devices designated to supply the distributed objects to the first device upon determining that the order is authorized.

31. The software product of claim 30, further comprising program code for identifying a set of backup devices designated to provide another set of distributed objects pertaining to the media content, wherein the other set of distributed objects is substantially equivalent to the distributed objects provided by the two or more second devices.

32. A manufacture comprising non-transitory computer readable media having information embedded therein that is executable in a computing device for providing media-on-demand services on a first device coupled to a network, the manufacture comprising:

program code for enabling selection of a media content in a library of media content;

program code for generating a request when the media content is selected, the request including title information;

program code for transmitting the request over the network to a server configured to generate a response;

program code for receiving the response from the server, the response including source information identifying two or more devices designated to provide two or more distributed objects pertaining to the selected media content to enable continuous playback of the selected media content on the first device, wherein each of the two or more designated devices is configurable to generate a request for playback of the media content, and wherein each of the two or more distributed objects includes decimated data blocks from data pertaining to the selected media content so that each of the two or more distributed objects includes a different set of data blocks, each set of data blocks comprising every n-th data block of the decimated data blocks with n being an integer;

program code for initiating playback of the selected media content using a residing object stored on the first device, while using the source information to retrieve the two or more distributed objects from the two or more designated devices, concurrently, as two or more streams of data, and to multiplex the two or more streams of data with the residing object in order to restore an original order in which the two or more streams of data are to be continuously played back; and

program code for continuing the playback of the media content using the two or more streams of data once the playback of the media content using the residing object is completed.

33. The software product of claim 32, further comprising program code for making a determination as to whether a user is authenticated to initiate playback of the selected media content prior to generating the request.

34. The software product of claim 33, further comprising program code for deciphering at least one of the residing object or the distributed objects based, at least in part, on the response.

35. The software product of claim 32, further comprising program code for transmitting a second set of requests to the two or more designated devices in accordance with the source information provided by the server.

36. The software product of claim 32, wherein the library includes a plurality of different media content available for selection and instant playback, and wherein, for each of the different media content, the device is configured to store less than a complete data file pertaining thereto.