Carousel proxy

• US 8,201,208 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2003
• Issued: 06/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Original Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Inventors: Gebhardt, Bryan, Azarm, Houman, Berriatua, Steven, Delpuch, Alain
• Primary Examiner(s): Beliveau, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): Langhnoja, Kunal
• Application Number:
  US10/652,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20040128699A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,210 Days
• Field of Search: 725/36, 725/54, 725/127
• US Class Current: 725/119
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2355 involving reformatting operations of additional data, e.g. HTML pages optimising the visualization of content for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/9577; tracking of instant messages H04L51/234; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2381 Adapting the multiplex stream to a specific network, e.g. an Internet Protocol [IP] network transmission of MPEG streams over ATM H04L12/5601
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• 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 21/26266 for determining content or additional data repetition rate, e.g. of a file in a DVB carousel according to its importance arrangements for broadcast or for distribution of identical information repeatedly in broadcast distribution systems H04H20/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/845 Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8545 for generating interactive applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A broadcaster generates programming content and a carousel containing chunks of data defining one or more interactive applications. The programming content and carousel are received by a local gateway which distributes the carousel and content to receivers at end-users via a distribution network. A carousel proxy in the local gateway receives the inbound carousel from the broadcaster and modifies it to produce an outbound carousel suited for the distribution network, receivers, and/or end-users. The modifications performed by the carousel proxy include filtering chunks and/or data within the chunks from the inbound carousel and transforming data within the chunks to customize the interactive applications for the distribution network, receivers, and/or end-users. The carousel proxy also caches chunks in a cache of a local data store. The carousel proxy uses the cached chunks to send the outbound carousel at a rate optimized for the bandwidth available on the distribution network.

Claims

1. A gateway to distribute programming content and one or more interactive applications, the gateway comprising:

a local data store configured to store local data, the local data store comprising a cache to cache one or more of a plurality of chunks of an inbound carousel, the plurality of chunks including a cache indication indicating which of the plurality of chunks are to be cached;

a cache management module configured to selectively cache the one or more chunks based on the cache indication included in the plurality of chunks;

a carousel proxy in communication with the local data store, the carousel proxy configuring one or more processors to;

receive the inbound carousel, the inbound carousel comprising the plurality of chunks, a first chunk in the plurality of chunks to hold data describing characteristics of an interactive application and further one or more chunks to hold application data of the interactive application, and

modify the inbound carousel utilizing data stored in the local data store to produce an outbound carousel optimized for transmission to a distribution network; and

an outbound carousel control module configured to optimize a rate at which chunks are to be sent in the outbound carousel.

2. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the carousel proxy comprises:

a filtering module to selectively remove data from the inbound carousel to produce the outbound carousel.

3. The gateway of claim 2, wherein:

the local data store comprises a module specifying filtering rules for the inbound carousel; and

the filtering module is adapted to selectively remove data from the inbound carousel responsive to the filtering rules.

4. The gateway of claim 3, wherein the module specifying filtering rules specifies characteristics of receivers and/or end-users receiving the outbound carousel via the distribution network and wherein the filtering module is adapted to remove from the inbound carousel data not meeting the specified characteristics.

5. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the carousel proxy comprises:

a transformation module adapted to selectively transform data in the inbound carousel to produce the outbound carousel.

6. The gateway of claim 1, wherein:

the outbound carousel control module is to optimize the rate of chunks in the outbound carousel in response to the bandwidth available on the distribution network.

7. The local gateway of claim 1, comprising:

the outbound carousel control module is to place chunks in the outbound carousel responsive to delivery information provided in the plurality of chunks.

8. The local gateway of claim 1, comprising:

the outbound carousel control module is to place chunks in the outbound carousel at rates determined in response to a rate of chunks in the inbound carousel.

9. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the cache management module is further to specify an expiration instruction based on meta-data contained in the chunks.

10. A method of producing an outbound carousel defining an interactive application, the method comprising:

receiving an inbound carousel having a plurality of chunks defining the interactive application, a first chunk in the plurality of chunks to hold data describing characteristics of an interactive application and further one or more chunks to hold application data of the interactive application, the plurality of chunks including a cache indication indicating which of the plurality of chunks are to be cached;

selectively caching the one or more chunks based on the cache indication included in the plurality of chunks;

modifying chunks from the plurality of chunks in the inbound carousel responsive to data stored in a local data store to produce the outbound carousel, the modifying of the chunks being performed by one or more processors;

optimizing a rate at which chunks are to be sent in the outbound carousel; and

providing the outbound carousel to a distribution network for delivery to end-users.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the modifying of the chunks in the inbound carousel comprises:

filtering chunks from the inbound carousel to produce the outbound carousel.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the modifying of the chunks in the inbound carousel comprises:

filtering chunks responsive to filtering rules specifying characteristics of receivers and/or end-users receiving the outbound carousel via the distribution network.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the modifying of the chunks in the inbound carousel comprises:

transforming the application data of the interactive application within the plurality of chunks of the inbound carousel to produce transformed application data of the interactive application within one or more chunks of the outbound carousel.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the modifying of the chunks in the inbound carousel wherein:

the optimizing of the rate of the chunks in the outbound carousel is responsive to an amount of bandwidth available on the distribution network.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein one or more chunks from the plurality of chunks in the inbound carousel comprise meta-data specifying delivery information for the plurality of chunks and the modifying of the chunks in the inbound carousel comprises:

placing chunks in the outbound carousel at a rate determined responsive to the delivery information.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the modifying of the chunks in the inbound carousel comprises:

placing chunks in the outbound carousel at rates determined responsive to a rate of the plurality of chunks in the inbound carousel.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising specifying an expiration instruction based on meta-data contained in the chunks.