Broadband transmission system and method

• US 8,429,290 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2011
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Original Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Inventors: Rasmussen, Gary, Zenoni, Ian, Huber, Thomas, Sedlak, Brian, Lemmons, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN BA, HOANG VU A
• Application Number:
  US12/984,413
• Publication Number:
  US 20110099288A1
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 709/233, 709/232, 709/234, 709/235, 725/105, 725/118
• US Class Current: 709/233
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23109 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23113 involving housekeeping operations for stored content, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; snloading stored programs G06F9/445; housekeeping operations in file systems, e.g. deletion policies G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4886 for displaying a ticker, e.g. scrolling banner for news, stock exchange, weather data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/60 Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client , e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/65 Transmission of management data between client and server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

Disclosed is a system that optimizes transmission bandwidth of a broadband transmission system such as a cable television, satellite system, or wireless information service. Requests for content items from users are employed to add or delete content items from a list. Content items in the list are ranked relative to the number of requests received or by rate of request. Package groups are created with most requested content items being broadcast more frequently than less requested content items. Transmit groups are produced from package groups and placed in a broadcast queue. A transmit process transmits groups retrieved from the queue.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting requested content items in a broadband transmission system comprising:

receiving requests for a plurality of content items on an upstream path of the broadband transmission system;

creating a list of the content items;

creating a request count for each content item of the plurality of content items based on the requests received;

sorting the requests using the count;

determining an associated retransmit rate for each of the content items, the content items with a higher request count receiving a higher associated retransmit rate than content items with a lower request count, the retransmit rate indicating how often the content items should be retransmitted;

grouping content items with a request count greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group;

determining a group retransmit rate for the transmit group; and

repeatedly broadcasting the transmit group at the group retransmit rate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request count is a number of requests received during a predefined time period for each content item of the plurality of content items.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing a content item from the list of content items if the request count is equal to or less than a predetermined content access count.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmit group with a higher request count receives a higher associated group retransmit rate than a transmit group with a lower request count, the group retransmit rate indicating how often the transmit group should be retransmitted.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding a content item of the plurality of content items to the content item list based on the content item not being in the content item list.

6. A method for optimizing transmit bandwidth utilization in a broadband transmission system employing a content item list, the method comprising:

receiving requests on an upstream path of the broadband transmission system for transmission of a plurality of content items;

adding a content item of the plurality of content items to the content item list based on the content item not being in the content item list;

determining a rate of request for each content item contained in the content item list based on the requests received;

deleting content items from the content list for which the number of requests during a predefined time are less than or equal to a predefined rate of request;

determining an associated retransmit rate for each of the content items in the content item list, the content items with a higher request count receiving a higher associated retransmit rate than content items with a lower request count, the retransmit rate indicating how often the content items should be retransmitted; and

repeatedly broadcasting the content items at the associated retransmit rate.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the content items with a higher rate of request are transmitted more frequently than content items with a lower rate of request.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the repeatedly broadcasting further comprises grouping a plurality of the content items into a transmit package wherein the transmit package is of a predetermined maximum size.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining the associated retransmit rate for each of the content items comprises determining a group retransmit rate for the transmit package, the transmit package with a higher request count receiving a higher associated group retransmit rate than a transmit package with a lower request count, the group retransmit rate indicating how often the transmit package should be retransmitted.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the repeatedly broadcasting further comprises merging the content items with other transmitted data.

11. A system for optimizing bandwidth utilization in a broadband transmission system, the system comprising:

a first database containing a plurality of content items;

a second database containing user request information for the content items;

a transmit unit; and

a software program that

processes the user request information for the content items,

determines a rate of request for each content item based on the user request information for each content item,

determines an associated retransmit rate for each content item of the plurality of content items in the first database, the content items with a higher request count receiving a higher associated retransmit rate than content items with a lower request count, the retransmit rate indicating how often the content items should be retransmitted, and

repeatedly broadcasts the content items via the transmit unit to a downstream requesting device based on the retransmit rate.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the transmit unit comprises a television transmitter.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the transmit unit comprises a server computer connected to a network.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a third database containing the content items corresponding to the user request information for the content items.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the associated retransmit rate is further responsive to available bandwidth for content item broadcast.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the associated retransmit rate is further responsive to a duration of each content item of the plurality of content items in the first database.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the software program further groups content items with a request count greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the software program further determines a group retransmit rate for the transmit group, the transmit group with a higher request count receiving a higher associated group retransmit rate than a transmit group with a lower request count, the group retransmit rate indicating how often the transmit group should be retransmitted, and wherein the software program further repeatedly broadcasts the transmit group at the group retransmit rate.

19. A system for transmitting requested content items in a broadband transmission system, the system comprising:

means for receiving requests for a plurality of content items on an upstream path of the broadband transmission system;

means for creating a request count for each content item of the plurality of content items based on the requests received;

means for sorting the requests using the count;

means for determining an associated retransmit rate for each of the content items, the content items with a higher request count receiving a higher associated retransmit rate than content items with a lower request count, the retransmit rate indicating how often the content items should be retransmitted;

means for grouping content items with a request count greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group;

means for determining a group retransmit rate for the transmit group; and

means for repeatedly broadcasting the transmit group at the group retransmit rate.