Apparatus and method for aggregating disparate storage on consumer electronics devices

• US 8,595,315 B2
• Filed: 10/19/2011
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Grannan, Michael F.
• Primary Examiner(s): MACILWINEN, JOHN MOORE JAIN
• Application Number:
  US13/276,476
• Publication Number:
  US 20120066336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 769 Days
• Field of Search: 709/213
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2812 describing content present in a home automation network, e.g. audio video content retrieval from the Internet G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles

Abstract

A method includes determining whether a requesting device includes sufficient available memory to store a media file. The method further includes determining whether a best fit memory block is available in a particular device of a plurality of devices in response to a determination that the requesting device includes insufficient available memory.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server, a first request from a requesting device to store a media file;

determining, at the server, whether the requesting device is portable or includes removable memory;

in response to determining that the requesting device is portable or includes removable memory, prioritizing the requesting device during processing of the first request, wherein processing the first request includes;

determining, at the server, whether the requesting device includes sufficient available memory to store the media file; and

determining whether a best fit memory block is available in a particular device of a plurality of devices in response to determining that the requesting device includes insufficient available memory;

in response to determining that the requesting device is not portable and does not include removable memory, prioritizing stationary devices that include resident memory during processing of the first request;

receiving a second request from a first device of the plurality of devices to be removed from a network of storage devices;

determining, based on a media asset table, whether the first device includes a portion of a file that is collectively stored in the network of storage devices; and

in response to determining that the first device includes the portion of the file;

requesting and receiving the portion of the file from the first device;

instructing the first device to delete the portion of the file;

removing the first device from a device profile table; and

storing the portion of the file to one or more other devices of the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first request indicates a size associated with the media file.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the best fit memory block is available includes scanning an internal memory allocation table.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the internal memory allocation table identifies available memory blocks of the plurality of devices, wherein each of the available memory blocks is adapted to be aggregated with at least one additional memory block of the plurality of devices to store the media file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the best fit memory block is a smallest available memory block that satisfies a size of the media file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the best fit memory block has a block size that is greater than or equal to a size of the media file.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the media file at the best fit memory block.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the requesting device includes sufficient available memory based at least in part on a scan of an internal memory allocation table, wherein the sufficient available memory includes at least one available memory block;

allocating memory of the requesting device to store the media file in the requesting device based at least in part on the scan of the internal memory allocation table; and

storing the media file at the allocated memory of the requesting device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the stationary devices are part of the network of storage devices, the network includes at least one portable device while the at least one portable device is located within a premises associated with the network, and wherein storing the media file in one or more of the stationary devices enables devices of the network to access the media file when the at least one portable device is located outside the premises associated with the network.

10. A processor-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first request from a requesting device to store a media file;

determining whether the requesting device is portable or includes removable memory;

in response to determining that the requesting device is portable or includes removable memory, prioritizing the requesting device during processing of the first request, wherein processing the first request includes;

determining whether the requesting device includes insufficient available memory to store the media file; and

determining whether a best fit memory block is available in a particular device of a plurality of devices in response to determining that the requesting device includes insufficient available memory;

in response to determining that the requesting device is not portable and does not include removable memory, prioritizing stationary devices that include resident memory during processing of the first request;

receiving a second request from a first device of the plurality of devices to be removed from a network of storage devices;

determining, based on a media asset table, whether the first device includes a portion of a file that is collectively stored in the network of storage devices; and

in response to determining that the first device includes the portion of the file;

requesting and receiving the portion of the file from the first device;

instructing the first device to delete the portion of the file;

removing the first device from a device profile table; and

storing the portion of the file to one or more other devices of the network.

11. The processor-readable storage device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise identifying available memory blocks that, when aggregated, satisfy a size of the media file in response to determining that the best fit memory block is unavailable, wherein the identified available memory blocks include at least a first memory block and a second memory block.

12. The processor-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the identified available memory blocks are a smallest number of available memory blocks that, when aggregated, satisfy the size of the media file, and wherein the identified available memory blocks are included in a first device of the plurality of devices.

13. The processor-readable storage device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise dividing the media file into at least a first portion and a second portion.

14. The processor-readable storage device of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

storing the first portion at a first memory block of a first device of the plurality of devices; and

storing the second portion at a second memory block of a second device of the plurality of devices.

15. The processor-readable storage device of claim of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise updating a linked list data structure associated with the media asset table, wherein the updated linked list data structure indicates that the first portion is stored at the first memory block of the first device, and wherein the media asset table indicates whether each of the plurality of devices is stationary, whether each of the plurality of devices is portable, whether each of the plurality of devices includes resident memory, whether each of the plurality of devices includes removable memory, or any combination thereof.

16. A server comprising:

a processor; and

a memory accessible to the processor, wherein the memory includes a media management server module that is executable by the processor to;

receive a first request from a requesting device to store a media file;

determine whether the requesting device is portable or includes removable memory;

in response to determining that the requesting device is portable or includes removable memory, prioritize the requesting device during processing of the first request, wherein the management server module is executable by the processor, during processing of the first request, to;

determine whether the requesting device includes insufficient available memory to store the media file; and

determine whether a best fit memory block is available in a particular device of a plurality of devices in response to determining that the requesting device includes insufficient available memory;

in response to determining that the requesting device is not portable and does not include removable memory, prioritize stationary devices that include resident memory during processing of the first request;

receive a second request from a first device of the plurality of devices to be removed from a network of storage devices;

determine, based on a media asset table, whether the first device includes a portion of a file that is collectively stored in the network of storage devices; and

in response to determining that the first device includes the portion of the file;

request and receive the portion of the file from the first device;

instruct the first device to delete the portion of the file;

remove the first device from a device profile table; and

store the portion of the file to one or more other devices of the network.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the media management server module is further executable by the processor to present an option to cancel the first request received from the requesting device to store the media file prior to storing the media file at the particular device.

18. The server of claim 16, further comprising a network interface coupled to the processor, wherein the network interface comprises at least one of an ethernet interface, a universal serial bus interface, a power line networking interface, a wireless fidelity interface, and an ultra wideband interface.

19. The server of claim 16, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices includes a redundant media management server module that maintains a copy of the media asset table, wherein the media asset table is stored at the server.