Method for reducing latency in an interactive information distribution system

• US 8,661,482 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2011
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Smyth, Aidan James, Goode, Christopher W. B.
• Primary Examiner(s): MENGESHA, MULUGETA A
• Application Number:
  US13/303,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20120072958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 826 Days
• Field of Search: 725/88, 725/93, 725/102, 725/114, 725/116, 725/146
• US Class Current: 725/93
• 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 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reducing latency caused by information server processing of subscriber request wherein a plurality of content streams defined by a playlist are sequentially provided to a subscriber in a substantially seamless manner and wherein the playlist is updated and otherwise maintained in response to subscriber commands and requests.

Claims

1. Provider equipment for providing information streams to subscriber equipment in a content distribution network, comprising

a session controller for maintaining a plurality of playlists created by subscribers, wherein each playlist is associated with a respective subscriber and is created and controlled by subscriber commands provided to the session controller, wherein the playlist defines content streams and a location of the content streams defined in the playlist including a location of auxiliary streams associated therewith, including reverse and fast-forward streams;

a server, coupled to the session controller, for storing the content streams at locations identified in each of the plurality of playlists, and

a server controller, coupled to the server and the session controller, the server controller retrieving from the server, the content streams defined by the playlist for sequentially provisioning to the subscriber equipment according to the playlist in response to receiving a play command from the subscriber requesting, the content streams associated with the playlist;

wherein the session controller provides a request to the server controller identifying from the playlist a next content stream to be provided from the server to the subscriber equipment, wherein the next content stream is spliced at an end of a current content stream, the session controller further modifying the playlist in response to playlist modification commands received from the subscriber equipment.

2. The provider equipment of claim 1, wherein the server controller provides a termination notification to the session controller when a remaining portion of the current content stream provided to the subscriber equipment is below a threshold, the session controller providing the request to the server controller identifying from the playlist the next content stream in response to receiving the termination notification.

3. The provider equipment of claim 1, wherein the playlist modification commands comprise at least one of an add command, a delete command, a skip forward command, a skip backwards command, a fast forward command and a reverse command.

4. The provider equipment of claim 3, wherein the session controller, in response to the add command and the delete command, respectively adding or deleting a subscriber-indicated content stream from the playlist.

5. The provider equipment of claim 3, wherein:

the session controller, in response to the skip forward command and the skip backwards command, causing the server controller to begin providing to the subscriber equipment, respectively, the next content stream or a previous content stream within the playlist.

6. The provider equipment of claim 3, wherein:

the session controller, in response to receiving the fast forward command and the reverse command, causing the server controller to begin providing to the subscriber equipment, respectively, a fast forward stream or a reverse stream associated with the current content stream.

7. The provider equipment of claim 1, wherein the server comprises a plurality of servers, each of the plurality of servers storing at least a respective portion of the content streams available to a subscriber, the server controller causing a transport processor to receive a substantially continuous stream of content for each active subscriber regardless of the server presently storing that content.

8. A method for providing content to subscriber equipment in a distribution network, comprising:

storing a plurality of content streams at a server;

maintaining a plurality of playlists created by subscribers at a session controller, wherein each playlist defines content streams and a location of the content streams defined in the playlist including a location of auxiliary streams associated therewith, including reverse and fast-forward streams;

associating the plurality of playlists with respective subscribers;

providing commands, from a requesting subscriber to the session controller, for controlling downloading of the content streams associated with each of the plurality of playlists;

retrieving, from the server according to the provided commands from the requesting subscriber, the content streams defined by the playlist for sequentially provisioning to the subscriber equipment according to the playlist;

providing a request, from the session controller to a server controller, identifying from the playlist a next content stream to be provided from the server to the subscriber equipment;

splicing the next content stream at an end of a current content stream,

receiving playlist modification commands at the session controller from the subscriber equipment; and

modifying, by the session controller, the playlist.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining, by the server controller, when a remaining portion of the current content stream provided to the subscriber equipment is below a threshold,

providing, by the server controller, a termination notification to the session controller when the remaining portion of the current content stream is determined to be below the threshold; and

providing, by the session controller, a request to the server controller identifying from the playlist the next content stream in response to receiving the termination notification.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the providing the playlist modification commands comprises providing at least one of an add command, a delete command, a skip forward command, a skip backwards command, a fast forward command and a reverse command.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising adding or deleting a subscriber-indicated content stream from the playlist in response to, respectively, the add command and the delete command.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising, in response to the fast forward command and the reverse command, causing the server controller to begin providing to the subscriber equipment, respectively, a fast forward stream or a fast reverse stream associated with a presently provided content stream.