System, device, and method for delivering multimedia
First Claim
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1. A system for delivering multimedia, the system comprising:
- a plurality of media devices coupled to each other via a network, each media device being configured;
to retrieve multimedia data and advertisement data from an external source, the multimedia data including a number of video clips and the advertisement data including a number of advertisements,store the multimedia data and the advertisement data,transmit the multimedia data to at least one other media device in response to a request for the multimedia data, andassociate an advertisement of the advertisement data to a video clip of the multimedia data;
wherein at least one of the media devices is further configured to;
determine a number of available sources of the multimedia data that are external to the at least one of the media devices;
select a subset of the number of available sources based on a determination of proximity of each of the number of available sources relative to the at least one other media device;
retrieve first portions of the multimedia data from a first group of sources selected from the subset of the number of available sources; and
retrieve second portions of the multimedia data from a second group of sources selected from the subset of the number of available sources, where the first group of sources and the second group of sources are different groups;
wherein the first portions are transmitted to the at least one other media device before the second portions;
wherein the first group of sources selected from the subset of the number of sources are physically farther from the at least one other media device than the second group of sources selected from the subset of the number of available sources.
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Abstract
A system and method for delivery of multimedia data includes a plurality of media devices coupled to each other via a network. Each of the media devices is configured to retrieve multimedia data and advertisement data from an external source such as a public and/or private network. The multimedia data may include a number of video clips and the advertisement data includes a number of advertisements. Each media device is also configured to associate an advertisement of the advertisement data to a video clip of the multimedia data based on one of a number of criteria and transmit the associated video clip and advertisement to a playback device for viewing thereon.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A system for delivering multimedia, the system comprising:
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a plurality of media devices coupled to each other via a network, each media device being configured; to retrieve multimedia data and advertisement data from an external source, the multimedia data including a number of video clips and the advertisement data including a number of advertisements, store the multimedia data and the advertisement data, transmit the multimedia data to at least one other media device in response to a request for the multimedia data, and associate an advertisement of the advertisement data to a video clip of the multimedia data; wherein at least one of the media devices is further configured to; determine a number of available sources of the multimedia data that are external to the at least one of the media devices; select a subset of the number of available sources based on a determination of proximity of each of the number of available sources relative to the at least one other media device; retrieve first portions of the multimedia data from a first group of sources selected from the subset of the number of available sources; and retrieve second portions of the multimedia data from a second group of sources selected from the subset of the number of available sources, where the first group of sources and the second group of sources are different groups; wherein the first portions are transmitted to the at least one other media device before the second portions; wherein the first group of sources selected from the subset of the number of sources are physically farther from the at least one other media device than the second group of sources selected from the subset of the number of available sources. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for delivering multimedia, the method comprising:
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retrieving multimedia data from an external source, the multimedia data including a number of video clips; selecting advertisement data comprising a number of advertisements based on a combination of a bid for an advertisement spot in the multimedia data and other advertisements associated with the multimedia data, wherein the bid at least exceeds a minimum threshold amount; and retrieving the advertisement data, the advertisement data including a number of advertisements; storing the multimedia data and the advertisement data in one or more of a plurality of media devices coupled to each other via a network; transmitting the multimedia data to at least one other media device over a network in response to a request for the multimedia data; and associating an advertisement of the advertisement data to a video clip of the multimedia data; determining a number of available sources of the multimedia data; selecting a subset of the number of available sources based on a determination of a proximity of each of the number of available sources relative to the one or more of the plurality of media devices; retrieving first portions of the multimedia data from a first group of sources selected from the subset; retrieving second portions of the multimedia data from a second group of sources selected from the subset, the first group and the second group different groups; the first portions being transmitted to the one or more of the plurality of media devices before the second portions; and the first group being physically farther from the one or more of the plurality of media devices than the second group. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for delivering multimedia, the system comprising:
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a plurality of media devices coupled to each other via a network, each media device being configured; to retrieve multimedia data and advertisement data from a selection of determined external sources comprising a first group of sources and a second group of sources, the multimedia data including a number of video clips and the advertisement data including a number of advertisements, where first parts of the multimedia data are retrieved from the first group of sources that are located physically farther from each the media devices than the second group of sources from which second parts of the multimedia data are retrieved, the first group and the second group different groups, the first parts being retrieved before the second parts, store the multimedia data and the advertisement data, transmit the multimedia data to at least one other media device in response to a request for the multimedia data, and associate an advertisement of the advertisement data to a video clip of the multimedia data; wherein each media device is further configured to transmit the associated video and advertisement to a television service provider headend station; wherein the television service provider headend station comprises a broadcast interface module coupled to both a switched digital video server and a video-on-demand server. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification