Content discovery and delivery with multiple servers

• US 8,732,761 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2010
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Mathews, Robin Montague, Akiwumi-Assani, Samuel O., Saxena, Tushar
• Primary Examiner(s): SHANG, ANNAN Q
• Application Number:
  US12/980,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20120174161A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• Field of Search: 725 37- 61, 725 78- 85, 709217-232
• US Class Current: 725/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A system may include a client and a home media server in communication with the client. The home media server may be configured to receive a request for media content from the client; determine content restrictions associated with the client; discover at least one other home media server; receive content listings of media content from the at least one other home media server; aggregate the received content listings to create a unified content listing including instances of media content stored on multiple home media servers; filter the unified content listing according to the content restrictions; and send the filtered unified content listing to the client.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a client; and

a home media server in communication with the client and configured to;

receive a request for media content from the client;

determine content restrictions associated with the client;

discover at least one other media device;

receive listings of media content from the at least one other media device;

aggregate to create a unified content listing of media content stored on the home media server and the listings of the media content received from the at least one other media device;

filter the unified content listing according to the content restrictions;

send the filtered unified content listing to the client;

receive a listing selection of the filtered unified content listing from the client; and

initiate, in response to a selected content based on the listing selection being stored on the least one other media device, a transfer of the selected content to the client from the at least one other media device by instructing the at least one other media device to transmit the selected content.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the home media server is further configured to aggregate the listings of media content stored on the home media server and the instances of media content at least a subset of the at least one other media device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the home media server is further configured to:

provide a source indication for each listing of the unified content listing to the client.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the home media server is further configured to determine the content restrictions according to at least one of a personal identification number received from the client and a network address associated with the client.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one other media device is a second home media server configured to:

communicate with the home media server via an inter-server protocol; and

receive transfer instructions initiated by the home media server configured to control the transfer of the selected content to the client by the second home media server.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one other media device is a digital media server configured to:

communicate with the home media server via an client-server protocol; and

receive transfer instructions initiated by the home media server configured to control the transfer of the selected content to the client by the digital home media server.

7. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for media content from a client at a home media server;

determining content restrictions associated with the client;

filtering a unified content listing according to the content restrictions, the unified content listing including listings of media content stored on the home media server and at least one other media device;

sending the filtered unified content listing to the client;

receiving a listing selection of the filtered unified content listing from the client; and

initiating a transfer of a selected content based on the listing selection to the client by the other media device when the selected content is stored on the other media device, the transfer initiated by instructing the at least one other media device to transmit the selected content.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the source of the selected content is the home media server.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

discovering the at least one other media device by the home media server;

receiving content listings of media content from the at least one other media device; and

aggregating the received content listings of the media content from the at least one other media device to the unified content listing.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining the content restrictions according to a personal identification number received from the client.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining the content restrictions according to a network address associated with the client.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one other media device is a second home media server, and the method further comprises:

communicating with the second home media server via an inter-server protocol; and

initiating the transfer of based on the listing selection to the client by the second home media server when the selected content is stored on the second home media server by providing transfer instructions configured to control the transfer of the selected content to the client.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one other media device is a digital media server, and the method further comprises:

communicate with the home media server via an client-server protocol; and

initiating the transfer of based on the listing selection content to the client by the digital media server when the selected content is stored on the digital media server by providing transfer instructions configured to control the transfer of the selected content to the client.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodying computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor are configured to cause a computing device to:

discover at least one other media device;

receive content listings of media content from the at least one discovered other media device;

aggregate the received content listings to create a unified content listing;

receive a request for media content from a client;

determine content restrictions associated with the client;

filter the unified content listing according to the content restrictions;

send the filtered unified content listing to the client;

receive a listing selection of the filtered unified content listing from the client; and

initiate a transfer of a selected content based on a listing selection to the client by the other media device when the selected content based on the listing selection is stored on the at least one discovered other media device by instructing the at least one other media device to transmit the selected content.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the computing device is a home media server, and further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to aggregate the received content listings with content listings of media content stored on the computing device when creating the unified content listing.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to:

receive the listing selection of the filtered unified content listing from the client; and

provide an indication of the source of the selected content based on the listing selection.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to determine the content restrictions according to at least one of a personal identification number received from the client and a network address associated with the client.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to:

receive a second request for media content from a second client;

determine content restrictions associated with the second client;

filter the unified content listing according to the content restrictions associated with the second client; and

send the second filtered unified content listing to the second client.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to:

receive a second listing selection of the second filtered unified content listing from the second client; and

provide a second selected content to the second client based on the second listing selection.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the at least one discovered other media device is a second home media server, and further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to:

communicate with the second home media server via an inter-server protocol; and

initiate the transfer of based on the listing selection to the client by the second home media server when the selected content is stored on the second home media server by providing transfer instructions configured to control the transfer of the selected content to the client.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the at least one discovered other media device is a digital media server, and further comprising instructions configured to cause the computing device to:

communicate with the digital media server via an client-server protocol; and

initiate the transfer of based on the listing selection to the client by the digital media server when the selected content is stored on the digital media server by providing transfer instructions configured to control the transfer of the selected content to the client.