Distributed storage and aggregation of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- at a gateway in data communication with a broadband network and a plurality of networks, communicating with one or more access devices over respective networks of the plurality of networks to identify data storage resources of the one or more access devices which are accessible over the respective networks of the plurality of networks, the data storage resources including storage devices in which data is stored by the gateway for subsequent access;
storing information about the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices in a database accessible by the gateway, the stored information including information about availability of any unused storage resources of the one or more access devices;
at the gateway, collecting information over the respective networks about access devices which are wirelessly accessible over the respective networks and collecting information about stored multimedia information and media related services available on each access device;
at the gateway, classifying the stored multimedia information based on one or more of a statistical characteristic, predefined data sequence, file header information, file extension and a filename, including classifying the stored multimedia information based on a speed of a storage medium, a cost of storage of the storage medium, an expected security of the storage medium and available storage capacity of the storage medium; and
at the gateway, using the information stored in the database, selecting a portion of the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices for storage or retrieval of the multimedia information and media related services.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for the aggregation of multimedia information storage via a broadband access gateway is disclosed. Information about storage resources accessible to a broadband access gateway may be collected and used in selecting storage capacity used for storing multimedia information such as, for example, streaming video, broadcast video, digitized video, digitized audio, text, and digitized images. The gateway may manage storage and retrieval of the multimedia information based upon user defined criteria and characteristics of the available storage resources. Multimedia information may be parsed for storage across multiple storage resources, and the location and nature of the storage resources used for storage of multimedia information items may be unknown to the user. Storage services accessible via a broadband connection may also be used as storage resources.
16 Citations
14 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
at a gateway in data communication with a broadband network and a plurality of networks, communicating with one or more access devices over respective networks of the plurality of networks to identify data storage resources of the one or more access devices which are accessible over the respective networks of the plurality of networks, the data storage resources including storage devices in which data is stored by the gateway for subsequent access; storing information about the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices in a database accessible by the gateway, the stored information including information about availability of any unused storage resources of the one or more access devices; at the gateway, collecting information over the respective networks about access devices which are wirelessly accessible over the respective networks and collecting information about stored multimedia information and media related services available on each access device; at the gateway, classifying the stored multimedia information based on one or more of a statistical characteristic, predefined data sequence, file header information, file extension and a filename, including classifying the stored multimedia information based on a speed of a storage medium, a cost of storage of the storage medium, an expected security of the storage medium and available storage capacity of the storage medium; and at the gateway, using the information stored in the database, selecting a portion of the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices for storage or retrieval of the multimedia information and media related services. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A method comprising:
-
at a gateway in data communication with a broadband network and a plurality of networks, communicating with one or more access devices over respective networks of the plurality of networks to identify data storage resources of the one or more access devices which are accessible over the respective networks of the plurality of networks, the data storage resources including storage devices in which data is stored by the gateway for subsequent access; storing information about the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices in a database accessible by the gateway, the stored information including information about availability of any unused storage resources of the one or more access devices; at the gateway, collecting information over the respective networks about access devices which are wirelessly accessible over the respective networks and collecting information about multimedia information and media related services available on each access device; and at the gateway, using the information stored in the database, selecting a portion of the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices for storage or retrieval of the multimedia information and media related services, including; at the gateway, segmenting files defining the multimedia information or media related services; storing the file segments on independent data storage resources of the one or more access devices which are respectively accessible over the respective networks of the plurality of networks; and in response to a request from a user for the stored file segments, coordinating the retrieval, reassembly and delivery to the user of the files defining the multimedia information or media related services. - View Dependent Claims (5)
-
-
6. A method comprising:
-
at a gateway in data communication with a broadband network and a plurality of networks, communicating with one or more access devices over respective networks of the plurality of networks to identify data storage resources of the one or more access devices which are accessible over the respective networks of the plurality of networks, the data storage resources including storage devices in which data is stored by the gateway for subsequent access; storing information about the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices in a database accessible by the gateway, the stored information including information about availability of any unused storage resources of the one or more access devices; at the gateway, collecting information over the respective networks about access devices which are wirelessly accessible over the respective networks and collecting information about multimedia information and media related services available on each access device; and at the gateway, using the information stored in the database, selecting a portion of the identified data storage resources of the one or more access devices for storage or retrieval of the multimedia information and media related services; at the gateway, providing user interface data over a wireless link to an access device, the user interface data defining a user interface for interaction by a user of the access device to control storage of specified multimedia information; at the gateway, accessing a remote storage service over a broadband connection to the broadband network; storing at least some multimedia information at the remote storage service; and providing user interface data to the access device with information about the storage on the remote storage service. - View Dependent Claims (7)
-
-
8. A system providing communication services among a broadband network and a local network, the system comprising:
-
a modem to communicate data with a broadband network; a wireless interface to communicate wireless data with one or more local wireless networks including access devices; and a gateway in data communication with the modem and the wireless interface, the gateway operative to communicate with the broadband network to collect aggregate information identifying storage resources available on the broadband network where multimedia data of interest is stored or may be stored for subsequent access by the gateway and information identifying storage resources available on a plurality of access devices in data communication with the gateway over the one or more wireless networks where multimedia data of interest is stored or may be stored for subsequent access by the gateway and which are available on a plurality of access devices in data communication with the gateway over the one or more local wireless networks, and the gateway further operative to aggregate the information about the identified storage resources where multimedia information is stored or is stored by the gateway among the aggregated storage resources, the gateway further operative to provide over the broadband network or one of the one or more local wireless networks user interface data to form a user interface on a user access device, the gateway further operative to access a remote storage service over a broadband connection to the broadband network, store at least some multimedia information at the remote storage service, and provide user interface data to the access device with information about the storage on the remote storage service, and the gateway further operative to receive from an access device over the broadband network or one of the one or more local wireless networks a user request to store user multimedia information and to use the collected aggregated information to select a portion of the identified data storage resources available on the broadband network and available on the plurality of access devices for storage or retrieval of the user multimedia information among the aggregated storage resources. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method comprising:
-
at a gateway in data communication with a broadband network and one or more wireless local networks, collecting information about storage resources available to the gateway in the one or more wireless local networks, the storage resources including storage devices which communicate with the gateway over the one or more wireless networks and in which data is stored by the gateway for subsequent access; aggregating the collected information to define aggregated data storage; at the gateway, receiving from an access device operating on one of the one or more local networks a request to store user multimedia information; at the gateway, in response to the received request, accessing a memory to retrieve stored user storage selection criteria associated with the user; at the gateway, classifying the user multimedia information into one of a plurality of storage classifications, including classifying the user multimedia information into one or more of a statistical characteristic, predefined data sequence, file header information, first extension or filename, and classifying the stored multimedia information based on a speed of a storage medium, a cost of storage of the storage medium, an expected security of the storage medium and available storage capacity of the storage medium; at the gateway, selecting storage resources among the aggregated date storage for storage of the user multimedia information based on the user storage criteria and the user multimedia information classification; and storing the user multimedia among the selected storage resources. - View Dependent Claims (14)
-
Specification