Virtual content store in interactive services architecture
First Claim
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1. A method for providing a virtual content store, the method comprising:
- receiving a request for a content stream at a regional headend;
determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is available in a local content vault at the regional headend;
determining, in response to the content stream not being available in the local content vault, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is available from a central content vault, wherein determining whether the content stream is available from the central content vault comprises determining whether the content stream is available in a content list, wherein the content list is created by an ingest driver at the central vault and distributed to each of a plurality of regional headends associated with the central vault; and
in response to determining that the content stream is not available from the central content vault, determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is a local interest content stream, wherein determining whether the content stream is a local stream comprises checking a list of categories of content streams that are unlikely to be requested by users associated with other regional headends;
ingesting, in response to the determination that the content stream being the local interest content stream, the content stream at the local content vault at the regional headend;
incrementing a retention counter associated with the content stream;
establishing a streaming session to a subscriber; and
providing the requested content stream to the subscriber via the streaming session.
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Abstract
A virtual content store may be provided. Upon receiving a request for a content stream from a subscriber at a regional headend, a central content vault may be examined to determine whether the content stream is available. Once the content stream is determined to be available in the central content vault, a streaming session may be established to the subscriber from the regional headend. The content stream may be retrieved from the central content vault and provided to the subscriber via the streaming session.
8 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for providing a virtual content store, the method comprising:
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receiving a request for a content stream at a regional headend; determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is available in a local content vault at the regional headend; determining, in response to the content stream not being available in the local content vault, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is available from a central content vault, wherein determining whether the content stream is available from the central content vault comprises determining whether the content stream is available in a content list, wherein the content list is created by an ingest driver at the central vault and distributed to each of a plurality of regional headends associated with the central vault; and in response to determining that the content stream is not available from the central content vault, determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is a local interest content stream, wherein determining whether the content stream is a local stream comprises checking a list of categories of content streams that are unlikely to be requested by users associated with other regional headends; ingesting, in response to the determination that the content stream being the local interest content stream, the content stream at the local content vault at the regional headend; incrementing a retention counter associated with the content stream; establishing a streaming session to a subscriber; and providing the requested content stream to the subscriber via the streaming session. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for providing a virtual content store, the system comprising:
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a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is operative to; receive a request over a network at a regional headend for a content stream to be transmitted to a subscriber, determine whether the content stream is available on a local vault at the regional headend, determine, in response to the content not being available on the local vault, whether the content stream is available on a central content vault, wherein determining whether the content stream is available on the central content vault comprises determining whether the content stream is available in a content list, wherein the content list created by an ingest driver at the central vault and distributed to a plurality of regional headends, in response to determining that the content stream is not available on the central content vault, determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is a local interest content stream, wherein determining whether the content stream is a local stream comprises checking a list of categories of content streams that are unlikely to be requested by users associated with other regional headends, ingesting, in response to the determination that the content stream being the local interest content stream, the content stream at the local content vault at the regional headend, provide the content stream to the regional headend for transmission to the subscriber via the transmission session, and establish a deletion date for the ingested content stream according to a license agreement with the content stream provider. - View Dependent Claims (12, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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13. A method for providing a virtual content store, the method comprising:
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receiving, at a regional headend, a request for a content stream to be transmitted to a subscriber; determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is available from a central content vault, wherein determining comprises determining whether the content stream is available in a content list, and wherein the content list created by an ingest driver at the central vault and distributed to a plurality of regional headends; in response to determining that the content stream is not available from the central content vault; determining, by the regional headend, whether the content stream is a local interest content stream, wherein determining whether the content stream is a local stream comprises checking a list of categories of content streams that are unlikely to be requested by users associated with other of the plurality of regional headends, ingesting, in response to the determination that the content stream being the local interest content stream, the content stream at the local content vault at the regional headend, ingesting, in response to the determination that the content stream being the local interest content stream, the content stream to a local content vault associated with the regional headend from a content provider, and creating a retention record associated with the content stream, wherein the retention record comprises a viewer counter, a reference count, and a license expiration date; establishing a deletion date for the content stream corresponding to the license expiration date; incrementing the viewer counter associated with the retention record associated with the content stream; transmitting the content stream from the local content vault to the subscriber via a streaming session established between the regional headend and the subscriber; and deleting the content stream when the deletion date is reached or the viewer counter reaches the reference count, whichever occurs first. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification