Aspects of digital media content distribution

• US 8,868,678 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2007
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hildreth, Robert, Davis, Darren R., Thomas, Myron C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eskandarnia, Arvin
• Application Number:
  US11/724,896
• Publication Number:
  US 20070226365A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,776 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/127 Prioritisation of hardware or computational resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234309 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or from Quicktime to Realvideo conversion of standards in analog television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234336 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures or audio is converted into text

Abstract

Techniques for distributing digital media content to personal electronic devices are discussed. Digital media content is collected from a variety of disparate digital media content sources. Specific digital media content is identified and transcoded into a selected format prior to receipt by a particular personal electronic device. The selected format may be based on preferences or characteristics of the personal electronic device or the user thereof, the network, or both. Virtually unlimited subset selection criteria may be used to arranged transcoded digital media content into subsets, which may be temporarily or permanently stored in a single computer or using distributed computing techniques. DRM and identity management techniques can be used in combination with the transcoding and distribution techniques discussed herein to accommodate many business models.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage device encoded with computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method for distributing transcoded digital media content to a personal electronic device of a user configured for communication via a network, the method comprising:

arranging digital media content items into a plurality of subsets of digital media content items based on subset creation criteria;

transcoding the subsets of the digital media content items based on the subset creation criteria;

receiving a selection of an identity;

identifying a specific digital media content item for distribution based on the identity;

ascertaining a first characteristic associated with the personal electronic device;

ascertaining a second characteristic associated with the communication network;

ascertaining a plurality of first user preferences, wherein the plurality of first user preferences are associated with the personal electronic device and the communication network;

selecting a format for the specific digital media content item based on the first characteristic, the second characteristic, and the plurality of first user preferences;

transcoding the specific digital media content item into the selected format; and

distributing the transcoded specific digital media content item to the personal electronic device via the network.

2. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the specific digital media content item is stored on a computer-readable medium associated with an electronic device controlled by the user.

3. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the specific digital media content item is stored on a computer-readable medium associated with an electronic device controlled by an entity other than the user.

4. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein identifying the specific digital media content item comprises identifying a computer-readable medium storing the specific digital media content item, a location of the computer-readable medium selected from the group consisting of:

another personal electronic device; and

a network location.

5. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the specific digital media content item is selected from the group consisting of:

one or more digital media objects;

metadata associated with one or more digital media objects;

one or more digital advertisements;

metadata associated with one or more digital advertisements; and

one or more digital licenses.

6. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein

the personal electronic device is selected from the group consisting of:

a portable media rendering device;

a personal computer;

a phone;

a camera;

an in-vehicle media rendering device; and

a personal digital assistant, and wherein

the first characteristic is selected from the group consisting of;

a device type;

a processing capability;

a destination address;

an identification number;

a network connectivity capability;

a display capability; and

an available memory.

7. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein

the network is selected from the group consisting of:

the Internet;

a managed wide-area network; and

a private carrier network, and wherein

the second characteristic is selected from the group consisting of;

network availability;

network streaming capability;

network reliability;

network latency;

network bandwidth;

network usage level; and

network usage cost.

8. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the selecting the format for the specific digital media content item is further based on a second user preference associated with the communication network.

9. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the digital media content items are collected from a plurality of sources of digital media content, and each of the subsets of digital media content items comprises one or more of the digital media content items, the method further comprising:

storing the subsets of digital media content items in at least one temporary or persistent computer-readable storage device.

10. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 9, wherein the specific digital media content item is protected by a predetermined intellectual property right, and wherein the method further comprises:

prior to distributing the transcoded specific digital media content item to the personal electronic device, arranging for distribution of a digital license granting a right under the predetermined intellectual property right,

the right being granted to the user or to an entity authorized to distribute the specific digital media content item to the user, and the right being selected from the group consisting of;

the right to render the specific digital media content item;

the right to prepare derivative works of the specific digital media content item;

the right to reproduce the specific digital media content item; and

the right to distribute the specific digital media content item.

11. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 9, wherein distributing the transcoded specific digital media content item to the personal electronic device comprises:

establishing either a peer-to-peer communication session or a client-server communication session with the personal electronic device via the network, and

arranging for streaming or downloading the specific digital media content item via the established communication session.

12. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 9, wherein distributing the transcoded specific digital media content item to the personal electronic device comprises:

ascertaining a group destination address with which the personal electronic device is associated, and

transmitting the specific digital media content item to the group destination address.

13. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

basing one or more of the steps of ascertaining a first characteristic of the personal electronic device and selecting a format for the specific digital media content item on the identity.

14. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions are executable by a client-side processor.

15. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions are executable by a network-side processor.

16. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions are further executable by the processor to base one or more of the steps of ascertaining a first characteristic associated with the first personal electronic device and selecting a format for the first digital media content on the identity.

17. The computer-readable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the network is a wide area network (WAN) and the second characteristic includes network usage cost.

18. An apparatus for transcoding and distributing digital media content to personal electronic devices, comprising:

a communication interface;

a computer-readable storage device; and

a processor responsive to the computer-readable storage device, to the communication interface, and to computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions executable by the processor to;

receive a selection of an identity;

identify a first digital media content item for distribution based on the identity;

ascertain a first characteristic associated with a first personal electronic device configured for communication via a network;

ascertain a second characteristic associated with the network;

select a format for the first digital media content item based on the first characteristic and the second characteristic;

begin transcoding the first digital media content item into the selected format;

receive a request from a second device for a second digital media content item associated with a higher priority than the first digital media content item;

interrupt the transcoding of the first digital media content item in response to receiving the request from the second device for the second digital media content item;

transcode the second digital media content item;

resume the transcoding of the first digital media content item into the selected format in response to completion of the transcoding of the second digital media content item; and

distribute, via the network, the first digital media content item to the first personal electronic device after the first digital media content item has been transcoded into the selected format.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the apparatus comprises a personal electronic device.

20. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the apparatus comprises a server within a wide-area network, the wide-area network the same as, or different than, the network.

21. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the network is a wide area network (WAN) and the second characteristic includes network usage cost.

22. An apparatus, comprising:

a communication interface;

a computer-readable storage device; and

a processor responsive to the computer-readable storage device, to the communication interface, and to computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions executable by the processor to;

receive a plurality of selections of a plurality of different identities;

identify specific digital media content items for distribution to each of a plurality of personal electronic devices based on the received identities;

ascertain a first characteristic associated with each of the personal electronic devices configured for communication via a network;

ascertain a second characteristic associated with the network;

select a format for each of the specific digital media content items to be distributed to each of the personal electronic devices based on the first characteristic associated with each respective personal electronic device and the second characteristic associated with the network;

change an order of transcode priority for the specific digital media content items to a new order of transcode priority in response to receiving requests from a number of devices for a particular one of the specific digital media content items;

transcode the specific digital media content items into the respectively selected formats according to the new order of transcode priority, wherein the specific digital media content items are arranged to be respectively received by each personal electronic device in the respectively selected formats via the network.