Apparatus and methods for managing delivery of content in a network with limited bandwidth using pre-caching
First Claim
1. A method of operating a content delivery network, said method comprising:
- identifying high probability of viewership (HpoV) content; and
scheduling transmission of said HpoV content to said one or more network users during one or more expected periods of low network demand, said transmission comprising transmission of said HpoV content and transmission of one or more restrictions for a use thereof to a first user device disposed at a first premises within a topology of said network, said first user device configured to operate as a peer to one or more second user devices disposed at respective different premises, and configured to, after receipt of a portion of said HpoV content, deliver said portion and said one or more restrictions to said one or more second user devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for managing provision of content to devices in a content delivery network. In one exemplary embodiment, content with a high probability of viewership is sent to consumer premises equipment (CPE) during off-peak periods and stored prior to viewing. An application is utilized to manage decisions related to content provision. The computer program will identify content that is likely to be of interest users associated with respective CPE, and schedule provision of that content in advance of viewing. Then, the system will develop a plan for optimal scheduling of transmission of content to CPEs, often including the use of trickle downloads. The scheduling plan is based collected statistical and historical data on network resource demand to make scheduling decisions. The system allows for the shifting of bandwidth utilization from periods of high demand to those of low demand, and increased performance with regard to user experienced latency.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method of operating a content delivery network, said method comprising:
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identifying high probability of viewership (HpoV) content; and scheduling transmission of said HpoV content to said one or more network users during one or more expected periods of low network demand, said transmission comprising transmission of said HpoV content and transmission of one or more restrictions for a use thereof to a first user device disposed at a first premises within a topology of said network, said first user device configured to operate as a peer to one or more second user devices disposed at respective different premises, and configured to, after receipt of a portion of said HpoV content, deliver said portion and said one or more restrictions to said one or more second user devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of delivering high probability of viewership (HpoV) content over a network having a topology, said method comprising:
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transmitting said HpoV content to one or more network users during one or more expected periods of low network demand, said act of transmitting comprising transmission to a caching entity disposed at or near an edge of said topology of said network; receiving a request to view said HpoV content by said one or more network users during said act of transmitting; determining a rate at which said transmission must be increased in order to transmit an entirety of said HpoV content to said one or more network users without causing a delay in playback thereof; and selectively increasing said rate of said transmission at least in part in response to said request. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for management and distribution of content to a plurality of consumer premises devices in a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising:
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an interface operatively coupled to said network; at least one storage apparatus configured to store a plurality of content, and information related to individual ones of said plurality of content; and a processor in data communication with said interface and said storage apparatus configured to execute at least one computer program thereon, said computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which are configured to when executed; identify individual ones of said plurality of content that are predicted to have a high viewership among a subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices; schedule transmission of said identified individual ones of said plurality of content to said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices during one or more expected periods of low network demand; during said one or more expected periods, when it is determined that said network demand is below a predetermined threshold, transmit said identified individual ones of said plurality of content to said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices; and during said one or more expected periods, when it is determined that said network demand is not below said predetermined threshold, re-schedule transmission of said identified individual ones of said plurality of content to said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices; wherein a first one of said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices operates as a caching entity for a second one of said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for management and distribution of content to a plurality of consumer devices in a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising:
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an interface operatively coupled to said network; at least one storage apparatus configured to store a plurality of content, and information related to individual ones of said plurality of content; and a processor in data communication with said interface and said storage apparatus and configured to execute at least one computer program thereon, said computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which are configured to when executed; identify high probability of viewership (HpoV) content via utilization of said information related to individual ones of said plurality of content; and schedule transmission of said HpoV content to said one or more network users during one or more expected periods of low network demand, said transmission comprising transmission of said HpoV content and transmission of one or more restrictions for a use thereof to a first user device disposed at a first premises within a topology of said network, said first user device configured to operate as a peer to one or more second user devices disposed at respective different premises, and configured to, after receipt of a portion of said HpoV content, deliver said portion and said one or more restrictions to said one or more second user devices. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An apparatus for management and distribution of high probability of viewership (HpoV) content to a plurality of consumer devices in a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising:
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an interface in communication with said network; at least one storage apparatus; and a processor in data communication with said interface and said storage apparatus configured to execute at least one computer program thereon, said computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which are configured to when executed; transmit said HpoV content to one or more network users during one or more expected periods of low network demand, said transmission comprising transmission to a caching entity disposed at or near an edge of said topology of said network; and selectively increase a rate of said transmission at least in part in response to an initiation of a presentation of said HpoV content at a client device at least one of said users. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for management and distribution of content to a plurality of consumer devices in a content delivery network, said method comprising:
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storing a plurality of content, and information related to individual ones of said plurality of content; identifying individual ones of said plurality of content that are predicted to have a high viewership among a subset of said plurality of consumer devices; scheduling transmission of said identified individual ones of said plurality of content to said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer devices during one or more expected periods of low network demand; during said one or more expected periods, when it is determined that said network demand is below a predetermined threshold, transmitting said identified individual ones of said plurality of content to said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer devices; and during said one or more expected periods, when it is determined that said network demand is not below said predetermined threshold, re-scheduling transmission of said identified individual ones of said plurality of content to said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices; wherein a first one of said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices operates as a caching entity for a second one of said one or more of said subset of said plurality of consumer premises devices. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification