Method and apparatus for collaborative upload of content

• US 9,141,982 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Right Brain Interface NV
• Original Assignee: Right Brain Interface NV
• Inventors: van Coppenolle, Bart P. E., Vandormael, Philip W. J.
• Primary Examiner(s): MIRZA, ADNAN M
• Application Number:
  US13/455,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20120278831A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 709/205, 709/206, 725 9- 15
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast

Abstract

A collaborative cloud DVR system (ccDVR), which includes a cloud storage system and a plurality of participating DVR client devices, acts collaboratively as a single communal entity in which community members authorize each other to upload, remotely store and download licensed content for time shifted viewing, in a manner which rigorously protects legal rights of the content owners while overcoming the potential physical obstacles of limited bandwidth, power failures, incomplete uploads/downloads of content, limited cloud storage capacity, etc. The collaborative cloud DVR community collaboratively shares bandwidth and cloud storage capacity among DVR viewer/users with each owner/user of a DVR client device authorizing his or her individual DVR client device to be utilized by a cloud storage system server and any other owner/user of a DVR client device in the respective service community, and receiving similar permission in return to promote the convenience of cloud storage in an authorized manner.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium streaming of-content instructions stored thereon that when executed by a computer perform a method comprising A) providing plurality of network accessible memory locations for storing data representing a content object;

B) receiving into a first of the plurality of network accessible memory locations data representing process portions of the content object from a first viewer device process having access to the content object data from a source;

C) receiving into a second of the plurality of network accessible memory locations data representing portions of the content object from at least a second viewer device process having access to the content object data from the same or another source;

D) upon receiving a request from the first viewer device process, transmitting the data representing the content object from the first network accessible memory location to the first viewer device process if the data stored in the first network accessible memory location represents a complete copy of the content object, else transmitting data representing the content object from the second network accessible memory location to the first viewer device process;

E) receiving, from each of the first and second viewer device processes, authorization for the other of the first and second viewers device processes to transmit data representing a content object to one of the plurality of network accessible memory locations on behalf thereof.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the data representing the content object is streamed video data.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the data representing the content object is any of textual, graphic, photographic, audio, or haptic data.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the data representing the content object is accessible from another source during a first time period and wherein the data representing the content object is transmitted to one of the first and second viewer device processes during a second time period not identical to the first time period.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium method of claim 1 further comprising:

E) maintaining in the plurality of network accessible memory locations a data structure received with the data representing the content object from one of the plurality of viewer device processes.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5 wherein the

data structure comprises any of:

i) data identifying a portion of the content object;

ii) data identifying an authorized viewer device process;

iii) data identifying one of temporal or sequential identifiers associated with the content object;

or iv) data identifying the network address of the authorized viewer device process.

7. A system comprising:

A) a receiving mechanism coupled to a content source for receiving data representing a content object;

B) a cloud storage server coupled to the receiving mechanism and configured for receiving into an associated network accessible memory a copy of data representing the content object; and

C) a plurality of viewer processes operably coupled over a network to the cloud storage server and the network accessible memory, each of the plurality of viewer processes having associated therewith verifiable use rights comprising;

receiving rights in relation to content objects receivable by any of the receiving mechanism, cloud storage server and the plurality of viewer processes, storage rights in relation to content objects storable in memory associated with any of the receiving mechanism, cloud storage server and the plurality of viewer processes, viewing rights in relation to content objects displayable by any of the receiving mechanism, cloud storage server and the plurality of viewer processes, distribution rights in relation to content objects transmittable by any of the receiving mechanism, cloud storage server and the plurality of viewer processes, and

D) a mechanism for retention and verification of authorization indicia of the use rights of any of the receiving mechanism, cloud storage server and the plurality of viewer processes; and

wherein each of the plurality of viewer processes authorizes all others of the plurality of viewer processes to exercise any of the use rights relative to a content object on its behalf.

E) receiving, from each of the first and second viewer device processes, authorization for the other of the first and second viewers device processes to transmit data representing a content object to one of the plurality of network accessible memory locations on behalf thereof.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein authorization indicia comprises any of a e-invoice, application program interface (API) call, or electronic signature.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the electronic signature comprises any of a binary mask, special codes, encryption keys, and hash values.

10. A method comprising:

A) providing a collaborative cloud storage system comprising;

i) a cloud storage server comprising a network interface process for receiving into an associated network accessible memory data representing a plurality or content objects, and

ii) a plurality of viewer device processes operably coupled over a network to the cloud storage server and the network accessible memory, each of the plurality of viewer device processes having associated therewith a viewer channel in which selected of the plurality of content objects are ranked according to a viewer'"'"'s emotional motivation to select such content object;

B) transmitting data representing one of the plurality of content objects from the network accessible memory to a requesting of the plurality of viewer device processes if the one content object has a higher threshold rank within the viewer channel associated with the requesting viewer device process; and

C) transmitting data representing another of the plurality of content objects from the network accessible memory to the requesting viewer device process and others of the plurality of viewer device processes if the another content object has a tower threshold rank within the viewer channel associated with the requesting viewer device process.

D) a mechanism for retention and verification of authorization indicia of the use rights of any of the receiving mechanism, cloud storage server and the plurality of viewer processes; and

wherein each of the plurality of viewer processes authorizes all others of the plurality of viewer processes to exercise any of the use rights relative to a content object on its behalf.

E) receiving, from each of the first and second viewer device processes, authorization for the other of the first and second viewers device processes to transmit data representing a content object to one of the plurality of network accessible memory locations on behalf thereof.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the data representing the content object is any of video, streamed video data, textual, graphic, photographic, audio, or haptic data.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the data representing the content object is accessible from another source during a first time period and wherein the data representing the content object is transmitted to the one of the first and second viewer device processes during a second time period not identical to the first time period.