Peer to peer streaming of DVR buffered program data
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a memory buffer;
a main memory;
a network connectivity interface; and
a processing component communicatively coupled to the memory buffer, main memory, and the network connectivity interface, the processing component comprising a streaming control module to;
send a first program request for multimedia content for a program to a central location device, the first program request comprising a title for the multimedia content, a channel for the multimedia content and a time stamp to indicate an end point of the multimedia content;
receive a network address of a source streaming enabled digital video recorder (DVR) device from which to request the multimedia content up to the end point indicated by the time stamp;
send a second program request for the multimedia content to the source streaming enabled DVR device at the network address, the second program request comprising the title for the multimedia content, the channel for the multimedia content and the time stamp;
receive an acknowledgement indicating that the multimedia content identified in the second program request is available for streaming from the source streaming enabled DVR device;
establish a peer-to-peer connection over a network with the source streaming enabled DVR device using the network connectivity interface;
receive the multimedia content streamed over the network from source streaming enabled DVR device using the network connectivity interface;
determine when the multimedia content streamed over the network reaches a point for the program when the apparatus began buffering multimedia content in the memory buffer; and
terminate the peer-to-peer connection over the network with the source streaming enabled DVR device based on the determination that the received multimedia content reaches the point for the program when the apparatus began buffering multimedia content in the memory buffer.
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Abstract
Various embodiments are directed to streaming DVR devices that can communicate over an Internet Protocol (IP) network with other streaming enabled DVR devices. Implementing a peer-to-peer type connection, one streaming enabled DVR device may be able to stream buffered video data to another streaming enable DVR device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a memory buffer; a main memory; a network connectivity interface; and a processing component communicatively coupled to the memory buffer, main memory, and the network connectivity interface, the processing component comprising a streaming control module to; send a first program request for multimedia content for a program to a central location device, the first program request comprising a title for the multimedia content, a channel for the multimedia content and a time stamp to indicate an end point of the multimedia content; receive a network address of a source streaming enabled digital video recorder (DVR) device from which to request the multimedia content up to the end point indicated by the time stamp; send a second program request for the multimedia content to the source streaming enabled DVR device at the network address, the second program request comprising the title for the multimedia content, the channel for the multimedia content and the time stamp; receive an acknowledgement indicating that the multimedia content identified in the second program request is available for streaming from the source streaming enabled DVR device; establish a peer-to-peer connection over a network with the source streaming enabled DVR device using the network connectivity interface; receive the multimedia content streamed over the network from source streaming enabled DVR device using the network connectivity interface; determine when the multimedia content streamed over the network reaches a point for the program when the apparatus began buffering multimedia content in the memory buffer; and terminate the peer-to-peer connection over the network with the source streaming enabled DVR device based on the determination that the received multimedia content reaches the point for the program when the apparatus began buffering multimedia content in the memory buffer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 16)
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6. A method, comprising:
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sending a first program request for multimedia content for a program to a central location device, the first program request comprising a title for the multimedia content, a channel for the multimedia content and a time stamp to indicate an end point of the multimedia content; receiving a network address of a source streaming enabled digital video recorder (DVR) device from which to request the multimedia content up to the end point indicated by the time stamp; sending a second program request for the multimedia content to the source streaming enabled DVR device at the network address, the second program request comprising the title for the multimedia content, the channel for the multimedia content and the time stamp; receiving an acknowledgement indicating that the multimedia content identified in the second program request is available for streaming from the source streaming enabled DVR device; establishing a peer-to-peer connection over an internet protocol (IP) network with the source streaming enabled DVR device; receiving the multimedia content streamed over the IP network from the source streaming enabled DVR device; determining when the multimedia content streaming over the IP network reaches a point for the program when a requesting streaming enabled DVR device began buffering multimedia content in a memory buffer; and terminating the peer-to-peer connection over the IP network with the source streaming enabled DVR device based on the determining that the received multimedia content reaches the point for the program when the requesting streaming enabled DVR device began buffering multimedia content in the memory buffer. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed enable a system to:
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send a first program request for multimedia content for a program to a central location device, the first program request comprising a title for the multimedia content, a channel for the multimedia content and a time stamp to indicate an end point of the multimedia content; receive a network address of a source streaming enabled digital video recorder (DVR) device from which to request the multimedia content up to the end point indicated by the time stamp; send a second program request for the multimedia content to the source streaming enabled DVR device at the network address, the second program request comprising the title for the multimedia content, the channel for the multimedia content and the time stamp; receive an acknowledgement indicating that the multimedia content identified in the second program request is available for streaming from the source streaming enabled DVR device; establish a peer-to-peer connection over an internet protocol (IP) network with the source streaming enabled DVR device; receive the multimedia content streamed over the IP network from the source streaming enabled DVR device; determine when the multimedia content streamed over the IP network reaches a point for the program when a requesting streaming enabled DVR device began buffering multimedia content in a memory buffer and terminate the peer-to-peer connection over the IP network with the source streaming enabled DVR device based on the determination that the received multimedia content reached the point for the program when the requesting streaming enabled DVR device began buffering multimedia content in the memory buffer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A media processing device comprising:
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a communications component communicatively coupled with a digital video recorder (DVR) device, the DVR device configured to store multimedia content for one or more programs; an Internet Protocol (IP) network connectivity interface; and a processing component communicatively coupled to the communications component and the IP network connectivity interface, the processing component comprising a streaming control module to; send a first program request for multimedia content for a program to a central location device, the first program request comprising a title for the multimedia content, a channel for the multimedia content and a time stamp to indicate an end point of the multimedia content; receive a network address of a source streaming enabled digital video recorder (DVR) device from which to request the multimedia content up to the end point indicated by the time stamp; send a second program request for the multimedia content to the source streaming enabled DVR device at the network address, the second program request comprising the title for the multimedia content, the channel for the multimedia content and the time stamp; receive an acknowledgement indicating that the multimedia content identified in the second program request is available for streaming from the source streaming enabled DVR device; establish a peer-to-peer connection over an IP network with the source streaming enabled DVR device; receive the multimedia content streamed over the IP network from the source streaming enabled DVR device; determine when the multimedia content streamed over the IP network reaches a point for the program buffered in a memory buffer; terminate the peer-to-peer connection over the IP network with the source streaming enabled DVR device based on the determination that the received multimedia content reaches the point for the program buffered in the memory buffer; and forward the received multimedia content to the DVR device.
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Specification