Aggregate monitoring of internet protocol television (IPTV) channel activity across user-based groups of private computer networks
First Claim
1. A system for aggregate monitoring of Internet Protocol television (IPTV) channel activity across user-based groups of private computer networks, the system comprising:
- a plurality of monitoring servers installed on a respective plurality of private networks;
each private network being a local area network (LAN) at a respective hospitality establishment and including one or more switches being intermediate distribution frame (IDF) switches having ports connected to display devices located in guest rooms of the hospitality establishment;
each private network further including at least one monitoring server operable to query the switches on the private network in order to obtain multicast stream information from the switches on the private network;
the multicast stream information indicating which of the ports of the switches are joined to which of one or more multicast streams; and
a central server coupled to each of the monitoring servers for receiving the multicast stream information from the plurality of monitoring servers via a wide area network (WAN);
the central server comprising a storage device storing information pertaining to a plurality of users, the information respectively associating each of the users with a group of one or more of the private networks;
wherein the central server includes one or more processors operable to;
receive a request from a remote device via the WAN, the request indicating a requesting user that issued the request;
determine the group of private networks associated with the requesting user according to the information stored in the storage device;
automatically generate a set of IPTV channel activity statistics according to the multicast stream information for only the group of the private networks associated with the requesting user, the set of IPTV channel activity statistics at least being generated according to a count of how many of the ports of the switches across the group are currently joined to each of the one or more multicast streams, the count for a particular multicast stream thereby reflecting a number of the display devices that are currently playing the particular multicast stream in the group of private networks associated with the requesting user; and
send the set of IPTV channel activity statistics to the remote device via the WAN in response to the request.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for aggregate monitoring Internet Protocol television (IPTV) channel activity across user-based groups of private computer networks includes monitoring servers for monitoring private networks. Each private network has a monitoring server operable to receive multicast stream information from at least one switch on the private network, the multicast stream information indicating which ports of the at least one switch are joined to one or more multicast streams. A central server stores information associating users with a group of one or more of the private networks. The central server receives a request from a remote device via the WAN, determines the group of private networks associated with the requesting user, automatically generates a set of IPTV channel activity statistics according to only the statuses collected for each private network in the group associated with the requesting user, and sends the set of statistics to the remote device.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for aggregate monitoring of Internet Protocol television (IPTV) channel activity across user-based groups of private computer networks, the system comprising:
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a plurality of monitoring servers installed on a respective plurality of private networks; each private network being a local area network (LAN) at a respective hospitality establishment and including one or more switches being intermediate distribution frame (IDF) switches having ports connected to display devices located in guest rooms of the hospitality establishment; each private network further including at least one monitoring server operable to query the switches on the private network in order to obtain multicast stream information from the switches on the private network; the multicast stream information indicating which of the ports of the switches are joined to which of one or more multicast streams; and a central server coupled to each of the monitoring servers for receiving the multicast stream information from the plurality of monitoring servers via a wide area network (WAN); the central server comprising a storage device storing information pertaining to a plurality of users, the information respectively associating each of the users with a group of one or more of the private networks; wherein the central server includes one or more processors operable to; receive a request from a remote device via the WAN, the request indicating a requesting user that issued the request; determine the group of private networks associated with the requesting user according to the information stored in the storage device; automatically generate a set of IPTV channel activity statistics according to the multicast stream information for only the group of the private networks associated with the requesting user, the set of IPTV channel activity statistics at least being generated according to a count of how many of the ports of the switches across the group are currently joined to each of the one or more multicast streams, the count for a particular multicast stream thereby reflecting a number of the display devices that are currently playing the particular multicast stream in the group of private networks associated with the requesting user; and send the set of IPTV channel activity statistics to the remote device via the WAN in response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of aggregate monitoring of Internet Protocol television (IPTV) channel activity across user-based groups of private computer networks, the method comprising:
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providing a plurality of monitoring servers installed on a respective plurality of private networks, each private network being a local area network (LAN) located at a respective hospitality establishment and including one or more switches being intermediate distribution frame (IDF) switches having ports connected to display devices located in guest rooms of the hospitality establishment; utilizing at least one monitoring server on each private network for receiving multicast stream information from the switches on the private network, wherein the multicast stream information indicates which of the ports of the switches are joined to which of one or more multicast streams; receiving, by a central server, the multicast stream information from the plurality of monitoring servers via a wide area network (WAN); storing information pertaining to a plurality of users, the information respectively associating each of the users with a group of one or more of the private networks; receiving a request at the central server from a remote device via the WAN, the request indicating a requesting user that issued the request; determining the group of private networks associated with the requesting user according to the information stored in the storage device; automatically generating a set of IPTV channel activity statistics according to the multicast stream information for only the group of the private networks associated with the requesting user, and generating the set of IPTV channel activity statistics at least according a count of how many of the ports of the switches across the group are currently joined to each of the one or more multicast streams, the count for a particular multicast stream thereby reflecting a number of the display devices that are currently playing the particular multicast stream in the group of private networks associated with the requesting user; and sending the set of IPTV channel activity statistics by the central server to the remote device via the WAN in response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification