Techniques for upgrading software in a video content network
First Claim
1. A method comprising the steps of:
- determining a software upgrade for a plurality of consumer premises equipment connected to a video content network;
allocating in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade;
broadcasting said software upgrade to said plurality of consumer premises equipment from a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment have received said software upgrade; and
subsequent to said predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment receiving said software upgrade and a number of said consumer premises equipment downloading said software upgrade from said first remote node per unit time falling below a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads per unit time of a second remote node, de-allocating said in-band video bandwidth and providing said software upgrade, out-of-band, to at least one remaining consumer premises equipment of the plurality of consumer premises equipment, via individual sessions with said second remote node of said video content network.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
It is determined that a substantial portion of set-top terminals connected to a video content network require a software upgrade. In-band video bandwidth (e.g., video-on-demand or switched digital video) is allocated for the software upgrade. The software upgrade is broadcast to the set-top terminals from a carousel in a first remote node of the video content network, via the allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of the set-top terminals have received the software upgrade. Subsequent to the predetermined number of set-top terminals receiving the software upgrade, the in-band video bandwidth is de-allocated and the software upgrade is made available out-of-band to the remaining portion of the set-top terminals, via individual sessions with an application server in a second remote node of the video content network. An exemplary system, which can implement the method, includes a controller, a dynamic bandwidth allocation device, the carousel, and the application server.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
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determining a software upgrade for a plurality of consumer premises equipment connected to a video content network; allocating in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade; broadcasting said software upgrade to said plurality of consumer premises equipment from a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment have received said software upgrade; and subsequent to said predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment receiving said software upgrade and a number of said consumer premises equipment downloading said software upgrade from said first remote node per unit time falling below a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads per unit time of a second remote node, de-allocating said in-band video bandwidth and providing said software upgrade, out-of-band, to at least one remaining consumer premises equipment of the plurality of consumer premises equipment, via individual sessions with said second remote node of said video content network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for interacting with a plurality of consumer premises equipment over a video content network, said system comprising:
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a controller configured to facilitate determining a software upgrade for said plurality of consumer premises equipment connected to a video content network; a dynamic bandwidth allocation device, coupled to said controller, configured to allocate in-band video bandwidth on the video content network for said software upgrade; a first remote node, coupled to said controller and said dynamic bandwidth allocation device, configured to broadcast said software upgrade to said plurality of consumer premises equipment, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment have received said software upgrade; and a second remote node coupled to said dynamic bandwidth allocation device and said controller; wherein said controller and said dynamic bandwidth allocation device are cooperatively configured such that, subsequent to said predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment receiving said software upgrade and a number of said consumer premises equipment downloading said software upgrade from said first remote node per unit time falling below a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads per unit time of said second remote node, said in-band video bandwidth is de-allocated and said software upgrade is provided, out-of-band, to at least one remaining consumer premises equipment of the plurality of consumer premises equipment, via individual sessions with said second remote node over the video content network. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus comprising:
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means for determining a software upgrade for a plurality of consumer premises equipment connected to a video content network; means for allocating in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade; means for broadcasting said software upgrade to said plurality of consumer premises equipment from a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment have received said software upgrade; and means for, subsequent to said predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment receiving said software upgrade and a number of said consumer premises equipment downloading said software upgrade from said first remote node per unit time falling below a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads per unit time of a second remote node, de-allocating said in-band video bandwidth and providing said software upgrade, out-of-band, to at least one remaining consumer premises equipment of the plurality of consumer premises equipment, via individual sessions with said second remote node of said video content network; wherein said means for determining, said means for allocating, said means for broadcasting, and said means for de-allocating each comprise at least one of; hardware modules; and software modules, said software modules being; stored in a non-transitory manner in a tangible computer-readable recordable storage medium, loaded into a memory, and executed on at least one hardware processor coupled to said memory.
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16. A computer program product comprising a tangible computer readable recordable storage medium having computer readable program code stored thereon in a non-transitory manner, said computer readable program code comprising:
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computer readable program code configured to determine a software upgrade for a plurality of consumer premises equipment connected to a video content network; computer readable program code configured to allocate in-band video bandwidth for said software upgrade; computer readable program code configured to broadcast said software upgrade to said plurality of consumer premises equipment from a first remote node of said video content network, via said allocated in-band video bandwidth, until a predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment have received said software upgrade; and computer readable program code configured to, subsequent to said predetermined number of said consumer premises equipment receiving said software upgrade and a number of said consumer premises equipment downloading said software upgrade from said first remote node per unit time falling below a threshold capacity of a certain number of downloads per unit time of a second remote node, de-allocate said in-band video bandwidth and provide said software upgrade, out-of-band, to at least one remaining consumer premises equipment of the plurality of consumer premises equipment, via individual sessions with said second remote node of said video content network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification