Unicasting and multicasting multimedia services
First Claim
1. A method performed by a network entity, comprising:
- generating a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs available for delivery to a user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising service-specific parameters common to all programs in the list and a second portion comprising program-specific parameters associated with at least one program in the list;
sending, from the network entity to the user device, the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide;
receiving, from the user device, a request for delivery of a multimedia program;
identifying a transport mode associated with the multimedia program, the transport mode indicating whether the user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; and
transmitting a communication that causes the user device to receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of the one or more bearer paths based at least in part on the identified transport mode.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A network entity controls delivery of information to user devices over bearer paths including unicast channels and multicast channels. The network entity may interoperate in any of a number of network architectures, including 3GPP Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and 3GPP2 Multimedia Domain (MMD). The network entity may provide functionality of a modified 3GPP2 Broadcast and Multicast Service (BCMCS) controller component configured to enable BCMCS signaling protocol transactions to occur over 3GPP IMS interfaces and/or 3GPP2 MMD interfaces. A network entity configured to interoperate in a 3GPP IMS and/or 3GPP2 MMD network architecture may provide network-mobile multimedia services to user devices. Content associated with the multimedia services may be stored in storage devices in the network. A common interface through which a network operator defines service-specific parameters of a number of unicast and multicast multimedia services deployed in a distribution network may be provided.
78 Citations
80 Claims
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1. A method performed by a network entity, comprising:
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generating a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs available for delivery to a user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising service-specific parameters common to all programs in the list and a second portion comprising program-specific parameters associated with at least one program in the list; sending, from the network entity to the user device, the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide; receiving, from the user device, a request for delivery of a multimedia program; identifying a transport mode associated with the multimedia program, the transport mode indicating whether the user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; and transmitting a communication that causes the user device to receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of the one or more bearer paths based at least in part on the identified transport mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A computer storage device comprising machine-executable instructions to cause a network entity to:
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generate a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs available for delivery to a user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising service-specific parameters common to all programs in the list and a second portion comprising program-specific parameters associated with at least one program in the list; send to the user device the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide; receive, from the user device, a request for delivery of a multimedia program; identify a transport mode associated with the multimedia program, the transport mode indicating whether the user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; and transmit a communication that causes the user device to receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of the one or more bearer paths based at least in part on the identified transport mode. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A network entity comprising:
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means for generating a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs available for delivery to a user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising service-specific parameters common to all programs in the list and a second portion comprising program-specific parameters associated with at least one program in the list; means for sending to the user device the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide; means for receiving, from the user device, a request for delivery of a multimedia program; means for identifying a transport mode associated with the multimedia program, the transport mode indicating whether the user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; and means for transmitting a communication that causes the user device to receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of the one or more bearer paths based at least in part on the identified transport mode. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A method comprising:
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providing a common interface through which a network operator defines service-specific parameters of a plurality of unicast and multicast multimedia services deployed in a distribution network; defining, by the network operator through the common interface, program-specific parameters of a multimedia program that is associated with at least one of the multimedia services, the program-specific parameters comprising a transport mode that indicates whether a user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; generating a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs including the multimedia program available for delivery to the user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising the service-specific parameters and a second portion comprising the program-specific parameters; sending to the user device the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A computer storage device comprising machine-executable instructions to cause the machine to:
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provide a common interface through which a network operator defines service-specific parameters of a plurality of unicast and multicast multimedia services deployed in a distribution network; define, by the network operator through the common interface, program-specific parameters of a multimedia program that is associated with at least one or the multimedia services, the program-specific parameters comprising a transport mode that indicates whether a user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; generate a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs including the multimedia program available for delivery to the user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising the service-specific parameters and a second portion comprising the program-specific parameters; send to the user device the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77)
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78. An apparatus comprising:
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means for providing a common interface through which a network operator defines service-specific parameters of a plurality of unicast and multicast multimedia services deployed in a distribution network; means for defining, by the network operator through the common interface, program-specific parameters of a that is associated with at least one or the multimedia services, the program-specific parameters comprising a transport mode that indicates whether a user device will receive the multimedia program over a unicast channel or a multicast channel of one or more bearer paths; means for generating a program guide that provides a list of multimedia programs including the multimedia program available for delivery to the user device, the program guide including a first portion comprising the service-specific parameters and a second portion comprising the program-specific parameters; means for sending to the user device the second portion of the program guide without sending the first portion of the program guide. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80)
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Specification