ORCHESTRATION SERVER FOR VIDEO DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

• US 20130151655A1
• Filed: 12/07/2011
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Shuai, Hao, Jack Jianxiu, Xia, Wei, Jin, Zhiying
• Granted Patent: US 9,307,042 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2358 for generating different versions, e.g. for different recipient devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP

Abstract

A computing device receives, from a user device, a data call, and forwards the data call to a backend network device. The computing device receives, from the backend network device, a response to the data call in a first format. The computing device identifies a type of the user device and converts the response from the first format into a second format to create a reformatted response. The reformatted response addresses compatibility issues or simplifies processing by the user device. The computing device sends the reformatted response to the user device.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a computing device, the method comprising:

receiving, from a user device, a data call;

forwarding the data call to a backend network device;

receiving, from the backend network device, a response to the data call, wherein the response includes a first format;

identifying, by the computing device, a type of the user device;

converting, by the computing device, the response of the first format into a second format to create a reformatted response that is compatible with the type of the user device; and

sending, to the user device, the reformatted response.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first format conforms to SOAP protocol, and wherein the second format conforms to one of extensible markup language-remote procedure call (XML-RPC) protocol or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) standards.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data call is a Web services request from a user device application for a video content delivery system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a backend network device, of multiple backend network devices, to process the data call; and

converting the data call into the first format, to create a reformatted request.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding the data call includes:

identifying multiple backend network devices to handle the data call, and

sending the data call to each of the multiple backend network devices.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving separate responses to the data call from each of the multiple backend network devices; and

aggregating each of the separate responses into the response to the data call.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by the computing device, data from the response to the data call;

receiving, from the user device, another data call, wherein the other data call includes a request for the data previously included in the response to the data call; and

retrieving information responsive to the other data call; and

sending, to the user device, another response including the retrieved information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein storing the data from the response to the data call includes:

storing the data for a period of time that is less than a refresh rate of the source data associated with the response to the data call.

9. A network device, comprising:

a memory configured to store instructions; and

a processor configured to execute instructions in the memory to;

receive, from a user device, a data call;

forward the data call to another network device;

receive, from the backend network device, a response to the data call, wherein the response is of a first format;

identify a preferred response format for the user device to receive the response to the data call;

convert, by the computing device, the response to the data call from the first format into the preferred format to create a reformatted response; and

send, to the user device, the reformatted response.

10. The network device of claim 9, wherein the first format conforms to SOAP protocol, and wherein the preferred response format conforms to one of extensible markup language-remote procedure call (XML-RPC) protocol or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) standards.

11. The network device of claim 9, wherein the user device is one of:

a personal communications system (PCS) terminal,

a tablet computer,

a smart phone,

a personal computer,

a laptop computer,

a gaming console,

a vehicular communication system,

an Internet television, or

a digital video recorder (DVR) rental terminal.

12. The network device of claim 9, wherein the data call is a Web services request from a front-end application for a video content delivery system.

13. The network device of claim 9, wherein, when forwarding the data call, the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

identify multiple backend network devices to handle the data call, and

send the data call to each of the multiple backend network devices.

14. The network device of claim 13, wherein, when receiving a response to the data call, the processor is further configured to:

receive separate responses to the data call from each of the multiple backend network devices; and

aggregate each of the separate responses into the response to the data call.

15. The network device of claim 9, wherein the memory is further configured to locally store data from the response to the data call, and where the processor is further configured to:

respond to a subsequent data call with data from the memory when the data from the memory is responsive to the subsequent data call.

16. The network device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

store data from the response to the data call for a period of time that is less than the refresh rate of the source data associated with response to the data call.

17. The network device of claim 9, where the processor is further configured to:

extract user behavior information from the data call, and

forward, to another backend network device, the user behavior information.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising one or more instructions for:

extracting user behavior information from the data call;

forwarding, to another backend server, a first subset of the user behavior information; and

forwarding to a different backend server, a second subset of the user behavior information.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second format includes:

a SOAP protocol format,

an extensible markup language-remote procedure call (XML-RPC) protocol format, or

a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.

18. A computer-readable medium, including instructions executable by at least one processor, the computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions for:

receiving, from a user device, a data call associated with a video content distribution system;

forwarding the data call to a backend network device that is configured to process the data call;

receiving, from the backend network device, a response to the data call, wherein the response includes video content information in a first format;

identifying an one or more characteristics associated with the user device;

converting the response from the first format into a second format, wherein the second format is more optimal for the one or more characteristics of the user device than the first format; and

sending, to the user device, the response including video content information in the second format.