METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING CONTENT TO COMMUNICATION DEVICES

• US 20150074201A1
• Filed: 09/09/2013
• Published: 03/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maria, Arturo, Sedghi, Al
• Granted Patent: US 9,705,830 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding

Abstract

A system that incorporates the subject disclosure may perform, for example, operations including receiving a plurality of profiles from a plurality of communication devices, where each of the plurality of profiles comprise a content preference established by users of the plurality of communication devices, receiving content from a plurality of content sources, selecting portions of the content according to the plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of communication devices, detecting that the portions of the content are not compatible with a multimedia messaging service protocol utilized by the multimedia messaging service server, transcoding the portions of the content to generate transcoded portions of the content that comply with the multimedia messaging service protocol, and broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content to the plurality of communication devices. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a multimedia messaging service server comprising a processor, a first plurality of profiles from a plurality of content sources, wherein each of the first plurality of profiles describe a condition for broadcasting content provided by the plurality of content sources to the multimedia messaging service server, and wherein content provided by the plurality of content sources is not compliant with a multimedia messaging service protocol utilized by the multimedia messaging service server;

receiving, by the multimedia messaging service server, a second plurality of profiles from a plurality of communication devices, wherein each of the second plurality of profiles indicate a type of content and a content format desired by users of the plurality of communication devices;

receiving, by the multimedia messaging service server, content from the plurality of content sources;

extracting, by the multimedia messaging service server, portions of the content according to the second plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of communication devices;

transcoding, by the multimedia messaging service server, the portions of the content to generate transcoded portions of the content that comply with the multimedia messaging service protocol utilized by the multimedia messaging service server; and

broadcasting, by the multimedia messaging service server, to the plurality of communication devices the transcoded portions of the content according to the first plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of content sources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the condition for broadcasting content comprises a time of day for broadcasting the content, wherein the type of content desired by the users of the plurality of communication devices comprises a genre selection, and wherein the content format desired by the users is selected from a group consisting of a still image extracted from the content supplied by the plurality of content sources, and a video clip extracted from the content supplied by the plurality of content sources.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content received from the plurality of content sources is supplied by stationary cameras and camera-enabled mobile communication devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the content received from the plurality of content sources is live content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the content received from the plurality of content sources is recorded content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the second plurality of profiles further comprises a transmission period established by the users of the plurality of communications devices indicating a desired time to receive content supplied by the plurality of content sources at the plurality of communications devices.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving the content from the plurality of content sources prior to the transmission period for a portion of the users of the plurality of communications devices; and

postponing the extracting, transcoding and broadcasting steps for the portion of the user until the transmission period.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the second plurality of profiles further comprises a preferred content source of the plurality of content sources established by each of the users of the plurality of communications devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the portions of the content is transcoded according to a service provider policy for compacting the portions of the content, redacting inappropriate segments of the content, or both.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content supplied by the content sources includes tags that identify specific scenes of the content, and wherein the portions of the content are extracted from the content according to the tags included in the content and the second plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of communication devices.

11. A multimedia messaging service server, comprising:

a memory to store executable instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the processor performs operations comprising;

receiving a plurality of profiles from a plurality of communication devices, wherein each of the plurality of profiles indicate a type of content and a content format desired by users of the plurality of communication devices;

receiving content from a plurality of content sources;

selecting portions of the content according to the plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of communication devices;

transcoding the portions of the content to generate transcoded portions of the content that comply with a multimedia messaging service protocol; and

broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content to the plurality of communication devices.

12. The multimedia messaging service server of claim 11, wherein content provided by the plurality of content sources is not compliant with the multimedia messaging service protocol.

13. The multimedia messaging service server of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a first plurality of profiles from the plurality of content sources, wherein each of the first plurality of profiles describe a condition for broadcasting content provided by the plurality of content sources to the multimedia messaging service server.

14. The multimedia messaging service server of claim 13, wherein broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content comprises broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content according to the first plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of content sources.

15. The multimedia messaging service server of claim 13, wherein the condition for broadcasting content comprises a time of day for broadcasting the content.

16. The multimedia messaging service server of claim 11, wherein the type of content desired by the users of the plurality of communication devices comprises a genre selection, and wherein the content format desired by the users is selected from a group consisting of a still image extracted from the content supplied by the plurality of content sources, and a video clip extracted from the content supplied by the plurality of content sources.

17. The multimedia messaging service server of claim 11, wherein the content supplied by the content sources includes tags that identify specific scenes of the content, and wherein the portions of the content are selected from the content according to the tags included in the content and the plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of communication devices.

18. A machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions, which when executed by a system comprising a processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a plurality of profiles from a plurality of communication devices, wherein each of the plurality of profiles comprise a content preference established by users of the plurality of communication devices;

receiving content from a plurality of content sources;

selecting portions of the content according to the plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of communication devices;

detecting that the portions of the content are not compatible with a multimedia protocol utilized by the system;

transcoding the portions of the content to generate transcoded portions of the content that comply with the multimedia protocol; and

broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content to the plurality of communication devices.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the multimedia protocol comprises a multimedia messaging service protocol developed by a standards body currently referred to as the open mobile alliance, wherein the system comprises a multimedia messaging service server, and wherein the content preference indicates a type of content and a content format desired by the users.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a first plurality of profiles from the plurality of content sources, wherein each of the first plurality of profiles describe a condition for broadcasting content provided by the plurality of content sources to the system, and wherein broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content comprises broadcasting the transcoded portions of the content according to the first plurality of profiles supplied by the plurality of content sources.