System and method for transmitting content items

• US 20150244988A1
• Filed: 05/08/2015
• Published: 08/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Original Assignee: OpenTV, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Inventors: Sedlak, Brian, Lemmons, Thomas, Rasmussen, Gary, Zenoni, Ian, Huber, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,432,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23109 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23113 involving housekeeping operations for stored content, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; snloading stored programs G06F9/445; housekeeping operations in file systems, e.g. deletion policies G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4886 for displaying a ticker, e.g. scrolling banner for news, stock exchange, weather data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/60 Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client , e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/65 Transmission of management data between client and server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

Disclosed is a system that optimizes transmission of content. Requests for a content type and an element within the content type is received. Most frequently requested content types and most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types are determined. A transmit rate for each of the frequently requested content types is determined, wherein the frequently requested content types with a higher request count receive a higher transmit rate than frequently requested content types with a lower request count. The most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types are transmitted at the determined transmit rate.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting requested content, the method comprising:

receiving at least one request for a content type and an element within the content type;

based on the at least one received request, determining most frequently requested content types and most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types;

determining, by a processor of a machine, a transmit rate for each of the frequently requested content types, the frequently requested content types with a higher request count receiving a higher transmit rate than frequently requested content types with a lower request count, the transmit rate indicating a frequency for transmission of the most frequently requested content types; and

transmitting the most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types at the determined transmit rate in response to a request for content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the most frequently requested content types comprise programs and the most frequently requested elements comprise program episodes;

the determining the most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types comprises determining most frequently requested program episodes within each most frequently requested program; and

the transmitting the most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types comprises transmitting the most frequently requested program episodes within each of the most frequently requested program.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the most frequently requested content types comprise a sports score type and the most frequently requested elements comprise scores of most frequently requested teams within the sports score type.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a request count for each content type, the request count for each content type indicating a number of times each content type has been requested, the request count being used to determine the most frequently requested content types.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising maintaining a request count for each element within each content type, the request count for each element indicating a number of times each element has been requested, the request count being used to determine the most frequently requested content elements.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising grouping content types and elements with a request count greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

determining the transmit rate for each of the frequently requested content types comprises determining a group transmit rate for the transmit group, the transmit group with a higher request count receiving a higher associated group transmit rate than a transmit group with a lower request count, the group transmit rate indicating how often the transmit group is to be transmitted, and

the transmitting the most frequently requested elements comprises repeatedly transmitting the transmit group at the group transmit rate.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining a maximum size for the transmit group; and

based on the maximum size not being reached, adding an additional element having request count greater than or equal to the predetermined access count to the transmit group.

9. A system for transmitting content, the system comprising:

one or more databases containing a plurality of content item and user request information for the content items, the content items comprising elements of a content type;

a transmit unit; and

a tangible machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising;

determining most frequently requested content types and most frequently requested content items within each of the most frequently requested content types;

determining a transmit rate for each of the frequently requested content types, the frequently requested content types with a higher request count receiving a higher transmit rate than frequently requested content types with a lower request count, the transmit rate indicating a frequency for transmission of the most frequently requested content types; and

transmitting the most frequently requested content items within each of the most frequently requested content types at the determined transmit rate in response to a request for content.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the transmit unit comprises one of a television transmitter or a server coupled to a network.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the transmit rate is further responsive to available bandwidth for content item transmission.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the transmit rate is further responsive to a duration of each content item within the content type.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the most frequently requested content types comprise programs and the most frequently requested content items comprise program episodes;

the determining the most frequently requested content items within each of the most frequently requested content types comprises determining most frequently requested program episodes within each most frequently requested program; and

the transmitting the most frequently requested content items within each of the most frequently requested content types comprises transmitting the most frequently requested program episodes within each of the most frequently requested program.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the most frequently requested content types comprise a sports type and the most frequently requested content item comprise information of most frequently requested teams within the sports type.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise maintaining a request count for each content item within each content type, the request count for each content item indicating a number of times each content item has been requested, the request count being used to determine the most frequently requested content item.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

grouping content types and content items with a request count greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group;

determining a maximum size for the transmit group; and

based on the maximum size not being reached, adding an additional content item having a request count greater than or equal to the predetermined access count to the transmit group.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

grouping content types and content items with a request count greater than or equal to a predetermined access count into a transmit group;

determining a maximum size for the transmit group; and

based on the maximum size being reached, selecting a next transmit group to perform a determination of whether a maximum size for the next transmit group is reached.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the determining the most frequently requested content items comprises:

creating a request count for each content item of the plurality of content items, the request count incremented for each request for each content item of the plurality of content items;

sorting the plurality of content items based on the corresponding request count; and

identifying content items having request counts sorted higher than a reference request count.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the request count comprises a number of requests received during a predefined time period for each content item of the plurality of content items.

20. A machine-readable medium having no transitory signals and storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests, each request indicating a request for an element within a content type;

analyzing the plurality of requests to determine most frequently requested content types and most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types;

determining a transmit rate for each of the frequently requested content types, the frequently requested content types with a higher request count receiving a higher transmit rate than frequently requested content types with a lower request count; and

transmitting the most frequently requested elements within each of the most frequently requested content types at the determined transmit rate in response to a request for content.