METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STREAMING ADVERTISEMENTS IN A SCALABLE DATA BROADCASTING SYSTEM

• US 20150248697A1
• Filed: 03/03/2014
• Published: 09/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Mahadevan, Priya, Scott, Glenn C., Meike, Roger C.
• Granted Patent: US 10,089,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2396 characterized by admission policies admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for network security using user profiles for access control H04L63/102; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25435 involving characteristics of content or additional data, e.g. video resolution or the amount of advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4784 receiving rewards
• 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 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

A content broker can receive a request from a user'"'"'s client device for access to a data stream, and determines whether the client device has a sufficient number of credits to consume the digital content. If the client device does not have a sufficient number of credits, the broker can provide the client device an opportunity to earn credits. The broker can send to the client device an advertisement stream, and a corresponding challenge query that includes a set of instructions for generating a challenge-response that proves the client device has consumed the advertisement stream. If the broker receives a valid challenge response from the client device, the broker can assign a predetermined number of credits to the user'"'"'s account.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a data-brokering device, a request from a client device for access to a data stream;

determining a data segment of the data stream to provide to the client device based on the request;

determining whether the client device has a sufficient number of credits to consume the data segment; and

responsive to determining that the client device does not have a sufficient number of credits, providing the client device an opportunity to earn credits.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to determining that the client device has a sufficient number of credits, the method further comprises:

obtaining a unique identifier for the client device from the request, wherein the unique identifier includes at least one of a public key or a secure identifier that is unique to the client device;

obtaining an encoding sauce for the data segment;

generating a secret sauce for the client device based on the encoding sauce and the client'"'"'s unique identifier; and

providing the secret sauce to the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the client device has a sufficient number of credits involves one or more of:

determining that the data segment does not require credits;

determining that a user of the client device has viewed a sufficient number of advertisements;

determining that the user has paid to access the data segment; and

determining that the user has a subscription with the broker to obtain the data segment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the client device an opportunity to earn credits involves providing, to the client device, a request to obtain a payment for the credits.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the opportunity to earn credits involves:

generating a unique challenge query for an advertisement stream that is to be presented to the user during the opportunity, wherein the unique challenge query is specific to the current opportunity, and includes a set of instructions for generating, from the advertisement stream, a challenge-response that proves the client device has consumed the advertisement stream;

sending, to the client device, a list of one or more advertisement streams, and a corresponding list of unique challenge queries;

receiving a challenge-response from the client device; and

responsive to receiving a valid challenge-response for an advertisement stream;

determining a number of credits associated with the advertising stream; and

assigning the determined number of credits to the client'"'"'s account.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining whether the challenge-response is valid by verifying whether the challenge response matches an expected response.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the challenge-response involves receiving a packet encrypted using the broker'"'"'s public key, wherein the encrypted packet includes one or more of:

a challenge response signed using the client device'"'"'s private key; and

the client device'"'"'s unique identifier.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving a request from a client device for access to a data stream;

determining a data segment of the data stream to provide to the client device based on the request;

determining whether the client device has a sufficient number of credits to consume the data segment; and

responsive to determining that the client device does not have a sufficient number of credits, providing the client device an opportunity to earn credits.

9. The storage medium of claim 8, wherein responsive to determining that the client device has a sufficient number of credits, the method further comprises:

obtaining a unique identifier for the client device from the request, wherein the unique identifier includes at least one of a public key or a secure identifier that is unique to the client device;

obtaining an encoding sauce for the data segment;

generating a secret sauce for the client device based on the encoding sauce and the client'"'"'s unique identifier; and

providing the secret sauce to the client device.

10. The storage medium of claim 8, wherein determining that the client device has a sufficient number of credits involves one or more of:

determining that the data segment does not require credits;

determining that a user of the client device has viewed a sufficient number of advertisements;

determining that the user has paid to access the data segment; and

determining that the user has a subscription with the broker to obtain the data segment.

11. The storage medium of claim 8, wherein providing the client device an opportunity to earn credits involves providing, to the client device, a request to obtain a payment for the credits.

12. The storage medium of claim 8, wherein providing the opportunity to earn credits involves:

generating a unique challenge query for an advertisement stream that is to be presented to the user during the opportunity, wherein the unique challenge query is specific to the current opportunity, and includes a set of instructions for generating, from the advertisement stream, a challenge-response that proves the client device has consumed the advertisement stream;

sending, to the client device, a list of one or more advertisement streams, and a corresponding list of unique challenge queries;

receiving a challenge-response from the client device; and

responsive to receiving a valid challenge-response for an advertisement stream;

determining a number of credits associated with the advertising stream; and

assigning the determined number of credits to the client'"'"'s account.

13. The storage medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises determining whether the challenge-response is valid by verifying whether the challenge response matches an expected response.

14. The storage medium of claim 12, wherein receiving the challenge-response involves receiving a packet encrypted using the broker'"'"'s public key, wherein the encrypted packet includes one or more of:

a challenge response signed using the client device'"'"'s private key; and

the client device'"'"'s unique identifier.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a communication module to receive a request from a client device for access to a data stream;

a content-selecting module to determine a data segment of the data stream to provide to the client device based on the request; and

a content-streaming module to determine whether the client device has a sufficient number of credits to consume the data segment, wherein responsive to determining that the client device does not have a sufficient number of credits, the content-streaming module provides the client device an opportunity to earn credits.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein responsive to determining that the client device has a sufficient number of credits, the content-streaming module is further configured to:

obtain a unique identifier for the client device from the request, wherein the unique identifier includes at least one of a public key or a secure identifier that is unique to the client device;

obtain an encoding sauce for the data segment;

generate a secret sauce for the client device based on the encoding sauce and the client'"'"'s unique identifier; and

provide the secret sauce to the client device.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein while determining that the client device has a sufficient number of credits, the content-streaming module is further configured to verify one or more of:

the data segment does not require credits;

a user of the client device has viewed a sufficient number of advertisements;

the user has paid to access the data segment; and

the user has a subscription with the broker to obtain the data segment.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein while providing the client device an opportunity to earn credits, the content-streaming module provides, to the client device, a request to obtain a payment for the credits.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein while providing the opportunity to earn credits, the content-streaming module is further configured to:

generate a unique challenge query for an advertisement stream that is to be presented to the user during the opportunity, wherein the unique challenge query is specific to the current opportunity, and includes a set of instructions for generating, from the advertisement stream, a challenge-response that proves the client device has consumed the advertisement stream;

send, to the client device, a list of one or more advertisement streams, and a corresponding list of unique challenge queries;

receive a challenge-response from the client device; and

responsive to receiving a valid challenge-response for an advertisement stream;

determine a number of credits associated with the advertising stream; and

assign the determined number of credits to the client'"'"'s account.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the content-streaming module is further configured to determine whether the challenge-response is valid by verifying whether the challenge response matches an expected response.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein while receiving the challenge-response, the content-streaming module is further configured to receive a packet encrypted using the broker'"'"'s public key, wherein the encrypted packet includes one or more of:

a challenge response signed using the client device'"'"'s private key; and

the client device'"'"'s unique identifier.