Variability in available levels of quality of encoded content
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- storing content as multiple streams of data, each of the multiple streams of data encoded in accordance with a different bit rate to play back a rendition of the content according to a different level of quality;
providing notification to subscribers in a network environment that the content encoded at a particular bit rate of multiple available bit rates for playing back the content is available for a limited time duration;
distributing portions of the multiple streams of data in the network environment during the limited time duration; and
preventing distribution of the content encoded at the particular bit rate in the network environment subsequent to expiration of the limited time duration;
wherein the multiple streams of data includes a first stream of data and a second stream of data, the first stream of data encoded in accordance with the particular bit rate, the second stream of data encoded in accordance with a bit rate lower than the particular bit rate;
wherein distributing the multiple streams of data includes;
during the limited time duration, interleaving at least portions of the first stream of data and portions of the second stream of data to produce an adaptive bit rate data stream forwarded to at least one subscriber in the network environment; and
subsequent to the limited time duration, preventing distribution of portions of the first stream of data in respective adaptive bit rate data streams to the subscribers.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A server resource provides notification to subscribers in a respective network environment that the content is available for retrieval at a particular bit rate (e.g., a promotional bit rate) or particular level of quality (e.g., promotional level of quality) amongst multiple levels of quality for a limited duration of time. For example, an especially high level of quality (or bit rate) of the content may be available only for the limited duration of time. After making the especially high level of quality of content available for retrieval during a promotional period, the content may be subsequently available for retrieval only at lower levels of quality. Accordingly, one or more configurations as discussed herein include changing the ability to access content encoded at different levels of quality over time.
64 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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storing content as multiple streams of data, each of the multiple streams of data encoded in accordance with a different bit rate to play back a rendition of the content according to a different level of quality; providing notification to subscribers in a network environment that the content encoded at a particular bit rate of multiple available bit rates for playing back the content is available for a limited time duration; distributing portions of the multiple streams of data in the network environment during the limited time duration; and preventing distribution of the content encoded at the particular bit rate in the network environment subsequent to expiration of the limited time duration; wherein the multiple streams of data includes a first stream of data and a second stream of data, the first stream of data encoded in accordance with the particular bit rate, the second stream of data encoded in accordance with a bit rate lower than the particular bit rate; wherein distributing the multiple streams of data includes; during the limited time duration, interleaving at least portions of the first stream of data and portions of the second stream of data to produce an adaptive bit rate data stream forwarded to at least one subscriber in the network environment; and subsequent to the limited time duration, preventing distribution of portions of the first stream of data in respective adaptive bit rate data streams to the subscribers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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during a period of promoting distribution of content;
adaptively transmitting portions of the content encoded at multiple different levels of playback quality in a network environment; andsubsequent to a trigger event in which the period of promoting the distribution of content has ended; preventing transmission of the content at a particular level of playback quality of the multiple different levels of playback quality, and adaptively transmitting the content encoded at the multiple levels of playback quality other than at the particular level of playback quality; wherein the particular level of playback quality is a first level of playback quality; wherein the multiple levels of playback quality includes at least the first level of playback quality, a second level of playback quality, and a third level of playback quality; the method further comprising; during the period;
selecting from the multiple levels of playback quality of encoded content to adaptively transmit a first logical stream of data including portions of the content encoded at the first level of playback quality and portions of the content encoded at the second level of playback quality; andafter expiration of the period;
i) providing access to a limited set of the multiple level of playback quality available for retrieval, the limited set including the second level of playback quality and the third level of playback quality, the limited set excluding the first level of playback quality, ii) selecting from the limited set of multiple levels of playback quality of encoded content to adaptively transmit a second logical stream of data including portions of the content encoded at the second level playback quality and portions of the content encoded at the third level of playback quality. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer system comprising:
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at least one processor device; and a hardware storage resource coupled to the at least one processor device, the hardware storage resource storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor device, cause the at least one processor device to perform the operations of; storing content as multiple streams of data, each of the multiple streams of data encoded in accordance with a different bit rate to play back a rendition of the content according to a different level of quality; providing notification to subscribers in a network environment that the content encoded at a particular bit rate of multiple available bit rates for playing back the content is available for a limited time duration; distributing portions of the multiple streams of data in the network environment during the limited time duration; and while continuing to provide access to a less-than-all subset of the content encoded at the multiple available bit rates, preventing distribution of the content encoded at the particular bit rate in the network environment subsequent to expiration of the limited time duration; wherein the at least one processor device further supports operations of; producing first content access information, the first content access information indicating portions of the content that are available for retrieval at the particular bit rate and other bit rates during the limited time duration; distributing the first content access information to the subscribers in the network environment; producing second content access information, the second content access information indicating portions of the content that are available for retrieval at the bit rates other than the particular bit rate after the limited time duration; and distributing the second content access information to the subscribers in the network environment. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method comprising:
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storing content as multiple streams of data, each of the multiple streams of data encoded in accordance with a different bit rate to play back a rendition of the content according to a different level of quality; providing notification to subscribers in a network environment that the content encoded at a particular bit rate of multiple available bit rates for playing back the content is available for a limited time duration; distributing portions of the multiple streams of data in the network environment during the limited time duration; preventing distribution of the content encoded at the particular bit rate in the network environment subsequent to expiration of the limited time duration; and providing the notification in a content guide prior to the distributing, the content guide indicating to subscribers in the network environment that the content is available after the limited time duration but that the content encoded at the particular bit rate is not available after the limited time duration. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method comprising:
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storing content as multiple streams of data, each of the multiple streams of data encoded in accordance with a different bit rate to play back a rendition of the content according to a different level of quality; providing notification to subscribers in a network environment that the content encoded at a particular bit rate of multiple available bit rates for playing back the content is available for a limited time duration; distributing portions of the multiple streams of data in the network environment during the limited time duration; and preventing distribution of the content encoded at the particular bit rate in the network environment subsequent to expiration of the limited time duration; wherein the multiple streams of data includes a first stream of data and a second stream of data, the first stream of data encoded in accordance with the particular bit rate, the second stream of data encoded in accordance with a bit rate lower than the particular bit rate; and wherein distributing the multiple streams of data includes; during the limited time duration, providing subscribers in the network environment access to segments in the first stream of data and segments in the second stream of data; and subsequent to the limited time duration;
i) preventing distribution of the segments of the first stream of data to the subscribers, and ii) providing the subscribers in the network environment access to segments in the second stream of data. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification