System and method for routing media

• US 9,135,636 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SITO Mobile R&D IP, LLC
• Original Assignee: SITO Mobile R&D IP, LLC
• Inventors: Bate, Donald H., Jennings, Charles A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Keehn, Richard G
• Application Number:
  US13/842,478
• Publication Number:
  US 20130219075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/239, 709/226, 709/227, 709/219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0274 Split fees
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• 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: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23805 Controlling the feeding rate to the network, e.g. by controlling the video pump
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• 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 21/262 Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4623 : Processing of entitlement messages, e.g. ECM [Entitlement Control Message] or EMM [Entitlement Management Message] arrangements for conditional access to broadcast information or to broadcast-related services H04H60/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 : for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 : involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 : Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The system and method for streaming media to a viewer and managing the media comprises an enhanced service routing processor (ESRP), a real time switch management system (RTSMS), a name routing processor (NRP), and a managed media switch (MMS). The RTSMS has a reservation system. The ESRP receives media from an owner, manages the media according to media rules and order rules defined by the owner, and distributes the media to one or more switches, such as the MMS, according to the media rules and the order rules. The RTSMS is configured to receive the media rules and to receive a viewer'"'"'s media request via the reservation server. The reservation system of the RTSMS processes the media request according to the media rules and builds a reservation for the requested media. The RTSMS generates the reservation to the viewer and to the NRP. The NRP receives the reservation data from the viewer and from the RTSMS. The NRP processes the reservation data and locates an MMS that can stream the media to the viewer. The NRP transmits the IP address of the MMS to the viewer and transmits the reservation data to the MMS. The viewer initiates a session or connection with the MMS using the reservation number. If the reservation data from the viewer matches the reservation data from the NRP, the MMS streams the media to the viewer.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one computing device via a communication network, a request for media from a communication device capable of using instructions received from the at least one computing device to obtain at least one portion of the requested media using at least one resource other than the at least one computing device;

generating, by the at least one computing device, at least one play script comprising;

(i) at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media;

(ii) a reservation identification associated with the request for media,

(iii) at least one universal resource locator (URL) associated with the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media, the at least one URL including at least one identification of the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device available to facilitate streaming of at least one of the at least one portion of the requested media, and

(iv) one or more instructions for use by the communication device together with the at least one URL and the reservation identification to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media; and

transmitting, by the at least one computing device to the communication device, the at least one play script to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media via the communication network using the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one portion of the requested media comprises one or more media clips, and the method comprises generating one or more media references for the one or more media clips as the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one URL comprises the one or more media references.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying at least one second resource to stream the at least one portion of the requested media for reception by the communication device, wherein the at least one second-resource comprises at least one of a switch, a media software of the switch, a media server, and a stream caster of the switch.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the at least one portion of the requested media is available for streaming in accordance with at least one program.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the requested media is identified in the at least one program, and identifying whether the at least one portion of the requested media is available for streaming to the communication device in accordance with the at least one program comprises, at least in part, identifying whether the at least one portion of requested media is identified in the at least one program.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one program comprises at least one rule selected from at least one of a creation rule, a routing rule, a network distribution rule, a service rule, a storage billing rule, a collection rule, a viewing rule, a settlement rule, a rule specifying frame rate, a rule specifying bit rate, a rule specifying sequence associated with the requested media, and a rule specifying format associated with the requested media, the method comprising generating the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media based, at least in part, on the at least one rule.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the at least one computing device via the communication network, a selection of a link from a portal, the selection made by the communication device and indicating the request for media.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the portal comprises a web-based processor, and the method comprises communicating between the web-based processor and the communication device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising streaming the at least one portion of the requested media for reception by the communication device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting, by the at least one computing device, at least one advertising media clip to be streamed for reception by the communication device and transmitting at least one other identification of the at least one advertising media clip to the communication device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising streaming the at least one advertising media clip for reception by the communication device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting at least one other URL with the at least one other identification of the at least one advertising media clip to the communication device.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a first portion of the at least one portion of the requested media in the at least one play script; and

identifying a second portion of the at least one portion of the requested media in the at least one play script.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media comprises generating at least one first URL identifying a first portion of the at least one portion of the requested media and at least one second URL identifying a second portion of the at least one portion of the requested media.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request for media comprises receiving a request for on-demand media.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request for media comprises receiving a request for live media.

18. A system comprising:

a management system comprising at least one computing device comprising a combination of hardware and software to;

receive, via a communication network, a request for media from a communication device capable of using instructions received from the at least one computing device to obtain at least one portion of the requested media using at least one resource other than the at least one computing device;

generate at least one play script comprising;

(i) at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media;

(ii) a reservation identification associated with the request for media,

(iii) at least one universal resource locator (URL) associated with the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media, the at least one URL including at least one identification of the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device available to facilitate streaming of at least one of the at least one portion of the requested media, and

(iv) one or more instructions for use by the communication device together with the at least one URL and the reservation identification to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media; and

transmit to the communication device the at least one play script to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media via the communication network using the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one portion of the requested media comprises one or more media clips, and the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media comprises one or more media references identifying the one or more media clips.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one URL comprises the one or more media references.

21. The system of claim 18, further comprising a routing processor device to identify at least one second resource to stream the at least one portion of the requested media for reception by the communication device, wherein the at least one second resource comprises at least one of a switch, a media software of the switch, a media server, and a stream caster of the switch.

22. The system of claim 18, further comprising a portal to receive a selection of a link via the communication network, the selection made by the communication device and indicating the request for media.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the portal comprises a web-based processor to communicate with the communication device.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein the management system determines whether the at least one portion of the requested media is available for streaming in accordance with at least one program.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one program comprises at least one rule selected from at least one member of a group consisting of a creation rule, a routing rule, a network distribution rule, a service rule, a storage billing rule, a collection rule, a viewing rule, a settlement rule, a rule specifying frame rate, a rule specifying bit rate, a rule specifying sequence associated with the requested media, and a rule specifying format associated with the requested media, and the management system generates the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media based on the at least one rule.

26. The system of claim 18, further comprising at least one second resource to facilitate streaming the at least one portion of the requested media for reception by the communication device.

27. The system of claim 18, wherein the management system selects at least one advertising media clip to be streamed for reception by the communication device and transmits at least one other identification of the at least one advertising media clip to the communication device.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising a second resource to stream the at least one advertising media clip for reception by the communication device.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the management system transmits at least one other URL identifying the at least one advertising media clip to the communication device.

30. The system of claim 18 wherein the management system:

identifies a first portion of the at least one portion of the requested media as the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media; and

identifies a second portion of the at least one portion of the requested media as the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media.

31. The system of claim 18, wherein the management system generates at least one first URL identifying a first portion of the at least one portion of the requested media and at least one second URL identifying a second portion of the at least one portion of the requested media.

32. The system of claim 18, wherein the management system identifies whether the at least one portion of the requested media is available for streaming to the communication device in accordance with at least one program by, at least in part, identifying whether the at least one portion of the requested media is identified in the at least one program.

33. The system of claim 18, wherein the requested media comprises at least one of on-demand media or live media.

34. A media streaming management method, comprising:

receiving, by a management system comprising at least one computing device comprising a combination of hardware and software, a request for media, from a communication device capable of playing the requested media;

in response to the request for media and based on one or more attributes of the communication device and one or more rules associated with the requested media, generating and transmitting, by the at least one computing device to the communication device over a communication network, a play script including (i) at least one identification of at least one portion of the requested media, (ii) a reservation identification associated with the request for media, (iii) at least one universal resource locator (URL) associated with the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media, the at least one URL including at least one identification of at least one resource other than the at least one computing device available to facilitate streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media, and (iv) one or more instructions for use by the communication device together with the at least one URL and the reservation identification to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media.

35. The video streaming management method of claim 34, the play script further comprising (v) a unique identifier for use by at least the communication device to enable the at least one portion of the requested media to be streamed to the communication device.

36. The video streaming management method of claim 34, the play script further comprising (v) a unique identifier to be used to access the at least one portion of the requested media to be streamed to the communication device.

37. The media streaming management method of claim 34, wherein the one or more attributes of the communication device include at least one member of a group consisting of a type of the communication device, a type of player used by the communication device, a format used by the communication device, a protocol used by the communication device, previously collected information about the communication device, a geographic location of the communication device, an internet protocol (IP) address associated with the communication device, and a type of the communication network, the method further comprising generating and transmitting the play script based, at least in part, on the at least one member of the group.

38. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating and transmitting the play script based on the one or more rules associated with the requested media that include at least one of a creation rule, a routing rule, a network distribution rule, a service rule, a storage billing rule, a collection rule, a viewing rule, and a settlement rule.

39. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating and transmitting the play script based on the one or more rules associated with the requested media that specify at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a sequence associated with the at least one portion of the requested media, and a format associated with the at least one portion of the requested media.

40. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media to include at least one of a name of the at least one portion of the requested media, an alias associated with the at least one portion of the requested media, and a connection instruction to a live ingress switch.

41. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating the play script to include at least one of a rating of the at least one portion of the requested media, a genre of the at least one portion of the requested media, a cost associated with streaming the at least one portion of the requested media, and a publisher associated with the at least one portion of the requested media.

42. The media streaming management method of claim 34, wherein generating the at least one identification of the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device available to facilitate streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media comprises generating at least one identification of one or more routing processors to identify one or more media servers to stream the at least one portion of the requested media.

43. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating the one or more instructions to include one or more instructions relating to at least one of a media format, a media language, a media sequence, and an advertisement insertion.

44. The media streaming management method of claim 34, wherein generating the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media comprises generating an identification of at least one portion of at least one of on-demand media and live media.

45. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating the play script to include at least one of user identification information, authentication information, session information, and a time period during which the streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media is authorized.

46. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating, by the at least one computing device, at least one report comprising statistical information regarding streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media.

47. The media streaming management method of claim 34, wherein receiving the request for media comprises receiving a request for video.

48. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating the at least one URL to include the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media.

49. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising generating an identification of at least one other portion of the requested media in the play script.

50. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising streaming the at least one portion of the requested media to the communication device from one or more media servers.

51. The media streaming management method of claim 34, further comprising receiving a selection of a link from a portal, the selection made by the communication device and indicating the request for media.

52. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

instructions executable by the at least one processor to;

receive a request for media from a communication device capable of using instructions received from the at least one computing device to obtain at least one portion of the requested media using at least one resource other than the at least one computing device;

generate at least one play script comprising;

(i) at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media;

(ii) a reservation identification associated with the request for media,

(iii) at least one universal resource locator (URL) associated with the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media, the at least one URL including at least one identification of the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device available to facilitate streaming of at least one of the at least one portion of the requested media, and

(iv) one or more instructions for use by the communication device together with the at least one URL and the reservation identification to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media; and

transmit to the communication device the at least one play script to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media via the communication network using the at least one resource other than the at least one computing device.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the at least one portion of the requested media comprises one or more media clips, and the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media comprises one or more media references identifying the one or more media clips.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the at least one URL comprises the one or more media references.

55. The system of claim 52, the instructions further comprising instructions to identify at least one second resource to stream the at least one portion of the media for reception by the communication device, wherein the at least one second resource comprises at least one of a switch, a media software of the switch, a media server, and a stream caster of the switch.

56. The system of claim 52, the instructions further comprising instructions to determine whether the at least one portion of the requested media is available for streaming in accordance with at least one program.

57. The system of claim 52, further comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to receive, by the at least one computing device via the communication network, a selection of a link from a portal, the selection made by the communication device and indicating the request for media.

58. A media streaming management system, comprising:

a management system comprising at least one computing device comprising a combination of hardware and software to;

receive a request for media via a communication network from a communication device capable of playing the requested media; and

in response to the request for media and based on one or more attributes of the communication device and one or more rules associated with the requested media, generate and transmit, to the communication device over the communication network, a play script including (i) at least one identification of at least one portion of the requested media, (ii) a reservation identification associated with the request for media, (iii) at least one universal resource locator (URL) associated with the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media, the at least one URL including at least one identification of at least one resource other than the at least one computing device available to facilitate streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media, and (iv) one or more instructions for use by the communication device together with the at least one URL and the reservation identification to enable the communication device to obtain the at least one portion of the requested media.

59. The video streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the play script further comprises (v) a unique identifier for use by at least the communication device to enable the at least one portion of the requested media to be streamed to the communication device.

60. The video streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the play script further comprises (v) a unique identifier to be used to access the at least one portion of the requested media to be streamed to the communication device.

61. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the one or more attributes of the communication device include at least one of a type of the communication device, a type of player used by the communication device, a format used by the communication device, a protocol used by the communication device, previously collected information about the communication device, a geographic location of the communication device, an internet protocol (IP) address associated with the communication device, and a type of the communication network.

62. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the one or more rules associated with the requested media include at least one of a creation rule, a routing rule, a network distribution rule, a service rule, a storage billing rule, a collection rule, a viewing rule, and a settlement rule.

63. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the one or more rules associated with the requested media specify at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a sequence associated with the requested media, and a format associated with the requested media.

64. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the at least one identification of the at least one portion of the requested media includes at least one of a name of the at least one portion of the requested media, an alias associated with the at least one portion of the requested media, and a connection instruction to a live ingress switch.

65. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the play script further includes at least one of a rating of the at least one portion of the requested media, a genre of the at least one portion of the requested media, a cost associated with streaming the at least one portion of the requested media, and a publisher associated with the at least one portion of the requested media.

66. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the at least one resource comprises a routing processor to identify one or more media servers to stream the at least one portion of the requested media to the communication device.

67. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the one or more instructions include one or more instructions relating to at least one of a media format, a media language, a media sequence, and an advertisement insertion.

68. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the requested media comprises at least one of on-demand media and live media.

69. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the play script further includes at least one of user identification information, authentication information, session information, and a time period during which the streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media is authorized.

70. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the management system generates at least one report comprising statistical information regarding streaming of the at least one portion of the requested media.

71. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the request for media comprises a request for video.

72. The media streaming management system of claim 58, wherein the management system generates an identification of at least one other portion of the requested media in the play script.

73. The media streaming management system of claim 58, further comprising one or more media servers to stream the at least one portion of the requested media to the communication device.

74. The media streaming management system of claim 58, further comprising a portal to receive a selection of a link via the communication network, the selection made by the communication device and indicating the request for media.