Rules-based content management

• US 9,877,078 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2017
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Phillips, Debra, Wilson, Brian, Leach, Lorraine, Webster, Thomas Scott, Mayo, Michelle
• Primary Examiner(s): HUYNH, AN SON PHI
• Application Number:
  US15/479,949
• Publication Number:
  US 20170208365A1
• Time in Patent Office: 293 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• 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 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• 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 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Techniques for rules-based content management are provided. Video on demand content is collected from a variety of sources. Business rules embedded within metadata can be retrieved where the business rules control processing and delivery of the video on demand content. The video on demand content may be selectively packaged in response to the business rules and the metadata to generate packaged video on demand content. A server can distribute the packaged video on demand content to devices. A priority for processing the packaged video on demand content can be based on a quality of service parameter and based on the metadata, the business rules, and a license embedded within the metadata where the license describes the priority. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, perform operations comprising:

storing, in a repository, video on demand content and metadata associated with the video on demand content, wherein the metadata comprises information describing the video on demand content, and wherein the repository is organized in hierarchies according to the metadata;

assigning different security to portions of the video on demand content in the repository according to a location in the hierarchies;

retrieving business rules and a license that are embedded within the metadata, wherein the business rules control processing and delivery of the video on demand content through a system, and wherein the business rules include a release date for the video on demand content;

deleting, responsive to emergency override instructions to the processing system from an administrator at a server, a first portion of the video on demand content according to the metadata and the business rules when the first portion of the video on demand content has been found to be released before the release date;

distributing the video on demand content to selected devices via multicasting according to the business rules embedded within the metadata;

grouping a second portion and a third portion of the video on demand content together for related processing according to the business rules;

mirroring the repository to a mirrored site to provide failover support, wherein the mirrored site is a source of the video on demand content responsive to the repository being incapable of continuing an in-process distribution of the video on demand content;

detecting a listing of an event in the business rules, wherein the event is related to the video on demand content; and

generating a customized report listing a number of subscribers for the video on demand content responsive to detecting the listing of the event.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise selectively packaging the video on demand content in response to the business rules and the metadata to generate packaged video on demand content, and wherein the distributing comprises distributing the packaged video on demand content.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise packaging the video on demand content according to the business rules by indexing the video on demand content.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise packaging the video on demand content according to the business rules by prioritizing the video on demand content as described by the license embedded within the metadata and as further adjusted based on a detected quality of service determined from a quality of service parameter.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise modifying portions of the metadata in response to the business rules.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise distributing the video on demand content from the mirrored site responsive to the repository being incapable of continuing the in-process distribution of the video on demand content.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the distributing the video on demand content from the mirrored site is performed such that a viewer would not be aware that the video on demand content was being distributed from the mirrored site rather than the repository.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the repository becomes incapable of continuing the in-process distribution due to a network connectivity problem.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the mirroring comprises mirroring all of the repository.

10. A method, comprising:

storing, by a processing system including a processor, video on demand content and metadata associated with the video on demand content in a repository, wherein the metadata comprises information describing the video on demand content, and wherein the repository is organized in hierarchies according to the metadata;

assigning by the processing system, according to a location of the video on demand content in the hierarchies, different security to the video on demand content in the repository;

retrieving, by the processing system, business rules and a license that are embedded within the metadata, wherein the business rules control processing and delivery of the video on demand content through a system, and wherein the business rules include a release date for the video on demand content;

deleting by the processing system, responsive to emergency override instructions to the processing system from an administrator at a server, a piece of the video on demand content according to the metadata and the business rules in a case that the piece of the video on demand content has been found to be released before the release date;

distributing by the processing system, via multicasting, the video on demand content to selected devices according to the business rules embedded within the metadata;

grouping, by the processing system, a first portion of the video on demand content and a second portion of the video on demand content together for related processing according to the business rules;

mirroring, by the processing system, the repository to a mirrored site to provide failover support, wherein the mirrored site supplies the video on demand content responsive to the repository being incapable of continuing an in-process distribution of the video on demand content;

detecting, by the processing system, a listing of an event in the business rules, wherein the event is related to the video on demand content; and

generating, by the processing system, a customized report listing a number of subscribers for the video on demand content responsive to detecting the listing of the event.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising presenting, by the processing system, custom listings of descriptive data associated with the video on demand content.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising selectively packaging, by the processing system, the video on demand content in response to the business rules and the metadata to generate packaged video on demand content, and wherein the distributing comprises distributing the packaged video on demand content.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising packaging, by the processing system, the video on demand content according to the business rules by indexing the video on demand content.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising packaging, by the processing system, the video on demand content according to the business rules by prioritizing the video on demand content as described by the license embedded within the metadata and as further adjusted based on a detected quality of service determined from a quality of service parameter.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the video on demand content is internet protocol television video on demand content.

16. A server comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, perform operations comprising;

storing in a repository video on demand content, provided by a plurality of sources, along with metadata associated with the video on demand content, wherein the repository is organized in hierarchies according to each category included within the metadata;

assigning different security to the video on demand content in the repository according to a location in the hierarchies;

retrieving business rules embedded within the metadata, wherein the business rules control processing and delivery of the video on demand content through a system and include a release date for the video on demand content;

selectively packaging the video on demand content in response to the business rules and the metadata to generate packaged video on demand content;

distributing the packaged video on demand content from the repository to devices selected via multicasting according to the business rules embedded within the metadata;

determining that a first portion of the video on demand content was released before the release date;

deleting from the repository, responsive to emergency override instructions to the processing system from an administrator, the first portion of the video on demand content that was released before the release date;

grouping a second portion and a third portion of the video on demand content together for related processing according to the business rules;

mirroring the repository to a mirrored site to provide failover support, wherein the mirrored site is a source of the packaged video on demand content responsive to the repository becoming incapable of continuing an in-process distribution of the packaged video on demand content;

detecting a listing of an event in the business rules, wherein the event is related to the video on demand content; and

generating a customized report listing a number of subscribers for the video on demand content responsive to detecting the listing of the event.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise distributing the packaged video on demand content from the mirrored site responsive to the repository becoming incapable of continuing the in-process distribution of the packaged video on demand content, wherein the distributing the packaged video on demand content from the mirrored site is performed such that a viewer would not be aware that the packaged video on demand content was being distributed from the mirrored site rather than the repository, and wherein the repository becomes incapable of continuing the in-process distribution due to a network connectivity problem.

18. The server of claim 16, wherein the mirroring comprises mirroring all of the repository, and

wherein the distributing comprises resolving a priority for processing the packaged video on demand content based on a quality of service parameter, the metadata, the business rules, and a license embedded within the metadata, wherein the license describes the priority.

19. The server of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise packaging the video on demand content according to the business rules by indexing the video on demand content.

20. The server of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise modifying portions of the metadata in response to the business rules.