US 11,375,246 B2 · Methods, apparatus and user interface for providing content on demand

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for supporting content delivery service are described. In accordance with the invention content can be supplied to temporary storage of a regional or local server used to supply the content to a customer's premises when the requested content is not already available in the regional or local server. A content server hierarchy may be implemented with servers higher up in the hierarchy including more content, e.g., titles, than the number of titles stored in the lower level servers. By storing less frequently accessed content in servers higher in the hierarchy and frequently requested titles lower in the hierarchy, a vast number of titles can be supported without overburdening the storage available at local and regional servers. In addition, a national or other server high in the hierarchy can be used to store, move, and distribute local or other content as part of an on demand service.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of providing access to content stored in a network, the method comprising:

receiving at a regional web server, corresponding to a region, an order for content from a first customer premise device;
checking to determine if said content is available in a regional content store accessible to a video on demand server;
in response to determining that said content is not available from the regional content store, communicating information included in said received order for content to a controller that has access to information indicating content that is available from a higher level content store and other content stores, said higher level content store being a content store corresponding to multiple regions and being a store from which the requested content can be obtained, said step of communicating information included in said received order for content to the controller being conditional upon determining that said content is not available from the regional content store;
and
operating said controller to select a content source to provide content requested in said received order.

2 more elements

A system for providing access to content stored in a network, the system comprising:

a controller that has access to information indicating content that is available from a higher level content store and other content stores, said higher level content store being a content store corresponding to multiple regions and being a store from which the requested content can be obtained;
a regional web server corresponding to a region, said regional web server being configured to:
receive an order for content from a first customer premise device, check to determine if said content is available in a regional content store accessible to a video on demand server, and communicate, in response to determining that said content is not available from the regional content store, information included in said received order for content to said controller, said step of communicating information included in said received order for content to the controller being conditional upon determining that said content is not available from the regional content store;
and
wherein said controller is configured to select a content store to provide content requested in said received order.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Methods, apparatus and user interface for providing content on demand

Life of this patent

Methods, apparatus and user interface for providing content on demand

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20