US 6,769,127 B1Granted

Method and system for delivering media services and application over networks

AssigneeMinerva Networks, Inc.

InventorsMauro Bonomi, Jean-Georges Fritsch, Patrick James Sweeney, Randolph Osborne, Charles Francis Morris, Jr., Reed Majors, Francis Michel Degrange, Ian Locke, Johnny C. Y. Ng, Yousheng Cao, Li Liu, Nam Phu Thanh Do, Ronald D. Howe

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Abstract

A media system that centrally manages and stores media contents and also controls the delivery of media content to subscribers is disclosed. According to one aspect, an administrator can control program scheduling, rates, service packages and system configuration for a media delivery system. Additionally, the administrator may also control billing, transaction monitoring, and customer relations. According to another aspect, the media delivery system provides subscribers with centrally managed storage for paused or recorded media. Still another aspect is that the media delivery system can restrict various administrators to different modules of the media delivery system.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A method for delivery media programs from a central location to multiple subscribers, said method comprising:

configuring subscribers to receive delivery of a selected set of the media programs over a network, wherein the media programs are received from different sources and in different formats;
setting program guides in accordance with service packages respectively for the subscribers;
reformatting the media programs to one or more predefined formats suitable for transporting over the network or for proper display on client devices used respectively by the subscribers;
rendering program guides available to the subscribers, wherein each of the program guides includes only a current time bar being superimposed directly on those of the media programs identified in the program guide that are currently being broadcasted;
delivering a selected set of the media programs over the network to one or more of the subscribers;
and
caching, at the same time, the selected set of the media programs respectively in a number of temporary spaces, each being managed by operations including at least:
determining if a temporary space has sufficient available capacity to cache a media program being delivered live from the media delivery center to a user, and discarding from the temporary space a media program that has been previously cached therein when the temporary space is determined to have insufficient available capacity to cache one of the media programs in entirety, whereby the one of the media programs being delivered live and cached can be delivered via the temporary space upon request from a subscriber for a period of time after the one of the media programs has been delivered.

5 more elements

A media delivery center for delivery of media programs to users over a network, the media delivery center comprising:

a media receiving unit, the media receiving unit being configured to receive the media programs in a first format from one or more media sources;
a media platform, coupled to the media receiving unit and receiving the media programs therefrom, transforming the media programs in a second format suitable for transporting over the network;
a media storage device coupled to the media platform, said media storage device being configured to store at least one of the transformed media programs from the media platform;
and
a media management server, coupled to the media platform, configured to control the media platform how to transform the received media programs in the first format to the second format so that the transformed media programs can be optimally delivered over the network to the users, and configured to produce and deliver different program guides to different ones of the users depending on at least service packages associated with the users,
wherein the users are able to customize the one or more program guides that they receive from said media management server over the network and each of the program guides includes only a current time bar that is superimposed directly on those of the media programs identified in the program guide that are currently being delivered, and
wherein one of the transformed media programs that results from the media programs received is cached at the same time in a temporary space being managed by operations including at least:
determining if the temporary space has sufficient available capacity to cache the one of the media programs being delivered live from the media delivery center to a user, and discarding from the temporary space a media program that has been previously cached therein when the temporary space is determined to have insufficient available capacity to cache the one of the media programs being delivered live, whereby the one of the media programs being delivered live and cached can be delivered upon request from a user for a period of time after the one of the media programs has been delivered.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/595,848Filed 16 Jun 2000
Granted: 27 Jul 2004
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification20 codes

H04N 21/4854
End-user interface for client configuration: for modifying image parameters, e.g. image brightness, contrast
H04H 60/72
Systems specially adapted for using specific information, e.g. geographical or meteorological information: using electronic programme guides [EPG]
H04N 7/147
Between two video terminals, e.g. videophone: communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication,…
H04N 7/165
Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing: centralised control of user terminal ;…