Distributed on-demand media transcoding system and method

A method for delivering media content over a network, comprising:

• (a) transcoding the media content to generate a plurality of copies of the media content, each of said plurality of copies having a different destination type or a different source type or both;
• (b) storing said plurality of copies in a cache;
• (c) receiving requests for the media content;
• and
• (d) selecting and delivering a copy of one of said plurality of copies in response to each of said requests,
• (e) wherein said different destination type or different source type or both of said each of said plurality of copies having different:
• (1) file formats of the media content;
• (2) bit-rates of the media content;
• (3) communication protocols according to which the media content is transferred;
• (4) physical media on which the media content is stored;
• (5) encoding formats;
• (6) compression algorithms;
• (7) digital rights management information;
• or
• (8) combinations thereof.

A method for transcoding media content from a source type to a destination type, comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving a request for the media content;
• (b) fetching the media content;
• (c) selecting one of a plurality of transcoders for transcoding from a plurality of source types to a plurality of destination types, wherein said one transcoder is selected based on the source type and the destination type;
• (d) sending the media content to said selected transcoder;
• (e) transcoding the media content from the source type to the destination type, thereby generating transcoded media content;
• (f) transmitting said transcoded media content;
• and
• wherein the source type and the destination type are defined by at least digital rights management information.

A method for providing media content transcoding services, comprising;

• (a) fetching media content;
• (b) selecting one of a plurality of transcoders for transcoding from a plurality of source types to a plurality of destination types, wherein said one transcoder is selected based at least on the destination type;
• (c) sending the media content to said selected transcoder;
• (d) transcoding the media content to the destination type, thereby generating transcoded media content;
• and
• (e) transmitting said transcoded media content;
• and
• (f) wherein said selected one of said plurality of transcoders for transcoding from a source type to a destination type which have different digital rights management information.

A method for delivering media content, comprising:

• (a) transcoding the media content to generate a plurality of copies of the media content, each of said plurality of copies having a different destination type or a different source type or both;
• (b) storing said plurality of copies in a cache;
• (c) receiving requests for the media content;
• and
• (d) selecting and delivering a copy of one of said plurality of copies in response to each of said requests;
• (e) wherein said different destination type or different source the or both of said each of said plurality of copies having different digital rights management information.

A method for providing media content transcoding services, comprising:

• (a) fetching media content;
• (b) selecting one of a plurality of transcoders for transcoding from a plurality of source types to a plurality of destination types, wherein said one transcoder is selected based at least on the destination type;
• (c) sending the media content to said selected transcoder;
• (d) transcoding the media content to the destination type, thereby generating transcoded media content;
• and
• (e) transmitting said transcoded media content;
• and
• (f) wherein said selected one of said plurality of transcoders for transcoding from a source type to a destination type which have different digital rights management information.