System and method for adaptive segment prefetching of streaming media

A method of operation of a user device comprising:

• receiving a stream of a media item from a streaming media source;
• providing playback of the stream of the media item;
• obtaining one or more look-ahead segments of the media item, wherein the one or more look-ahead segments are one or more segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device selected based on information that describes content of the one or more look-ahead segments and wherein the information is not indicative of a location of the one or more look-ahead segments in the media item;
• and
• storing the one or more look-ahead segments in local storage of the user device;
• wherein obtaining the one or more look-ahead segments of the media item comprises:
• selecting the one or more look-ahead segments based on the information that describes the content of the one or more look-ahead segments;
• and
• prefetching the one or more look-ahead segments from the streaming media source:
• and
• wherein selecting the one or more look-ahead segments comprises selecting the one or more look-ahead segments based on the information that describes the content of the one or more look-ahead segments and a profile of a user of the user device obtained from a social networking service.

A user device comprising:

• a local storage;
• a communication interface communicatively coupling the user device to a streaming media source via a network;
• and
• a control system associated with the communication interface and adapted to:
• receive a stream of a media item from the streaming media source;
• provide playback of the stream of the media item;
• obtain one or more look-ahead segments of the media item, wherein the one or more look-ahead segments are one or more segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device selected based on information that describes content of the one or more look-ahead segments and wherein the information is not indicative of a location of the one or more look-ahead segments in the media item;
• and
• store the one or more look-ahead segments in the local storage of the user device;
• wherein in order to obtain the one or more look-ahead segments of the media item, the control system is further adapted to:
• select the one or more look-ahead segments based on the information that describes the content of the one or more look-ahead segments;
• and prefetch the one or more look-ahead segments from the streaming media source;
• and
• wherein in order to select the one or more look-ahead segments, the control system is further adapted to select the one or more look-ahead segments from a plurality of segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device based on a comparison of information describing content of the plurality of segments of the media item and user preferences of a user of the user device.

A method of operation of a streaming media source comprising:

• receiving a request for a media item from a user device via a network;
• streaming the media item to the user device via the network;
• selecting one or more segments of the media item as one or more look-ahead segments to push to the user device, wherein the one or more look-ahead segments are one or more segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device selected based on information that describes content of the one or more look-ahead segments and wherein the information is not indicative of a location of the one or more look-ahead segments in the media item;
• and
• pushing the one or more look-ahead segments to the user device via the network;
• wherein selecting the one or more look-ahead segments comprises selecting the one or more look-ahead segments from a plurality of segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device based on a comparison of information describing content of the plurality of segments of the media item and user preferences of a user of the user device.

A streaming media source comprising:

• one or more storage devices:
• a communication interface communicatively coupling the streaming media source to a user device via a network;
• and
• a control system associated with the communication interface and the one or more storage devices and adapted to:
• receive a request for a media item from the user device;
• stream the media item to the user device from the one or more storage devices;
• select one or more segments of the media item as one or more look-ahead segments to push to the user device, wherein the one or more look-ahead segments are one or more segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device selected based on information that describes content of the one or more look-ahead segments and wherein the information is not indicative of a location of the one or more look-ahead segments in the media item;
• and
• push the one or more look-ahead segments to the user device;
• wherein in order to select the one or more look-ahead segments, the control system is further adapted to select the one or more look-ahead segments from a plurality of segments of the media item that have not yet been streamed to the user device based on a comparison of information describing content of the plurality of segments of the media item and user preferences of a user of the user device.