Content distribution network selector
AssigneeThe DIRECTV Group, Inc.
InventorsMichael A. Makhijani, Thai Lam, Vishal Arya, Sunil A. Jethwani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for content delivery are disclosed. A content delivery system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention comprises a plurality of content delivery networks, and at least one network selector, wherein the at least one network selector analyzes a content delivery request, determines which content delivery networks in the plurality of content delivery networks are suitable for fulfilling the content delivery request, and selects one of the suitable content delivery networks to fulfill the content delivery request.
Claims21
A content delivery system, comprising:
- a plurality of content delivery networks, wherein each content delivery network comprises a service router and a plurality of content servers;
- and
- at least one network selector executed by a computer, wherein:
- the at least one network selector analyzes a content delivery request received from a set top box, wherein the content delivery request comprises a content identifier for data content being requested and a set top box identifier identifying the set top box;
- the at least one network selector determines which content delivery networks in the plurality of content delivery networks are suitable for fulfilling the content delivery request;
- the at least one network selector selects one of the suitable content delivery networks to fulfill the content delivery request to the set top box, wherein the selecting is based on the content identifier and the set top box identifier;
- the at least one network selector forwards the content delivery request to the service router in the selected suitable content delivery network, wherein the network selector acts as a transparent interface to both the set top box and the plurality of content delivery networks;
- based on the content delivery request, the service router in the selected suitable content delivery network selects one of the plurality of content servers to fulfill the content delivery request;
- and
- the set top box communicates directly with the selected content server to fulfill the content delivery request.
A method for delivering data from a plurality of content delivery networks, comprising:
- receiving, in a network selector, a content delivery request from a set top box, wherein the content delivery request comprises a content identifier for data content being requested and a set top box identifier identifying the set top box;
- analyzing, in the network selector, the content delivery request;
- determining, in the network selector, which content delivery networks in the plurality of content delivery networks are suitable for fulfilling the content delivery request;
- selecting, using the network selector, one of the suitable content delivery networks, wherein the selecting is based on the content identifier and the set top box identifier;
- forwarding, using the network selector, the content delivery request to a service router in the selected suitable content delivery network, wherein the service router selects one of a plurality of content servers in the selected suitable content delivery network to fulfill the content delivery request, wherein the network selector acts as a transparent interface to both the set top box and the plurality of content delivery networks;
- and
- fulfilling the content delivery request to the set top box with the selected one of the suitable content delivery networks, wherein the set top box communicates directly with the selected content server to fulfill the content delivery request.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.