Patent · US Active

Method and apparatus for workload management of a content on demand service

US7886056B2 · kind B2 · utility

11Cited by
14References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 25, 2006
Grant dateFeb 8, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 28, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L65/612
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and computer system for managing bandwidth in a content on demand service provided by a service provider to users. A request is received from a user to receive the content. If it is ascertained that a total number of users requesting the content within a predetermined time period is below a first specified threshold, then the user is connected to a unicast stream of the content. If it is ascertained that a total number of users requesting the content within a predetermined time period is not below a first specified threshold, then the user is connected to a first multicast stream of the content. A video carousel includes at least two multicast streams that contains the first multicast stream. Each multicast stream has been or will be initiated at a unique time slot of a time period that is equal to the time duration of the content.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.