Providing program restart functionality in a digital video network
US8312493B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 18, 2008 |
| Grant date | Nov 13, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 1, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/812
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A technique for providing program restart functionality in a digital video network involves receiving requests from different end-user devices to restart a program and servicing the program restart requests from the different end-user devices via a single broadcast stream. In an embodiment, program restart requests that are received within an established time interval, referred to as an aggregation interval, are serviced by the same broadcast stream. Additionally, during the aggregation interval and before the program restart begins, personalized content can be provided to the end-user devices via, for example, unicasting. Once the aggregation interval is over, all of the unicast streams are switched over to the same broadcast stream and the program broadcast is restarted. In an embodiment, a switch buffer is provided just before the restarted broadcast stream in order to ensure a smooth transition from each of the multiple unicast streams to the restarted broadcast stream.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.