Out-of-band signaling and device-based content control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10038927-B2
Application number	US-201113334401-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2011
Priority date	Dec 22, 2011
Publication date	Jul 31, 2018
Grant date	Jul 31, 2018

Abstract

Systems and methods for performing content control in a mobile network using an out-of-band signaling channel are disclosed. In one embodiment, content control may be performed on a network device by collecting usage data for media consumption and caching from a mobile device via an out-of-band channel; receiving the usage data at an intermediate device via the out-of-band channel; building a predictive user profile based on the usage data; determining a schedule for downloading content from one or more media servers based on at least the predictive user profile; and sending instructions to perform one of time-shifting or pre-positioning to the one or more media servers according to the schedule for downloading content via an out-of-band channel.

First claim

We claim:

1. A network device to control content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the network device comprising:
one or more computer processors;
a memory;
a first interface for communication with a mobile device via a first out-of-band channel;
a second interface for communication with one or more media servers via a second out-of-band channel; and
a signaling coordinator function in communication with the mobile device via the first interface and in communication with the one or more media servers via the second interface, the signaling coordinator function configured to:
receive, via the first interface, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device from the mobile device after a user delay; and
generate, based on the media consumption data, one of prefetching, caching or downloading instructions for content at the one or more media servers, wherein the instructions are sent to the one or more media servers via the second interface, whereafter the content is transferred to the mobile device based on the instructions, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data;

wherein the first out-of-band channel and the second out-of-band channel are configured to use a protocol that is different from a protocol used to deliver the content via the in-band channel to the mobile device.

2. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to be in communication via the second interface with one or more advertising media servers for providing advertising content to the mobile device.

3. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to send instructions to the mobile device regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files.

4. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the signaling coordinator function is configured to send instructions based on the media consumption data to the mobile device to download specific media files during periods of relative network inactivity.

5. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the protocol used over the second out-of-band channel is one of extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS), Diameter, and extensible markup language (XML).

6. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is a user equipment (UE) and the mobile device is in communication with the one or more media servers via a long term evolution (LTE) mobile network.

7. A computer-implemented method to control content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, at an intermediate device and from a mobile device via an out-of-band channel, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device after a user delay, wherein the out-of-band channel and the in-band channel are configured to use different protocols;
building a predictive user profile based on the media consumption data rather than the media transfer data;
determining, by operation of one or more computer processors and based on at least the predictive user profile, a schedule for downloading content from one or more media servers; and
generating, based on the schedule for downloading content, instructions to perform at least one of time-shifting and pre-positioning of the content at the one or more media servers, wherein the instructions are sent to the one or more media servers via the out-of-band channel, whereafter the time-shifted or pre-positioned content is transferred to the mobile device via at least the in-band channel, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:
collecting additional usage data for advertising consumption; and
sending instructions to download advertisements to the mobile device to one or more advertising servers via the out-of-band channel.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising sending instructions to the mobile device via the out-of-band channel regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising selecting a network device for caching media files for a user based on the predictive user profile and based on a network distance from the mobile device to the network device.

11. One or more non-transitory tangible media that include code executable to perform an operation to control content delivery based on out-of-band signaling and media consumption data rather than media transfer data, the operation comprising:
receiving, at an intermediate device and from a mobile device via an out-of-band channel, media consumption data specifying a time at which a media file, transferred to the mobile device via an in-band channel at an earlier point in time as specified by media transfer data, was subsequently watched by a user of the mobile device after a user delay, wherein the out-of-band channel and the in-band channel are configured to use different protocols;
building a predictive user profile based on the media consumption data rather than the media transfer data;
determining, by operation of one or more computer processors when executing the code, and based on at least the predictive user profile, a schedule for downloading content from one or more media servers; and
generating, based on the schedule for downloading content, instructions to perform at least one of time-shifting and pre-positioning of the content at the one or more media servers, wherein the instructions are sent to the one or more media servers via the out-of-band channel, whereafter the time-shifted or pre-positioned content is transferred to the mobile device via at least the in-band channel, wherein the content is delivered to the mobile device based on the media consumption data in order to assess content delivery needs with a reduced measure of misalignment as compared to delivering the content based on media transfer data.

12. The one or more non-transitory tangible media of claim 11 , the operation further comprising:
collecting additional usage data for advertising consumption; and
sending instructions to download advertisements to the mobile device to one or more advertising servers via the out-of-band channel.

13. The one or more non-transitory tangible media of claim 11 , the operation further comprising sending instructions to the mobile device via the out-of-band channel regarding an expiration schedule for cached media files.

14. The one or more non-transitory tangible media of claim 11 , the operation further comprising selecting a network device for caching media files for a user based on the predictive user profile and based on a network distance from the mobile device to the network device.

15. A compute

Assignees

• Shatzkamer Kevin
• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Shatzkamer Kevin

Classifications

• H04N21/4331

  Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback · CPC title

• H04N21/262 Primary

  Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists {(scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62)} · CPC title

• H04N21/6582

  Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number (arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38) · CPC title

• H04N21/44222

  Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programmes or purchase activity (monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33) · CPC title

• H04N21/25891

  being end-user preferences (retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18) · CPC title