Streaming and downloading of content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10225307-B2
Application number	US-201615390007-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 23, 2016
Priority date	Mar 1, 2013
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and software are described for providing content to a device comprising streaming content and sending content in a non-streaming manner (e.g., by downloading a file containing the content). In some aspects, switching between streaming and downloading may be performed in a dynamic manner during presentation of the content, and may be seamless to the user's viewing experience.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a first computing device comprising:
one or more first processors; and
first memory, the first memory storing first instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to:
stream first data representing at least a first portion of content to a second computing device, wherein the content comprises the first portion, a second portion, and a third portion;
send, at least partially during a same timeframe as the streaming, second data representing at least the second portion of the content to the second computing device; and
stop streaming the first data, based on an indication that a threshold amount of the second data has been sent; and

the second computing device comprising:
one or more second processors; and
second memory, the second memory storing second instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the second computing device to:
send the indication that the threshold amount of the second data has been sent, wherein the threshold amount corresponds to the first portion and the second portion.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the content includes at least some of the first portion of the content.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second data represents the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first data and the second data represent the content at a same level of video quality.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to receive a request from the second computing device for the content, and wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to stream the first data and send the second data by initiating, based on the request, streaming of the first data and sending of the second data.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to stream the first data by streaming the first data over a communication link to the second computing device, wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to:
determine an amount of usage of the communication link; and
determine, based on the determined amount of usage, whether to initiate sending of the second data, and
send the second data by initiating, based on determining that the sending is to be initiated, the sending.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to send the second data by uploading the second data to the second computing device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to stop the streaming by stopping the streaming while sending the second data, and wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to send the second data by continuing to send the second data.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the threshold amount is less than an entirety of the content.

10. A system comprising:
a first computing device comprising:
one or more first processors; and
first memory, the first memory storing first instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to:
stream first data representing at least a first portion of content over a communication link to a second computing device, wherein the content comprises the first portion, a second portion, and a third portion;
determine an amount of usage of the communication link;
determine, based on the determined amount of usage, whether to initiate sending second data;
send, based on determining that sending is to be initiated and at least partially during a same timeframe as the streaming, the second data representing at least the second portion of the content to the second computing device;
stop, during sending of the second data and based on an indication that a threshold amount of the second data has been sent, the streaming; and
continue the sending after stopping the streaming; and

the second computing device comprising:
one or more second processors; and
second memory, the second memory storing second instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the second computing device to:
send the indication that the threshold amount of the second data has been sent, wherein the threshold amount corresponds to the first portion and the second portion.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second portion of the content includes at least some of the first portion of the content.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second data represents both the first and second portions of the content.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to receive a request from the second computing device for the content, and wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to stream the first data and send the second data by initiating, based on the request, streaming of the first data and sending of the second data.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to send a value indicating the threshold amount to the second computing device.

15. A system comprising:
a first computing device comprising:
one or more first processors; and
first memory, the first memory storing first instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to:
send, over a communication link, first data representing at least a first portion of content to a second computing device;
determine an amount of usage of the communication link during the sending;
determine, based on the determined amount of usage, whether to initiate streaming; and
stream, to the second computing device and based on determining to initiate streaming, second data representing at least a second portion of the content

the second computing device comprising:
one or more second processors; and
second memory, the second memory storing second instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the second computing device to:
stop, after the streaming is initiated, the sending and to continue the streaming after the sending is stopped.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to determine a starting point within the content based upon how much of the content was sent during the sending, and wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to stream the second data by streaming the second data beginning at the determined starting point.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first instructions, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to:
send the first data by sending the first data over a first channel of the communication link;
determine the amount of usage by determining the a

Assignees

• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Bradley Bruce
• Knee Robert

Classifications

• H04N21/845

  Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments · CPC title

• H04N21/2407

  Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads (arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14) · CPC title

• H04N21/26216

  involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth (admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61) · CPC title

• H04L65/602 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N21/472

  End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content {(end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612)} · CPC title