Providing streamed content responsive to request

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10567822-B2
Application number	US-201615736943-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2016
Priority date	Jun 15, 2015
Publication date	Feb 18, 2020
Grant date	Feb 18, 2020

Abstract

There is disclosed a server for providing content, the server being configured to: receive a request defining one or more characteristics of content; access content from a plurality of content sources; and determine content responsive to the request in dependence on the accessed content.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A server for providing content, the server being configured to:
receive a viewing request for desired content from a content viewing device, the viewing request for desired content defining one or more characteristics of the desired content;
identify a plurality of capture devices which are likely candidates for fulfilling the viewing request for the desired content based on the characteristics of the desired content;
transmit a capture request for captured content to the identified plurality of capture devices;
receive captured content from at least one of the plurality of capture devices;
determine content to be delivered responsive to the viewing request in dependence on the received captured content, by comparing the received captured content to the one or more characteristics of the desired content; and
transmit the content to be delivered to the content viewing device.

2. The server of claim 1 further configured to receive feedback relating to the content to be delivered from the viewing device in receipt of the content to be delivered.

3. The server of claim 2 further configured to determine the content to be delivered additionally in dependence on the feedback.

4. The server of claim 2 wherein the feedback provides an evaluation of a capture device contributing to the content to be delivered to the content viewing device.

5. The server of claim 1 , wherein the received captured content is streamed content and the content to be delivered is configured to be transmitted as a single stream.

6. The server of claim 1 wherein the server determines the plurality of capture devices most likely to be associated with the characteristics of the viewing request.

7. The server of claim 6 wherein the server determines the plurality of content sources further in dependence on previous content received at the server from the plurality of content sources.

8. The server of claim 1 wherein the viewing request defines a time period for which the desired content is requested.

9. The server of claim 1 wherein the viewing request defines an event for which the desired content is requested.

10. The server of claim 1 wherein the viewing request is received from a rights holder, the determined content to be delivered to the viewing device being rights holder content.

11. The server of claim 1 wherein the server maintains the viewing request as pending if the viewing request cannot be fulfilled.

12. The server of claim 1 wherein the server maintains the viewing request as pending if the request is fulfilled, to further deliver content from additional capture devices based on the viewing request.

13. The server of claim 1 wherein the plurality of capture devices are a plurality of user devices.

14. The server of claim 1 further configured to, responsive to receipt of a viewing request for desired content from a content viewing device:
access stored content; and
further determine content to be delivered responsive to the viewing request in dependence on the stored content, by comparing the stored content to the one or more characteristics of the desired content.

15. The server of claim 1 further configured to, responsive to receipt of a viewing request for desired content from a content viewing device:
access live streams of content; and
further determine content to be delivered responsive to the viewing request in dependence on the accessed live streams of content, by comparing the accessed live streams of content to the one or more characteristics of the desired content.

16. A method for providing content, the method comprising:
receiving a viewing request for desired content from a content viewing device, the viewing request for desired content defining one or more characteristics of the desired content;
identifying a plurality of capture devices which are likely candidates for fulfilling the viewing request for the desired content based on the characteristics of the desired content;
transmitting a capture request for captured content to the identified plurality of capture devices;
receiving captured content from at least one of the plurality of content capture devices;
determining content to be delivered responsive to the viewing request in dependence on the received captured content, by comparing the received captured content to the one or more characteristics of the desired content; and
transmitting the content to be delivered to the content viewing device.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
receiving feedback relating to the content to be delivered from the viewing device in receipt of the content to be delivered.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
determining the plurality of capture devices most likely to be associated with characteristics of the viewing request in dependence on previous content received at the server from the plurality of capture devices, wherein the capture request is transmitted to the determined capture devices.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to provide content, the providing of content comprising:
receiving a viewing request for desired content from a content viewing device, the viewing request for desired content defining one or more characteristics of the desired content;
identifying a plurality of capture devices which are likely candidates for fulfilling the viewing require for the desired content based on the characteristics of the desired content;
transmitting a capture request for captured content to the identified plurality of capture devices;
receiving the captured content from at least one of the plurality of capture devices;
determining content to be delivered responsive to the viewing request in dependence on the received captured content, by comparing the received captured content to the one or more characteristics of the desired content; and
transmitting the content to be delivered to the content viewing device.

Assignees

• Piksel Inc

Inventors

• Shaw Philip
• Heiland Peter
• Everett Sean
• Tilmann Ralf Wilhelm
• Maas Hans-Jurgen
• Weaver Miles

Classifications

• H04N21/2668

  Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles {(information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063)} · CPC title

• H04N21/21805

  enabling multiple viewpoints, e.g. using a plurality of cameras · CPC title

• H04N21/44204

  Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31) · CPC title

• H04N21/44029

  for generating different versions · CPC title

• H04N21/8186

  specially adapted to be executed by a peripheral of the client device, e.g. by a reprogrammable remote control · CPC title