Contextually aware management of resources

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016255397-A1
Application number	US-201514634666-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 27, 2015
Priority date	Feb 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for providing contextually aware management of resources. Recorded content items are deleted from or added to a storage device depending on the availability of alternate resources sharing the content items and/or other contextual information. For example, if a storage device of a DVR has reached a threshold with respect to a storage capacity and/or other conditions develop, configurations disclosed herein analyze the content items stored in the DVR to determine if the content items are provided by an on-demand resource. If one or more stored content items are available on at least one on-demand resource, the system may delete the one or more content items from the DVR and generate a link to access the one or more content items from the on-demand resource. The link and a description of the one or more content items may then be added to the cross-platform programming playlist.

First claim

1 . A computer, comprising:
a processor; and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the processor, the computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the processor, cause the computer to
receive contextual data defining user activity, a consumption preference, a status of a device or an account status;
determine when stored video data is to be deleted from or added to a digital video recorder based, at least in part, on the contextual data;
when it is determined that the stored video data is to be added to the digital video recorder,
select at least one content item from a playlist,
cause a recording of video data associated with the at least one content item, and
obtain a link providing access to the recorded video data associated with the at least one content item; and

when it is determined that the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder,
determine when an on-demand resource shares a content item associated with the stored video data,
cause the digital video recorder to delete at least a portion of the stored video data of the content item when it is determined that the on-demand resource shares the content item associated with the stored video data, and
obtain a link for accessing streaming video data of the content item from the on-demand resource.

2 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the status of the device indicates the device has exceeded a storage capacity, and wherein determining when the stored video data is to be deleted from or added to the digital video recorder is further based on the status of the device.

3 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the contextual data indicates a change with respect to the account status associated with the on-demand resource, and wherein determining when the stored video data is to be deleted from or added to the digital video recorder is further based on the account status.

4 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the contextual data indicates a change with respect to a rate structure associated with services provided by the on-demand resource, and wherein determining when the stored video data is to be deleted from or added to the digital video recorder is further based on the rate structure.

5 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium has further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the processor, cause the computer to integrate the link into the playlist, and wherein the link provides a control associated with the playlist to invoke a viewing session of the streaming video data from the on-demand resource.

6 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the contextual data indicates a rate associated with services provided by the on-demand resource, and wherein it is determined that the stored video data is to be deleted from or added to the digital video recorder when the rate meets a threshold defined by the consumption preference.

7 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein determining when the on-demand resource shares one or more content items associated with the stored video data is based on a permission, a video quality, a delivery method, or at least one playback feature.

8 . A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:
receiving contextual data defining user activity, a consumption preference, a status of a device or an account status; determining when stored video data is to be deleted from a digital video recorder based, at least in part, on the contextual data; when it is determined that the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder,
determining when an on-demand resource shares one or more content items associated with the stored video data, and
when it is determined that the on-demand resource shares the one or more content items associated with the stored video data,
causing a selection of an individual content item from the one or more content items,
causing the digital video recorder to delete at least a portion of the stored video data associated with the individual content item, and
obtaining a link for accessing streaming video data associated with the individual content item from the on-demand resource.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the status of the device indicates the device has exceeded a storage capacity, and wherein determining when the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder is further based on the status of the device.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the contextual data indicates a change with respect to the account status associated with the on-demand resource, and wherein determining when the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder is further based on the account status.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
when it is determined that the on-demand resource does not share the one or more content items associated with the stored video data,
causing a selection of the individual content item from the one or more content items,
causing an alternative processing, including a soft delete or a move, with at least a portion of the stored video data associated with the individual content item.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising integrating the link into the playlist, and wherein the link provides a control associated with the playlist to invoke a viewing session of the streaming video data from the on-demand resource.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the contextual data indicates a rate associated with services provided by the on-demand resource, and wherein it is determined that the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder when the rate meets a threshold defined by the consumption preference.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein determining when the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder is further based on one or more conditions defined in the consumption preference.

15 . A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
receive contextual data defining user activity, a consumption preference, a status of a device or an account status; determine when stored video data is to be deleted from a storage device based, at least in part, on the contextual data; when it is determined that the stored video data is to be deleted from the storage device, determine when an on-demand resource shares one or more content items associated with the stored video data, and cause a selection of an individual content item from the one or more content items, when it is determined that the on-demand resource shares the one or more content items associated with the stored video data, cause the storage device to delete at least a portion of the stored video data associated with the individual content item, when it is determined that the on-demand resource shares the one or more content items associated with the stored video data, and obtain a link for accessing streaming video data associated with the individual content item from the on-demand resource, when it is determined that the on-demand resource shares the one or more content items associated with the stored video data.

16 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the status of the device indicates the device has exceeded a storage capacity, and wherein determ

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Langan Thomas A
• Walther Dan E
• Hao Ying
• Chauvin Joseph
• Mishra Shailendra
• Rathee Nitin
• Speicher Ashley C
• Healey Cory J
• Fang Nicholas J

Classifications

• H04N7/17318

  Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests · CPC title

• H04N21/4335 Primary

  Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions {(storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90)} · CPC title

• H04N21/4668

  for recommending content, e.g. movies · CPC title

• H04N21/4516

  involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available · CPC title

• H04N21/4334

  Recording operations (recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27) · CPC title