System and method for a user interface to manage the recording, downloading and sharing of content from multiple sources

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9288539-B2
Application number	US-95482507-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2007
Priority date	Dec 12, 2007
Publication date	Mar 15, 2016
Grant date	Mar 15, 2016

Abstract

A system and method for a user interface to manage the recording, downloading and sharing of content from multiple sources are described. Various embodiments allow requesting content from a service provider by a user and receiving a user interface from the service provider, where the user interface indicates the availability of the content via multiple sources, and where the multiple sources include an Internet Protocol (IP) network, a broadcast service and a peer-to-peer network. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
controlling distribution of content to and amongst devices of multiple users, including,
selectively authorizing users to access content based on requests of the respective users, subscription-based access restrictions associated with the respective content, and subscription information associated with the respective users, and
selectively authorizing users to access content of devices of other users based on requests of the respective other users, subscription-based access restrictions associated with the respective content, and subscription information associated with the users to be authorized;

identifying one or more sources of authorized content for which a user is authorized to access from amongst devices of other users and one or more of a server and a distribution schedule of a content provider; and
configuring a user interface to permit the user to elect to receive the authorized content from each identified source of the authorized content;
wherein the content includes copies of content distributed by a content provider;
wherein distribution of content from the server to the devices of the user and distribution of content amongst the devices of the users is managed by a content redistribution service provider;
wherein one or more of the users has a subscription with the content provider;
wherein one or more of the users has a subscription with the content redistribution service provider; and
wherein the controlling distribution further includes authorizing the user to access content if the user has a subscription with at least one of the content provider and the content redistribution service provider and the content is included within the subscription.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the content includes copies of content distributed by a first content provider and copies of content distributed by a second content provider;
one or more of the users has a subscription with the first content provider;
one or more of the users has a subscription with the second content provider; and
the controlling distribution further includes authorizing the user to access content if the user has a subscription with at least one of the first and second content providers and the content is included within the subscription.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the selectively authorizing users to access content of devices of other users includes receiving a request from a first user to share selected content of a device of the first user with a second user and selectively authorizing the first user to access the selected content based on an access restriction associated with the selected content and subscription information associated with the first user; and
the identifying includes identifying a source of the selected content in addition to the device of the first user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuring includes configuring the user interface to permit the user to elect to receive the authorized content at a device of the user concurrently from each of multiple sources, and wherein the method further includes:
terminating transfer of the authorized content from a first user-elected source to the device of the user upon completion of transfer of the authorized content from a second user-elected source to the device of the user.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuring includes:
configuring the user interface to permit the user to elect to elect to record the authorized content from a scheduled broadcast of a content provider and to elect to receive the authorized content from one or more of the server over a packet-based network and a device of one or more other users over a packet-based peer-to-peer network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuring includes:
configuring the user interface to permit the user to elect to pay to access content if the user is not authorized to access the content and the content complies with a user-configurable subject matter restriction associated with the user.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, including instructions to cause a processor to:
control distribution of content to and amongst devices of multiple users, including to,
selectively authorize users to access content based on requests of the respective users, subscription-based access restrictions associated with the respective content, and subscription information associated with the respective users, and
selectively authorize users to access content of devices of other users based on requests of the respective other users, subscription-based access restrictions associated with the respective content, and subscription information associated with the users to be authorized;

identify one or more sources of authorized content for which a user is authorized to access from amongst devices of other users and one or more of a server and a distribution schedule of a content provider; and
configure a user interface to permit the user to elect to receive the authorized content from each identified source of the authorized content:
wherein the content includes copies of content distributed by a content provider;
wherein distribution of content from the server to the devices of the user and distribution of content amongst the devices of the users is controlled by a content redistribution service provider;
wherein one or more of the users has a subscription with the content provider;
wherein one or more of the users has a subscription with the content redistribution service provider; and
wherein the instructions include instructions to cause the processor to authorize the user to access content if the user has a subscription with at least one of the content provider and the content redistribution service provider and the content is included within the subscription.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein:
the content includes copies of content distributed by a first content provider and copies of content distributed by a second content provider;
one or more of the users has a subscription with the first content provider;
one or more of the users has a subscription with the second content provider; and
the instructions include instructions to cause the processor to authorize the user to access content if the user has a subscription with at least one of the first and second content providers and the content is included within the subscription.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further including instructions to cause the processor to:
receive a request from a first user to share selected content of a device of the first user with a second user;
selectively authorize the first user to access the selected content based on an access restriction associated with the selected content and subscription information associated with the first user; and
identify a source of the selected content in addition to the device of the first user.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further including instructions to cause the processor to:
configure the user interface to permit the user to elect to receive the authorized content at a device of the user concurrently from each of multiple sources; and
terminate transfer of the authorized content from a first user-elected source to the device of the user upon completion of transfer of the authorized content from a second user-elected source to the device of the user.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further including instructions to cause the processor to:
configure the user interface to permit the user to elect

Assignees

• Johnson Brian David
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Johnson Brian David

Classifications

• H04N21/8193

  dedicated tools, e.g. video decoder software or IPMP tool · CPC title

• G06F17/30017

  Physics · mapped topic

• H04N7/173

  with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal · CPC title

• H04N7/17318 Primary

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

• H04N21/235

  Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors · CPC title