Methods and apparatus to provide content on demand in content broadcast systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9485469-B2
Application number	US-201113179433-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2011
Priority date	May 15, 2006
Publication date	Nov 1, 2016
Grant date	Nov 1, 2016

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to provide content on demand in content broadcast systems are disclosed. An example method comprises receiving a first portion of a program via broadcast signal and receiving a second portion of the program via an Internet protocol (IP) based signal. The example method may further comprise combining the first and the second portions and at least one of store the combined first and second portions in a file or playback the combined first and second portions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for playing a media program having a plurality of data packets of a packet format at a user device, the method comprising the steps of:
accepting a command to view the media program in the user device;
receiving a beginning portion of the media program from a first source, the beginning portion of the media program having a first set of the plurality of data packets;
playing back the received beginning portion of the media program while receiving and recording an end portion of the media program in the user device from a second source, the end portion of the media program having a second set of the plurality of data packets, the first set of the plurality of data packets being encrypted with a same encryption key, a same codeword, or a same secret as the second set of the plurality of packets;
splicing the received end portion of the media program to the received beginning portion of the media program in the user device; and
after splicing the received end portion, playing back the spliced received end portion of the media program after playing back the received beginning portion of the media program;
wherein only one of the first set of the plurality of data packets and the second set of the plurality of data packets is received from a broadcast headend via a broadcast signal and the other of the first set of the plurality of data packets and the second set of data packets includes an Internet Protocol (IP) header and is received from a content delivery server operated by a vendor external to and different than the broadcast headend via an IP-based communication signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an IP address of the IP-based communication signal from the broadcast headend; and
the IP based communication signal is received via the received IP address.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IP address is a multicast address.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
each of the plurality of data packets comprises a respective sequence number; and
splicing the received end portion of the media program to the received beginning portion of the media program in the user device comprises assembling the plurality of data packets according to the respective sequence numbers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
storing the spliced beginning and end portions in a file.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
in response to a non-user initiated interruption of reception of a portion of the media program received from the broadcast headend, sending a request for a third portion of the media program;
receiving the third portion of the media program via the IP-based communication signal in response to the request, wherein the third portion of the media program comprises information not received via the broadcast headend due to the non-user initiated interruption of the reception of the media program; and
splicing the third portion of the media program to the portion of the media program received via the broadcast headend.

7. A non-transitory article of manufacture storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause a user device to:
accept a command to view a media program in the user device, the media program having a plurality of data packets of a packet format;
receive a beginning portion of the media program from a first source, the beginning portion of the media program having a first set of the plurality of data packets;
play back the received beginning portion of the media program while receiving and recording an end portion of the media program in the user device from a second source, the end portion of the media program having a second set of the plurality of data packets, the first set of the plurality of data packets being encrypted with a same encryption key, a same codeword, or a same secret as the second set of the plurality of packets;
splice the received end portion of the media program to the received beginning portion of the media program in the user device; and
after the splice, play back the spliced received end portion of the media program after playing back the received beginning portion of the media program;
wherein only one of the first set of the plurality of data packets and second set of the plurality of data packets is received from a the first source via a broadcast signal and the other of the first set of the plurality of data packets and the second set of the plurality of data packets includes an Internet Protocol (IP) header and is received from the second source via an IP-based communication signal
wherein the second source is operated by a vendor external to and different than the first source.

8. The non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving an IP address of the IP-based communication signal from the first source; and
the IP based communication signal is received via the received IP address.

9. The non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 7 , wherein the IP address is a multicast address.

10. The non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 7 , wherein:
each of the plurality of data packets comprises a respective sequence number; and
splicing the received end portion of the media program to the received beginning portion of the media program in the user device comprises assembling the plurality of data packets according to the respective sequence numbers.

11. The non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 7 , further comprising:
storing the spliced beginning and end portions in a file.

12. The non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 7 , wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, cause the computer to:
detect a non-user initiated interruption of reception of the portion of the media program received from the broadcast headend; and
send a request for a third portion of the media program in response to the detected non-user initiated interruption of the reception of the portion of the media program received from the first source; and
receive the third portion of the media program from the second source and via the IP based communication signal in response to the request, wherein the third portion of the media program comprises information not received via the first source due to the non-user initiated interruption of the media program; and
splice the third portion of the media program to the portion of the media program received via the first source.

13. An apparatus comprising:
a means for accepting a command to view a media program having a plurality of data packets of a packet format;
a first interface for receiving a beginning portion of the media program from a first source, the beginning portion of the media program having a first set of the plurality of data packets;
a second interface for receiving an end portion of the media program from a second source, the end portion of the media program having a second set of the plurality of data packets, the first set of the plurality of data packets being encrypted with a same encryption key, a same codeword, or a same secret as the second set of the plurality of packets;
a display module for playing back the received beginning portion of the media program while receiving and recording the end portion of the media program in a storage device from the second source, for splicing the received end portion of the media program to the received beginning portion of the media program in the user device, and after the splicing, for playing back the received end portion of the media program after playing back the received beginning portion of the media program;
wherein

Assignees

• Kahn Raynold M
• Klauss Peter M
• Dulac Stephen P
• Directv Group Inc

Inventors

• Kahn Raynold M
• Klauss Peter M
• Dulac Stephen P

Classifications

• H04N21/8355

  involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed · CPC title

• H04N7/17318 Primary

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

• H04N21/4627

  Rights management {associated to the content (security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08)} · CPC title

• H04N21/6143

  involving transmission via a satellite · CPC title

• H04N21/4623

  Processing of entitlement messages, e.g. ECM [Entitlement Control Message] or EMM [Entitlement Management Message] {(arrangements for conditional access to broadcast information or to broadcast-related services H04H60/14)} · CPC title