US20150215680A1 - Method and apparatus for providing video on demand - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for providing video on demand Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20150215680A1
US20150215680A1 US14/678,649 US201514678649A US2015215680A1 US 20150215680 A1 US20150215680 A1 US 20150215680A1 US 201514678649 A US201514678649 A US 201514678649A US 2015215680 A1 US2015215680 A1 US 2015215680A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
content
user
message
content provider
media stream
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US14/678,649
Inventor
Michel Khouderchah
Chandrasekar Krishnamurthy
John Ellis
Jan Medved
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Cisco Technology Inc
Original Assignee
Cisco Technology Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Cisco Technology Inc filed Critical Cisco Technology Inc
Priority to US14/678,649 priority Critical patent/US20150215680A1/en
Publication of US20150215680A1 publication Critical patent/US20150215680A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/647Control signaling between network components and server or clients; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients, e.g. controlling the quality of the video stream, by dropping packets, protecting content from unauthorised alteration within the network, monitoring of network load, bridging between two different networks, e.g. between IP and wireless
    • H04N21/64784Data processing by the network
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/21Server components or server architectures
    • H04N21/222Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end
    • H04N21/2221Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end being a cable television head-end
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/231Content storage operation, e.g. caching movies for short term storage, replicating data over plural servers, prioritizing data for deletion
    • H04N21/23109Content storage operation, e.g. caching movies for short term storage, replicating data over plural servers, prioritizing data for deletion by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/234Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs
    • H04N21/2343Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements
    • H04N21/234309Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or from Quicktime to Realvideo
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/234Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs
    • H04N21/2347Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs involving video stream encryption
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/238Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. adapting the transmission rate of a video stream to network bandwidth; Processing of multiplex streams
    • H04N21/2387Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/239Interfacing the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. prioritizing client content requests
    • H04N21/2393Interfacing the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. prioritizing client content requests involving handling client requests
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/254Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server
    • H04N21/2543Billing, e.g. for subscription services
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/258Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
    • H04N21/25866Management of end-user data
    • H04N21/25891Management of end-user data being end-user preferences
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/472End-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
    • H04N21/47202End-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 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/637Control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components
    • H04N21/6377Control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components directed to server
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/643Communication protocols
    • H04N21/6437Real-time Transport Protocol [RTP]
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/647Control signaling between network components and server or clients; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients, e.g. controlling the quality of the video stream, by dropping packets, protecting content from unauthorised alteration within the network, monitoring of network load, bridging between two different networks, e.g. between IP and wireless
    • H04N21/64707Control signaling between network components and server or clients; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients, e.g. controlling the quality of the video stream, by dropping packets, protecting content from unauthorised alteration within the network, monitoring of network load, bridging between two different networks, e.g. between IP and wireless for transferring content from a first network to a second network, e.g. between IP and wireless
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/63Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
    • H04N21/647Control signaling between network components and server or clients; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients, e.g. controlling the quality of the video stream, by dropping packets, protecting content from unauthorised alteration within the network, monitoring of network load, bridging between two different networks, e.g. between IP and wireless
    • H04N21/64715Protecting content from unauthorized alteration within the network
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/654Transmission by server directed to the client
    • H04N21/6543Transmission by server directed to the client for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/658Transmission by the client directed to the server
    • H04N21/6581Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/658Transmission by the client directed to the server
    • H04N21/6582Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/658Transmission by the client directed to the server
    • H04N21/6587Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00Television systems
    • H04N7/16Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/167Systems rendering the television signal unintelligible and subsequently intelligible
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00Television systems
    • H04N7/16Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/173Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
    • H04N7/17309Transmission or handling of upstream communications
    • H04N7/17336Handling of requests in head-ends

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to systems and methods for providing content to users over networks, and in particular to a method and system for using a session border controller to facilitate providing the content.
  • a session border controller is a piece of network equipment or a collection of functions that control real-time session traffic at the signaling, call-control, and packet layers as they cross a notional packet-to-packet network border between networks or between network segments.
  • An SBC may consolidate interconnect points, provide and enforce QoS metrics, interwork between protocols, and provide a more secure connection for intersite calling. SBCs may address the inability of real-time session traffic to cross network address translation (NAT) device or firewall boundaries.
  • NAT network address translation
  • Multimedia content such as video on demand (VOD) may be requested and controlled using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) as a signaling protocol.
  • the content may be delivered using real-time transport protocol (RTP), a protocol for the transport of real-time data, such as audio and video.
  • RTP real-time transport protocol
  • SIP session initiation protocol
  • a session border controller includes a first port to communicate with a user using a first signaling protocol, a second port to communicate with a content provider using a second signaling protocol, and a controller.
  • the controller may send a PLAY message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user.
  • the controller may further receive a first media stream including the content arid content provider information from the content provider.
  • the controller may further create a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information, and deliver the second media stream to the user.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system that includes an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram that illustrates a set of operations by an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a diagram that illustrates another set of operations by an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart for a method that embodies of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a flowchart for another method that embodies of the invention.
  • FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts for other methods that embodies of the invention.
  • FIG. 1 shows a multi-network system with a session border controller (SBC) 100 to interconnect the networks 102 - 110 .
  • SBC session border controller
  • the interconnected networks may be of any of a variety types as known in the art.
  • terminal devices such as wired telephones 120 - 122 , wireless telephones and personal digital assistants 123 , 124 , and personal computers 125 .
  • the terminal devices may include audio only devices, video only devices, and audio/video devices of a variety types as known in the art.
  • Terminal devices may be connected by any of a variety of means such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 130 , digital subscriber line (DSL), broadband cable, Ethernet 132 , cellular networks, general packet radio service (GPRS), IP (internet protocol) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 134, and WIMAX networks 136 using IEEE 802.16 wireless standards.
  • PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
  • DSL digital subscriber line
  • Ethernet 132 cellular networks
  • GPRS general packet radio service
  • IMS Internet protocol Multimedia Subsystem
  • WIMAX networks using IEEE 802.16 wireless standards.
  • An analog telephone adapter (ATA) 138 may be used to interconnect an analog terminal device to a digital connection.
  • a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) gateway 137 may be used to convert time division multiplexed (TDM) traffic to VOIP.
  • a wireless local area network (LAN) access point 139 may be used to connect wireless terminal devices.
  • An aggregation router 140 may connect a number of the networks 130 - 136 for the terminal devices 120 - 125 to a high speed network 102 that is connected to the SBC 100 .
  • the SBC 100 may be part of a service network 150 maintained by a service provider.
  • the SBC 100 may interconnect a variety of servers that cooperate to provide service to users via their terminal devices 120 - 125 .
  • the service network 150 may include session initiation protocol (SIP) servers 152 that provide proxy, registrar, redirect, and location database services.
  • the service network 150 may further include bandwidth manager servers 154 to select and control the network resources to manage the traffic on the network.
  • the service network 150 may further include database servers 156 that provide user service profiles and content directories.
  • the service network 150 may further include billing servers 158 to collect billing records used to bill users for the services provided by the service network.
  • the service network 150 may be providing multimedia content such as streaming audio and video, audio and video on demand.
  • the service network 150 may include local content servers 160 that provide multimedia content maintained by the service provider.
  • the content servers may by controlled using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) and multimedia content may be delivered using real-time transport protocol (RTP).
  • RTSP real-time stream protocol
  • RTP real-time transport protocol
  • the service network 150 may provide access to additional multimedia content acquired from content networks 170 , 180 , 190 that are maintained by content providers not under the control of the service provider.
  • These content networks may include authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) servers 172 , 182 , 192 to control access to the content and accumulate charges for the use of the content.
  • AAA authentication, authorization, and accounting
  • These content networks may further include content servers 174 , 184 , 194 that provide multimedia content maintained by the content providers.
  • Theses content servers like the local content server 160 , may by controlled using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) and multimedia content may be delivered using real-time transport protocol (RTP).
  • RTSP real-time stream protocol
  • RTP real-time transport protocol
  • the SBC 100 provides the interconnect between the content servers 174 , 184 , 194 maintained by content providers and the service network
  • the SBC 100 is in a position to orchestrate delivery of multimedia content from a content server 160 , 174 , 184 , 194 to a user terminal device 120 - 125 .
  • an SBC 100 may include two or more ports 204 - 207 that may be connected to two or more networks ( 102 - 110 as shown in FIG. 1 ) and a processor 200 to transfer messages received on one port to another port.
  • a first port 204 may communicate with a user
  • the SBC 100 may include a memory 202 coupled to the processor 200 .
  • the memory 202 may be used by the processor to store or buffer messages or portions thereof, state information derived from processing activities, program instructions that control the operation of the processor, and other data used to carry out the operations of the processor.
  • the SBC 100 may receive a first selection message 300 for a content from the user 124 .
  • the first selection message may be an instant-message that uses the session initiation protocol (SIP).
  • the SBC 100 may send a message to a database server 156 with the user's content selection 302 .
  • the database server 156 may provide the SBC 100 with a location for the content selected by the user 304 .
  • the SBC 100 may interact with the server of the content provider 174 that has the content selected by the user 304 .
  • the SBC 100 may send a DESCRIBE request that includes the media filename to the content provider 174 and receive an associated response.
  • the SBC 100 may send a second selection message for the content 306 , such as a SETUP request, to the content provider 174 .
  • the messages between the SBC 100 and the content provider may be transmitted using real-time stream protocol (RTSP).
  • RTSP real-time stream protocol
  • the SBC 100 may transcode the first selection message and combine it with other information such as the location for the content as provided by the database server to generate the second selection message.
  • the SBC 100 may send a MESSAGE asking the user to wait 308 to indicate that the content request has been received and is being processed.
  • the SBC 100 may maintain a state for the first port 204 , which is connected to the user.
  • the state may be maintained in the memory 202 of the SBC 100 .
  • the state may be used with the received messages to generate the messages to be sent.
  • the SBC 100 provides stateful internetworking in which the transcoding may depend both on the message received and a state determined by preceding messages received or sent that relate to the first port.
  • the SBC 100 may receive a reply message 310 from the content provider 174 in response to the second selection message when the requested content is ready to be transmitted.
  • the SBC 100 may transcode
  • the reply message may include information that identifies the content provider or the location of the content. Messages generated by the SBC 100 to be sent to the user may hide information that would identify the content provider, the location of the content, and/or that interworking of signaling protocols is occurring. Hiding information may make certain attacks on the content provider more difficult to initiate.
  • the state maintained by the-SBC 100 may preserve information hidden from the users so that it may be used to generate and send messages to the content provider on behalf of the user.
  • the SBC 100 may receive an ACK message 314 from the user when the user is prepared to receive the requested content.
  • the SBC 100 may send a PLAY request 316 to the content provider 174 after receiving the ACK message, to begin the delivery of the content.
  • the SBC 100 may further send a billing record 318 to a billing server 158 to provide a record of the start of a request for content.
  • the content provider 174 may send a reply message for the PLAY request 320 to the SBC 100 when the content is ready to be delivered.
  • the SBC 100 may receive a first media stream 322 from the content provider 174 .
  • the first media stream 322 may include the content and content provider information.
  • the SBC 100 may create a second media stream 324 that includes the content without the content provider information and deliver the second media stream to the user 124 .
  • the second media stream 324 may or may not use the same format as the first media stream 322 . If the second media stream 324 uses a different format than the first media stream 322 , the SBC 100 may transcode the first media stream from a first format to a second format for the second media stream.
  • the SBC 100 may select the content provider from a plurality of content providers, each of which has the requested content.
  • the content provider may be chosen by the SBC 100 according to a local policy such that the first media stream provided by the content provider has a first format that is easiest to transcode to the second format. Easiest to transcode may mean that the transcoding take the least time to transcode of the available formats or it may be judged as easiest by another metric such as processing resources required.
  • Selection of content provider may also include selecting from a plurality of content locations having different formats where the content locations are controlled by the same content provider.
  • the SBC 100 may receive an encryption key for the requested content from the content provider 174 and/or from a database server 156 that may provide local policy information on content distribution.
  • the SBC 100 may encrypt the first media stream 322 with the encryption key to create the second media stream 324 if the first port 204 is connected to an untrusted access network 102 . If the first port is connected to a trusted access network, the SBC 100 may transmit the second media stream 324 in the clear and avoid the overhead of using encrypted content when not required.
  • Some content may be provided by the content provider 174 in an encrypted format.
  • the SBC 100 may use the encryption key from the content provider 174 to decrypt the content before transcoding the first media stream 322 to create the second media stream 324 .
  • the SBC may re-encrypt the second media stream 324 prior to delivery to the user using either an encryption key provided by the content provider 174 or an encryption key maintained by the network service provider. Encryption keys maintained by the network service provider may be provided to the SBC by a local server 156 .
  • the user 124 may send one or more messages with playback control requests 326 to the SBC 100 .
  • the SBC may transcode the playback control requests 328 and send the request to the content provider 174 .
  • Playback control messages may provide for actions such as pause, rewind, and fast forward.
  • the content provider may provide an acknowledgment of the playback control 330 to the SBC 100 .
  • the SBC may or may not provide a transcoded acknowledgment to the user 124 .
  • the user 124 may send a Bye message 332 or otherwise signal a termination of the request for the content to the SBC 100 .
  • the SBC 100 may then send a teardown message 334 to the content provider 174 .
  • the SBC 100 may further send a billing record 336 to a billing server 158 to provide a record of the end of the request for content.
  • the SBC 100 may create one or more detail billing records 318 , 336 in response to the transactions between the user 124 and the content provider 174 .
  • a detail billing record may include an identifier of the content provider, a content type indicator, and/or associated statistics.
  • the associated statistics may include number of packets sent/received, jitter, and/or latency. The associated statistics may be as measured by the SBC 100 and/or captured from RTCP statistics generated by the endpoints.
  • the SBC may send detail billing records to a billing server 158 .
  • the detail billing records created by the SBC 100 may be compared to reported statistics provided by endpoints.
  • the SBC 100 may include the comparison information in the detail billing records sent to the billing server 158 .
  • the user Prior to accepting a selection message 300 for a content from the user 124 , the user may need to complete authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) transactions before accessing content through the service provider network 150 .
  • the user 124 may initially send an INVITE message 338 to the SBC 100 signaling a desire to access content.
  • the SBC 100 may send a message 340 to a database server 156 with the user's identifying information.
  • the SBC 100 may send a trying message 342 to indicate that the access request has been received and is being processed.
  • the database server 156 may provide the SBC 100 with a menu for content based on the user's profile 344 . This may allow the SBC 100 to determine what format to use for messages to be delivered to the user 124 . For example, the user may have a profile that indicates that the user's terminal device is audio only; the SBC 100 would then transcode messages to deliver than in a format suitable for audio only presentation. The user 124 may send a selection for content from the menu 300 to the SBC 100 which the SBC obtains and delivers to the user as previously described.
  • the SBC 100 may push content to a user 124 as an alternative to providing content in response to a user request.
  • the SBC 100 may push content that is unsolicited by the user, such as content delivered at the request of the service provider, a content provider, or a third party, or content that is delivered in response to some user action other than an explicit request for content.
  • the SBC 100 may begin by exchanging messages 400 , 402 with the database server 156 to locate the content to be delivered to the user.
  • the SBC 100 may send a SETUP request 404 to the content server 160 acting as the content provider requesting the content to be delivered to the user.
  • the content server 160 may send a reply message 406 for the SETUP request to the SBC 100 indicating that the content is available.
  • the SBC 100 may send an INVITE request 408 to the user 124 seeking permission to deliver the content.
  • the user 124 may send a trying message 410 to indicate that the INVITE request has been received and is being processed.
  • the SBC 100 will generate a PLAY request 416 and send it to the content server 160 . This will cause the content server 160 to begin the delivery of the content.
  • the content server 160 may send a reply message for the PLAY request 418 to the SBC 100 when the content is ready to be delivered.
  • the SBC 100 may receive a first media stream 420 from the content server.
  • the first media stream may include the content and content server information.
  • the SBC 100 may create a second media stream that includes the content without the content server information and deliver the second media stream to the user. Playback control and termination may be handled as previously described for user selected content.
  • Pushed content may use the multicasting or broadcasting techniques described above.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates push content that is provided by the network service provider 150 and delivered at no charge to the user 124 . Therefore no detail billing records are generated.
  • Push content may make use of content from a content provider and detail billing record may be generated by the SBC 100 for the purpose of accounting for payments to the content provider.
  • Push content may be delivered with a charge to the user 124 or to a third party that contracts with the network service provider to deliver the push content.
  • Detail billing records may be generated for the purpose of accounting for payments to the network service provider for delivery of the push content.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates a form of multicast broadcasting.
  • a first user 522 may select 500 broadcast content that is being delivered in real-time.
  • the first user 522 may complete authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) transactions and make a selection as previously described in connection with FIG. 3 .
  • the SBC 100 may obtain and deliver the selected content to the first user 522 using similar transactions as previously described in connection with FIG. 3 .
  • the SBC 100 may recognize the content selection 512 as one for content that is already being received. The SBC 100 may bypass the steps of obtaining the content location 506 and the first media stream with the content 508 that were previously done to respond to the selection 500 by the first user 522 . The SBC 100 may respond directly to the second user's select message 510 with an OK invite message 514 .
  • the SBC 100 may begin delivering the first media stream 508 as obtained for the first user 522 as a third media stream 518 directed to the second user 524 .
  • the SBC 100 may transcode the first media stream 508 to create the third media stream 518 in the format needed for the second user 524 . If the first and second users 522 , 524 require the same format for the media stream, the controller may send the same media stream to both users without the need to transcode the content for the second user. Multicasting can accommodate an arbitrary number of users 526 who all receive the same broadcast content 508 .
  • the third and subsequent users 526 are each handled in the same way as the second user 524 .
  • the SBC 100 may support playback control features such as pause or rewind for content that is being delivered as a multicast broadcast.
  • Support of playback control features may be only for selected broadcast content. If a user is receiving content as a member of a group of users receiving a multicast broadcast and then invokes a playback control, the SBC 100 will remove that user from the multicast group and request a separate content stream for that user to allow the use of the playback controls. If the user later returns to the real-time delivery of the broadcast content, the SBC 100 may rejoin the user with the multicast group. The SBC 100 may generate additional billing records for the use of playback control features.
  • the multicast group will be maintained as long as any user, not necessarily the first user, continues to receive the broadcast content.
  • FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for delivering content from a session border controller to a user.
  • a PLAY message is sent to a content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user 602 .
  • a first media stream including the content and content provider information is received from the content provider 604 .
  • a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information is created 606 .
  • An encryption key may be received from the content provider and/or the local database server 156 . The encryption key may be used to encrypt the first media stream to create the second media stream if the first port is connected to an untrusted access network.
  • the second media stream is delivered to the user 608 .
  • Messages may be exchanged with the user using real-time transport protocol (SIP) as a first signaling protocol and with the content provider using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) as a second signaling protocol.
  • SIP real-time transport protocol
  • RTSP real-time stream protocol
  • a state may be maintained for the connection to the user, the state being used with messages from the user for creating messages to be sent to the content provider.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for initiating the delivery of content from a session border controller to a user based on a content selection by the user.
  • a first selection message for the content is received from the user 700 .
  • a message is sent to a database server to obtain a location for the content selected by the user 702 .
  • the location may be selected from a plurality of locations such that the first media stream has a first format that is easiest to transcode to a second format of the second media stream.
  • a second selection message including a request for the content is sent to a content provider 704 .
  • a reply to the content request indicating “ready” is received from the content provider 706 .
  • An OK message is sent to the user after receiving the ready message 708 .
  • An ACK message is received from the user 710 indicating that the user is ready to receive the selected content.
  • the content thus selected may be sent to the user using the method shown in FIG. 6 .
  • the same content may be sent to a second user in response to a third selection message for the content received from the second user.
  • FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another method for initiating the delivery of content from a session border controller to a user in which the user does not initiate the delivery.
  • a location for the content is obtained from a database server 800 .
  • a selection message for the content is sent to a content provider 802 .
  • An INVITE message is sent to the user when the content is ready to be delivered 804 .
  • An OK message is received from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider 806 .
  • the content thus selected may be sent to the user using the method shown in FIG. 6 .
  • the same content may be sent to more than one user.

Abstract

A session border controller for delivering content includes a first port to communicate with a user using a first signaling protocol, a second port to communicate with a content provider using a second signaling protocol, and a processor coupled to the first and second ports. The session border controller sends a message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user. The session border controller receives a first media stream including the content and content provider information from the content provider. The session border controller creates a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information, and delivers the second media stream to the user.

Description

    RELATED APPLICATION
  • This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/378,993, filed Mar. 17, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
  • FIELD
  • The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing content to users over networks, and in particular to a method and system for using a session border controller to facilitate providing the content.
  • BACKGROUND
  • A session border controller (SBC) is a piece of network equipment or a collection of functions that control real-time session traffic at the signaling, call-control, and packet layers as they cross a notional packet-to-packet network border between networks or between network segments.
  • An SBC may consolidate interconnect points, provide and enforce QoS metrics, interwork between protocols, and provide a more secure connection for intersite calling. SBCs may address the inability of real-time session traffic to cross network address translation (NAT) device or firewall boundaries.
  • Multimedia content, such as video on demand (VOD) may be requested and controlled using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) as a signaling protocol. The content may be delivered using real-time transport protocol (RTP), a protocol for the transport of real-time data, such as audio and video. Some user may wish to use session initiation protocol (SIP) as a signaling protocol to request and control multimedia content that may be available from content providers that use RTSP.
  • SUMMARY
  • A session border controller includes a first port to communicate with a user using a first signaling protocol, a second port to communicate with a content provider using a second signaling protocol, and a controller. The controller may send a PLAY message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user. The controller may further receive a first media stream including the content arid content provider information from the content provider. The controller may further create a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information, and deliver the second media stream to the user.
  • Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows below.
  • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system that includes an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram that illustrates a set of operations by an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a diagram that illustrates another set of operations by an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart for a method that embodies of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a flowchart for another method that embodies of the invention.
  • FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts for other methods that embodies of the invention.
  • DETAILED DESCRIPTION
  • FIG. 1 shows a multi-network system with a session border controller (SBC) 100 to interconnect the networks 102-110. The interconnected networks may be of any of a variety types as known in the art.
  • Users may access the interconnected networks using various types of terminal devices such as wired telephones 120-122, wireless telephones and personal digital assistants 123, 124, and personal computers 125. The terminal devices may include audio only devices, video only devices, and audio/video devices of a variety types as known in the art. Terminal devices may be connected by any of a variety of means such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 130, digital subscriber line (DSL), broadband cable, Ethernet 132, cellular networks, general packet radio service (GPRS), IP (internet protocol) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 134, and WIMAX networks 136 using IEEE 802.16 wireless standards. An analog telephone adapter (ATA) 138 may be used to interconnect an analog terminal device to a digital connection. A voice over internet protocol (VOIP) gateway 137 may be used to convert time division multiplexed (TDM) traffic to VOIP. A wireless local area network (LAN) access point 139 may be used to connect wireless terminal devices. An aggregation router 140 may connect a number of the networks 130-136 for the terminal devices 120-125 to a high speed network 102 that is connected to the SBC 100.
  • The SBC 100 may be part of a service network 150 maintained by a service provider. The SBC 100 may interconnect a variety of servers that cooperate to provide service to users via their terminal devices 120-125. The service network 150 may include session initiation protocol (SIP) servers 152 that provide proxy, registrar, redirect, and location database services. The service network 150 may further include bandwidth manager servers 154 to select and control the network resources to manage the traffic on the network. The service network 150 may further include database servers 156 that provide user service profiles and content directories. The service network 150 may further include billing servers 158 to collect billing records used to bill users for the services provided by the service network.
  • One of the services provided by the service network 150 may be providing multimedia content such as streaming audio and video, audio and video on demand. The service network 150 may include local content servers 160 that provide multimedia content maintained by the service provider. The content servers may by controlled using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) and multimedia content may be delivered using real-time transport protocol (RTP).
  • The service network 150 may provide access to additional multimedia content acquired from content networks 170, 180, 190 that are maintained by content providers not under the control of the service provider. These content networks may include authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) servers 172, 182, 192 to control access to the content and accumulate charges for the use of the content. These content networks may further include content servers 174, 184, 194 that provide multimedia content maintained by the content providers. Theses content servers, like the local content server 160, may by controlled using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) and multimedia content may be delivered using real-time transport protocol (RTP).
  • The SBC 100 provides the interconnect between the content servers 174, 184, 194 maintained by content providers and the service network
  • 150. Thus the SBC 100 is in a position to orchestrate delivery of multimedia content from a content server 160, 174, 184, 194 to a user terminal device 120-125.
  • As shown in FIG. 2, an SBC 100 may include two or more ports 204-207 that may be connected to two or more networks (102-110 as shown in FIG. 1) and a processor 200 to transfer messages received on one port to another port. A first port 204 may communicate with a user
  • using a first signaling protocol. A second port 206 may communicate with a content provider using a second signaling protocol. The processor 200 may carry out various operations to modify the messages received from a sender on one port as required by the intended recipient before sending the message on another port to the recipient. The SBC 100 may include a memory 202 coupled to the processor 200. The memory 202 may be used by the processor to store or buffer messages or portions thereof, state information derived from processing activities, program instructions that control the operation of the processor, and other data used to carry out the operations of the processor.
  • As illustrated in FIG. 3, the SBC 100 may receive a first selection message 300 for a content from the user 124. The first selection message may be an instant-message that uses the session initiation protocol (SIP). The SBC 100 may send a message to a database server 156 with the user's content selection 302. The database server 156 may provide the SBC 100 with a location for the content selected by the user 304.
  • The SBC 100 may interact with the server of the content provider 174 that has the content selected by the user 304. The SBC 100 may send a DESCRIBE request that includes the media filename to the content provider 174 and receive an associated response. The SBC 100 may send a second selection message for the content 306, such as a SETUP request, to the content provider 174. The messages between the SBC 100 and the content provider may be transmitted using real-time stream protocol (RTSP). The SBC 100 may transcode the first selection message and combine it with other information such as the location for the content as provided by the database server to generate the second selection message. The SBC 100 may send a MESSAGE asking the user to wait 308 to indicate that the content request has been received and is being processed.
  • The SBC 100 may maintain a state for the first port 204, which is connected to the user. The state may be maintained in the memory 202 of the SBC 100. The state may be used with the received messages to generate the messages to be sent. Thus the SBC 100 provides stateful internetworking in which the transcoding may depend both on the message received and a state determined by preceding messages received or sent that relate to the first port.
  • The SBC 100 may receive a reply message 310 from the content provider 174 in response to the second selection message when the requested content is ready to be transmitted. The SBC 100 may transcode
  • this message and send an OK message to the user 312 after receiving the ready indication in the reply message 310. The reply message may include information that identifies the content provider or the location of the content. Messages generated by the SBC 100 to be sent to the user may hide information that would identify the content provider, the location of the content, and/or that interworking of signaling protocols is occurring. Hiding information may make certain attacks on the content provider more difficult to initiate. The state maintained by the-SBC 100 may preserve information hidden from the users so that it may be used to generate and send messages to the content provider on behalf of the user.
  • The SBC 100 may receive an ACK message 314 from the user when the user is prepared to receive the requested content. The SBC 100 may send a PLAY request 316 to the content provider 174 after receiving the ACK message, to begin the delivery of the content. The SBC 100 may further send a billing record 318 to a billing server 158 to provide a record of the start of a request for content. The content provider 174 may send a reply message for the PLAY request 320 to the SBC 100 when the content is ready to be delivered.
  • The SBC 100 may receive a first media stream 322 from the content provider 174. The first media stream 322 may include the content and content provider information. The SBC 100 may create a second media stream 324 that includes the content without the content provider information and deliver the second media stream to the user 124.
  • The second media stream 324 may or may not use the same format as the first media stream 322. If the second media stream 324 uses a different format than the first media stream 322, the SBC 100 may transcode the first media stream from a first format to a second format for the second media stream. The SBC 100 may select the content provider from a plurality of content providers, each of which has the requested content. The content provider may be chosen by the SBC 100 according to a local policy such that the first media stream provided by the content provider has a first format that is easiest to transcode to the second format. Easiest to transcode may mean that the transcoding take the least time to transcode of the available formats or it may be judged as easiest by another metric such as processing resources required. Selection of content provider may also include selecting from a plurality of content locations having different formats where the content locations are controlled by the same content provider.
  • The SBC 100 may receive an encryption key for the requested content from the content provider 174 and/or from a database server 156 that may provide local policy information on content distribution. The SBC 100 may encrypt the first media stream 322 with the encryption key to create the second media stream 324 if the first port 204 is connected to an untrusted access network 102. If the first port is connected to a trusted access network, the SBC 100 may transmit the second media stream 324 in the clear and avoid the overhead of using encrypted content when not required.
  • Some content may be provided by the content provider 174 in an encrypted format. The SBC 100 may use the encryption key from the content provider 174 to decrypt the content before transcoding the first media stream 322 to create the second media stream 324. The SBC may re-encrypt the second media stream 324 prior to delivery to the user using either an encryption key provided by the content provider 174 or an encryption key maintained by the network service provider. Encryption keys maintained by the network service provider may be provided to the SBC by a local server 156.
  • The user 124 may send one or more messages with playback control requests 326 to the SBC 100. The SBC may transcode the playback control requests 328 and send the request to the content provider 174.
  • Playback control messages may provide for actions such as pause, rewind, and fast forward. The content provider may provide an acknowledgment of the playback control 330 to the SBC 100. The SBC may or may not provide a transcoded acknowledgment to the user 124.
  • The user 124 may send a Bye message 332 or otherwise signal a termination of the request for the content to the SBC 100. The SBC 100 may then send a teardown message 334 to the content provider 174. The SBC 100 may further send a billing record 336 to a billing server 158 to provide a record of the end of the request for content.
  • The SBC 100 may create one or more detail billing records 318, 336 in response to the transactions between the user 124 and the content provider 174. A detail billing record may include an identifier of the content provider, a content type indicator, and/or associated statistics. The associated statistics may include number of packets sent/received, jitter, and/or latency. The associated statistics may be as measured by the SBC 100 and/or captured from RTCP statistics generated by the endpoints. The SBC may send detail billing records to a billing server 158. The detail billing records created by the SBC 100 may be compared to reported statistics provided by endpoints. The SBC 100 may include the comparison information in the detail billing records sent to the billing server 158.
  • Prior to accepting a selection message 300 for a content from the user 124, the user may need to complete authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) transactions before accessing content through the service provider network 150. The user 124 may initially send an INVITE message 338 to the SBC 100 signaling a desire to access content. The SBC 100 may send a message 340 to a database server 156 with the user's identifying information. The SBC 100 may send a trying message 342 to indicate that the access request has been received and is being processed.
  • The database server 156 may provide the SBC 100 with a menu for content based on the user's profile 344. This may allow the SBC 100 to determine what format to use for messages to be delivered to the user 124. For example, the user may have a profile that indicates that the user's terminal device is audio only; the SBC 100 would then transcode messages to deliver than in a format suitable for audio only presentation. The user 124 may send a selection for content from the menu 300 to the SBC 100 which the SBC obtains and delivers to the user as previously described.
  • As shown in FIG. 4, the SBC 100 may push content to a user 124 as an alternative to providing content in response to a user request. The SBC 100 may push content that is unsolicited by the user, such as content delivered at the request of the service provider, a content provider, or a third party, or content that is delivered in response to some user action other than an explicit request for content.
  • To push content, the SBC 100 may begin by exchanging messages 400, 402 with the database server 156 to locate the content to be delivered to the user. The SBC 100 may send a SETUP request 404 to the content server 160 acting as the content provider requesting the content to be delivered to the user. The content server 160 may send a reply message 406 for the SETUP request to the SBC 100 indicating that the content is available.
  • The SBC 100 may send an INVITE request 408 to the user 124 seeking permission to deliver the content. The user 124 may send a trying message 410 to indicate that the INVITE request has been received and is being processed.
  • If the user sends an OK message 412, the SBC 100 will generate a PLAY request 416 and send it to the content server 160. This will cause the content server 160 to begin the delivery of the content. The content server 160 may send a reply message for the PLAY request 418 to the SBC 100 when the content is ready to be delivered. The SBC 100 may receive a first media stream 420 from the content server. The first media stream may include the content and content server information. The SBC 100 may create a second media stream that includes the content without the content server information and deliver the second media stream to the user. Playback control and termination may be handled as previously described for user selected content. Pushed content may use the multicasting or broadcasting techniques described above.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates push content that is provided by the network service provider 150 and delivered at no charge to the user 124. Therefore no detail billing records are generated. Push content may make use of content from a content provider and detail billing record may be generated by the SBC 100 for the purpose of accounting for payments to the content provider. Push content may be delivered with a charge to the user 124 or to a third party that contracts with the network service provider to deliver the push content. Detail billing records may be generated for the purpose of accounting for payments to the network service provider for delivery of the push content.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates a form of multicast broadcasting. A first user 522 may select 500 broadcast content that is being delivered in real-time. The first user 522 may complete authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) transactions and make a selection as previously described in connection with FIG. 3. The SBC 100 may obtain and deliver the selected content to the first user 522 using similar transactions as previously described in connection with FIG. 3.
  • If a second user 524 selects 510 the same broadcast content that is being delivered to the first user 522, the SBC 100 may recognize the content selection 512 as one for content that is already being received. The SBC 100 may bypass the steps of obtaining the content location 506 and the first media stream with the content 508 that were previously done to respond to the selection 500 by the first user 522. The SBC 100 may respond directly to the second user's select message 510 with an OK invite message 514.
  • Upon receipt of the second user's ACK message 515 the SBC 100 may begin delivering the first media stream 508 as obtained for the first user 522 as a third media stream 518 directed to the second user 524. The SBC 100 may transcode the first media stream 508 to create the third media stream 518 in the format needed for the second user 524. If the first and second users 522, 524 require the same format for the media stream, the controller may send the same media stream to both users without the need to transcode the content for the second user. Multicasting can accommodate an arbitrary number of users 526 who all receive the same broadcast content 508. The third and subsequent users 526 are each handled in the same way as the second user 524.
  • The SBC 100 may support playback control features such as pause or rewind for content that is being delivered as a multicast broadcast.
  • Support of playback control features may be only for selected broadcast content. If a user is receiving content as a member of a group of users receiving a multicast broadcast and then invokes a playback control, the SBC 100 will remove that user from the multicast group and request a separate content stream for that user to allow the use of the playback controls. If the user later returns to the real-time delivery of the broadcast content, the SBC 100 may rejoin the user with the multicast group. The SBC 100 may generate additional billing records for the use of playback control features. The multicast group will be maintained as long as any user, not necessarily the first user, continues to receive the broadcast content.
  • FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for delivering content from a session border controller to a user. A PLAY message is sent to a content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user 602. A first media stream including the content and content provider information is received from the content provider 604. A second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information is created 606. An encryption key may be received from the content provider and/or the local database server 156. The encryption key may be used to encrypt the first media stream to create the second media stream if the first port is connected to an untrusted access network. The second media stream is delivered to the user 608. Messages may be exchanged with the user using real-time transport protocol (SIP) as a first signaling protocol and with the content provider using real-time stream protocol (RTSP) as a second signaling protocol. A state may be maintained for the connection to the user, the state being used with messages from the user for creating messages to be sent to the content provider.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for initiating the delivery of content from a session border controller to a user based on a content selection by the user. A first selection message for the content is received from the user 700. A message is sent to a database server to obtain a location for the content selected by the user 702. The location may be selected from a plurality of locations such that the first media stream has a first format that is easiest to transcode to a second format of the second media stream.
  • A second selection message including a request for the content is sent to a content provider 704. A reply to the content request indicating “ready” is received from the content provider 706. An OK message is sent to the user after receiving the ready message 708. An ACK message is received from the user 710 indicating that the user is ready to receive the selected content. The content thus selected may be sent to the user using the method shown in FIG. 6. The same content may be sent to a second user in response to a third selection message for the content received from the second user.
  • FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another method for initiating the delivery of content from a session border controller to a user in which the user does not initiate the delivery. A location for the content is obtained from a database server 800. A selection message for the content is sent to a content provider 802. An INVITE message is sent to the user when the content is ready to be delivered 804. An OK message is received from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider 806. The content thus selected may be sent to the user using the method shown in FIG. 6. The same content may be sent to more than one user.
  • While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

Claims (20)

What is claimed is:
1. A session border controller comprising:
a first port to communicate with a user;
a second port to communicate with a content provider;
a processor coupled to the first port and to the second port, the processor configured to:
receive an authentication message identifying the user;
send a PLAY message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user,
receive a first media stream including the content and content provider information from the content provider,
create a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information, and
deliver the second media stream to the user.
2. The session border controller of claim 1, further comprising a third port to communicate with a database server, wherein the processor is further coupled to the third port and configured to:
receive a first selection message for the content from the user,
obtain a location for the content selected by the user from a database server;
send a second selection message for the content to the content provider,
receive a reply message from the content provider in response to the second selection message indicating that the content is ready,
send an OK message to the user after receiving the reply message, and
receive an ACK message from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider.
3. The session border controller of claim 1, wherein communications over the first port use a session initiation protocol (SIP) and communications over the second port use a real-time stream protocol (RTSP).
4. The session border controller of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an encryption key from the content provider and wherein creating the second media stream encrypts the first media stream with the encryption key if the first port is connected to an untrusted access network.
5. The session border controller of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to maintain a state for the first port, the state being used with messages from the user to create messages to be sent to the content provider.
6. The session border controller of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to select the content provider from a plurality of content providers, each of which has the content, such that the first media stream has a first format that is easiest to transcode to a second format of the second media stream.
7. The session border controller of claim 1, wherein the processor is further to create a detailed billing record including an identifier of the content provider, a content type indicator, and associated statistics.
8. The session border controller of claim 1, further comprising a third port to communicate with a second user, wherein the processor is further coupled to the third port and configured to:
receive a selection message for the content from the second user, and
deliver a second media stream to the second user.
9. The session border controller of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:
obtain a location for the content from a database server;
send a selection message for the content to a content provider;
send an INVITE message to the user when the content is ready to be delivered, and
receive an OK message from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider.
10. A method for delivering content from a session border controller to a user; the method comprising:
sending a PLAY message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user;
receiving a first media stream including the content and content provider information from the content provider;
creating a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information; and
delivering the second media stream to the user without content provider information.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving a first selection message for the content from the user;
obtaining a location for the content selected by the user from a database server;
sending a second selection message for the content to a content provider;
receiving a reply message from the content provider in response to the second selection message indicating that the content is ready;
sending an OK message to the user after receiving the reply message; and
receiving an ACK message from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein messages are exchanged with the user using real-time transport protocol (SIP) as a first signaling protocol and messages are exchanged with the content provider using real time stream protocol (RTSP) as a second signaling protocol.
13. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving an encryption key from the content provider and wherein creating the second media stream includes encrypting the first media stream with the encryption key if the first port is connected to an untrusted access network.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising maintaining a state for the first port, the state being used with messages from the user for creating messages to be sent to the content provider.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising selecting the content provider from a plurality of content providers; each of which has the content, such that the first media stream has a first format that is easiest to transcode to a second format of the second media stream.
16. The method of claim 10, further comprising creating a detailed billing record including an identifier of the content provider, a content type indicator, and associated statistics.
17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving a third selection message for the content from a second user; and
delivering the second media stream to the second user.
18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
obtaining a location for the content from a database server;
sending a selection message for the content to a content provider;
sending an INVITE message to the user when the content is ready to be delivered; and
receiving an OK message from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider.
19. A session border controller comprising:
means for sending a PLAY message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user;
means for receiving a first media stream including the content and content provider information from the content provider;
means for creating a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information; and
means for delivering the second media stream to the user.
20. The session border controller of claim 19, further comprising:
means for receiving a first selection message for the content from the user;
means for obtaining a location for the content selected by the user from a database server;
means for sending a second selection message for the content to a content provider;
means for receiving reply message from the content provider in response to the second selection message indicating that the content is ready;
means for sending an OK message to the user after receiving the reply message; and
means for receiving an ACK message from the user before sending the PLAY message to the content provider.
US14/678,649 2006-03-17 2015-04-03 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand Abandoned US20150215680A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US14/678,649 US20150215680A1 (en) 2006-03-17 2015-04-03 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US11/378,993 US9026677B2 (en) 2006-03-17 2006-03-17 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand
US14/678,649 US20150215680A1 (en) 2006-03-17 2015-04-03 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US11/378,993 Continuation US9026677B2 (en) 2006-03-17 2006-03-17 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20150215680A1 true US20150215680A1 (en) 2015-07-30

Family

ID=37983406

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US11/378,993 Active 2028-11-20 US9026677B2 (en) 2006-03-17 2006-03-17 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand
US14/678,649 Abandoned US20150215680A1 (en) 2006-03-17 2015-04-03 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US11/378,993 Active 2028-11-20 US9026677B2 (en) 2006-03-17 2006-03-17 Method and apparatus for providing video on demand

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (2) US9026677B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1994747B1 (en)
WO (1) WO2007108845A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108173828A (en) * 2017-12-22 2018-06-15 北京知道创宇信息技术有限公司 Data transmission method, device and storage medium

Families Citing this family (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9026677B2 (en) 2006-03-17 2015-05-05 Cisco Technology, Inc. Method and apparatus for providing video on demand
EP2027675B1 (en) * 2006-06-09 2020-01-22 Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Operator managed virtual home network
US20080148322A1 (en) * 2006-12-18 2008-06-19 At&T Knowledge Ventures, Lp System and method of providing video-on-demand content
US20080205389A1 (en) * 2007-02-26 2008-08-28 Microsoft Corporation Selection of transrate and transcode processes by host computer
US8407299B2 (en) * 2007-10-27 2013-03-26 Research In Motion Limited Content disposition system and method for processing message content in a distributed environment
US8041823B2 (en) * 2008-12-23 2011-10-18 At & T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Optimization of media flows in a telecommunications system
US10038760B2 (en) 2009-06-01 2018-07-31 International Business Machines Corporation System and method to support codec delivery models for IMS networks
WO2011071423A1 (en) * 2009-12-07 2011-06-16 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Method and arrangement for enabling play-out of media
US9406252B2 (en) * 2009-12-31 2016-08-02 Broadcom Corporation Adaptive multi-standard video coder supporting adaptive standard selection and mid-stream switch-over
US8713597B2 (en) * 2010-01-05 2014-04-29 Alcatel Lucent Authenticating and off-loading IPTV operations from mobile devices to fixed rendering viewing devices
US8301794B2 (en) * 2010-04-16 2012-10-30 Microsoft Corporation Media content improved playback quality
US20110255465A1 (en) * 2010-04-16 2011-10-20 Chang Hong Shan Wimax voip service architecture
US9432211B2 (en) * 2011-09-02 2016-08-30 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Content delivery session accounting for access/network service provider
US9215569B2 (en) * 2013-03-15 2015-12-15 Cellco Partnership Broadcast media content to subscriber group
US10382578B2 (en) * 2015-06-05 2019-08-13 Apple Inc. Provision of a lease for streaming content

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6311215B1 (en) * 1997-03-25 2001-10-30 Intel Corporation System for dynamic determination of client communications capabilities
US20020046406A1 (en) * 2000-10-18 2002-04-18 Majid Chelehmal On-demand data system
US20030158913A1 (en) * 2002-02-15 2003-08-21 Agnoli Giovanni M. System, method, and computer program product for media publishing request processing
US20040125757A1 (en) * 2002-12-30 2004-07-01 Martti Mela Streaming media
US20060031301A1 (en) * 2003-07-18 2006-02-09 Herz Frederick S M Use of proxy servers and pseudonymous transactions to maintain individual's privacy in the competitive business of maintaining personal history databases

Family Cites Families (48)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6658568B1 (en) * 1995-02-13 2003-12-02 Intertrust Technologies Corporation Trusted infrastructure support system, methods and techniques for secure electronic commerce transaction and rights management
US7241219B2 (en) * 1997-03-12 2007-07-10 Walker Digital, Llc Methods and apparatus for providing entertainment content at a gaming device
US6970602B1 (en) * 1998-10-06 2005-11-29 International Business Machines Corporation Method and apparatus for transcoding multimedia using content analysis
KR100312421B1 (en) * 1998-11-25 2001-12-12 오길록 A conversion method of the compressed moving video on the video communication system
US6604224B1 (en) * 1999-03-31 2003-08-05 Diva Systems Corporation Method of performing content integrity analysis of a data stream
US6785704B1 (en) * 1999-12-20 2004-08-31 Fastforward Networks Content distribution system for operation over an internetwork including content peering arrangements
US20020029384A1 (en) * 2000-07-20 2002-03-07 Griggs Theodore L. Mechanism for distributing content data
US20020053081A1 (en) * 2000-10-31 2002-05-02 Digitaldeck, Inc. Adaptable programming guide for networked devices
JP2004505385A (en) * 2000-07-27 2004-02-19 コーニンクレッカ フィリップス エレクトロニクス エヌ ヴィ Method and mechanism for providing access to a consumer device
US6407680B1 (en) * 2000-12-22 2002-06-18 Generic Media, Inc. Distributed on-demand media transcoding system and method
US7242324B2 (en) * 2000-12-22 2007-07-10 Sony Corporation Distributed on-demand media transcoding system and method
US7054949B2 (en) * 2001-01-19 2006-05-30 World Streaming Network, Inc. System and method for streaming media
GB0109409D0 (en) 2001-04-17 2001-06-06 Quadriga Worldwide Ltd Distribution and networking of television signals installation of such distribution sytem and control of television sets
US20030028643A1 (en) * 2001-03-13 2003-02-06 Dilithium Networks, Inc. Method and apparatus for transcoding video and speech signals
US9032097B2 (en) * 2001-04-26 2015-05-12 Nokia Corporation Data communication with remote network node
US7213072B2 (en) * 2001-05-08 2007-05-01 Nokia Mobile Phones Method and apparatus for transcoding content with permissible operations authorized by content creator
US20030093799A1 (en) * 2001-11-14 2003-05-15 Kauffman Marc W. Streamed content Delivery
US20030182388A1 (en) * 2002-03-20 2003-09-25 Alexander Geoffrey D. Method and system for portable persistent clipboard function
US20040190607A1 (en) * 2002-04-03 2004-09-30 Koji Wakimoto Video relay device, video distribution system, video relay method
US20040024900A1 (en) * 2002-07-30 2004-02-05 International Business Machines Corporation Method and system for enhancing streaming operation in a distributed communication system
ATE378750T1 (en) * 2002-08-05 2007-11-15 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M METHOD, APPARATUS, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND SYSTEM FOR WORD DIVISION AND SESSION CONTROL
US7690022B2 (en) * 2002-10-02 2010-03-30 Ganesh Basawapatna Video distribution system for digital and analog subscribers
WO2004051453A1 (en) * 2002-12-04 2004-06-17 Entriq Inc. Multiple content provider user interface
US20050010697A1 (en) * 2002-12-30 2005-01-13 Husam Kinawi System for bandwidth detection and content switching
US20040184432A1 (en) * 2003-03-19 2004-09-23 Ralitsa Gateva Method for controlling streaming services
WO2005022795A2 (en) * 2003-08-29 2005-03-10 Rgb Networks, Inc. Advanced, self-balancing video multiplexer system
WO2005032133A2 (en) * 2003-09-26 2005-04-07 General Instrument Corporation Method and apparatus for high- speed data multiplexing
US20050132264A1 (en) * 2003-12-15 2005-06-16 Joshi Ajit P. System and method for intelligent transcoding
US8078669B2 (en) * 2004-02-18 2011-12-13 Time Warner Cable Inc. Media extension apparatus and methods for use in an information network
US8908699B2 (en) * 2004-04-16 2014-12-09 Broadcom Corporation Providing automatic format conversion via an access gateway in a home
US7627530B2 (en) * 2004-04-26 2009-12-01 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Method and system for managing access to media files
US8087091B2 (en) * 2004-07-08 2011-12-27 Media Rights Technologies Method and system for preventing unauthorized reproduction of electronic media
US7930433B2 (en) * 2005-05-25 2011-04-19 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Stream distribution system
US8365306B2 (en) * 2005-05-25 2013-01-29 Oracle International Corporation Platform and service for management and multi-channel delivery of multi-types of contents
US20070291776A1 (en) * 2005-07-28 2007-12-20 Dilithium Networks, Inc. Method and apparatus for billing for media during communications in channel-based media telecommunication protocols
US20070291106A1 (en) * 2005-07-28 2007-12-20 Dilithium Networks, Inc. Method and apparatus for providing interactive media during communication in channel-based media telecommunication protocols
US20070094691A1 (en) * 2005-10-24 2007-04-26 Gazdzinski Robert F Method and apparatus for on-demand content transmission and control over networks
EP1777962A1 (en) * 2005-10-24 2007-04-25 Alcatel Lucent Access/edge node supporting multiple video streaming services using a single request protocol
EP1788773A1 (en) * 2005-11-18 2007-05-23 Alcatel Lucent Method and apparatuses to request delivery of a media asset and to establish a token in advance
EP1788774A1 (en) * 2005-11-18 2007-05-23 Alcatel Lucent Method and system for initiating or recovering a media-on-demand session
US20070124781A1 (en) * 2005-11-30 2007-05-31 Qwest Communications International Inc. Networked content storage
US8621531B2 (en) * 2005-11-30 2013-12-31 Qwest Communications International Inc. Real-time on demand server
US8169903B2 (en) * 2006-03-07 2012-05-01 Cisco Technology, Inc. Managing traffic within and between virtual private networks when using a session border controller
US9026677B2 (en) 2006-03-17 2015-05-05 Cisco Technology, Inc. Method and apparatus for providing video on demand
US20080151918A1 (en) * 2006-12-22 2008-06-26 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Method of correlating a media session to a signaling session
US7970916B2 (en) * 2007-07-25 2011-06-28 Cisco Technology, Inc. Register clustering in a sip-based network
US7877515B2 (en) * 2008-05-21 2011-01-25 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Identity assignment for software components
US8458746B2 (en) * 2009-02-05 2013-06-04 Purplecomm Inc. Meta channel caching and instant viewing related technology

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6311215B1 (en) * 1997-03-25 2001-10-30 Intel Corporation System for dynamic determination of client communications capabilities
US20020046406A1 (en) * 2000-10-18 2002-04-18 Majid Chelehmal On-demand data system
US20030158913A1 (en) * 2002-02-15 2003-08-21 Agnoli Giovanni M. System, method, and computer program product for media publishing request processing
US20040125757A1 (en) * 2002-12-30 2004-07-01 Martti Mela Streaming media
US20060031301A1 (en) * 2003-07-18 2006-02-09 Herz Frederick S M Use of proxy servers and pseudonymous transactions to maintain individual's privacy in the competitive business of maintaining personal history databases

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108173828A (en) * 2017-12-22 2018-06-15 北京知道创宇信息技术有限公司 Data transmission method, device and storage medium

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20070220163A1 (en) 2007-09-20
WO2007108845A1 (en) 2007-09-27
EP1994747A1 (en) 2008-11-26
EP1994747B1 (en) 2013-03-06
US9026677B2 (en) 2015-05-05

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US9026677B2 (en) Method and apparatus for providing video on demand
EP1988666B1 (en) A streaming media network system, a realization method and a enable entity of streaming media service
RU2552176C2 (en) Communication session management for media streaming
US9112720B2 (en) System and method for providing multimedia services
US8146119B2 (en) Apparatus and method for managing media content
US11196801B2 (en) Apparatus and method for multimedia communication
JP4856723B2 (en) Method, apparatus and / or computer program product for encrypting and transmitting media data between a media server and a subscriber device
EP1619853A1 (en) RTSP proxy extended to detect streaming session events and report to valued streaming applications the notified ones
US7440445B1 (en) Method and apparatus for storing and activating universal resource locators and phone numbers
EP2157744A1 (en) Method and system for controlling the authorization of service resource
WO2008101444A1 (en) A streaming media system, signaling transmitting device and sending method of streaming media
EP2234368B1 (en) Content delivery device, system and content-on-demand method
US8836752B2 (en) Method and apparatus for providing high security video session
US20040028062A1 (en) Controlling service stream
US8612512B1 (en) Method and apparatus for providing network based virtual tours
KR20110000593A (en) Method and apparatus to facilitate using a multicast stream to provide on-demand streaming content
US8166521B2 (en) Apparatus and method for monitoring communications
US9078023B2 (en) Method and apparatus for storing user selected video content
Shah Media Processing in Video Conferences for Cooperating Over the Top and Operator Based Networks
Weinstein Media Protocols and Applications

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION