Personal content distribution network
View Patent ↗Techniques for making content available to a DVR are described. Content encoded in any encoding format may be automatically transcoded, on a computer, into an encoding format that a DVR is configured to decode. The transcoded content is automatically sent over a LAN from the computer to the DVR. The DVR receives the transcoded content, stores the transcoded content, and indicates, through a user interface, that the content is available for viewing. A transcoding agent executing on the computer may automatically and periodically transcode, into an encoding format that the DVR is configured to decode, content that is contained in one folder, and move the transcoded content from that folder into another folder. The computer may send, to the DVR, instructions which cause the DVR to request transcoded content that is in the latter folder. The computer sends transcoded content to the DVR in response to such a request.
1. A computer-implemented method for making content available to a multimedia device, the method comprising:
a first device periodically performing an automatic determination of whether a designated location in a storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location since the last periodic automatic determination of whether the designated location in the storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location;
in response to a determination, among automatic determinations periodically performed by the first device, that the designated location of the first device contains a particular content item that has been downloaded to the first device, the first device performing:
determining whether the particular content item is encoded in a first encoding format that the multimedia device is not configured to decode;
in response to determining that the particular content item is encoded in the first encoding format that the multimedia device is not configured to decode, automatically transcoding the particular content item to a second encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode;
after at least a portion of the particular content item is transcoded into the second encoding format, the first device sending an instruction to the multimedia device, the instruction informing the multimedia device that the particular content item in the second encoding format is available for the multimedia device to request;
receiving, from the multimedia device, the request for the particular content item; and
in response to receiving the request, sending, to the multimedia device, the particular content item that is encoded in the second encoding format.
2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically transcoding the particular content comprises:
periodically determining whether any content item has been placed in a first location on the first device;
in response to a determination that the particular content item has been placed in the first location, determining whether the particular content item is encoded in an encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode; and
in response to a determination that the particular content item is not encoded in an encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode, (i) automatically transcoding the particular content into the second encoding format, and (ii) storing, in a second location on the first device, the particular content that is encoded in the second encoding format.
3. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to transcoding the particular content item into the second encoding format, storing, in a location, the particular content item that is encoded in the second encoding format;
periodically determining whether any content item has been placed in the location; and
in response to a determination that the particular content item has been placed in the location, sending, to the multimedia device, over a network, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that identifies (i) a device on which the particular content item is stored and (ii) the particular content item.
4. A method as recited in claim 1 ,
wherein the instruction identifies the particular content item, wherein the multimedia device is configured to place the instruction in a queue of instructions, and wherein an individual instruction in the queue of instructions identifies individual content item in the second encoding format for the multimedia device to request over a communication link.
5. A method as recited in claim 4 ,
wherein the instruction further identifies a device that is connected to the multimedia device over the communication link.
6. A computer-implemented method for making content available to a multimedia device, the method comprising:
a first device periodically performing an automatic determination of whether a designated location in a storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location since the last periodic automatic determination of whether the designated location in the storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location;
in response to a determination, among automatic determinations periodically performed by the first device, that the designated location of the first device contains a particular content item that has been downloaded to the first device, the first device performing:
determining whether the particular content item is encoded in a first encoding format that the multimedia device is not configured to decode;
in response to determining that the particular content item is encoded in the first encoding format that the multimedia device is not configured to decode, automatically transcoding the particular content item to a second encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode;
periodically determining whether any content has been placed in a specified location on the first device;
in response to a determination that the particular content item has been placed in the specified location, sending an instruction to the multimedia device, the instruction informing the multimedia device that the particular content item in an encoding format, which the multimedia device is configured to decode, is available for the multimedia device to request;
receiving, from the multimedia device, the request that the multimedia device sent in response to reading the particular instruction; and
in response to receiving the request, sending the particular content item to the multimedia device.
7. A method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising:
automatically requesting, over the Internet, one or more content items that are stored on a content server;
receiving the one or more content items over the Internet; and
in response to receiving the one or more content items, placing the one or more content items in the specified location.
8. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the multimedia device is a digital video recording device.
9. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the multimedia device is a mobile device.
10. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically determining whether a content item is stored on a second multimedia device but not the multimedia device; and
in response to determining that the content item is stored on the second multimedia device but not the multimedia device, instructing the second multimedia device to send the content item over the network to a third device.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, instruct the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
a first device periodically performing an automatic determination of whether a designated location in a storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location since the last periodic automatic determination of whether the designated location in the storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location;
in response to a determination, among automatic determinations periodically performed by the first device, that the designated location of the first device contains a particular content item that has been downloaded to the first device, the first device performing:
determining whether the particular content item is encoded in a first encoding format that a multimedia device is not configured to decode;
in response to determining that the particular content item is encoded in the first encoding format that the multimedia device is not configured to decode, automatically transcoding the particular content item to a second encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode;
after at least a portion of the particular content item is transcoded into the second encoding format, the first device sending an instruction to the multimedia device, the instruction informing the multimedia device that the particular content item in the second encoding format is available for the multimedia device to request;
receiving, from the multimedia device, the request for the particular content item; and
in response to receiving the request, sending, to the multimedia device, the particular content item that is encoded in the second encoding format.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11 , wherein the step of automatically transcoding the particular content comprises:
periodically determining whether any content item has been placed in a first location on the first device;
in response to a determination that the particular content item has been placed in the first location, determining whether the particular content item is encoded in an encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode; and
in response to a determination that the particular content item is not encoded in an encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode, (i) automatically transcoding the particular content into the second encoding format, and (ii) storing, in a second location on the first device, the particular content that is encoded in the second encoding format.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11 , wherein the steps further comprise:
in response to transcoding the particular content item into the second encoding format, storing, in a location, the particular content item that is encoded in the second encoding format;
periodically determining whether any content item has been placed in the location; and
in response to a determination that the particular content item has been placed in the location, sending, to the multimedia device, over a network, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that identifies (i) a device on which the particular content item is stored and (ii) the particular content item.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11 ,
wherein the instruction identifies the particular content item, wherein the multimedia device is configured to place the instruction in a queue of instructions, and wherein an individual instruction in the queue of instructions identifies individual content item in the second encoding format for the multimedia device to request over a communication link.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14 ,
wherein the instruction further identifies a device that is connected to the multimedia device over the communication link.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, instruct the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
a first device periodically performing an automatic determination of whether a designated location in a storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location since the last periodic automatic determination of whether the designated location in the storage device accessible by the first device contains any content item that has been downloaded to the designated location;
in response to a determination, among automatic determinations periodically performed by the first device, that the designated location of the first device contains a particular content item that has been downloaded to the first device, the first device performing:
determining whether the particular content item is encoded in a first encoding format that a multimedia device is not configured to decode;
in response to determining that the particular content item is encoded in the first encoding format that the multimedia device is not configured to decode, automatically transcoding the particular content item to a second encoding format that the multimedia device is configured to decode;
periodically determining whether any content has been placed in a specified location on the first device;
in response to a determination that the particular content item has been placed in the specified location, sending an instruction to a multimedia device, the instruction informing the multimedia device that the particular content item in an encoding format, which the multimedia device is configured to decode, is available for the multimedia device to request;
receiving, from the multimedia device, the request that the multimedia device sent in response to reading the particular instruction; and
in response to receiving the request, sending the particular content item to the multimedia device.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 16 , wherein the steps further comprise:
automatically requesting, over the Internet, one or more content items that are stored on a content server;
receiving the one or more content items over the Internet; and
in response to receiving the one or more content items, placing the one or more content items in the specified location.
18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11 , wherein the multimedia device is a digital video recording device.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11 , wherein the multimedia device is a mobile device.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11 , wherein the steps further comprise:
automatically determining whether a content item is stored on a second multimedia device but not the multimedia device; and
in response to determining that the content item is stored on the second multimedia device but not the multimedia device, instructing the second multimedia device to send the content item over the network to a third device.