Customized acquisition of content by a broadband gateway
View Patent ↗Aspects of a method and system for customized acquisition of content by a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine options for acquiring particular content. The broadband gateway may be operable to rank the determined options. The ranking may be based on one or more characteristics of the options and based on user-specified criteria. The broadband gateway may be operable to select one of the options for acquiring the content based on results of the ranking. One or more of the options may be available via a first physical layer connection and one or more of the options may be available via a second physical layer connection. The gateway may rank the determined options based on attributes of one or more devices via which the particular content will be consumed.
1. A method for networking, the method comprising:
in a broadband gateway that is configured to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider:
determining different options available for acquiring a particular multimedia content, wherein the different options include different providers from which to acquire the particular multimedia content;
ranking the determined different options available for acquiring the multimedia content using a score of each of the different options, each score generated by determining one or more weighted coefficients for one or more characteristics of a corresponding option and summing the one or more weighted coefficients for the corresponding option, the one or more weighted coefficients determined using at least one of user-specified criteria or an attribute of a device by which the particular multimedia content is to be consumed; and
selecting one of the different options available for acquiring at least a portion of the particular multimedia content based on the ranking.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one physical layer connection comprises a plurality of physical layer connections and the at least one corresponding network access service provider comprises a plurality of corresponding access service providers, and wherein each of the plurality of physical layer connections corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of corresponding access service providers.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein one or more of the different options are available via a first one of the plurality of physical layer connections and one or more of the different options are available via a second one of the plurality of physical layer connections.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprises one or more of:
a provider associated with each of the different options;
a time of availability of each of the different options;
a quality of the particular multimedia content associated with each of the different options;
a power consumption associated with each of the different options; or
a price associated with each of the different options.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein user-specified criteria comprises one or more of:
criteria for selecting between the different options based on providers associated with the different options;
criteria for selecting between the different options based on a time at which each of the different options can be acquired;
criteria for selecting between the different options based on quality of a version of the particular multimedia content associated with each of the different options;
criteria for selecting between the different options based on power consumption associated with acquiring or consuming the particular multimedia content; or
criteria for selecting between the different options based on a price associated with each of the different options.
6. The method according to claim 1 , comprising ranking the determined different options based on attributes of one or more devices by which the particular multimedia content is to be consumed.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the attribute comprises:
a display resolution of the one or more devices;
a decoding technique supported by the one or more devices; or
a bandwidth of a connection between the one or more devices and the broadband gateway.
8. The method according to claim 1 , comprising storing the attribute in memory in the broadband gateway.
9. The method according to claim 1 ,
comprising determining one or more weighted coefficients for a first option of the different options by:
assigning one or more coefficients to the one or more characteristics of the one of the first option; and
weighting the one or more coefficients by one or more corresponding weighting factors.
10. A system for networking, the system comprising:
one or more circuits for use in a broadband gateway that is configured to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider, the one or more circuits being configured to:
determine different options available for acquiring a particular multimedia content, wherein the different options include different providers from which to acquire the particular multimedia content;
rank the determined options available for acquiring the multimedia content using a score of each of the different options, each score generated by determining one or more weighted coefficients for one or more characteristics of a corresponding option and summing the one or more weighted coefficients for the corresponding option, the one or more weighted coefficients determined using at least one of user-specified criteria or an attribute of a device by which the particular multimedia content is to be consumed; and
select one of the different options available for acquiring at least a portion of the particular multimedia content based on the ranking.
11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one physical layer connection comprises a plurality of physical layer connections and the at least one corresponding network access service provider comprises a plurality of corresponding access service providers, and wherein each of the plurality of physical layer connections corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of corresponding access service providers.
12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein one or more of the different options are available via a first one of the plurality of physical layer connections and one or more of the different options are available via a second one of the plurality of physical layer connections.
13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprises one or more of:
a provider associated with each of the different options;
a time of availability of each of the different options;
a quality of the particular multimedia content associated with each of the different options;
a power consumption associated with each of the different options; or
a price associated with each of the different options.
14. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the user-specified criteria comprises one or more of:
criteria for selecting between the different options based on providers associated with the different options;
criteria for selecting between the different options based on a time at which each of the different options can be acquired;
criteria for selecting between the different options based on quality of a version of the particular multimedia content associated with each of the different options;
criteria for selecting between the different options based on power consumption associated with acquiring and consuming the particular multimedia content; or
criteria for selecting between the different options based on a price associated with each of the different options.
15. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more circuits are configured to store the user-specified criteria in memory in the broadband gateway.
16. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more circuits are configured to rank the determined different options based on attributes of one or more devices by which the particular multimedia content is to be consumed.
17. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the attribute comprises:
a display resolution of the one or more devices;
a decoding technique supported by the one or more devices; or
a bandwidth of a connection between the one or more devices and the broadband gateway.
18. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more circuits are configured to store the attribute in memory in the broadband gateway.
19. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the one or more circuits are configured to:
determine one or more weighted coefficients for a first option of the different options by:
assigning one or more coefficients to the one or more characteristics of the first option; and
weighting the one or more coefficients by one or more corresponding weighting factors.
20. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, having stored thereon, instructions being executable by a processor of a broadband gateway for causing the processor to perform:
determining different options available for acquiring a particular multimedia content, wherein the different options include different providers from which to acquire the particular multimedia content;
ranking the determined different options available for acquiring the multimedia content using a score of each of the different options, each score generated by determining one or more weighted coefficients for one or more characteristics of a corresponding option and summing the one or more weighted coefficients for the corresponding option, the one or more weighted coefficients determined using at least one of user-specified criteria or an attribute of a device by which the particular multimedia content is to be consumed; and
selecting one of the different options available for acquiring at least a portion of the particular multimedia content based on the ranking.
21. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium according to claim 20 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprises one or more of:
a provider associated with each of the different options;
a time of availability of each of the different options;
a quality of the particular multimedia content associated with each of the different options;
a power consumption associated with each of the different options; or
a price associated with each of the different options.