Granted Patent B2

US 8,645,426 · App. 13/294,313 · Granted Feb 4, 2014

Abstract

Claims (68)

1. A method for supporting advertising and sale of media content, comprising:

receiving, at a server, a request for the server to store media content for a first end-user;

wherein the server comprises a common storage partition configured for storing media content and a plurality of end-user storage partitions configured for maintaining associations to portions of the media content stored in the common storage partition;

wherein the media content identified in the request is associated with an advertisement propagated toward the first end-user or a second end-user; and

storing an association to the requested media content in one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to receiving the request to store media content, determining whether the requested media content is stored in the common storage partition;

in response to a determination that the requested media content is stored in the common storage partition, initiating storage of the association to the requested media content in the one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user;

in response to a determination that the requested media content is not stored in the common storage partition:

transmitting, toward a source of the media content, a request to retrieve the requested media content;

receiving the requested media content from the source of the media content;

storing the requested media content in the common storage partition; and

in response to storage of the requested media content in the common storage partition, initiating storage of the association to the requested media content in the one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving a request, by the first end-user, to retrieve the requested media content, wherein the request is associated with an end-user terminal of the first end-user;

retrieving the requested media content from the common storage partition; and

propagating the requested media content toward the end-user terminal of the first end-user.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the media content is advertised to the first end-user via the end-user terminal of the first end-user.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the end-user terminal is a first end-user terminal of the first end-user, wherein the media content is advertised to the first end-user via a second end-user terminal of the first end-user.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media content is advertised to the second end-user.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request to store media content is received in response to a content purchase request of the second end-user, wherein the content purchase request is configured to indicate that the media content is purchased by the second end-user for the first end-user.

8. An apparatus for supporting advertising and sale of media content to an end-user, comprising:

a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to:

receive, at a server, a request for the server to store media content for a first end-user;

wherein the server comprises a common storage partition configured for storing media content and a plurality of end-user storage partitions configured for maintaining associations to portions of the media content stored in the common storage partition;

wherein the media content identified in the request is associated with an advertisement propagated toward the first end-user or a second end-user; and

store an association to the requested media content in one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to receiving the request to store media content, determine whether the requested media content is stored in the common storage partition;

in response to a determination that the requested media content is stored in the common storage partition, initiate storage of the association to the requested media content in the one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user;

in response to a determination that the requested media content is not stored in the common storage partition:

transmit, toward a source of the media content, a request to retrieve the requested media content;

receive the requested media content from the source of the media content;

store the requested media content in the common storage partition; and

in response to storage of the requested media content in the common storage partition, initiate storage of the association to the requested media content in the one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a request, by the first end-user, to retrieve the requested media content, wherein the request is associated with an end-user terminal of the first end-user;

retrieve the requested media content from the common storage partition; and

propagate the requested media content toward the end-user terminal of the first end-user.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the media content is advertised to the first end-user via the end-user terminal of the first end-user.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the end-user terminal is a first end-user terminal of the first end-user, wherein the media content is advertised to the first end-user via a second end-user terminal of the first end-user.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the media content is advertised to the second end-user.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the request to store media content is received in response to a content purchase request of the second end-user, wherein the content purchase request is configured to indicate that the media content is purchased by the second end-user for the first end-user.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for supporting advertising and sale of media content to an end-user, the method comprising:

receiving, at a server, a request for the server to store media content for a first end-user;

wherein the server comprises a common storage partition configured for storing media content and a plurality of end-user storage partitions configured for maintaining associations to portions of the media content stored in the common storage partition;

wherein the media content identified in the request is associated with an advertisement propagated toward the first end-user or a second end-user; and

storing an association to the requested media content in one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

in response to receiving the request to store media content, determining whether the requested media content is stored in the common storage partition;

in response to a determination that the requested media content is stored in the common storage partition, initiating storage of the association to the requested media content in the one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user;

in response to a determination that the requested media content is not stored in the common storage partition:

transmitting, toward a source of the media content, a request to retrieve the requested media content;

receiving the requested media content from the source of the media content;

storing the requested media content in the common storage partition; and

in response to storage of the requested media content in the common storage partition, initiating storage of the association to the requested media content in the one of the end-user storage partitions associated with the first end-user.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving a request, by the first end-user, to retrieve the requested media content, wherein the request is associated with an end-user terminal of the first end-user;

retrieving the requested media content from the common storage partition; and

propagating the requested media content toward the end-user terminal of the first end-user.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the media content is advertised to the first end-user via the end-user terminal of the first end-user.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the end-user terminal is a first end-user terminal of the first end-user, wherein the media content is advertised to the first end-user via a second end-user terminal of the first end-user.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the media content is advertised to the second end-user.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the request to store media content is received in response to a content purchase request of the second end-user, wherein the content purchase request is configured to indicate that the media content is purchased by the second end-user for the first end-user.

22. A method for supporting advertising and sale of media content, comprising:

receiving, at a network element comprising a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, a request for media content for a first end-user, wherein the requested media content is associated with an advertisement propagated toward the first end-user or a second end-user, wherein the advertisement comprises an indication of available media content;

identifying a server associated with the first end-user, wherein the identified server comprises a common storage partition configured for storing media content and a plurality of end-user storage partitions configured for maintaining associations to portions of the media content stored in the common storage partition, wherein one of the end-user storage partitions of the identified server is associated with the first end-user; and

initiating, toward the server, a request for the requested media content to be stored on the server.

Assignments (8)