Granted Patent B2

US 9,414,103 · App. 14/523,158 · Granted Aug 9, 2016

Abstract

Claims (49)

1. A method of enabling a terminal to access content requested by the terminal, the method comprising the following operations performed by one or more processors:

receiving, from a terminal, a request for distribution of a piece of content from a media switch;

reserving a personal cable channel over which to distribute the piece of content, for exclusive use by the terminal for a period of time corresponding to the length of the piece of content;

transmitting, from the media switch to the terminal, reusable access information associated with the personal cable channel to enable the terminal to access the piece of content from a cable headend;

transmitting, from the media switch to the cable headend, the piece of content for transmission to the terminal as a video or audio feed on the identified personal cable channel;

detecting a pause command from the terminal;

determining that the pause command will cause a conflict with a subsequent transmission on the personal cable channel; and

rescheduling the subsequent transmission to a second cable channel that differs from the personal cable channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reusable access information identifies a baseband frequency and a channel pairing.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the transmitting is performed by multiplexing the channel on the baseband frequency.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the request for distribution is formed by detecting at least one of: a user selection of a program from an automated programming guide, a user selection of a piece of on-demand content, and a user selecting a new channel.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein

the request for distribution is formed by automatically determining a next preferred channel of a list of preferred channels in order of preference without user intervention, and

the piece of content corresponds to a program of the next preferred channel.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

accessing, subsequent to receiving the request for distribution, the piece of content from an on-demand switch.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and the processor, operative with the program, is configured to:

receive, from a terminal, a request for distribution of a piece of content from a media switch;

reserve a personal cable channel over which to distribute the piece of content, for exclusive use by the terminal for a period of time corresponding to the length of the piece of content;

transmit, from the media switch to the terminal, reusable access information associated with the personal cable channel to enable the terminal to access the piece of content from a cable headend;

transmit, from the media switch to the cable headend, the piece of content for transmission to the terminal as a video or audio feed on the identified personal cable channel;

detect a pause command from the terminal;

determine that the pause command will cause a conflict with a subsequent transmission on the personal cable channel; and

reschedule the subsequent transmission to a second cable channel that differs from the personal cable channel.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the reusable access information identifies a baseband frequency and a channel pairing.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the transmitting is performed by multiplexing the channel on the baseband frequency.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the request for distribution is formed by detecting at least one of: a user selection of a program from an automated programming guide, a user selection of a piece of on-demand content, and a user selecting a new channel.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein

the request for distribution is formed by automatically determining a next preferred channel of a list of preferred channels in order of preference without user intervention, and

the piece of content corresponds to a program of the next preferred channel.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

access, subsequent to receiving the request for distribution, the piece of content from an on-demand switch.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a terminal, a request for distribution of a piece of content from a media switch;

reserving a personal cable channel over which to distribute the piece of content, for exclusive use by the terminal for a period of time corresponding to the length of the piece of content;

transmitting, from the media switch to the terminal, reusable access information associated with the personal cable channel to enable the terminal to access the piece of content from a cable headend;

transmitting, from the media switch to the cable headend, the piece of content for transmission to the terminal as a video or audio feed on the identified personal cable channel;

detecting a pause command from the terminal;

determining that the pause command will cause a conflict with a subsequent transmission on the personal cable channel; and

rescheduling the subsequent transmission to a second cable channel that differs from the personal cable channel.

14. The medium of claim 13 , wherein the reusable access information identifies a baseband frequency and a channel pairing.

15. The medium of claim 13 , wherein the request for distribution is formed by detecting at least one of: a user selection of a program from an automated programming guide, a user selection of a piece of on-demand content, and a user selecting a new channel.

16. The medium of claim 13 , wherein

the request for distribution is formed by automatically determining a next preferred channel of a list of preferred channels in order of preference without user intervention, and

the piece of content corresponds to a program of the next preferred channel.

17. The medium of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:

accessing, subsequent to receiving the request for distribution, the piece of content from an on-demand switch.

Assignments (6)