IP Library Granted Patent US 9,781,180
Granted Patent B2
US 9,781,180 · App. 14/137,570 · Granted Oct 3, 2017

Redistributing broadcasted content

Inventors: Sagiv Draznin (Walnut Creek, CA); Matthew W. Nelson (Pleasanton, CA); Lalit R. Kotecha (San Ramon, CA)
Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
H04L65/4076
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,781,180
App. No.
14/137,570
Granted
Oct 3, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

A server device may receive content that was transmitted using a broadcast technique; track a quantity of user devices that have entered a particular area after the content has been received by the server device; determine, based on the tracking, that the quantity of user devices meets or exceeds a threshold quantity; and redistributing, by the server device and based on the determining, the content to one or more of the user devices that have entered the particular area after the content has been received by the server device.

Claims (58)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a server device, content that was transmitted at a particular time, using a broadcast technique, to a first set of user devices that are located in a particular cell area, the content having a beginning that corresponds to the particular time;

tracking, by the server device, a second set of user devices that have entered the particular cell area, the tracking including a quantity of user devices, of the second set of user devices, that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device;

determining, by the server device and based on the tracking, that the quantity of user devices, of the second set of user devices that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device, meets or exceeds a threshold quantity; and

redistributing, by the server device and based on the determining, the content to the second set of user devices that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device,

wherein redistributing the content includes restarting the content from the beginning when redistributing the content to the second set of user devices.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast technique, by which the content was transmitted, includes at least one of:

a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (“MBMS”) technique,

an evolved MBMS (“eMBMS”) technique, or

a Cell Broadcast Service (“CBS”) technique.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content is received from a content broadcast server,

wherein redistributing the content includes:

outputting an instruction to the content broadcast server to rebroadcast the content from the beginning, as the content was originally transmitted at the particular time.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein redistributing the content further includes:

providing the content to the content broadcast server, wherein the instruction causes the content broadcast server to rebroadcast the content provided by the server device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the server device is associated with a first wireless radio transceiver and a different second wireless radio transceiver,

wherein receiving the content includes receiving the content via the first wireless radio transceiver, and

wherein redistributing the content includes outputting the content the via the second wireless radio transceiver.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received content corresponds to a live broadcast,

wherein redistributing the content includes redistributing the entirety of the live broadcast, after the live broadcast has been initially received by the server device and the first set of user devices.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from a particular user device, a request for the content; and

redistributing, based on the received request, the content to the particular user device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein redistributing the content includes distributing the content to the second set of user devices as the content was originally presented to the first set of user devices at the particular time.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular cell area corresponds to a coverage area of one or more particular cells of a cellular telecommunications network.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the particular cell area corresponds to a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network (“MBSFN”) area.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein tracking the second set of user devices, that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device, includes receiving information indicating that the second set of user devices are in communication range of the one or more particular cells.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising redistributing the content, from the beginning, on a periodic basis after the content was received by the server device.

13. A server device, comprising:

a non-transitory memory device storing a set of computer-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the set of computer-executable instructions, wherein executing the set of computer-executable instructions causes the processor to:

receive content that was transmitted to the server device at a particular time using a broadcast technique, the content having been broadcasted to devices located in a particular cell area, the content having a beginning that corresponds to the particular time;

track a quantity of user devices that have entered the particular cell area, in which the content was broadcasted, after the content has been received by the server device;

determine, based on the tracking, that the quantity of user devices, that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device, meets or exceeds a threshold quantity; and

redistribute, based on the determining, the content to one or more of the user devices that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device, wherein redistributing the content includes restarting the content from the beginning when redistributing the content to the one or more of the user devices.

14. The server device of claim 13 , wherein executing the computer-executable instructions, to redistribute the content, further causes the processor to:

provide the content to the content broadcast server, wherein the instruction causes the content broadcast server to rebroadcast the content provided by the server device.

15. The server device of claim 13 , wherein the server device is associated with a first wireless radio transceiver and a different second wireless radio transceiver,

wherein receiving the content includes receiving the content via the first wireless radio transceiver, and

wherein redistributing the content includes outputting the content the via the second wireless radio transceiver.

16. The server device of claim 13 , wherein the received content corresponds to a live broadcast,

wherein executing the computer-executable instructions, to redistribute the content, further causes the processor to:

redistribute the entirety of the live broadcast, after the live broadcast has been initially received by the server device.

17. The server device of claim 13 , wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to redistribute the content, further causes the processor to:

redistribute the content to the one or more devices, as the content was originally transmitted to the server device using the broadcast technique.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing a set for processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a server device, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, by the server device, content that was transmitted at a particular time, using a broadcast technique, to a first set of user devices that are located in a particular cell area, the content having a beginning that corresponds to the particular time;

track, by the server device, a second set of user devices that have entered the particular cell area, the tracking including a quantity of user devices, of the second set of user devices, that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device;

determine, by the server device and based on the tracking, that the quantity of user devices, of the second set of user devices that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device, meets or exceeds a threshold quantity; and

redistribute, by the server device and based on the determining, the content to the second set of user devices that have entered the particular cell area after the content has been received by the server device,

wherein redistributing the content includes restarting the content from the beginning when redistributing the content to the second set of user devices.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the broadcast technique, by which the content was transmitted, includes at least one of:

a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (“MBMS”) technique,

an evolved MBMS (“eMBMS”) technique, or

a Cell Broadcast Service (“CBS”) technique.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the content is received from a content broadcast server,

wherein the processor-executable instructions, to redistribute the content, include processor-executable instructions to:

output an instruction to the content broadcast server to rebroadcast the content from the beginning, as the content was originally transmitted at the particular time.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 20, 2013
From: DRAZNIN, SAGIV; NELSON, MATTHEW W.; KOTECHA, LALIT R.
To: VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC.
Reel/Frame 031834/0671 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20150180922A1 · Jun 25, 2015