U.S. patent application number 12/478919 was filed with the patent office on 2009-09-24 for method and system for redirecting an electronic content request to an alternate content transport mechanism or storage site.
This patent application is currently assigned to AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.. Invention is credited to Michael S. Denny.
Application Number | 20090240787 12/478919 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40811116 |
Filed Date | 2009-09-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090240787 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Denny; Michael S. |
September 24, 2009 |
Method and System for Redirecting an Electronic Content Request to
an Alternate Content Transport Mechanism or Storage Site
Abstract
A method includes receiving content from a provider, storing the
content at a location of a local cache, and transmitting a request
for the content from a user device to a transport proxy server. The
method also includes receiving an indicator from the transport
proxy server, and accessing the content from the location of the
local cache.
Inventors: |
Denny; Michael S.;
(Sharpsburg, GA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
AT&T Legal Department - LNA;Attn: Patent Docketing
Room 2A- 207, One AT & T Way
Bedminster
NJ
07921
US
|
Assignee: |
AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I,
L.P.
Reno
NV
|
Family ID: |
40811116 |
Appl. No.: |
12/478919 |
Filed: |
June 5, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10172244 |
Jun 14, 2002 |
7558837 |
|
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12478919 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/219 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 7/18523 20130101;
G06F 15/173 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/219 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, using a user device of an
end-user site, content from a content provider; storing the content
at a location of a local cache of the end-user site; transmitting a
request for the content from the user device to a transport proxy
server remote to the end-user site responsive to user input
representing a request to review the content, the request
comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with a
website providing the content; receiving an indicator from the
transport proxy server at the user device responsive to
transmitting the request, the indicator representative of the
location of the local cache; and accessing, using the user device,
the content from the location of the local cache based on the
indicator to present the content to a user at the end-user
site.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein: receiving the content from the
content provider comprises receiving the content from the content
provider via a first transport mechanism; transmitting the request
for the content to the transport proxy server comprises
transmitting the request to the transport proxy server via a second
transport mechanism; and receiving the indicator from the transport
proxy server comprises receiving the indicator from the transport
proxy server via the second transport mechanism.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first transport mechanism
comprises one of a satellite-based media broadcast mechanism or a
cable-based media broadcast mechanism and the second transport
mechanism comprises an Internet-based mechanism.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the end-user site and the
transport proxy server are connected via a cable network.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein: receiving the content from the
content provider comprises receiving the content from the content
provider via a transport mechanism; transmitting the request for
the content to the transport proxy server comprises transmitting
the request to the transport proxy server via the transport
mechanism; and receiving the indicator from the transport proxy
server comprises receiving the indicator from the transport proxy
server via the transport mechanism.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises at least
one of audio content or video content.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing, at the
transport proxy server, a plurality of uniform resource locators
(URLs), wherein each URL of the plurality of URLs is associated
with a corresponding website of a plurality of websites providing
the content; and transmitting the indicator from the transport
proxy server to the user device in response to determining a match
between the URL of the request and a URL of the plurality of URLs
stored at the transport proxy server.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein: the user device comprises one of
a personal computer, a set top box, a personal digital assistant,
or a television.
9. A system comprising: an end-user site comprising: a user device
to: receive content from a content provider; store the content at a
location of a local cache of the end-user site; transmit a request
for the content to a transport proxy server remote to the end-user
site responsive to user input representing a request to review the
content, the request comprising a uniform resource locator (URL)
associated with a website providing the content; receive an
indicator from the transport proxy server responsive to
transmitting the request, the indicator representative of the
location of the local cache; and access the content from the
location of the local cache based on the indicator to present the
content to a user at the end-user site.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein: the user device receives the
content from the content provider via a first transport mechanism;
the user device transmits the request for the content to the
transport proxy server via a second transport mechanism; and the
user device receives the indicator from the transport proxy server
via the second transport mechanism.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first transport mechanism
comprises one of a satellite-based media broadcast mechanism or a
cable-based media broadcast mechanism and the second transport
mechanism comprises an Internet-based mechanism.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein the end-user site and the
transport proxy server are connected via a cable network.
13. The system of claim 9, wherein: the user device receives the
content from the content provider, transmits the request to the
transport proxy server, and receives the indicator from the
transport proxy server via a same transport mechanism.
14. The system of claim 9, wherein the end-user site and the
transport proxy server are connected via one of a digital
subscriber line or a cable network.
15. The system of claim 9, further comprising: the transport proxy
server, wherein the transport proxy server is to: store a plurality
of uniform resource locators (URLs), wherein each URL of the
plurality of URLs is associated with a corresponding website of a
plurality of websites providing the content; and transmit the
indicator from the transport proxy server to the user device in
response to determining a match between the URL of the request and
a URL of the plurality of URLs stored at the transport proxy
server.
16. The system of claim 15, further comprising: the content
provider, wherein the content provider is to: publish the content
at the plurality of websites prior to providing the plurality of
URLs to the transport proxy server.
17. The system of claim 9, wherein: the user device comprises one
of a personal computer, a set top box, a personal digital
assistant, or a television.
18. A system comprising: an end-user site; and a transport proxy
server remote to the end-user site, the transport proxy server to:
store a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) associated
with content stored at the end-user site and published at a
plurality of websites, each URL of the plurality of URLs associated
with a corresponding website of the plurality of websites; and
redirect the end-user site to a location of a content cache of the
end-user site for content requested by the end-user site in
response to determining a URL associated with the content requested
by the end-user site matches a URL of the plurality of URLs.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein: the end-user site receives the
content from a content provider via a first transport mechanism;
and the transport proxy server and the end-user site communicate
via a second transport mechanism.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the first transport mechanism
comprises one of a satellite-based media broadcast mechanism or a
cable-based media broadcast mechanism and the second transport
mechanism comprises an Internet-based mechanism.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] This application is a continuation of prior U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/172,244 entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR
REDIRECTING AN ELECTRONIC CONTENT REQUEST TO AN ALTERNATE CONTENT
TRANSPORT MECHANISM OR STORAGE SITE," invented by Michael S. Denny
and filed on Jun. 14, 2002.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] The present disclosure is directed to a method and system
for redirecting an electronic content request to an alternate
content transport mechanism or alternate content storage site.
BACKGROUND
[0003] With the advent of the Internet, individual users,
businesses, educational institutions, recreational institutions,
and the like request and receive vast amounts of useful and
entertaining content from a variety of sources. For example,
requests are made over the Internet to web sites provided by news
agencies, informational systems, and entertainment systems. Such
requests typically include the user entering a uniform resource
locator (URL) for the desired web site into an Internet browser
application on the user's local computer. The content request
travels across the Internet to the specified web site, and the user
may then view or download information by pulling that information
back across the Internet to the user's local computer.
[0004] In recent years, it has become popular for a variety of
information content providers, particularly broadcast media
providers such as news broadcast organizations, to package content
according to the desires of their subscribers and transmit that
content via satellite or via cable directly to the user's home,
office, school, and the like. Once the information is received at
the user's site, the information is stored in a local cache for
later review by the user. For example, a user may subscribe to a
popular sports news network to have the sports news network
broadcast on an hourly basis all news clips pertaining to a given
sport, for example basketball, or pertaining to a given sports
team. Accordingly, each hour the content subscribed to by the user
is packaged by the sports news network and broadcast via satellite
or via cable to the user's local computer where it is stored for
later review by the user.
[0005] Typically, the broadcast organizations that package
information for delivery as described above also simultaneously
publish that information on an Internet web site operated by each
of those organizations. Often, a user logs onto the user's local
personal computer and using their Internet browser application
enters the URL of an Internet web site to obtain content to which
the user has subscribed under the broadcast content mechanism,
described above. For example, even if the user has subscribed to a
sports news organization to have the sports information for a given
sport sent to the user's home on a periodic basis, the user may
still enter the URL of the Internet web site of the same sports
news organization to receive the identical content that already has
been broadcast to the user's home and has been stored for review by
the user. Unfortunately, the user may have forgotten that the
content the user is now requesting is available on the local cache,
or the user may believe that the content the user is requesting is
of a newer version or is otherwise different from the content
stored on the local cache.
[0006] If the user's second content request is provided from the
requested web site, the user will receive the identical content
already stored on the local cache. Unfortunately, the user will
have needlessly tied up the resources, including data link
bandwidth and processing time, required to pull the content across
the Internet to the user's local computer even though the requested
content is already stored locally for access by the user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of
illustration, elements illustrated in the Figures have not
necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of
some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements.
Embodiments incorporating teachings of the present disclosure are
shown and described with respect to the drawings presented herein,
in which:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing components of a
telecommunications system for providing broadcast media data and
Internet-based data to an end-user site.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing components of a
telecommunications system and illustrating the transmission of
electronic content from a content provider to an end-user site via
separate content transport mechanisms.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the system
illustrated in FIG. 2 including a proxy management system for
managing electronic content and illustrating a telecommunications
system central office site including a transport proxy server for
processing content requests according to an embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the
components of an end-user site for receiving, storing, and
utilizing received broadcast media content and for processing
electronic content requests through a transport proxy server
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating steps performed by a
method and system of the present disclosure for redirecting
electronic content requests to an alternate content transport
mechanism and storage site.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of the system
illustrated in FIG. 3 including a proxy management system for
managing electronic content and illustrating a telecommunications
system central office site including a transport proxy server for
processing content requests according to an alternate embodiment of
the present disclosure.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of the system
illustrated in FIG. 4 including the components of an end-user site
and the components of a telecommunications system central office
site for receiving, storing, and utilizing received broadcast media
content and for processing electronic content requests through a
transport proxy server according to an alternate embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating steps performed by a
method and system of the present disclosure for redirecting
electronic content requests to an alternate content transport
mechanism and storage site according to an alternate embodiment of
the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] In the following detailed description, references are made
to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which
are shown by way of illustration of specific embodiments or
examples. These embodiments may be combined, other embodiments may
be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing
from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The following
detailed description is, therefore, not be taken in a limiting
sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the
appended claims and their equivalents.
[0017] Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals
represent like elements through the several figures, aspects of the
present disclosure and the exemplary operating environment will be
described. FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing components
of a telecommunications system for providing broadcast media data
and Internet-based data to an end-user site. Broadcast media 100 is
representative of any broadcast media organization, such as a news
organization or information-content provider, that packages
electronic content and transmits that content via satellite 130 or
via cable (not shown) or other suitable transmission protocol to an
end-user site 150 for subsequent review at the end-user site 150.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the broadcast media is received by a
receiver 140 at the end-user site 150 for playback via a personal
computer 160 or a television 195. As should be understood by those
skilled in the art, the broadcast media may be played back at the
end-user site 150 using other devices, such as stereo equipment and
personal digital assistants. In a typical setting, a broadcast
media content provider, such as a news organization, packages clips
of requested information, such as news relating to a particular
topic and broadcasts that information to the end-user site 150 on a
periodic basis such as hourly, daily or weekly.
[0018] Internet media 110 is representative of Internet-based web
sites where electronic content is published by a variety of news
organizations, entertainment providers, and general information
content providers. Upon the request of an end user at the end-user
site 150, information content is pulled from the Internet media
site 110 across the Internet 120 and across a data link 125 to the
end-user site 150. As described above, typically broadcast media
organizations and institutions providing information content via
the broadcast media 100 also publish that information on
Internet-based web sites operated by those organizations to make
the same content available to end users via the Internet media 110
and Internet 120. Accordingly, identical information content may be
received at the end-user site 150 via two separate content
transports mechanisms.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing components of a
telecommunications system and illustrating the transmission of
electronic content from a content provider to an end-user site via
separate content transport mechanisms. With the increased volume of
content requests in recent years, a number of content-distribution
networks (CDN) have been developed for aggregating content from a
number of sources or content providers at a content aggregator 210
for subsequent distribution to end users at an end-user site 150.
The content provider 200 is representative of a number of
information-content providers such as a variety of news
organizations, sports information systems, educational information
systems and the like.
[0020] The information from a number of content providers 200 is
combined or aggregated at the content aggregator 210 for subsequent
transmission via the satellite 130 or a similarly effective cable
system or other transmission system to the end-user site 150. As
should be understood by those skilled in the art, the content
aggregator 210 may be in the form of a server system, including a
collection of computers, databases, and memory storage units,
capable of receiving and aggregating electronic content from a
variety of content providers 200 for subsequent transmission to end
users. In a typical environment, content aggregators are
particularly useful for distributing audio, video, and multimedia
content via satellite 130, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Once the
content is transmitted from the content aggregator 210 to the
end-user site 150, that information may be stored at the end-user
site 150 for subsequent review by the subscriber to that
information.
[0021] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the content deposited with the
content aggregator 210 by the content providers 200 typically is
also published on an Internet web site 220 of the content provider
for access by end users at an end-user site 150 via the Internet
120. For example, a given sports news network, operating as a
content provider 200, may send to the content aggregator 210 all
sports information related to a given sport, such as basketball,
for provision to a subscriber at an end-user site 150. Likewise,
that same sports news network simultaneously may publish the same
electronic content to the web site 220 for access by end users via
the Internet 120.
[0022] FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the system
illustrated in FIG. 2 including a content management system or
proxy management system for managing electronic content and
illustrating a telecommunications system central office site
including a transport proxy server for processing content requests
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A transport
proxy server 250 is located In a telecommunications systems central
office site 240 for redirecting electronic content requests made by
an end user via one transport mechanism to an alternate content
transport mechanism in order to avoid the needless downloading of
content to an end user where that content is already available to
the end user via the alternate transport mechanism. As described in
detail below, if the end user already has received and stored
locally a particular electronic content from a content provider 200
via the content aggregator 210 and satellite system 130, a
subsequent request for the same content via a different transport
mechanism, such as the Internet 120 and web site 220, is
intercepted by the transport proxy server 240. The user's
subsequent request for the same content is then directed back to
the local storage medium at the end-user site 150 and is provided
to the user. Provision to the user of electronic content already
available to the end-user via the local storage medium at the
end-user site 150 avoids connection to the web site 220 to pull the
same information over the Internet 120 to the end-user site 150.
Data link bandwidth and processing time associated with the
subsequent request to pull electronic content from the web site 220
across the Internet 120 is saved.
[0023] The transport proxy server redirects content requests to an
alternate transport mechanism by matching a content request
intercepted from the end-user site 150 against a database of
content identifiers known to have been stored in the local cache at
the end-user site 150 from an alternate transport mechanism. In
order to provide the transport proxy server 240 with this
information, content providers 200 via the content aggregator 210
may download to a proxy management system (PMS) the Uniform
Resource Locators (URL) associated with Internet web sites 220
where content already transmitted to the end user site 150 via a
first transport mechanism has been published for retrieval via the
Internet 120. When content is transmitted to end user sites 150,
according to the first transport mechanism and is published on
Internet web site 220 for retrieval via a second transport
mechanism, the PMS forwards to the transport proxy server 240 the
URLs associated with the web site locations of that content.
Accordingly, when an end user from the end-user site 150 requests
content from a particular web site by typing into the user's
Internet browser application a given URL, the transport proxy
server 240 may compare that URL with an index or URLs received from
the PMS to determine whether the content associated with the URL
entered by the end user has already been received and stored at the
end-user site via a different transport mechanism.
[0024] FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the
components of an end-user site for receiving, storing, and
utilizing received broadcast media content and for processing
electronic content requests through a transport proxy server
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. According to
an embodiment of the present disclosure, the end-user site 150 may
be the home of an end user, a business, educational institution,
recreational institution, and the like. A personal computer 160 is
provided for receiving and viewing electronic information content.
The personal computer may have any suitable operating system with
sufficient processing speed and memory capacity for maintaining and
operating an Internet browser 165 for requesting, obtaining,
storing and reviewing electronic content from the broadcast media
transport mechanism or from the Internet media transport mechanism,
described above. A suitable Internet browser includes Internet
Explorer.RTM. manufactured by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,
Wash. A client application 170 is stored and operates on the
personal computer 160 for processing data content requests,
retrieval, and review of content according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. The client application 170 may include a
collection of individual, but linked software components and
subroutines, including dynamic-link libraries and application
programming interfaces for providing the functionality of the
present disclosure. A content cache 180 is provided for receiving
and storing electronic content, including audio, video, and
multimedia content, from a broadcast media content provider 200 via
the satellite 130 and satellite receiver 140. Likewise, the
broadcast content may be received via a cable system or other
suitable transport device. A set-top box 185 is provided for
directing content stored on the content cache 180 to the personal
computer 160 or to a variety of other media devices, such as the
television 195, a stereo system (not shown), a personal digital
assistant (not shown), or any other suitable electronic device for
receiving and displaying or playing electronic content such as
audio, video, or multimedia content. According to a typical
embodiment, the set-top box 185 and content cache 180 may be
integrated as a single device and may be supplied by the content
providers 200 to allow the end users at end-user site 150 to
receive and enjoy the requested content.
[0025] Referring still to FIG. 4, the transport proxy server 250 is
located at a telecommunications central office site 240. As is
known to those skilled in the art, telecommunications service
providers provide services to a variety of end users via central
office sites located among collections of end users for
distributing voice and data content from a broader
telecommunications network to end users connected to a given
central office 240. According to the present disclosure, the
transport proxy server 250 is located at the central office 240 for
providing services in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure to the end-user site 150. The end-user site 150 is
illustrative of a number of end-user sites 150 that may be
connected via voice trunk circuits and data links, such as the data
link 125, to the central office 240 for providing telecommunication
services.
[0026] Referring to the central office 240, the transport proxy
server 250 is a general purpose computing system that provides
services to other computers, such as the personal computer 160 that
act as client computers to the transport proxy server 250. The
transport proxy server 250 includes general purpose computing
capabilities, including data processing, data retrieval, data
storage, and data transmission. The transport proxy server 250
includes memory capacity for containing application programs and
associated data required for processing content requests received
from the personal computer 160 according to an embodiment of the
presents disclosure. According to an embodiment of the present
disclosure, the transport proxy server 250 may also save
information acquired from elsewhere on the Internet 120 and make
that information available to other computers in the immediate
area, such as the personal computer 160. For example, if several
users connect to the same Internet web site 220 through the
transport proxy server 250, each page of information from the
Internet web site 220 is downloaded from the Internet web site 220
only once to the transport proxy server and then is provided to all
users.
[0027] The URL cache database 255 includes a memory storage system
for storing content request information received by the transport
proxy server 250 from the proxy management system 225. According to
an embodiment of the present disclosure, an index including the
uniform resource locators (URL) associated with Internet-based web
sites containing electronic content that has been transmitted
according to the broadcast media transport mechanism, described
above, to the end-user site and stored on the content cache 180 may
be maintained on the database 255. Paths to content stored in the
content cache 180 may also be maintained on the database 255.
[0028] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the personal computer 160 at the
end-user site 150 is functionally connected to the transport proxy
server 250 via a data link 125. The data link 125 is illustrative
of any telecommunications service line capable of carrying data
from an Internet web site 220 across the Internet 120 to the
personal computer 160 via the transport proxy server 250. According
to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the data link
125 includes a digital subscriber line (DSL) capable of high-speed
and high-volume electronic data transmission. Electronic content
transmitted from a web site 220 across the Internet 120 to the
personal computer 160 is transmitted according to well-known
transmission protocols including hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
and file transfer protocol (FTP).
[0029] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of the system
illustrated in FIG. 3 including a proxy management system for
managing electronic content and illustrating a telecommunications
system central office site including a transport proxy server for
processing content requests according to an alternate embodiment of
the present disclosure. According to an alternate embodiment of the
present disclosure, content transmitted from the content providers
200 via the content aggregator 210 and the satellite 130 or similar
cable system or other transmission system is transmitted to a
receiver 145 at the central office site 240, as opposed to
transmitting the content directly to an end user at the end-user
site 150. According to this embodiment of the present disclosure,
content transmitted to the central office 240 is stored in a
content cache at the central office 240 for subsequent distribution
out to various end users at end-user sites 150.
[0030] Referring now to FIG. 7, according to an alternative
embodiment of the present disclosure, the central office 240
includes a content server 270 for receiving electronic content via
the receiver 145 from the content providers 200 via the content
aggregator 210. Once the content server 270 receives content from
the content providers 200, that content is stored at a content
cache 265 at the central office 240 for subsequent distribution to
end users at end-user sites 150. The content server 270 is a
general purpose computing system similar to the transport proxy
server 250 for communicating with and providing data to client
computers such as the computer 160 located at the end-user site
150. A separate data link 127 such as a DSL line, described above,
connects the content server 270 with the personal computer 160 of
the end-user. When the end user desires to review content received
from the broadcast media transport mechanism, the client
application 170 directs the personal computer 160 via the data link
127 to the content server 270 which in turn downloads information
from the content cache 265 and transmits the information to the
personal computer 160 for review by the end user.
[0031] According to an alternate embodiment of the present
disclosure, when the user of the personal computer 160 requests
information from an Internet web site URL, the transport proxy
server 250 searches the URL cache database 255 to determine whether
the content associated with that URL is already stored on the local
central office content cache 265. If that content is stored locally
on the content cache 265, the transport proxy server 250 redirects
the user's request to the content server 270, and the content
already stored on the content cache 265 is transmitted to the user
via the data link 127.
Operation
[0032] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating steps performed by a
method and system of the present disclosure for redirecting
electronic content requests to an alternate content transport
mechanism and storage site. For purposes of description of the
operational flow illustrated in FIG. 5, consider for example that
an end user subscribes to electronic content from a content
provider 200 via a content aggregator 210 for delivery directly to
the user's home at an end-user site 150. The method 500 begins at
start step 505 and proceeds to step 510 where the user or
subscriber receives content from a first transport. According to
the present example, and according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure, the user receives the content in response to a
subscription with the content provider 200. For example, the user
may have subscribed to news clips associated with a particular
political candidate, or the user may have subscribed to all sports
scores associated with a particular sport or groups of sports. In
response to the user's subscription, the content along with the
content of other content providers 200 is transmitted to the
content aggregator 210 for transmission to the user at the end-user
site 150.
[0033] At step 515, the content subscribed to by the user is
transmitted vial the transmitter 215 to the satellite 130 and to
the satellite receiver 140 at the end-user site 150. The
transmitted content is then directed to the content cache 180 and
is stored for subsequent review by the user. If the user desires to
review the content stored in the content cache 180, the user
selects the client application 170 on the personal computer 160 to
download the subscribed content to the personal computer 160 for
review by the user. Alternatively, the user may utilize the
functionality of the set-top box 185 to direct the subscribed
content to a separate medium such as the television 195 for
review.
[0034] At step 520, simultaneous with transmitting the content
subscribed to by the user to the end-user site 150, as described
with reference to step 515, the content provided by the content
provider 200 to the end user is published on the web site 220 of
the content provider 200 for provision to end users who request the
content via the Internet 120. Proxy information required by the
transport proxy mechanism 250 for managing content requests in
accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is
forwarded to the proxy management system 225. As described above,
the proxy information includes an index of all uniform resource
locators (URL) associated with web sites 220 from which content may
be downloaded that is identical to content transmitted to end users
from the alternate transport mechanism including the content
aggregator 210, satellite 130 and receiver 140. Additionally, the
proxy information includes paths to stored content on the content
cache 180. At step 525, the PMS forwards the index of URLs and
content paths to the transport proxy 250 via the Internet 120.
[0035] At step 530, the end user utilizing the computer 160
requests content from a web site 220 via the Internet 120. In order
to make the request, the user opens an instance of the Internet
browser application 165 and enters the URL of the web site
associated with the requested content. At step 535, the request is
transmitted from the personal computer 160 across the data link 125
to the central office 240 and is received by the transport proxy
server 250 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. At
step 540, the transport proxy server 250 checks the requested
content URL against the URLs contained in the URL cache database
255. As described above, the URL cache database 255 is populated
with the index of URLs associated with content previously
downloaded to the user's local content cache 180 according to the
alternate transport mechanism.
[0036] At step 545, a determination is made as to whether the
requested content is cached at the local content cache 180. If the
URL requested by the user at step 530 is not located by the
transport proxy server 250 on the URL cache database 255, the
method proceeds to step 550, and the user's content request is
processed. At step 555, the user is connected by the transport
proxy server 250 to the web site 220 associated with the user's
content request. At step 560, the content requested by the user is
retrieved to the user's Internet browser application 165, and at
step 580, the content is presented to the user for the user's
review.
[0037] Referring back to step 545, if the URL requested by the user
at step 530 is located in the URL cache database 255 by the
transport proxy server 250, the method proceeds to step 565, and
the transport proxy server 250 obtains from the URL cache database
255 a path to the cached content located on the local content cache
180. At step 570, the transport proxy server 250 forwards the URL
and path associated with the cached content to the client content
application 170 via the data link 125, as described above. At step
575, the client content application 170 utilizes the URL and memory
path received from the transport proxy server 250 to access the
requested content stored on the content cache 180. At step 580, the
requested content is displayed to the user at the user's personal
computer 160. The foregoing process is seamless to the user because
the user has received the requested content quickly and efficiently
after making the request without the need for pulling the content
from a web site 220 across the Internet 120, and thereby needlessly
using data link bandwidth and processor time of various computing
components between the web site 220 and the end user.
[0038] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating steps performed by a
method and system of the present disclosure for redirecting
electronic content requests to an alternate content transport
mechanism and storage site according to an alternate embodiment of
the present disclosure where content from the first transport
mechanism is cached at the central office content cache 265.
[0039] The method 800 begins at start step 805 and proceeds to step
810 where the user or subscriber receives content from a first
transport is received at the central office content server 270. At
step 815, the content subscribed to by the user is transmitted via
the transmitter 215 to the satellite 130 and to the satellite
receiver 145 at the central office site 240. The transmitted
content is then directed to the content cache 265 and is stored for
subsequent transmission to an end user via the data link 127. If
the user desires to review the content stored in the content cache
180, the user selects the client application 170 on the personal
computer 160 to download the subscribed content to the personal
computer 160 for review by the user. Alternatively, the user may
utilize the functionality of the set-top box 185 to direct the
subscribed content to a separate medium such as the television 195
for review.
[0040] At step 820, simultaneous with transmitting the content
subscribed to by the user to the central office content server 270,
as described with reference to step 815, the content provided by
the content provider 200 to the end user is published on the web
site 220 of the content provider 200 for provision to end users who
request the content via the Internet 120. Proxy information
required by the transport proxy mechanism 250 for managing content
requests in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure
is forwarded to the content management system or proxy management
system 225. As described above, the proxy information includes an
index of all uniform resource locators (URL) associated with web
sites 220 from which content may be downloaded that is identical to
content transmitted to end users from the alternate transport
mechanism including the content aggregator 210, satellite 130 and
receiver 140. Additionally, the proxy information includes paths to
stored content on the content cache 180. At step 825, the PMS
forwards the index of URLs and content paths to the transport proxy
250 via the Internet 120.
[0041] At step 830, the end user utilizing the computer 160
requests content from a web site 220 via the Internet 120. In order
to make the request, the user opens an instance of the Internet
browser application 165 and enters the URL of the web site
associated with the requested content. At step 835, the request is
transmitted from the personal computer 160 across the data link 125
to the central office 240 and is received by the transport proxy
server 250 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. At
step 840, the transport proxy server 250 checks the requested
content URL against the URLs contained in the URL cache database
255. As described above, the URL cache database 255 is populated
with the index of URLs associated with content previously
downloaded to the central office content cache 265 according to the
alternate transport mechanism.
[0042] At step 845, a determination is made as to whether the
requested content is cached at the central office content cache
265. If the URL requested by the user at step 830 is not located by
the transport proxy server 250 on the URL cache database 255, the
method proceeds to step 850 and the user's content request is
processed. At step 855, the user is connected by the transport
proxy server 250 to the web site 220 associated with the user's
content request. At step 860, the content requested by the user is
retrieved to the user's Internet browser application 165, and at
step 890, the content is presented to the user for the user's
review.
[0043] Referring back to step 845, if the URL requested by the user
at step 830 is located in the URL cache database 255 by the
transport proxy server 250, the method proceeds to step 865, and
the transport proxy server 250 obtains from the URL cache database
255 a path to the cached content located on the central office
content cache 265. At step 870, the transport proxy server 250
forwards the URL and path associated with the cached content to the
client content application 170 via the data link 125, as described
above.
[0044] At step 875, in response to receipt of the URL and content
path from the transport proxy server 250, the client application
170 calls the content server 270 located at the central office 240
via the data link 127 to obtain the requested content for
presentation to the user at the personal computer 160. At step 880,
the content saver 270 locates the requested content using the path
to the requested content at content cache 265. At step 885, the
content server 270 sends the requested content to the client
application 170 via the DSL data link 127. At step 890, the client
application 170 presents the requested content to the user via the
personal computer 160. The method ends at step 895.
[0045] As described above with reference to the various embodiments
of the present disclosure, the transport proxy server intercepts
content requests from an end user and determines whether that
content has already been downloaded and stored locally, either at
an end-user site or at a telecommunications system central office
site. If the requested content has been transmitted and stored
locally via a first transport mechanism, the transport proxy server
of the present disclosure redirects the user's request so that the
request is filled utilizing the locally stored content so as to
avoid the needless use of data link bandwidth and processor time to
download the same information a second time from an Internet-based
web site via a second transport mechanism.
[0046] The present application also discloses a method and system
for redirecting an electronic content request to an alternate
content transport mechanism. Generally described, according to
embodiments of the present disclosure, electronic content received
from a first transport mechanism, such as a satellite broadcast
system, is transmitted to and stored at an end-user content cache.
If the user subsequently requests content from an alternate
transport mechanism, such as the Internet, a transport proxy server
intercepts the request. The transport proxy server compares the URL
entered by the user with a database of URLs associated with web
site content that has been transmitted to and stored at the user's
local content cache via the first transport mechanism. If the
content requested by the user is presently stored on the user's
local content cache, the user's request is redirected to the device
or access application for the first transport mechanism which then
retrieves and delivers the requested content from the local storage
cache. Needless connection to the Internet web site to obtain the
content via the second transport mechanism is avoided.
[0047] More particularly, the method and system of the present
disclosure include requesting and receiving content from a first
transport mechanism and storing that content in an end user's site.
If a user requests content from a second transport mechanism, a
determination is made as to whether the requested content is stored
at the end user's site. If the requested content is stored at the
end user's site, the requested content is accessed from the end
user's site in response to the request for the content. The content
received from the first transport mechanism may be stored at a
local content cache at the end user's site, or the content may be
stored at a content cache at a telecommunications system central
office site.
[0048] When the content is delivered to the end user's site via the
first transport mechanism, the content is also stored for delivery
to the end user's site via the second transport mechanism. Storage
for delivery via the second transport mechanism includes publishing
the content on an Internet web site of the provider of the content
stored at the end user's site via the first transport mechanism. In
addition to storing the information for delivery to the end user's
site via the Internet web site of the provider of the content, the
provider of the content prepares location information for
associating the content sent to the end user's site via the first
transport mechanism with content stored for delivery via the second
transport mechanism. Location information so prepared is saved to a
content management system and includes a Uniform Resource Locator
(URL) designating the location of the content via the Internet web
site. Location information provided to the content management
system is forwarded to a transport proxy server located at a
telecommunications system central office site. When a request is
made for content via the second transport mechanism, the request is
intercepted by the transport proxy server, and a determination is
made as to whether the requested content is stored at the end
user's site. The determination includes parsing a database of
location information to determine whether the requested content has
location information associated with content stored at the end
user's site. That is, a determination is made as to whether a URL
entered as part of the request for content via the second transport
mechanism is associated with a web site containing the same content
that has been stored at the end user's site and that is accessible
at the end user's site via the first transport mechanism.
[0049] If the content requested via the second transport mechanism
is already stored at the end user's site via the first transport
mechanism, the request for content is redirected back to the end
user's site, and the requested content is downloaded from the local
content cache at the end user's site. Likewise, if the requested
content is already stored at a local content cache at the
telecommunications system central office site, the request for
information via the second transport mechanism is redirected to the
local consent cache at the telecommunications system central office
site and the content is downloaded to the end user's site for
presentation to an end user.
[0050] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications or variations may be made in the present invention
without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other
embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in
the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the
invention disclosed herein.
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