U.S. patent application number 14/865323 was filed with the patent office on 2017-02-02 for method and system for dynamically managing storage space of video recording devices.
The applicant listed for this patent is Wipro Limited. Invention is credited to Gowrishankar Subramaniam Natarajan, Harish Nair Rajagopal.
Application Number | 20170034571 14/865323 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54398133 |
Filed Date | 2017-02-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170034571 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Natarajan; Gowrishankar Subramaniam
; et al. |
February 2, 2017 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY MANAGING STORAGE SPACE OF VIDEO
RECORDING DEVICES
Abstract
The technology relates to dynamically managing storage space of
one or more video recording devices. The video recording devices
sends one or more notifications to recording session management
server. The one or more notifications are associated with recording
status of an event and the storage space status of each of the one
or more video recording devices. Each device is associated with one
or more predefined policies configured by a user of the video
recording devices. Based on predefined policies and notifications,
the recording session management server identifies change in status
of free space and used space in each of the one or more video
recording devices. The recording session management server
schedules video recording devices to perform actions based on
change in status of free space and used space and one or more event
parameters for dynamically managing the storage space of the one or
more video recording devices.
Inventors: |
Natarajan; Gowrishankar
Subramaniam; (Chennai, IN) ; Rajagopal; Harish
Nair; (Trivandrum, IN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Wipro Limited |
Bangalore |
|
IN |
|
|
Family ID: |
54398133 |
Appl. No.: |
14/865323 |
Filed: |
September 25, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/4147 20130101;
G11B 27/034 20130101; H04N 21/4335 20130101; H04N 21/4532 20130101;
H04N 5/76 20130101; G11B 27/36 20130101; H04N 21/2747 20130101;
H04N 21/4334 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/4335 20060101
H04N021/4335; H04N 21/45 20060101 H04N021/45; H04N 21/433 20060101
H04N021/433; H04N 21/2747 20060101 H04N021/2747; G11B 27/36
20060101 G11B027/36; H04N 21/4147 20060101 H04N021/4147 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 30, 2015 |
IN |
3930/CHE/2015 |
Claims
1. A method for dynamically managing storage space of one or more
video recording devices, the method comprising: receiving, by a
recording session management server, one or more notifications from
each of the one or more video recording devices, wherein the one or
more notifications are associated with recording status of an event
and the storage space status of each of the one or more video
recording devices; receiving, by the recording session management
server, one or more policies corresponding to each of the one or
more video recording devices; identifying, by the recording session
management server, change in status of free space and used space in
each of the one or more video recording devices based on the one or
more notifications and the one or more policies; and scheduling, by
the recording session management server, at least one of the video
recording device for performing one or more actions based on the
change in status of free space and used space and one or more event
parameters for dynamically managing the storage space of the one or
more video recording devices.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more video
recording devices comprises cloud based video recording devices and
one or more customer premise equipment's.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more
notifications received from each of the one or more video recording
devices is stored in a recording database of the recording session
management server.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage space
status comprises at least one of total available space in the video
recording device, projected usage of the video recording device for
the event, actual usage of the video recording device for the
event, free space in the video recording device and available space
in the cloud based video recording devices.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more
policies is based on at least one of inputs received from a user
managing the video recording devices and inputs derived dynamically
based on activities of the user.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more
notifications received from each of the one or more video recording
devices are associated to a user account based on identification
(ID) number of each of the one or more video recording devices.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein receiving the one or
more notifications further comprises identifying metadata
information associated with the event.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more
actions comprises at least one of deletion of events, archiving of
events, rescheduling the event in the one or more video recording
devices and identifying the video recording device for recording
future events.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more
actions are performed at time intervals configured by the recording
server.
10. A recording session management server comprising: a processor;
and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the
memory stores processor-executable instructions, which, on
execution, causes the processor to: receive one or more
notifications from each of the one or more video recording devices,
wherein the one or more notifications are associated with recording
status of an event and the storage space status of each of the one
or more video recording devices; receive one or more policies
corresponding to each of the one or more video recording devices;
identify change in status of free space and used space in each of
the one or more video recording devices based on the one or more
notifications and the one or more policies; and schedule at least
one of the video recording device for performing one or more
actions based on the change in status of free space and used space
and one or more event parameters for dynamically managing the
storage space of the one or more video recording devices.
11. The recording session management server as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the instructions further cause the processor to store the
one or more notifications received from each of the one or more
video recording devices in a recording database of the recording
server.
12. The recording session management server as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the instructions further cause the processor to associate
the one or more notifications received from each of the one or more
video recording devices to a user account based on identification
(ID) number of each of the one or more video recording devices.
13. The recording session management server as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the instructions further cause the processor to identify
metadata information associated with the event based on the
received one or more notifications.
14. The recording session management server as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the instructions further cause the processor to configure
the policies based on at least one of inputs received from a user
managing the video recording devices and inputs derived dynamically
based on activities of the user.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium including
instructions stored thereon that when processed by at least one
processor cause a recording session management server to perform
operations comprising: receiving one or more notifications from
each of the one or more video recording devices, wherein the one or
more notifications are associated with recording status of an event
and the storage space status of each of the one or more video
recording devices; receiving one or more policies corresponding to
each of the one or more video recording devices; identifying change
in status of free space and used space in each of the one or more
video recording devices based on the one or more notifications and
the one or more policies; and scheduling at least one of the video
recording device for performing one or more actions based on the
change in status of free space and used space and one or more event
parameters for dynamically managing the storage space of the one or
more video recording devices.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Indian Patent
Application Serial No. 3930/CHE/2015 filed Jul. 30, 2015, which is
hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present subject matter is related, in general to video
recording devices, and more particularly, to a method and system
for dynamically managing storage space of video recording
devices.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Generally, a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) or a Personal
Video Recorder (PVR) is used to record television programs. These
devices have capacity to store 100s of hours of media in standard
formats on secure hard disks in the device itself. There can be
multiple such devices at home for example one in living room and
one in bed room. Recently, there has been a shift to having cloud
based recordings (cloud DVR) for television content which is then
streamed to a Set Top Box (STB) or other mobile devices that the
user owns. In view of the above, there exists a problem for
managing the storage of recordings optimally across multiple
recording devices at home and cloud.
[0004] The existing recording systems schedule and record programs
either locally on a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) of a user specified/user
owned Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) device or on the network
storage in the cloud based on user request for recording
initiation. Each user or account may be given an allocation of
storage capacity in these storage devices (either local or remote)
and when a user requests to record an upcoming program, the content
server can record the program in the active storage device,
consuming a portion of the user's allocation in that active storage
device. Typically, there are various passive recording options
available to users to manage the recording storage space such as
"delete at a time", delete oldest recordings, First in First out
(FIFO), large size items first etc. These options are set up
manually by the user, and are associated per recording on a device
and are used by the device to manage the space within itself. There
is a finite amount of storage space available in the user device
allocated for recording and there are operational costs for service
provider involved in claiming additional storage space in the
cloud. Due to the easier availability in high quality formats such
as HD, 4K and existence of multiple copies of content for different
device profiles and content explosion, the storage space can get
easily exhausted.
[0005] Moreover, the current storage space management systems and
policies are passive in nature. They are based on the recording
options listed above. The onus is largely on the user to manually
set appropriate record options for recording and for storage
management. The user can also invoke a service option to choose
what programs user wishes to retain vis-a-vis remove from storage
either when the user chooses them specifically or if the storage
space crosses a threshold value which is near the full capacity of
the device. These methods involve user actions for storage space
which might get burdensome on user. There can also be variations in
storage policies and user experience across CPE devices (local) and
cloud/network storage (remote) as well as differences in the
devices available to user across time. These can be confusing for
user to understand and use the devices optimally.
[0006] Also, there is minimal or no intelligence in the recording
space management between the local recording storage(s) within the
home and cloud storage. For instances, content which are not
popularly viewed are not compacted and moved to the cloud, while
content that is popular even if it is initially stored in the
cloud, are not moved into the local storage for better viewing
performance. This impacts the recorded content viewing experience
for the end user.
[0007] The issues mainly faced in the video recording devices are
to manage and utilize the storage space dynamically in each of the
video recording devices (CPE devices and cloud devices) thereby
improving the overall quality of video viewing experience for the
end user.
SUMMARY
[0008] Disclosed herein is a method and system for dynamically
managing storage of one or more video recording devices.
[0009] Accordingly, the present disclosure relates to a method for
dynamically managing storage of one or more video recording
devices. The method comprises receiving by a recording session
management server one or more notifications from each of the one or
more video recording devices. The one or more notifications are
associated with recording status of an event and the storage space
status of each of the one or more video recording devices. The
recording session management server also receives one or more
policies corresponding to each of the one or more video recording
devices. Based on the notifications and the policies, the recording
session management server recording server identifies change in
status of free space and used space in each of the one or more
video recording devices. The method further comprises scheduling at
least one of the video recording device for performing one or more
actions based on the change in status of free space and used space
and one or more event parameters for dynamically managing the
storage space of the one or more video recording devices.
[0010] Further, the present disclosure discloses a recording
session management server for dynamically managing storage of one
or more video recording devices. The recording session management
server comprises a processor and a memory communicatively coupled
to the processor, wherein the memory stores processor-executable
instructions, which, on execution, causes the processor to receive
one or more notifications from each of the one or more video
recording devices. The one or more notifications are associated
with recording status of an event and the storage space status of
each of the one or more video recording devices. The processor also
receives one or more policies corresponding to each of the one or
more video recording devices. Based on the notifications and the
policies, the processor identifies change in status of free space
and used space in each of the one or more video recording devices.
Thereafter, the processor schedules at least one of the video
recording devices for performing one or more actions based on the
change in status of free space and used space and one or more event
parameters for dynamically managing the storage space of the one or
more video recording devices.
[0011] Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a
non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions
stored thereon that when processed by at least one processor cause
a recording session management server to perform the acts of
receiving or more notifications from each of the one or more video
recording devices. The one or more notifications are associated
with recording status of an event and the storage space status of
each of the one or more video recording devices. The recording
session management server also receives one or more policies
corresponding to each of the one or more video recording devices.
Based on the notifications and the policies, the recording session
management server recording server identifies change in status of
free space and used space in each of the one or more video
recording devices. Thereafter, the recording session management
server schedules at least one of the video recording devices for
performing one or more actions based on the change in status of
free space and used space and one or more event parameters for
dynamically managing the storage space of the one or more video
recording devices.
[0012] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not
intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative
aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further
aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by
reference to the drawings and the following detailed
description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary
embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain
the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of
a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference
number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the
figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments
of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the
present subject matter are now described, by way of example only,
and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0014] FIG. 1a illustrates an exemplary environment for dynamically
managing storage space of one or more video recording devices in
accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 1b shows a block diagram illustrating a video recording
session management server in accordance with some embodiments of
the present disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 1c shows a detailed block diagram illustrating a video
recording session management server in accordance with some
embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart showing method for
dynamically managing storage space of one or more video recording
devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure; and
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer
system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present
disclosure.
[0019] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of
illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present
subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow
charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and
the like represent various processes which may be substantially
represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer
or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is
explicitly shown.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein
to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any
embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter
described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed
as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
[0021] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications
and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown
by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail
below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to
limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the
contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications,
equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the
scope of the disclosure.
[0022] The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that
a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or
steps does not include only those components or steps but may
include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent
to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more
elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by "comprises . . . a"
does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other
elements or additional elements in the system or method.
[0023] The present disclosure relates to a method and system for
dynamically managing storage space of one or more video recording
devices. The method comprises receiving by recording session
management server notifications from each of the one or more video
recording devices. The notifications are associated with recording
status of an event and the storage space status of each of the one
or more video recording devices. Each video recording device is
associated with corresponding policies set by a user managing the
video recording device. The policies are configured in order to
manage the storage space of the video recording devices. The
policies may be predefined by the user or changed dynamically based
on activities of the user. As an example, the time at which the
events should be deleted or archived, the events which are to be
deleted or archived, the conditions for deletion such as type of
the event, size of the event or access count of the event. Based on
these policies the recording of the future events are scheduled.
The notifications are stored in a recording database associated
with the recording session management server. The recording session
management server identifies change in status of free space and
used space in each of the one or more video recording devices based
on the notifications and the predefined policy associated with each
video recording device. If there is change in the status of free
space and used space in the video recording device, then the
recording session management server schedules the video recording
device to perform one or more actions. The recording session
management server schedules the video recording device based on the
change in the status and one or more event parameters. The one or
more actions are deletion of the events, archival of the events or
prioritizing the devices for future recording request.
[0024] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of
the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that
form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration
specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced.
These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable
those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to
be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that
changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present
disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be
taken in a limiting sense.
[0025] FIG. 1a illustrates an exemplary environment 100 for
dynamically managing storage space of one or more video recording
devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0026] The environment 100 comprises one or more video recording
devices, video recording device 1 101, video recording device 2 103
and video recording device 3 105, a communication network 107 and a
recording session management server 109. The one or more video
recording devices may include but not limited to customer premises
equipment (CPE) example set top boxes and cloud based recording
services. The recording session management server 109 is associated
with a service provider of the video recording devices. In an
embodiment, the video recording device 1 101 and the video
recording device 2 103 are configured at users/subscribers place
and the video recording device 3 105 is a cloud based video
recording device. The video recording devices are configured to
record one or more events. As an example, the event may refer to
any television program. Each recording device is associated with a
device identification (ID) number. The one or more events being
recorded by each video recording device is also associated with
event ID number. The recording session management server 109 is
associated with a user database 108 and a device database 110. The
user database 108 maintains records of one or more users availing
the service from the service provider. As an example user name,
user address, term of service etc. The device database 110
maintains records of one or more video recording devices being
assigned for each user. Each video recording device comprises a
recording client module. The recording client module is configured
to transmit one or more notifications to the recording session
management server 109. The one or more notifications are associated
with recording status of the event and storage status of each of
the one or more video recording devices. The notifications
associated with the recording status may include, but not limited
to, "recording scheduled", "recording started", "recording
stopped", "recording failed", "recording complete", "recording
deleted", "recording incomplete", "recording view completed",
"recording view started" and "recording view paused". The
notifications associated with the recording status provide
information on whether the event recording has been scheduled,
whether the event recording has been started, whether the event
recording has been stopped, whether the event recording is failed
whether the event recording is incomplete, whether the event
recording is complete, whether the event has been deleted, whether
the event viewing by the user has been complete, whether the event
viewing has been started or whether the event viewing has been
pause by the user. The one or more notifications associated with
the storage status are "current event projected disk usage",
"current event actual disk space", "total available space",
"available disk space in the cloud based video recording devices"
and "free disk space". the one or more notifications associated
with the storage status provide information of storage space of
each video recording device i.e the current available space in the
video recording device, actual usage of the space in the device
after the event recording has been scheduled, total free space in
the device and free space in the device. The one or more
notifications are continuously provided to the recording session
management server 109.
[0027] FIG. 1b shows a block diagram illustrating a recording
session management server 109 in accordance with some embodiments
of the present disclosure.
[0028] The recording session management server 109 comprises an
interface 111, a memory 113 and a processor 115. The I/O interface
111 and the memory 113 are communicatively coupled to the processor
115. The memory 113 stores processor-executable instructions which
on execution cause the processor 115 to perform one or more steps.
In an embodiment, the input interface 111 is used to receive the
notifications from the video recording devices. The notifications
associated with each video recording device are stored in the
recording database of the memory 113. In an embodiment, the input
interface is used to receive policy corresponding to each video
recording device. The policies are configured based on inputs
received by a user managing the video recording devices. In an
embodiment, the policies are also configured based on the inputs
received from the service providers. Based on the notifications and
the predefined policies, the processor 115 identifies the change in
the status of used space and free space in each video recording
device. In an embodiment, the processor 115 extracts metadata from
the one or more notifications. The metadata includes information
associated with the events. As an example, the event may be a
television serial. The metadata information may include information
of director of the serial, artists of the serial, poster of the
serial, name of the serial, series of the serial etc.
[0029] As an example, the free space in the video recording device
1 101 is 20 GB and the used space in the video recording device 1
101 is 80 GB. The free space in the video recording device 2 103 is
30 GB and the used space 70 GB. The free space in the video
recording device 3 105 is 40 GB and the used space is 60 GB. As an
example, the event with event ID 1 is being recorded in the video
recording device 1 101. The event with event ID2 is being recorded
in the video recording device 2 103 and the event with event ID 3
is being recorded in the video recording device 3 105. While
recording the event, the recording client module of the video
recording device 1 101 sends notification "recording started" to
the recording session management server 109. The recording session
management server 109 stores the notification in the recording
database. The recording client module of the video recording device
1 101 may send the notification "recording complete" to the
recording session management server 109. Since, the recording is
complete the storage space in the video recording device 1 101
varies. As an example, the free space after recording the event ID
1 is 10 GB and the used space is 90 GB. The recording client module
configured in the video recording device 2 103 sends the
notification "recording incomplete" to the recording session
management server 109. Since, the recording in incomplete, the
storage space in the video recording device 2 103 varies. As an
example, the free space after recording the event with event ID 2
is 25 GB and the used space is 75 GB. The recording client module
configured in the video recording device 3 105 sends the
notification "recording failed" to the recording session management
server 109. Since, the recording is failed there will not be any
change in the storage space of the video recording device 3 105.
The user configures a predefined policy for each of the video
recording device. As an example, the predefined policies are
associated with deletion of the events and compaction of the events
i.e at what point of time the events must be deleted or archived
and which events to be deleted to enable recording the new/future
events. The processor 115 identifies the change in the status of
the free space and the used space in each of the one or more video
recording devices. As an example, there is a change in the status
of the free space and the used space in the video recording device
1 101 and the video recording device 2 103. The processor 115
identifies the change in the status of the free space and the used
space. As an example, the predefined policy associated with by the
user. Similarly, as an example, the predefined policy associated
with the video recording device 2 103 may be to delete one or more
events after a predetermined time and the predefined policy
associated with the video recording device 3 105 may be to delete
the event whose size is large.
[0030] In an embodiment, the processor 115 schedules one or more
video recording devices for performing one or more actions based on
the change in the status and the one or more event parameters. In
this scenario, the processor 115 may prioritize the video recording
device 2 103 for recording future events since the free space is
more as compared to the free space in the video recording device 1
101. The processor 115 dynamically selects or prioritizes the video
recording devices for scheduling the future event recording
request. The one or more event parameters may include, but not
limited to, access count of the event i.e number of times the
recorded event has been viewed by the user, aging of the event i.e
to see if the events recorded has been too old, scheduling order of
the events i.e the order in which the events should be deleted,
viewing pattern of the events by the user i.e to check in which
video recording device the user preferable views the recorded
video, video format of the recording, duplicate recording of the
program i.e if there are duplicate events, priority consideration
of the service provider i.e based on decision of the service
provider, metadata of the event, accessibility of the recordings on
the video recording devices i.e to check if the video recordings
has been accessible to the user or not and removal of
advertisements on the recorded event wherever permissible.
[0031] As an example, the user may view the recorded event with
event ID 1 using the video recording device 1 101. Therefore, the
future recordings of the event ID 1 may be recorded in the video
recording device 1 101 so that it will be easy for the user to
access the event. As another example, the user may processor 115
may dynamically schedule the video recording device 1 101 for
future event recording request if the event to be recorded has the
metadata which matches with the metadata of the event being
recorded in the video recording device 1 101. In an embodiment, the
processor 115 may schedule at least one video recording device for
performing one or more actions based on the change in status of
free space and used space and one or more event parameters. The one
or more actions may include, but not limited to, deletion of
events, archiving of events, rescheduling the event in the one or
more video recording devices and identifying the video recording
device for recording future events.
[0032] FIG. 1c shows a detailed block diagram illustrating a
recording session management server 109 in accordance with some
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0033] In one implementation, the recording session management
server 109 receives input data i.e notifications from one or more
video recording devices. As an example, the received input data is
stored in a recording database of the memory 113. In an embodiment,
the input data includes policy data 117, user data 119, device data
123, recording data 125 and other data 127. In the illustrated FIG.
1c, one or more modules stored in the memory 113 are described
herein in detail.
[0034] In one embodiment, the data may be stored in the memory 113
in the form of various data structures. Additionally, the
aforementioned data can be organized using data models, such as
relational or hierarchical data models. The other data 127 may
store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated
by modules for performing the various functions of the recording
session management server 109.
[0035] In an embodiment, the policy data 117 is associated with
each of the one or more video recording devices. The user managing
the video recording device configures one or more policies for each
video recording device. As an example, the user may be a
user/subscriber using the video recording device or a service
provider. The policies are defined by the user for managing the
storage space in the video recording device. As an example, the
policy set by the user may be to delete the events in the video
recording device when the disk space or the storage space exceeds
the predefined threshold storage space value. The other policies
may include but not limited to, to delete the events which are not
viewed by the user for more than three months, delete the events
whose size is large, delete the events after a predetermined time
period and archive the events if the storage space is full.
[0036] In an embodiment, the user data 119 comprises information of
one or more users availing the service from the service provider.
The user data 119 is retrieved from the user database 108. The
input interface of the recording session management server 109
receives the user data 119 from the user database 108 and stores
the user data 119 in the memory 113.
[0037] In an embodiment, the device data 123 comprises information
of one or more video recording devices configured for each
user/subscriber. The device data 123 also includes information of
type of the video recording device, device ID and the storage
capacity of the video recording device. The device data 123 is
retrieved from the device database 110. The input interface of the
recording session management server 109 receives the device data
123 from the device database 110 and stores in the memory 113.
[0038] In an embodiment, the recording data 125 comprise
information of one or more events being recorded in each of the
video recording device. Each video recording device records one or
more events and sends notification to the recording session
management server 109. The recording session management server 109
stores the information of each event being recorded in each video
recording device. The date and time which the events are recorded
and also information about storage space in each of the video
recording devices. The recording session management server 109 also
extracts metadata information of each event being recorded in each
video recording device.
[0039] In an embodiment, the data stored in the memory 113 are
processed by the modules of the recording session management server
109. The modules may be stored within the memory 113 as shown in
FIG. 1c. In an example, the modules, communicatively coupled to the
processor 115, may also be present outside the memory 113.
[0040] In one implementation, the modules may include, for example,
a receiving module 129, a metadata cache module 131, an
identification module 133, a scheduling module 135 and other
modules 137. The other modules 137 may be used to perform various
miscellaneous functionalities of the recording session management
server 109. It will be appreciated that such aforementioned modules
may be represented as a single module or a combination of different
modules.
[0041] In an embodiment, the receiving module 129 is configured to
receive one or more notifications from each of the one or more
video recording devices. As an example, one or more video recording
devices are configured inside user's home and one or more video
recording devices may be a cloud based recoding service provided to
the user. Each video recording device is associated with an
identification (ID) number. The video recording devices are
configured to record one or more events and provide notifications
to the recording session management server 109. The notifications
are associated with the recording status of the events and the
storage status of the video recording device. The receiving module
129 receives the notifications from each video recording device and
stores in the memory 113.
[0042] Upon receiving the notifications, the recording session
management server 109 performs mapping of the notifications with
the user data 119 and the device data 123. In the exemplary
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the video recording device 1 101,
the video recording device 2 103 and the video recording device 3
105 is configured for user 1. Therefore, the notifications received
from these devices are mapped in the recording database for the
user 1. In an embodiment, the information associated with mapping
may be provided to the video recording devices through one or more
interfaces which includes, but not limited to, HTTP-JSON, SOAP-RPC
and XML. Based on the received notifications, the recording session
management server 109 identifies the active events being recorded
in each video recording device at one or more time intervals. In an
embodiment, the recording session management server 109 receives
the information associated with one or more policies configured for
each video recording device by a user. The policies provide
information for deleting or archiving the events in each video
recording device.
[0043] In an embodiment, the metadata cache module 131 extracts
metadata information based on the received notifications from each
video recording device. The metadata information is associated with
each event being recorded or stored in the video recording device.
As an example, the event may be a television serial. The metadata
information may include, name of the director, name of the artists
in the serial and series number of the serial. Based on the
metadata information, the recording session management server 109
schedules one of the video recording devices for performing one or
more actions. As an example, the event with event ID 1 may be
recorded in the video recording device 1 101. When the one or more
series of the same event has to be recorded in future, then the
based on the metadata information, the recording session management
server 109 identifies that the event with the event ID 1 has been
recorded in the video recording device 1 101 and therefore, the one
or more series of the same event will also be recorded in the video
recording device 1 101 for easy access by the user.
[0044] In an embodiment, the identification module 133 identifies
the change in the status of the free space and used space in each
video recording device based on the notifications and the
predefined policies. The change in the status of free space and
used space is identified in each video recording device. The free
space and used space in each of the one or more video recording
devices is recorded by the recording session management server 109
for managing the storage space optimally among the video recording
devices.
[0045] In an embodiment, the scheduling module 135 is configured to
schedule at least one video recording device for performing one or
more actions. As illustrated in FIG. 1, there is change in status
of the free space and used space in the video recording device 1
101 and the video recording device 2 103. The recording session
management server 109 schedules the recording of the future events
based on the free space availability of the video recording
devices. As an example, the future event may be associated with the
event ID 1. Therefore, the recording session management server 109
schedules the video recording device 1 101 to perform one or more
actions for recording the future event associated with the event ID
1. The one or more actions may be related to deleting the events or
archiving the events in the video recording device 1 101. As an
example, the action scheduled for the video recording device 1 101
may be to delete one or more events in the video recording device 1
101 which are not viewed by the user for more than 3 months.
Therefore, the video recording device 1 101 deletes the one or more
events. Thereafter, the video recording device 1 101 may be used
for recording the future events associated with the event ID 1. The
recording session management server 109 also estimates the size of
the event to be recorded. If the size exceeds the free space size
in the video recording device 1 101, then the recording session
management server 109 may schedule the video recording device 2 103
to record the future events.
[0046] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart showing method 200 for
dynamically managing storage space of one or more video recording
devices in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0047] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the method 200 comprises one or
more blocks for dynamically managing storage space of one or more
video recording devices using a recording session management server
109. The method 200 may be described in the general context of
computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable
instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components,
data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform
particular functions or implement particular abstract data
types.
[0048] The order in which the method 200 is described is not
intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the
described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement
the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the
methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject
matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented
in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination
thereof.
[0049] At block 201, one or more notifications are received from
each of the one or more video recording devices. The one or more
video recording devices are associated with a service provider for
recording and storing events. The one or more notifications are
associated with recording status of the events and storage space
status. The recording status refers to event recording status and
recording view status of the events. The event recording status may
include information of whether the event has been scheduled or not,
whether event recording has been started or not, whether the event
recording has been stopped or not, whether the event recording has
been failed, whether the event recording has been completed,
whether the event recording has been deleted. The recording view
status may include information of whether the event viewing has
been completed or not, whether viewing of the event has been
started or not or whether the viewing of the recording has been
paused or not. The notifications are continuously sent to the
recording session management server 109 and the notifications are
updated in the recording database.
[0050] At block 203, mapping of the notifications with the user
account is performed. Based on the received notifications the
recording session management server 109 maps the notifications to
the associated user. The recoding server 109 maps the notifications
received from the video recording devices to the user data 119
stored in the recording database.
[0051] At block 205, one or more policies configured for each video
recording device is provided to the recording session management
server 109. The one or more policies are configured by a user of
the video recording devices. The configured policies may be changed
based on activities of the user. Based on the policies the video
recording device 109 will either delete the events or archive the
events for recording/storing the future events.
[0052] At block 207, metadata information associated with the
events is extracted. In an embodiment, the recording session
management server 109 extracts the metadata from based on the
notifications received from the video recording devices. In another
embodiment, the metadata information may be received from an event
metadata service like Electronic program Guide (EPG) services and
stores the metadata information in the recording database.
[0053] At block 209, the recording session management server 109
identifies change in status of free space and used space in each
video recording device. As an example, after recording a particular
event there might be change in the status of the free space and the
used space. Since the event has been recorded, the free space would
have become less and the used space would have become more. The
change in the status is identified by the recording session
management server 109 and updates the information in the recording
database. Since there is change in the status, the recording
session management server 109 may schedule recording of the future
events optimally in the video recording devices where there
availability of free space.
[0054] At block 211, the recording session management server 109
schedules the video recording device to perform one or more actions
based on the change in the status of free space and used space and
one or more event parameters. The event parameters may be access
count of the event, aging of the event, scheduling order of the
events, viewing pattern of the events by the user, video format of
the recording, duplicate recording of the program, priority
consideration of the service provider, accessibility of the
recordings on the video recording devices and removal of
advertisements on the recorded event wherever permissible. The one
or more actions may be to delete the one or more events, archive
the one or more events or even prioritize the video recording
devices for recording the future events.
Computer System
[0055] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer
system 300 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present
invention. In an embodiment, the computer system 400 is used for
dynamically managing storage space of video recording devices using
a recording session management server 109. The computer system 300
may comprise a central processing unit ("CPU" or "processor") 302.
The processor 302 may comprise at least one data processor for
executing program components for executing user- or
system-generated business processes. A user may include a person, a
person using a device such as such as those included in this
invention, or such a device itself. The processor 302 may include
specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus)
controllers, memory management control units, floating point units,
graphics processing units, digital signal processing units,
etc.
[0056] The processor 302 may be disposed in communication with one
or more input/output (I/O) devices (311 and 312) via I/O interface
301. The I/O interface 301 may employ communication
protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog,
digital, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB),
infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual
Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio
Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics Array (VGA), IEEE
802.n/b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., Code-Division Multiple
Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For
Mobile Communications (GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax, or
the like), etc.
[0057] Using the I/O interface 301, the computer system 300 may
communicate with one or more I/O devices (311 and 312).
[0058] In some embodiments, the processor 302 may be disposed in
communication with a communication network 309 via a network
interface 303. The network interface 303 may communicate with the
communication network 309. The network interface 303 may employ
connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect,
Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE
802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. Using the network interface 303 and the
communication network 309, the computer system 300 may communicate
with one or more user devices 310 (a, . . . , n). The communication
network 309 can be implemented as one of the different types of
networks, such as intranet or Local Area Network (LAN) and such
within the organization. The communication network 309 may either
be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an
association of the different types of networks that use a variety
of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other.
Further, the communication network 309 may include a variety of
network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing
devices, storage devices, etc. The one or more user devices 310 (a,
. . . , n) may include, without limitation, personal computer(s),
mobile devices such as cellular telephones, smartphones, tablet
computers, eBook readers, laptop computers, notebooks, gaming
consoles, or the like.
[0059] In some embodiments, the processor 302 may be disposed in
communication with a memory 305 (e.g., RAM, ROM, etc. not shown in
FIG. 3) via a storage interface 304. The storage interface 304 may
connect to memory 305 including, without limitation, memory drives,
removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive
Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fiber
channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory
drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive,
magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of
Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state
drives, etc.
[0060] The memory 305 may store a collection of program or database
components, including, without limitation, user interface
application 306, an operating system 307, web server 308 etc. In
some embodiments, computer system 300 may store user/application
data 306, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described
in this invention. Such databases may be implemented as
fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as
Oracle or Sybase.
[0061] The operating system 307 may facilitate resource management
and operation of the computer system 300. Examples of operating
systems include, without limitation, Apple Macintosh OS X, UNIX,
Unix-like system distributions (e.g., Berkeley Software
Distribution (BSD), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc.), Linux
distributions (e.g., Red Hat, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc.), International
Business Machines (IBM) OS/2, Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista/7/8,
etc.), Apple iOS, Google Android, Blackberry Operating System (OS),
or the like. User interface 306 may facilitate display, execution,
interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components
through textual or graphical facilities. For example, user
interfaces may provide computer interaction interface elements on a
display system operatively connected to the computer system 300,
such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows,
widgets, etc. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed,
including, without limitation, Apple Macintosh operating systems'
Aqua, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), Unix
X-Windows, web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, Java,
Javascript, AJAX, HTML, Adobe Flash, etc.), or the like.
[0062] In some embodiments, the computer system 300 may implement a
web browser 308 stored program component. The web browser may be a
hypertext viewing application, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer,
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, etc. Secure web
browsing may be provided using Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol
(HTTPS) secure sockets layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS),
etc. Web browsers may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, Adobe
Flash, JavaScript, Java, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs),
etc. In some embodiments, the computer system 300 may implement a
mail server stored program component. The mail server may be an
Internet mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. The
mail server may utilize facilities such as Active Server Pages
(ASP), ActiveX, American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
C++/C#, Microsoft .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP,
Python, WebObjects, etc. The mail server may utilize communication
protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP),
Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), Microsoft
Exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 300
may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail
client may be a mail viewing application, such as Apple Mail,
Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird,
etc.
[0063] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may
be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present
invention. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of
physical memory on which information or data readable by a
processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium
may store instructions for execution by one or more processors,
including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform
steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein.
The term "computer-readable medium" should be understood to include
tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals,
i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM),
Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, hard
drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash
drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.
[0064] Advantages of the embodiment of the present disclosure are
illustrated herein.
[0065] In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides optimal
usage of the video recording device for recording and storing
events.
[0066] In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method
to dynamically manage the storage space in the video recording
devices wherein the video recording devices includes customer
premises equipment and cloud based video recording services.
[0067] The present disclosure provides optimal usage of storage
space for storing recordings by identifying available and ongoing
recorded event across the video recording devices.
[0068] The present disclosure provides a method for identifying
which recordings have to be deleted or archived or compacted based
on the event, video recording device and the account usage of the
user.
[0069] The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the
embodiment", "the embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some
embodiments", and "one embodiment" mean "one or more (but not all)
embodiments of the invention(s)" unless expressly specified
otherwise.
[0070] The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and variations
thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless expressly
specified otherwise.
[0071] The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or
all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified
otherwise.
[0072] The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless
expressly specified otherwise.
[0073] A description of an embodiment with several components in
communication with each other does not imply that all such
components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional
components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible
embodiments of the invention.
[0074] When a single device or article is described herein, it will
be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or
not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single
device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is
described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be
readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place
of the more than one device or article or a different number of
devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices
or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may
be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are
not explicitly described as having such functionality/features.
Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the
device itself.
[0075] Finally, the language used in the specification has been
principally selected for readability and instructional purposes,
and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the
inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope
of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but
rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on.
Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended
to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the
invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
[0076] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed
herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those
skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed
herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be
limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the
following claims.
REFERRAL NUMERALS
TABLE-US-00001 [0077] Reference Number Description 100 Environment
101 Video Recording device 1 103 Video recording device 2 105 Video
recording device 3 107 Communication network 109 Recording session
management server 111 I/O interface 113 Memory 115 Processor 117
Policy Data 119 User Data 123 Device Data 125 Recording Data 127
Other Data 129 Receiving Module 131 Metadata Cache Module 133
Identification Module 135 Scheduling Module 137 Other Modules
* * * * *