Hybrid push/on-demand content provision (17-Sep-2009)

Hybrid push/on-demand content provision

In a primary embodiment, a subset of content for multiple possible user selections is delivered to a local storage entity such as a PVR. For example, the first few minutes of each episode a full evening's worth of programs on all networks might be delivered overnight. Since the entire program content is not delivered, much more content can be made available to the user without taxing the resource of the local storage.

When the user makes a selection, the locally-stored information may begin to be presented immediately; in the meantime a request to a central server to begin streaming the remaining content is made. While the locally-stored information is being accessed, the remote server has ample time to access, queue, and begin to buffer the remaining content directly to the user. This request may include information about the point (duration, timestamp, frame number) at which the locally-stored information will be exhausted, indicating where the on-demand content should begin. At the conclusion of the presentation of the locally-stored information, a seamless transition to the buffered on-demand information can occur.

In a secondary embodiment, portions (not necessarily the beginning) of the user-desired content are delivered to the local storage entity but selected portions of content are deliberately left out, to be delivered using an on-demand or streaming methodology. This serves as a control and copy-protection mechanism, preventing the user from dumping a usable copy of the content direct...