Systems & methods for allocating bandwidth in switched digital video systems based on interest

Abstract

Systems and methods for allocating bandwidth in a switched digital video (SDV) system based on channel interest. In some embodiments, bandwidth is deallocated from channels and allocated to requested channels having a higher interest. Tiered approaches for allocating bandwidth are disclosed. Embodiments in which QAMs are allocated across services in a multi-service system based on interest are also disclosed. Embodiments for accommodating emergency access system (EAS) functionality in a SDV system are also disclosed.

1 . A method for allocating bandwidth to channels in a switched digital video (SDV) system based on channel interest, comprising:
 determining the interest in a channel requested by an SDV client in the SDV system, wherein the interest is a function of requests for the channel from a plurality of SDV clients;   determining whether the interest for the requested channel meets an interest threshold; and   in response to determining that interest for the requested channel meets the interest threshold, allocating bandwidth to the requested channel and making the requested channel available for access by the requesting SDV client.   
     
     
         2 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the function is a weighted sum. 
     
     
         3 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein determining whether the interest for the requested channel meets an interest threshold comprises determining the number of times the channel was previously requested by an SDV client and tuned away from when bandwidth was not allocated. 
     
     
         4 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein determining whether the interest for the requested channel meets an interest threshold comprises determining the number of votes made for the channel, wherein the votes are requests made by SDV clients for the channel to be available at a scheduled time. 
     
     
         5 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising responding to a request for the channel with data indicative of the likelihood that bandwidth will be allocated to the requested channel. 
     
     
         6 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein allocating bandwidth to the requested channel and making the requested channel available for access comprises transmitting a portion of the content of the requested channel at a rate faster than its normal transmission rate. 
     
     
         7 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising:
 in response to determining that interest for the requested channel does not meet the interest threshold, offering alternative content to at least one of the requesting clients.   
     
     
         8 . The method defined in  claim 7  wherein the alternative content comprises one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         9 . The method defined in  claim 7  wherein the alternative content comprises content related to the content on the requested channel. 
     
     
         10 . The method defined in  claim 7  wherein the alternative content comprises content on a channel having greater interest than the requested channel. 
     
     
         11 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising in response to determining that the interest for the requested channel does not meet the interest threshold, making the channel available to the SDV client as a pay-per-view channel or video-on-demand offering. 
     
     
         12 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising, in response to determining that interest for the channel meets the interest threshold, notifying requesting SDV clients that the requested channel is available for access. 
     
     
         13 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein allocating bandwidth to the requested channel and making the requested channel available further comprises deallocating bandwidth from a channel having a lesser interest and allocating the requested channel. 
     
     
         14 . The method defined in  claim 13  further comprising:
 subsequently reallocating bandwidth to the channel having the lesser interest; and   in response to reallocating bandwidth from the channel having the lesser interest, notifying SDV clients that were previously tuned to the channel having the lesser interest at the time bandwidth was deallocated that bandwidth has been reallocated to the channel.   
     
     
         15 . A method for providing alternative actions to a user of a switched digital video (SDV) client when a requested channel is denied, comprising:
 transmitting a request for an unallocated SDV channel to a switched digital video session manager;   receiving a message from the SDV session manager denying the request; and   in response to the message, informing the user that the channel is not allocated and allowing the user to wait for the channel to be allocated, providing the user with access to the requested channel as a pay-per-view channel, or providing the user with access to the requested channel as a video-on-demand (VOD) service.   
     
     
         16 . The method defined in  claim 15  further comprising, in response to the message from the SDV session manager, offering alternative content to the user. 
     
     
         17 . The method defined in  claim 16  wherein the alternative content comprises one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         18 . The method defined in  claim 16  wherein the alternative content comprises content related to the content on the requested channel. 
     
     
         19 . The method defined in  claim 16  wherein the alternative content comprises content on a channel having interest meeting the interest threshold. 
     
     
         20 . A method for providing users of a switched digital video (SDV) client with notifications of reallocated channels comprising:
 detecting that bandwidth for a currently tuned channel has been deallocated from the SDV system; and   subsequently notifying the user when bandwidth has been reallocated for the channel.   
     
     
         21 . The method defined in  claim 20  further comprising in response to detecting the deallocation of the bandwidth, offering alternative content. 
     
     
         22 . The method defined in  claim 21  wherein the alternative content comprises one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         23 . The method defined in  claim 21  wherein the alternative content comprises content related to the content on the deallocated channel. 
     
     
         24 . The method defined in  claim 20  further comprising providing the user with access to the deallocated channel as a pay-per-view or video-on-demand channel. 
     
     
         25 . A method for allocating QAMs in a mixed service system as a function of interest, comprising:
 determining whether interest for a switched digital video (SDV) channel exceeds interest for a video-on-demand (VOD) channel; and   allocating a QAM to the SDV channel or the VOD channel based on which of the two has higher interest.   
     
     
         26 . The method defined in  claim 25  wherein allocating the QAM comprises, in response to determining that interest for the VOD channel exceeds that of the SDV channel, allocating a QAM of the SDV channel to the VOD channel. 
     
     
         27 . A method for allocating QAMs in a mixed service system as a function of potential revenue from a channel, comprising:
 determining whether potential revenue derived from expected future use of a switched digital video (SDV) channel would exceed potential revenue derived from expected future use of a video-on-demand (VOD) channel; and   allocating a QAM to the SDV channel or the VOD channel based on which of the two has higher potential revenue based on expected future use.   
     
     
         28 . The method defined in  claim 27  wherein determining whether potential revenue from expected future use of the SDV channel would exceed potential revenue derived from expected future use of the VOD channel comprises determining which channel would have higher expected advertisement revenues. 
     
     
         29 . The method defined in  claim 28  wherein allocating the QAM comprises, in response to determining that the future revenues for the VOD channel exceeds that of the SDV channel, allocating a QAM of the SDV channel to the VOD channel. 
     
     
         30 . A method for assigning channels in a switched digital video (SDV) service to tiers, comprising:
 assigning channels of an SDV service to a plurality of tiers, wherein each tier of the plurality of tiers is associated with an observed or expected interest or revenue stream; and   reserving QAMs within the SDV channel for each tier, wherein tiers having higher observed or expected interest or revenue streams are allocated more QAMs than tiers having lesser observed or expected interest or revenue streams.   
     
     
         31 . A method for accommodating bandwidth constraints in a switched digital video (SDV) system comprising:
 receiving a request for a channel;   determining whether sufficient bandwidth exists to allow the requested channel to be switched into the system;   in response to determining insufficient bandwidth exists to switch the requested channel into the system, degrading the quality of a channel to allow the requested channel to be switched into the SDV system; and   switching the requested channel into the SDV system.   
     
     
         32 . The method defined in  claim 31  wherein degrading the quality of a channel comprises degrading the quality of the requested channel. 
     
     
         33 . The method defined in  claim 31  wherein degrading the quality of a channel comprises degrading the quality of a channel other than the requested channel. 
     
     
         34 . The method defined in  claim 31  wherein degrading the quality of a channel comprises:
 identifying an HD channel having a corresponding SD version;   switching the HD version of the channel out of the SDV system; and   switching the SD version of the channel into the SDV system.   
     
     
         35 . A method for addressing program overruns in a switched digital video (SDV) system, comprising:
 detecting a program overrun on a first channel currently allocated bandwidth in the SDV system;   determining whether the interest for the program overrun exceeds interest for a regularly scheduled program;   in response to determining that the interest for the program overrun exceeds the interest for the regularly scheduled program, allocating bandwidth for a second channel in the SDV system to accommodate the program overrun.   
     
     
         36 . The method defined in  claim 35  wherein allocating bandwidth for a second channel in the SDV system to accommodate the program overrun comprises carrying the overrunning program on the second channel. 
     
     
         37 . A method for handling emergency access service (EAS) events in a switched digital video (SDV) system comprising:
 persistently transmitting tuning information for an EAS channel in a carousel data feed to SDV clients; and   in response to an EAS event, switching clients to the EAS channel according to the tuning information.   
     
     
         38 . A switched digital video (SDV) system for allocating bandwidth to channels based on channel interest, comprising:
 an edge device;   a switched-services session manager comprising a channel-interest manager, wherein the channel interest manager is configured to:   determine the interest in a channel in the SDV system wherein the interest is a function of requests for the channel from a plurality of SDV clients; and   determine whether the interest for the requested channel meets an interest threshold; and   an edge resource manager configured to, in response to the channel-interest manager determining that interest for the requested channel meets the interest threshold, direct the edge device to allocate bandwidth to the requested channel, making the requested channel available for access by the requesting SDV client.   
     
     
         39 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the function is a weighted sum. 
     
     
         40 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the channel-interest manager is further configured to determine the interest by determining the number of times the channel was previously requested by an SDV client and tuned away from when bandwidth was not allocated. 
     
     
         41 . The system defined in  claim 38  the channel-interest manager is further configured to determine the interest by determining the number of votes made for the channel, wherein the votes are requests made by SDV clients for the channel to be available at a scheduled time. 
     
     
         42 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the channel-interest manager is further configured to respond to the request with data indicative of the likelihood that bandwidth will be allocated to the requested channel. 
     
     
         43 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the switched-services session manager is further configured to offer a portion of content of the requested channel at a rate faster than its normal transmission rate. 
     
     
         44 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the switched-services session manager is further configured to, in response to the channel-interest manager determining that interest for the requested channel does not meet the interest threshold, offer alternative content to at least one of the requesting clients. 
     
     
         45 . The system defined in  claim 44  wherein the alternative content comprises one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         46 . The system defined in  claim 44  wherein the alternative content comprises content related to the content on the requested channel. 
     
     
         47 . The system defined in  claim 44  wherein the alternative content comprises content on a channel having greater interest than the requested channel. 
     
     
         48 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the switched-services session manager is further configured to, in response to channel-interest manager determining that the interest for the requested channel does not meet the interest threshold, direct the edge resource manager to make the channel available to the SDV client as a pay-per-view channel or video-on-demand offering. 
     
     
         49 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the switched-services session manager is further configured to, in response to the channel-interest manager determining that interest for the channel meets the interest threshold, notify prior requesting SDV clients that the requested channel is available for access. 
     
     
         50 . The system defined in  claim 38  wherein the channel-interest manager is further configured to direct the edge resource manager to deallocate bandwidth from a channel having a lesser interest and allocating the bandwidth of the channel having a lesser interest to the requested channel. 
     
     
         51 . The system defined in  claim 50  wherein:
 the channel-interest manager is further configured to subsequently direct the edge resource manager to reallocate bandwidth to the channel having the lesser interest; and   the switched-services session manager is configured to, in response to the edge resource manager reallocating bandwidth to the channel having the lesser interest, notify SDV clients that were tuned to the channel having the lesser interest at the time bandwidth was deallocated that bandwidth has been reallocated to the channel.   
     
     
         52 . A switched digital video (SDV) system client for providing alternative actions to a user when a requested channel is denied, comprising:
 communications circuitry; and   control circuitry configured to:   direct the communications circuitry to transmit a request for an unallocated SDV channel to a switched digital video session manager; and   in response to the communications circuitry receiving a message from the SDV session manager denying the request, informing the user that the channel is not allocated and allowing the user to wait for the channel to be allocated, providing the user with access to the requested channel as a pay-per-view channel, or providing the user with access to the requested channel as a video-on-demand (VOD) service.   
     
     
         53 . The system defined in  claim 52  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to, in response to the communications circuitry receiving the message from the SDV session manager, offering alternative content to the user. 
     
     
         54 . The system defined in  claim 53  wherein the alternative content comprises one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         55 . The system defined in  claim 53  wherein the alternative content comprises content related to the content on the requested channel. 
     
     
         56 . The system defined in  claim 53  wherein the alternative content comprises content on a channel having greater interest than the requested channel. 
     
     
         57 . A switched digital video (SDV) system client for providing users with notifications of reallocated channels comprising control circuitry configured to:
 detect that bandwidth for a currently tuned channel has been deallocated from the SDV system; and   subsequently notifying the user when bandwidth has been reallocated for the channel.   
     
     
         58 . The system defined in  claim 57  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to, in response to detecting the deallocation of the bandwidth, offering alternative content to the user. 
     
     
         59 . The system defined in  claim 58  wherein the alternative content comprises one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         60 . The system defined in  claim 58  wherein the alternative content comprises content related to the content on the deallocated channel. 
     
     
         61 . The system defined in  claim 57  further configured to provide the user with access to the deallocated channel as a pay-per-view or video-on-demand channel. 
     
     
         62 . A switched digital video (SDV) system for allocating QAMs in a mixed service system as a function of interest, comprising:
 an edge resource manager; and   a channel-interest manager configured to:   determine whether interest for a SDV channel exceeds interest for a video-on-demand (VOD) channel; and   direct the edge resource manager to allocate a QAM to the SDV channel or the VOD channel based on which of the two has higher interest.   
     
     
         63 . The system defined in  claim 62  wherein the channel-interest manager is further configured to direct the edge resource manager to allocate a QAM of the SDV channel to the VOD channel. 
     
     
         64 . A switched digital video (SDV) system for allocating QAMs in a mixed service system as a function of potential revenue, comprising:
 an edge resource manager; and   a revenue manager configured to:   determine whether potential revenue derived from expected future use of a SDV channel would exceed potential revenue derived from expected future use of a video-on-demand (VOD) channel; and   direct the edge resource manager to allocate a QAM to the SDV channel or the VOD channel based on which of the two has higher potential revenue based on expected future use.   
     
     
         65 . The system defined in  claim 64  wherein the resource manager is further configured to determine which channel would have higher expected advertisement revenues. 
     
     
         66 . The system defined in  claim 65  wherein the resource manager is further configured to, in response to determining that the future revenues for the VOD channel exceeds that of the SDV channel, direct the edge resource manager to allocate a QAM of the SDV channel to the VOD channel. 
     
     
         67 . A switched digital video (SDV) system for assigning channels in a SDV service to tiers, comprising a switched services session manager configured to:
 assign channels of an SDV service to a plurality of tiers, wherein each tier of the plurality of tiers is associated with an observed or expected interest or revenue stream; and   reserve QAMs within the SDV channel for each tier, wherein tiers having higher observed or expected interest or revenue streams are allocated more QAMs than tiers having lesser observed or expected interest or revenue streams.   
     
     
         68 . A switched digital video (SDV) system for accommodating bandwidth constraints, comprising:
 an edge resource manager; and   a channel-interest manager configured to:   determine whether sufficient bandwidth exists to allow a requested channel to be switched into the system;   in response to determining insufficient bandwidth exists to switch the requested channel into the system, direct the edge resource manager to switch a channel with degraded quality into the system to allow the requested channel to be switched into the SDV system.   
     
     
         69 . The system defined in  claim 68  wherein the edge resource manager is configured to switch the requested channel with degraded quality into the system in response to the direction of the channel-interest manager. 
     
     
         70 . The system defined in  claim 68  wherein the edge resource manager is configured to switch a channel other than the requested channel, in response to the direction of the channel-interest manager. 
     
     
         71 . The system defined in  claim 68  wherein the channel-interest manager is further configured to:
 identify an HD channel having a corresponding SD version;   direct the edge resource manager to switch the HD version of the channel out of the SDV system; and   direct the edge resource manager to switch the SD version of the channel into the SDV system.   
     
     
         72 . A switched digital video (SDV) system for addressing program overruns, comprising:
 an edge resource manager; and   a channel-interest manager configured to:   detect a program overrun on a first channel currently allocated bandwidth in the SDV system;   determine whether the interest for the program overrun exceeds interest for a regularly scheduled program; and   in response to determining that the interest for the program overrun exceeds the interest for the regularly scheduled program, direct the edge resource manager to allocate bandwidth for a second channel in the SDV system to accommodate the program overrun.   
     
     
         73 . The system defined in  claim 72  wherein the second channel carries the overrunning program. 
     
     
         74 . A switched digital system for handling emergency access service (EAS) events, comprising:
 an edge resource manager; and   a channel-interest manager configured to:   persistently transmit tuning information for an EAS channel in a carousel data feed to SDV clients; and   in response to an EAS event, switch the clients to the EAS channel according to the tuning information.   
     
     
         75 . A method for allocating bandwidth to channels in a switched digital video (SDV) system based on channel interest, comprising:
 determining the interest in a channel in an SDV system, wherein the interest is a function of a plurality of SDV client requests for that channel;   determining whether interest for the requested channel meets an interest threshold; and   in response to determining that interest for the requested channel meets the interest threshold, allocating bandwidth to the requested channel and making the requested channel available for access by the requesting SDV client.   
     
     
         76 . The method defined in  claim 75 , wherein channels in the SDV service are divided between two or more tiers of channels, each tier having an associated threshold, wherein at least two of the thresholds are different. 
     
     
         77 . The method defined in  claim 75  wherein the channel is an emergency alert system channel. 
     
     
         78 . A system for allocating bandwidth to channels in a switched digital video (SDV) system based on channel interest, comprising:
 an edge resource manager; and   a channel interest manager configured to:   determine the interest in a channel in an SDV system, wherein the interest is a function of a plurality of SDV client requests for that channel;   determine whether interest for the requested channel meets an interest threshold; and   in response to determining that interest for the requested channel meets the interest threshold, direct the edge resource manager to allocate bandwidth to the requested channel and making the requested channel available for access by the requesting SDV client.   
     
     
         79 . The system defined in  claim 78 , wherein channels in the SDV service are divided between two or more tiers of channels, each tier having an associated threshold, wherein at least two of the thresholds are different. 
     
     
         80 . The system defined in  claim 78  wherein the channel is an emergency alert system channel. 
     
     
         81 - 120 . (canceled) 
     
     
         121 . A method for providing a start-over feature that allows a user to watch a program from the beginning even through the user has tuned to the channel for the program after the program has begun, comprising:
 caching a copy of the program on a video server;   providing an option to the user to watch the program after it has already begun at a rate that is faster than the real time rate of the program so that it will fit into a duration that is less than the originally scheduled duration for the program;   determining the time remaining for the program; and   in response to the user selecting the option, streaming the program to the user from its beginning at a rate that is faster than the real time rate of the program so that the viewing time of the stream is substantially the time remaining in the originally scheduled timeslot for the program.   
     
     
         122 . The method of  claim 121 , wherein the pitch of the program is algorithmically corrected so it remains substantially the same after rate adjustment as it was before the rate adjustment. 
     
     
         123 . A system for providing a start-over feature that allows a user to watch a program from the beginning even through the user has tuned to the channel for the program after the program has begun, comprising:
 a client application, implemented on the user's set-top box, configured to provide an option to the user to watch the program after it has already begun at a rate that is faster than the real time rate of the program so that it will fit into a duration that is less than the originally scheduled duration for the program; and   a video server configured to:   cache the program; and   in response to the user selecting the option, streaming the program to the user from its beginning at a rate that is faster than the real time rate of the program so that the viewing time of the stream is substantially the time remaining in the originally scheduled timeslot for the program.   
     
     
         124 . The system of  claim 123 , wherein the video server is further configured to algorithmically correct the pitch of the program so it remains substantially the same after rate adjustment as it was before the rate adjustment. 
     
     
         125 - 126 . (canceled)