Method and system for managing bandwidth

Abstract

A bandwidth management system, receiver, and method of managing bandwidth in a content delivery system are described. In one embodiment, the method includes: identifying two or more content items which are associated with at least some common content and which are temporally related; determining a relative priority of the least some of the identified content items; and allowing a receiver requesting the content associated with a lower priority content item to access a multicast associated with a higher priority content item.

1 . A method of managing bandwidth in a content delivery system, the method comprising:
 determining, based on programming data associated with a plurality of video feeds, that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time; and   in response to determining that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time, eliminating one of the video feeds from being transmitted to receivers during that time.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the programming data comprises metadata associated with the video feeds, the metadata describing content associated with the video feeds and wherein determining that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time comprises parsing the metadata. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the metadata associated with a first video feed comprises a program name associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the first video feed and wherein metadata associated with a second video feed comprises a program name associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the second video feed, and wherein the program names are used to determine whether the first video feed and the second video feed are scheduled to deliver common content. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the metadata associated with a first video feed comprises an episode name associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the first video feed and wherein metadata associated with a second video feed comprises an episode name associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the second video feed, and wherein the episode names are used to determine whether the first video feed and the second video feed are scheduled to deliver common content. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the metadata associated with a first video feed comprises a show description associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the first video feed and wherein metadata associated with a second video feed comprises a show description associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the second video feed, and wherein the show descriptions are used to determine whether the first video feed and the second video feed are scheduled to deliver common content. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining that content associated with a video feed has content having a content type corresponding to a predetermined content type; and   in response to determining that content associated with the video feed has content having a content type corresponding to the predetermined content-type, ignoring that content when determining whether video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the predetermined content type is a news content type. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the programming data further comprises scheduling information associated with the video feeds, the scheduling information specifying times when particular content will be included in the video feeds. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the video feeds scheduled to deliver common content at a common time are associated with different sources. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the video feeds scheduled to deliver common content at a common time are regional stations associated with the same television network. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the video feeds scheduled to deliver common content at a common time are associated with the different television networks. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the video feeds scheduled to deliver common content at a common time are associated with the different countries. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, after determining that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time, determining a relative priority associated with the video feeds, and wherein eliminating one of the video feeds from being transmitted to receivers during that time comprises eliminating the video feed having a relatively lower priority. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein eliminating one of the video feeds from being transmitted to receivers comprises:
 transmitting a higher priority one of the video feeds but not a lower priority one of the video feeds.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining a relative priority comprises, prioritizing a domestic video feed higher than a foreign video feed. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining a relative priority comprises, prioritizing the video feeds based on signal quality. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a channel map to at least one of the receivers, the channel map mapping a virtual channel associated with the eliminated video feed to a transmission channel associated with another one of the video feeds, the other one of the video feeds being a video feed that is scheduled to deliver common content at a common time to that in the eliminated video feed.   
     
     
         18 . A bandwidth management system comprising:
 at least one processor;   a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having stored thereon processor executable instructions which, when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
 determine, based on programming data associated with a plurality of video feeds, that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time; and 
 in response to determining that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time, eliminate one of the video feeds from being transmitted to receivers during that time. 
   
     
     
         19 . The bandwidth management system of  claim 18  wherein the programming data comprises metadata associated with the video feeds, the metadata describing content associated with the video feeds and wherein determining that at least two of the video feeds are scheduled to deliver common content at a common time comprises parsing the metadata. 
     
     
         20 . The bandwidth management system of  claim 19 , wherein the metadata associated with a first video feed comprises a program name associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the first video feed and wherein metadata associated with a second video feed comprises a program name associated with content which is scheduled to be delivered in the second video feed, and wherein the program names are used to determine whether the first video feed and the second video feed are scheduled to deliver common content.