Apparatus, system, and method for abr segment pull dvr

Abstract

A digital video recorder apparatus, system and method for recording programming material and removing limitations of a storage medium by pulling adaptive bit rate segments from a content delivery network.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A system, comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium that stores instructions; and   a processing unit that executes the instructions to:
 receive a digital video recording request for content from a content delivery network; 
 select segments for the content to pull to fulfill the digital video recording request; 
 determine whether to delay fulfillment of the digital video recording request based on user characteristics to reduce system overhead despite being able to fulfill the digital video recording request without cancelling or rescheduling another digital video recording request; and 
 upon determining to delay the fulfillment of the digital video recording request, delay pulling the segments for the content. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the processing unit selects the segments for the content to pull to fulfill the digital video recording request that have a bit rate corresponding to a selected bandwidth from multiple versions of the content that each have different bit rates. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processing unit selects the selected bandwidth based on monitored network resources. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processing unit selects the selected bandwidth based on monitored processing capacity. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processing unit selects the selected bandwidth based on monitored storage capacity. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processing unit delays pulling the segments for the content after beginning to pull the segments for the content. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processing unit pulls additional segments having an additional bit rate based on an updated bandwidth corresponding to an updated monitoring. 
     
     
         9 . A method for obtaining content from a content delivery network, comprising:
 receiving a digital video recording request for content from the content delivery network;   delaying fulfillment of the digital video recording request based on user characteristics to reduce system overhead despite being able to fulfill the digital video recording request without cancelling or rescheduling another digital video recording request; and   pulling segments for the content to at least one device to fulfill the digital video recording request.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one device is a client digital video recorder. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one device is a network digital video recorder. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein a first of the segments has a different bit rate than a second of the segments. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first of the segments corresponds to a first bandwidth and the second of the segments corresponds to a second bandwidth. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first bandwidth is selected based on a first network speed and the second bandwidth is selected based on a second network speed. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the content delivery network is an adaptive bit rate content delivery network. 
     
     
         16 . A content delivery system, comprising:
 a communication network; and   at least one device communicably connected to at least one digital video recorder device via the communication network, the at least one device:
 stores content; 
 delays fulfillment of a digital video recording request based on user characteristics to reduce system overhead despite being able to fulfill the digital video recording request without cancelling or rescheduling another digital video recording request, the digital video recording request corresponding to the content; and 
 provides segments for the content in response to a pull by the at least one digital video recorder device initiated to satisfy the digital video recording request. 
   
     
     
         17 . The content delivery system of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one device receives a request to cancel the pull in response to transmitting an indication of a pull conflict to the at least one digital video recorder device. 
     
     
         18 . The content delivery system of  claim 16 , wherein the content comprises multiple versions of content that each have different bit rates. 
     
     
         19 . The content delivery system of  claim 16 , wherein the segments have a bit rate corresponding to a bandwidth selected based on monitored resources. 
     
     
         20 . The content delivery system of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one digital video recorder device comprises a smart phone. 
     
     
         21 . The content delivery system of  claim 16 , wherein the communication network comprises a cellular communication network.