Patent ID: 9326029
Filing Date: 2016-04-26
CPC Classification: H04N

Claim Text:
1. Equipment for processing a content item, the equipment comprising: an interface within the equipment, wherein the interface communicates with at least one content resource, the interface configured for receiving the content item from the at least one content resource, and the interface providing a level of available spare bandwidth to be at least partially occupied by receiving the content item; a play-out device coupled to the interface and configured for playing out the content item, wherein the interface is configured between the play-out device and the at least one content resource; a buffer coupled between the interface and the play-out device; and a control system configured for: automatically determining at least one follow-up content item among further content items that are available to the equipment via the interface under control of a semantic or bibliographic attribute of the content item being played out at the play-out device; receiving via the interface at least a first portion of the automatically-determined at least one follow-up content item during the playing out of the content item; buffering the first portion in the buffer; and enabling the play-out device to start playing out the first portion from the buffer after termination of the playing out of the content item, wherein the control system is further configured for automatically determining the at least one follow-up content item under control of: the level of currently available spare bandwidth at the interface; a scheduled duration of the playing out of the content item; a size of a data file representative of the follow-up content item; and a rate of data transfer available for transferring the follow-up content item from a content resource equipment via the interface.