Patent ID: 8495687
Filing Date: 2013-07-23
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method performed by a digital video recorder for recording a television content, the method comprising: receiving a request from a user to record the television content; determining an amount of storage space needed to store the television content; determining whether there is enough free storage space on an internal data storage unit of the digital video recorder to store the television content based on the amount of storage needed to store the television content; responsive to a determination that the internal data storage unit of the digital video recorder does not contain enough free storage space to store the television content, determining whether a home network device connected to a home gateway has enough free storage space on a data storage unit associated with the home network device to store the television content; responsive to a determination that the home network device connected to the home gateway has enough free storage space on the data storage unit associated with the home network device to store the television content, routing storage of a recording of the television content to the data storage unit associated with the home network device via the home gateway, wherein the recording of the television content includes digital rights management (DRM) encoding that restricts access/playback of the recording of the television content, wherein the digital rights management (DRM) encoding includes an identifier associated with the home gateway, the DRM encoding enabling playback on any device communicatively coupled to the home gateway and restricts access or playback of the recording of the television content to any device not communicatively coupled to the home gateway, wherein a media access control address associated with each home network device is registered with the home gateway for enabling each of the home network device to playback stored content, and wherein each of the home network device is configured to retrieve stored content from any home network device communicatively coupled to the home gateway; responsive to a determination that neither the internal data storage unit of the digital video recorder nor a home network device connected to the home gateway have enough free storage space on a data storage unit associated with the home network device to store the television content, determining based on a prespecified user-selectable option whether to delete content from a home network device or from the internal data storage unit of the digital video recorder for enabling the storage of the recording of the television content; responsive to a determination that the prespecified user-selectable option indicates that content is to be deleted from a home network device, deleting content from the data storage unit associated with the home network device to create sufficient storage space for storing the recording of the television content and routing storage of the recording of the television content to the data storage unit associated with the home network device via the home gateway; and responsive to a determination that the prespecified user-selectable option indicates that content is to be deleted from the digital video recorder, deleting content from the internal data storage unit of the digital video recorder to create sufficient storage space for storing the recording of the television content and storing the recording of the television content to the internal data storage unit of the digital video recorder.