Patent ID: 7836474
Filing Date: 2010-11-16
Classification: H04L,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for post processing content from a stream caching server in an interactive information distribution system, the method comprising: receiving, from a subscriber terminal associated with an access network, a request at a head end through a stream distribution network for content stored on a stream caching server at the head end in a preprocessed form in which the content is transcoded according to a first content processing method supported by a first type of viewer and encapsulated according to a transport protocol supported by the stream caching server; retrieving the requested content from the stream caching server; transmitting the retrieved content from the stream caching server at the head end to a packet processor at the head end; determining, at the packet processor, whether the user associated with the requesting subscriber terminal has a multimedia player capable of viewing the retrieved content; downloading a multimedia player to the requesting subscriber terminal capable of viewing the retrieved content when the user does not have a multimedia player capable of viewing the retrieved content; identifying a type of multimedia player associated with the requesting subscriber terminal to be used to view the retrieved content; determining, at the packet processor, whether the retrieved content is configured for viewing by the multimedia player associated with the user of the requesting subscriber terminal and for transmitting the content over the access network of the requesting subscriber; in response to a determination to transcode the retrieved content, transcoding the retrieved content by the packet processor at the head end from the first content processing method to a second content processing method required by the multimedia player associated with the user of the requesting subscriber terminal, wherein the transcoded content is encapsulated according to the transport protocol supported by the access network of the requesting subscriber; and streaming the encapsulated transcoded content across the stream distribution network and to the access network of the requesting subscriber.