Patent ID: 8549150
Filing Date: 2013-10-01
Classification: H04L,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for distributing media content, the method comprising: transmitting, by a client device, a request to a service server for downloading an instance of media content, wherein the request includes an indication of a client location, and wherein the indication of the client location is an indication of a logical or physical location associated with the client device; receiving from the service server information about a plurality of source client devices, wherein the plurality of source client devices contains at least one group of source client devices associated with a geographic locality, wherein each source client device in the plurality of source client devices has been provided with at least one portion of the instance of media content by the service server based on a geographic locality associated with the source client device such that at least one group of source client devices in the plurality of source client devices collectively contains the instance of media content, wherein the plurality of source client devices is organized according to geographic criteria, wherein the geographic criteria are associated with a geographic locality based at least on the indication of the client location, and wherein each portion of the instance of media content is divided into one or more media fractions with corresponding parity information; establishing at least one peer-to-peer communication connection with two or more source client devices in the plurality of source client devices based on the organization according to geographic criteria; upon establishment of the peer-to-peer communication connection, downloading a subset of the media fractions and the corresponding parity information from the two or more source client devices, wherein the subset of media fractions is less than all of the media fractions that comprise the portions of the instance of media content; and using the subset of the downloaded media fractions and the corresponding parity information to recreate the instance of media content.