Patent Publication Number: US-9888274-B2

Title: Price driven multimedia content reception

Description:
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/133,290, entitled “Price Driven Multimedia Content Transmission”, filed Apr. 20, 2016, to Hirsch et al., and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/150,829, entitled “Enhanced Video and Advertising Aggregation and Distribution”, filed on Apr. 21, 2015, to Hirsch et al., the entirety of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for scheduling electronic delivery of multimedia content and advertisements targeted to customer premises equipment. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to scheduling, pricing, and delivering subscriber-selected, preplanned multimedia content and advertisements targeted to customer premises equipment. 
     2. Introduction 
     Traditional television viewing is linear. With linear television viewing, a viewer must watch scheduled television programs at a particular time and on a particular channel. However, the entertainment industry is in transition and content consumers are moving to personalized programming or nonlinear television. Personalized programming allows the content consumer to control content selection and viewing time. True personalized programming allows content customers to view whatever they want, whenever they want, as often as they want, and in an order that the content consumers desire. However, present technology offers content consumers a limited personalized programming experience with restricted selection and/or high prices. Such present technology includes Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and Video on Demand (VOD) capability. 
     OTT streaming is delivered over the Internet, but is unmanaged. Content delivery is plagued by “last mile” congestion. This problem is encountered with non-Quality of Service (QoS) streaming. As streaming has increased, especially during periods of peak demand or prime time, congestion impact has become worse. Such congestion occurs with any over utilized, unmanaged, data rate limited, network system. IPTV are multimedia services, such as television or video, delivered over managed IP based networks which provide the required level of Quality of Service (QoS) and experience, security, interactivity and reliability. From the consumer&#39;s viewpoint, IPTV has limited selection and is expensive. 
     Demand for content distribution with respect to available transport varies as a function of time, consisting of peaks and valleys. Traditionally, supply and demand issues have been addressed by applying the principles of microeconomics based on supply and demand pricing theory. However, applying such microeconomics has not solved problems associated with content delivery. 
     Stand Definition (SD), High Definition (HD) and Ultra High Definition (UHD or 4K), or higher resolution formats present increasingly significant problems for existing network infrastructure and significantly higher price to content consumers. Such high resolution formats are limited because of data rate constraints and subscriber aggregate data limits. By 2018, the number of households using streaming has been projected to increase to 50% and beyond. Even with the current relatively low percentage of streaming, peak time network congestion is causing video disruption, such as video pixilation, synchronization problems, freeze frames, etc. This video disruption will be furthered exacerbated as more households move to content streaming, higher resolution video, and as additional real-time services are further employed. 
     Advertising can be used as a subsidized approach to both linear and personalized programming streaming. However with current advertising/content ratios, bandwidth required to additionally transmit advertising content is increased by as much as 50%. Other challenges that effect high impact advertising exist for both linear and personalized programming. Currently, advertisers have traditionally subsidized content production and distribution through advertisements (for example, commercials). This approach has a limited capability to target an audience segment. Advertisers are unable to target advertisements to individuals or cluster groups except by relying on associated program content. Currently, commercial selection and insertion is dependent on the targeted audience of the content rather than the targeted audience of the commercial. True, direct measures of advertisement effectiveness do not exist. Changing commercials on-the-fly to reflect changes in consumer content viewing habits is difficult. Also, it is extremely difficult to measure the impact of on-the-fly advertising on individual subscribers, cluster groups, and/or geographic areas based on selected advertising profiles. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus that can include an external interface, a user interface, and an assembly engine. The external interface can receive, from a gateway device, a subscriber content price for multimedia content, the subscriber content price being based on a lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content via at least one transport provider servicing the customer premises equipment, and receive the multimedia content within the lead-time. The user interface can schedule, based on the subscriber content price, electronic delivery of the multimedia content to the customer premises equipment within the lead-time. The assembly engine can retrieve the multimedia content from a storage device and output the multimedia content to a display device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to describe the manner in which advantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a description of the disclosure is rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. These drawings depict only example embodiments of the disclosure and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example multimedia system, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates example interoperability of components of a multimedia delivery system, according to one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an overall block diagram of the example multimedia delivery system, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example interaction between a content provider and an SSG-system controller, and interaction between the system controller and internal subsystems of the multimedia delivery system, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of an example archive gateway, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a block diagram of an example CPE, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an example interactive, bidirectional-exchange of information between the CPE and a distribution gateway, and between the CPE and a subscriber, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an example of subscriber content price timing, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a functional block diagram of the example CPE, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates example interaction between an advertiser and the system controller, and between the system controller and internal subsystems of a system and services gateway, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 11  illustrates an example interaction between a transport provider and the system controller, and between the system controller and internal subsystems of the system and services gateway, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; 
         FIG. 12  illustrates an example subscriber web interface displaying preference/cost impact, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments; and 
         FIG. 13  illustrates a flowchart of an example method of scheduling delivery of multimedia content, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A need exists for an efficient and effective use of transport resources to smooth out subscriber demand for multimedia content. A need also exists to subsidize the subscriber&#39;s multimedia content with on demand, changeable, subscriber-preferred targeted, non-targeted and/or requested advertisements without exacerbating bandwidth demands to deliver effective targeted and requested advertisements. 
     The embodiments described herein overcome the limitations discussed above, as well as expanding on capabilities of existing content distribution systems. The embodiments provide for apparatuses, systems, and methods that can establish one or more pricing models for advertising and subscriber selected video content driven by 1) subscriber preferences, 2) content provider pricing, 3) advertiser pricing and cluster selection, and 4) transport pricing (broadcast and network) based on cost driven by the use of predicted excess capacity as determined by one or more pricing models of transport systems. The terms price and cost are used interchangeably herein throughout. 
     The embodiments can optimize bandwidth/data rate constrained transport systems, with 1) multimedia content selection and viewing time, 2) accepted amount of advertising, and 3) price under a subscriber&#39;s control. The computer-based methods, systems, and apparatuses can be used to construct a real-time pricing model for the optimal use of transport resources. 
     The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can provide for personalized multimedia programming that includes the consumer&#39;s selected multimedia content, specified resolution, viewing time, lead-time, and an accepted number and type of embedded advertisements. Advertisers&#39; preferences can be incorporated for targeting selected individuals, cluster groups of individuals, and geographic areas. Traditional advertising can be targeted at specific multimedia content. The embodiments disclosed herein provide for advertising that can be targeted to a cluster of the subscriber and/or to a specific subscriber or group of subscribers. The embodiments can analyze subscriber behavior and reward the subscriber for either existing or changing behavior that can result in lower operational costs. 
     The embodiments can limit a subscriber&#39;s specified maximum billing period cost (for example, a not-to-exceed price) based on the subscriber&#39;s desired multimedia content for viewing and can automatically adjust various subscriber parameters with respect to content providers′, advertisers&#39; and transporter(s)&#39;s constraint(s). 
     The embodiments can further allow the subscriber to manually adjust their selected control preferences or parameters, including cost as an independent parameter, to the cost of viewing over a billing period through a web interface on a computer, the customer premises equipment (CPE), or other web accessible devices. The subscriber can also manually adjust their control parameters, including price, for individual content, content series, or selected subset of their desired personalized programming. 
     The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can also provide for the selection of cost-effective and resource-efficient methods of content distribution based on the use (in total or in part) of multiple broadcast and/or multiple network infrastructures, including, multicast, peer-to-peer and mesh architectures. A company implementing one or more of the embodiments disclosed herein can purchase, in bulk from an Internet Service Provider (ISP), blocks of data to supplement against the subscriber&#39;s data cap. This can be either in concert with the subscriber&#39;s existing data cap or executed as a completely separate transaction. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example multimedia system  101 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The multimedia system  101  can include a multimedia delivery system  100  to electronically delivery multimedia content to subscribers  105 . The multimedia delivery system  100  can include customer premises equipment (CPE)  110 , a system and services gateway  120 , and one or more distribution gateways  130 . The customer premises equipment (CPE)  110  can be coupled to the system and services gateway  120  and the distribution gateways  130 . The system and services gateway  120  and distribution gateways  130  can be coupled to content providers  140 , advertisers  150 , and transport providers  160 . Subscribers  105  can interact with the customer premises equipment  110 . 
     The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can use all available subscriber  105 , content provider  140 , content delivery pricing from transport providers  160 , and advertiser  150  cluster information to automatically price multimedia content. The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can select the most cost-effective use of available electronic delivery infrastructure to satisfy the multimedia content, preferences and pricing requests from subscribers  105 . 
     The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can incorporate advanced analytics techniques that can place advertising into subscriber  105  clusters, or direct placement to a specific subscriber  105  or group of subscribers  105  with prioritization (for example, Direct Marketing Areas (DMA)). This prioritization can be based on the value the subscriber  105  places on an advertising and/or the value of a subscriber  105  to an advertiser  150 . This includes the placement of the advertising in the multimedia content for maximum impact. 
     The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses can allow for content transmission at a predetermined time and/or adaptively as a function of the predictive and/or measured loading on network distribution (including backbone and last mile of network service). The approach to multimedia content distribution disclosed herein can select a most cost efficient transport method and transport provider  160  for electronic content delivery or transport, delivery and transport being used interchangeably herein. Contracts with ISPs or the transport providers  160  for the purchase of data transfers during periods of reduced demand or periods of excess capacity can be utilized to minimize costs associated with multimedia content electronic delivery. A lower network Quality of Service (QoS) can be acceptable for electronic delivery of non-live content (i.e., scheduled content delivery), resulting in lower transport cost with improved subscriber  105  experience. The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can tolerate lower network QoS to the CPE  110 , with multimedia content and advertising being pre-stored on the CPE  110  before it is assembled for display for a subscriber  105 . The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can allow for error detection and correction to address data dropouts. 
     The computer-based methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein can price preplanned multimedia content of the subscriber  105  in bandwidth/data rate constrained digital distribution systems. Digital multimedia content files or packets can be transmitted over one or more of network and broadcast infrastructures, including multicast, torrent and/or mesh architectures, to the CPEs  110  of the subscribers  105 . When multiple network and broadcast infrastructures are utilized, the digital packets are stored locally within a CPE  110  of the subscriber  105  for re-assembly into a viewable stream by a selected display device or devices at a specified time. 
     The subscriber  105  can interact with the multimedia electronic delivery system  100  through a web interface contained in the CPE  110 . The subscriber  105  can communicate content selection and operational preferences to the multimedia delivery system  100 . In response to these selection and operational preferences (see Table 4) the multimedia delivery system  100  can price the content and make this information available to the subscriber  105  via the web interface in near real-time. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 CPE Profile 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Unique Identification Hash 
               
               
                   
                 CPE Identification Number 
               
               
                   
                 Account Holder Name 
               
               
                   
                 Street Address 
               
               
                   
                 City 
               
               
                   
                 State 
               
               
                   
                 Zip Code 
               
               
                   
                 Country 
               
               
                   
                 GPS Location 
               
               
                   
                 IP Address 
               
               
                   
                 ISP 
               
               
                   
                 Congressional District 
               
               
                   
                 State Political Districts 
               
               
                   
                 Local Political Districts 
               
               
                   
                 Trace Route to CPE (for maintenance and guided expansion) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Subscriber Account Profile 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 CPE Unique Identification 
               
               
                 Account Identification Number 
               
               
                 Account Privacy Preferences 
               
               
                 Maximum cost for the overall billing period 
               
               
                 Control parameters of individual subscriber profiles (Parental) 
               
               
                 Password/PIN/Thumbprint/Voice Recognition/Face Recognition/Other 
               
               
                 Credit Card Number (for Billing only) 
               
               
                 Expiration Date (for Billing only) 
               
               
                 Validation Number (for Billing only) 
               
               
                 Subscriber Data Cap(s) 
               
               
                 Wired 
               
               
                 Cellular 
               
               
                 Satellite 
               
               
                 Wi-Fi 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Individual Subscriber Profile(s) 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Subscriber Account Unique Identification Link 
               
               
                 Unique Identification Number 
               
               
                 Personal Identification Number 
               
               
                 Name 
               
               
                 Preferences Table Link 
               
               
                 Social Media Input and Connections 
               
               
                 Main Subscriber (Parental) Control Limitation-Maturity Level of Content 
               
               
                 Allowed 
               
               
                 Privacy Preferences (Individual Override-If over 18) 
               
               
                 Subscriber Domain Shift-Changing viewing preferences and habits 
               
               
                 Advertising Preferences (Non-targeted, Targeted, and Requested) 
               
               
                 Maximum allowed spending controlled by the primary subscriber 
               
               
                 Individual Subscriber Cost Limits-Profile 1 
               
               
                 Content Class 
               
               
                 Max Class Cost 
               
               
                 Ad Preference 
               
               
                 Lead-Time 
               
               
                 Viewing Delay 
               
               
                 Amount of Allowed Advertising 
               
               
                 Video Quality/Resolution 
               
               
                 Individual Subscriber Cost Limits-Profile 2 
               
               
                 . . . 
               
               
                 Individual Subscriber Cost Limits-Profile N 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Subscriber Preferences 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 History Reference Number 
               
               
                 Time/Date Requested 
               
               
                 Time/Date Viewed 
               
               
                 Purchase Mode (Viewing window, Number of Times Allowed, Permanent) 
               
               
                 Unique Identification Hash Link 
               
               
                 Content Title #1 
               
               
                 Content Season (if applicable) 
               
               
                 Content Episode (if applicable) 
               
               
                 Resolution (Mobile Device, SD, HD, UHD) 
               
               
                 Length of Planning Interval (Content Viewing Delay)/Prior to broadcast 
               
               
                 Requested Commercials Per Unit Content 
               
               
                 IP Address 
               
               
                 ISP 
               
               
                 Content Identification (Library of Congress Number) * 
               
               
                 Date of Content Identification Number * 
               
               
                 IMDB Content Identification * 
               
               
                 Social Media Connections 
               
               
                 Privacy Preferences 
               
               
                 Advertising Preferences (Non-targeted, Targeted, and Requested) 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 * Appended in the System Gateway 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Subscriber History 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Unique Subscriber Identification Hash 
               
               
                 History Reference Number-0 
               
               
                 Content Title ID 
               
               
                 Time/date content was selected 
               
               
                 Requested viewing system time/date 
               
               
                 Actual content viewing system start time/date 
               
               
                 Actual content viewing system stop time/date 
               
               
                 Number of pauses 
               
               
                 Average length of pauses 
               
               
                 Fast Forward Operations 
               
               
                 Rewind Operations 
               
               
                 Method of transport 
               
               
                 Time/date the content was started for delivery to CPE 
               
               
                 Time/date the content delivery was completed 
               
               
                 Amount and type of advertising accepted 
               
               
                 List advertisements inserted-advertising position number and time/date 
               
               
                 displayed, directed 
               
               
                 Advertising Skipped 
               
               
                 Price of content when selected 
               
               
                 Price of content when watched 
               
               
                 Purchase mode 
               
               
                 Resolution/quality 
               
               
                 Display type 
               
               
                 Content Price Equation Type Used for Pricing Content 
               
               
                 Content Price Equation Descriptive Parameters (Coefficients, Slope, . . . ) 
               
               
                 Cluster Content Confidence Interval 
               
               
                 Cluster Content Popularity Index 
               
               
                 Time/date of Transfer to Mobile Device 
               
               
                 History Reference Number-1 
               
               
                 History Reference Number-2 
               
               
                 . . .  
               
               
                 History Reference Number-N 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
         
         
           
             For Each Content Item Requested or Recommended 
           
         
       
    
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 6 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Multimedia Content Metadata 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Unique Database Identification 
               
               
                 Content Title 
               
               
                 Title ID (Database Specific or Library of Congress Number) 
               
               
                 Content Rating as a Function of Time from Release Date 
               
               
                 Technical Specs (Running Time, Sound Mix, Color, Aspect Ratio, etc.) 
               
               
                 Content Genre (Action, Crime, etc.) 
               
               
                 Release Date 
               
               
                 Content Director 
               
               
                 Content Writer(s) 
               
               
                 Content Star(s) 
               
               
                 Related Content 
               
               
                 Storyline 
               
               
                 Plot Keywords 
               
               
                 Tag Line(s) 
               
               
                 Country of Origin 
               
               
                 Filming Locations 
               
               
                 Production Company(ies)/Network 
               
               
                 Company Contact Data 
               
               
                 User Review 
               
               
                 MPAA Rating 
               
               
                 Curated Reviews 
               
               
                 Profession Reviews 
               
               
                 Content Season and Episode 
               
               
                 Special Effects 
               
               
                 Content Provider Price 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Advertisers  150  can pay for the attention of the subscribers  105 . Advertisers  150  can provide commercials, desired viewer cluster, and campaign objectives through the dedicated interfaces of the multimedia delivery system  100 . The multimedia delivery system  100  can use such information together with sophisticated mathematical algorithms (for example, executed by a system processor  128  shown in  FIG. 3 ) to match requested clusters to the subscribers  105 , preferably not to multimedia content. This matching technique can provide advertisers  150  a more cost effective technique to reach their desired audience. 
     The transport providers  160  can provide the parameters shown in Table 7 to the system and services gateway  120 , through dedicated interfaces. These parameters can be used to schedule and price excess capacity of a transport provider  160  to lower distribution price to customer premises equipment  110  of subscribers  105 , as well as to make maximal use of a delivery network, particularly during a period when a delivery network is being underutilized, for example midnight to 6 A.M. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 7 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Advertiser Request and Parameters 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                   
                 Unique Advertiser Identification 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Unique Commercial Identifier 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising Category 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Demographic Preferences 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Geographic Preferences 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Technical Content of Advertiser 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising Priority 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Associated Advertising 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Number of Times Advertising to be Shown 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Minimum Time Interval to Repeat 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Preferred Advertising Position 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Preferred Show or Content Type 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Zip Code Assignment 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Political Boundaries 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising QoS (AQoS) 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising Value of Advertiser to Subscriber 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising Value of Subscriber to Advertiser 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Direct Advertising Insertion 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising Demographic Group ID 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Redeemed Advertising Credit Coupon No. 1 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Redeemed Advertising Credit Coupon No. 2 
               
               
                   
                   
                 . . . 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Redeemed Advertising Credit Coupon No. N 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Advertising Impact QoS (AIQoS) 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The content providers  140  can provide information that allows the multimedia delivery system  100  to delivery multimedia content to the subscribers  105 . For example, the content providers  140  can provide content listing, licensing and pricing information, together with multimedia content to the multimedia delivery system  100  though dedicated interfaces. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates example interoperability of components of the multimedia delivery system  100 , according to one or more possible embodiments. The system and services gateway  120  can be coupled to content providers  140  and advertisers  150 . The system and services gateway  120  can be further coupled to a plurality of distribution gateways  130   a - d . One or more of the distribution gateways  130   a - d  can be coupled to a broadcast gateway  210 . The broadcast gateway  210  can deliver multimedia content over broadcast infrastructure, such as over-the-air broadcast infrastructure, cable broadcast infrastructure, satellite broadcast infrastructure, and/or any other broadcast infrastructure. The distribution gateways  130   a - d  can allow for simultaneous, synchronous and asynchronous (not in time order) delivery of multimedia content to CPEs  110  of subscribers  105  over one or more of network and broadcast distribution infrastructures. The broadcast gateway  210  can determine what multimedia content is transmitted over each transmission infrastructure based on resource excess capacity, resource cost, and resource availability. The CPEs  110  can store such data from multiple sources and reconstructed the multimedia content in proper order for viewing with the CPE  110  of the subscriber  105 . The CPE  110  can be at least partially implemented with a carrier supplied customer premise equipment, a digital video recorder, a set top box, a video extender, a smart television, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, with a software application (“app”) implementation, and/or any other media device that can play the multimedia content. 
     Distribution gateway  130   a  can be coupled to CPE  110   b  via an Internet connection and optionally coupled to mobile device  220  via an Internet connection. Distribution gateway  130   a  can service a specific geographic region, for example CPE  110  devices within Fairfax County. Distribution gateway  130   b  can be coupled to CPE  110   c  via an Internet connection and optionally coupled to the broadcast gateway  210  via an Internet connection. Distribution gateway  130   a  can service a specific geographic region, for example CPE  110  devices within Montgomery County. Distribution gateway  130   c  can be coupled to the broadcast gateway  210  via an Internet connection and to CPE  110   d  via an Internet connection. Distribution gateway  130   c  can service a specific geographic region, for example CPE  110  devices within a region of the District of Columbia. Distribution gateway  130   d  can be coupled to CPE  110   e  via an Internet connection. Distribution gateway  130   d  can service a specific geographic region, for example CPE  110  devices within a different region of the District of Columbia that those CPE  110  devices serviced by distribution gateway  130   c . CPE  110   b  can be optionally coupled to CPE  110   c  and CPE  110   d  via a peer-to-peer Internet connection. CPE  110   c  and CPE  110   d  can be optionally coupled via a peer-to-peer Internet connection. The size of a specific geographic region that a particular distribution gateway  130  services can be a function of the location and density of CPEs  110  of subscribers  105  within a geographic region. 
     The system and services gateway  120  and the distribution gateways  130  can be implemented redundantly, and can work through individual failures, either in hardware of the multimedia delivery system  100  or Internet connectivity. A backup hot spare of the system and services gateway  120  can be maintained such that in the event of a failure, operations transition seamlessly to the backup hot spare. 
     The multimedia delivery system  100  can operate with many distribution gateways  130 . In an event of a distribution gateway  130  failure, the operation of the failed distribution gateway  130  can be spread to several nearby distribution gateways  130  until the failure is corrected. 
     In one or more possible embodiments, there can be no redundant backup for an individual CPE  110 , per se. However, a subscriber  105  can stream multimedia content using an alternate media CPE  110  device, for example, a digital video recorder, a set top box, a video extender, a smart television, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a software application (app) implementation, and/or any other media device that can play the multimedia content, in the event of a primary CPE  110  failure. Such streaming to an alternate media CPE  110  device can be performed at no additional cost to the subscriber  105 . 
     The system and services gateway  120  can price subscriber&#39;s preplanned multimedia content in bandwidth/data rate constrained digital distribution systems. Digital multimedia content files or packets can be transmitted utilizing at least one of network and broadcast infrastructures, including multicast, torrent and mesh architectures, to the CPEs  110  of the subscribers  105 . When multiple network and broadcast infrastructures are utilized, the digital packets are stored locally within the CPEs  110  for re-assembly into a viewable steam, preferably prior to release for viewing by a selected display device or devices at a specified time(s). 
     The system and services gateway  120  can transmit to the CPEs  110  a list of subscriber selected and recommended multimedia content, multimedia content that meets/does not meet subscriber cost constraints, and/or multimedia content that has/has not been downloaded to the CPE  110 . The system processor  128  can perform multimedia content recommendation based on information from Tables 1 through 6 to discover the recommended multimedia content. The system processor  128  can determine confidence intervals for each of the subscriber  105  selected and recommended multimedia content, the confidence intervals indicating a likelihood that the multimedia content from the recommended multimedia content best matches preferred subscriber  105  multimedia content. A list of subscriber  105  selected and recommended multimedia content and the confidence intervals, respectively, can be transmitted to the CPE(s)  110  for display to the subscriber(s)  105  via a user interface of the CPE(s)  110 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an overall block diagram of the example multimedia delivery system  100 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The system and services gateway  120  can include an archive gateway  122 , a billing &amp; payment module  124 , a system controller  126 , and a system processor  128 . The system controller  126  can include a time reference module  127 . The archive gateway  122  can be coupled to the system controller  126  and the system processor  128  via a control, status &amp; data bus  129 . The distribution gateway  130  can be coupled to the broadcast infrastructure  210  for transmission of multimedia content and advertising. The broadcast infrastructure  210  can include such broadcasting infrastructure as over-the air broadcast infrastructure, cable broadcast infrastructure, satellite broadcast infrastructure, cellular, and/or any other broadcast network that allows multimedia content to be transmitted to the CPEs  110  of the subscribers  105 . At least a portion of the system and services gateway  120  (for example, the system processor  128 ) can be partitioned and operated simultaneously in, one or more of the following environments: local computing, mobile computing, and distributed computing and cloud-computing. 
     The archive gateway  122  can receive such information as multimedia content updates and advertising updates. The archive gateway  122  can transmit multimedia content and advertising to the distribution gateway  130 . The multimedia delivery system  100  can store the multimedia content in the archive gateway  122  (or archive cloud) for transfer to the distribution gateway  130  for commonly viewed multimedia content and to CPEs  110  of the subscribers  105  under agreed licensing and pricing terms and conditions. 
     All data from external interfaces can be handled through the multimedia delivery system  100 . In particular, such data from external interfaces can be sent and received by the system controller  126 . This data can include subscriber  105  parameters provided by the subscribers  105 , content provider  140  parameters provided by the content providers  140 , advertiser parameters provided by the advertisers  150 , and transport parameters provided by the transport providers  160 , an external time reference  127 , and other databases to be used to optimize the multimedia delivery system  100 . The external time reference can be distributed throughout the multimedia delivery system  100 . The external time reference can be used to maintain synchronization for deconstructing and constructing multimedia content and advertising, as well as token authorization and decryption. The system controller  126  can receive an external time reference  127  and information from other databases. 
     The distribution gateway  130  can send and receive information from the mobile device  220  operating as a CPE  110 . The distribution gateway  130  can send and receive, to and from the CPE  110 , such bidirectional information as control &amp; status that can be either encrypted or unencrypted, and transmit such information as multimedia content via a transport provider  160  and advertising via a transport provider  160 . The distribution gateway  130  can transmit to the broadcast infrastructure  210  such information as encrypted multimedia content and advertisements, and send and receive, to and from the broadcast infrastructure  210 , such bidirectional information as control and status that can be either encrypted or unencrypted. The distribution gateway  130  can send multimedia content and advertising to the mobile device  220 . In one or more possible embodiments, the CPE  110  can send multimedia content to the mobile device  220  to be viewed on one or more displays  310 , either for storage or live streaming from the CPE  110 . 
     The broadcast infrastructure  210  can transmit multimedia content and advertising over one or more of the over-the air broadcast infrastructure, cable broadcast infrastructure, and satellite broadcast infrastructure. One or more possible embodiments can maintain a multi-stage process for Internet delivery of multimedia content and advertising to a subscriber  105 . All multimedia content and advertising, from their respective sources, can be initially transferred to a central repository, the archive gateway  122 . The archive gateway  122  can provide for long term storage or the “permanent” storage of multimedia content. The functions performed by the archive gateway  122  can be distributed in the distribution gateways  130  and/or be performed in a cloud-computing environment. 
     Frequently selected multimedia content can be transferred from the archive gateway  122  to distribution gateways  130  for staging. The distribution gateways  130  can be located throughout the country to minimize the impact to the Internet and therefore transport price(s). The multimedia content maintained on the distribution gateway  130  can be regularly updated to reflect new popular multimedia content becoming available, with pruning being performed on least frequently selected multimedia content that is on the distribution gateway  130 . The multimedia content selection maintained on a given distribution gateway  130  can be individually optimized and can be different from region to region. The multimedia content selection maintained on distribution gateways  130  can also be updated periodically and can reflect seasonal viewing preferences, for example, holiday multimedia content during holidays, horror multimedia content during Halloween, etc. 
     Infrequently selected multimedia content can be maintained only on the archive gateway  122 . The infrequently selected content, upon a request from the subscriber  105 , can be transferred to the distribution gateway  130  and placed in temporary storage of the distribution gateway  130 . This buffered multimedia content can then be processed as frequently viewed multimedia content for delivery to a requesting CPE  110  of the subscriber  105 , again minimizing the impact to delivery infrastructure (for example, the Internet) and price. The amount of storage maintained in the distribution gateway  130  can be optimized to minimize the overall capital expenditure and operational costs, trading off the cost for adding and maintaining disk storage vs. the Internet backbone impact and cost of delivering infrequently selected content that can be maintained on the archive gateway  122 . The optimized storage maintained on the distribution gateways  130  can be different from region to region. 
     Staged content on the distribution gateway  130  can be transferred to the CPE  110  of the subscriber  105  upon a request from the subscriber  105 . Since one or more of the embodiments encourage, via economic incentives, to have subscribers  105  preplan their content selection, the delivery of multimedia content to the CPE  110  can be performed to minimize delivery infrastructure (for example, the Internet) transport charge(s). 
     The system processor  128  can analyze the multimedia content stored on each archive gateway  122  and each distribution gateway  130 . This analysis can use the information contained in subscriber  105  preferences shown in Table 4 and subscriber  105  viewing history data shown in Table 5. Using this analysis, the system processor  128  can rank multimedia content by popularity, longevity, and cost to maintain the multimedia content in the repository of the archive gateway  122  to determine what multimedia content is stored and when it&#39;s purged from the repository of the archive gateway  122 . Purged multimedia content can be stored in offline storage. This process can be adjusted for seasonal and regional viewing preferences. This information and instructions are passed to the system controller  126  for distribution to the archive gateway  122  and subsequently to the distribution gateway  130 . 
     The system processor  128  can use information contained in CPE profile data shown in Table 1, subscriber  105  account profile shown in Table 2, individual subscriber  105  profile shown in Table 3, subscriber  105  preferences data show in Table 4, subscriber  105  history data shown in Table 5, and multimedia content metadata from external databases shown in Table 6 to discover multimedia content to recommend to the subscribers  105 . Such information can be used to create a community of subscribers  105  with common viewing interests and build a subscriber  105  social network. This community can provide discussion groups (similar to a book club), forums, subscriber-written reviews, and lists of curated content for and by subscribers  105 . These communities build subscriber  105  affinity and cohesiveness, which can create subscriber  105  “stickiness”. This stickiness translates into attention and can create added value for the advertisers  150 . Advertisers  150  can use this increased attention to add value to their commercials. Existing social networks (e.g., Facebook) can be integrated into the multimedia delivery system  100 . 
     The price for multimedia content may be determined by the system processor  128  as an exponential decay as a function of time as follows:
 
Content Provider Price i,j ( t )=(Start Price i,j −Tail Price i,j )*exp [−β     i     *(t−Start Time     i     )] +Tail Price i,j  
 
where t is a function of any instantaneous time, i identifies the specific content, j identifies content resolution, and β i  identifies the decay rate of the specific multimedia content. More complex models can be instantiated within the system processor  128 .
 
     The multimedia content price to the subscriber  105  can be determined by the system processor  128  according to the equation as follows:
 
Subscriber Content Price=Content Provider Price+Content Delivery Price−Advertising Subsidy+Commissions on all Pricing transactions
 
     Thus, the subscriber multimedia content price can be expressed a function of at least one of the content provider  140  price, the content delivery price, the advertising subsidy, and the commissions. The commissions can be associated with at least one of selecting the multimedia content, scheduling delivery of the multimedia content, pricing of delivery of the multimedia content, and inserting an advertisement into the multimedia content. The system processor  128  can calculate each of the terms on the right side of this equation. The system processor  128  can compute these quantities simultaneously and in parallel using various mathematical methods and techniques. The system processor  128  can process all cost/price/demand models simultaneously. An adjudication process can be executed by the system processor  128  that can select the best content provider  140  price, which can increase content demand and maximize the content provider&#39;s  140  revenue/profit. Initially, parameters for the adjudication process may be set by the content provider(s)  140  and refined by actual CPE  110  measurements and test marketing, or focus group data, within the system processor  128 . The system processor  128  can use the collected data to predict the Start Price (shown in  FIG. 8  as Start Price  875  on a content provider  140  price curve  810 ) of multimedia content being a price of multimedia content at a time at which the multimedia content is made available for viewing, the Tail Price (shown in  FIG. 8  as Tail Price  880  on content provider  140  price curve  810 ) of multimedia content being a multimedia content price which decreases as the view-delay becomes large, and β i  being an exponential decay parameter that can be for specific multimedia content or clusters of multimedia content. Then, the predicted parameters can be used to calculate the content provider  140  price for each particular multimedia content. The goal is to maximize the content providers&#39;  140  revenue by increasing multimedia content demand by decreasing the multimedia content&#39;s price, which in turn can stimulate demand by the subscribers  105 . The content provider&#39;s  140  cost/price and investment payoff schedule can be considered in these calculations. The system processor  128  can simultaneously perform this costing/pricing function with advertiser  150 , transport provider  160 , and subscriber  105  pricing data considered. 
     The system processor  128  can calculate the Advertising Quality of Service (AQoS) and prioritize advertising to achieve a specified AQoS. The AQoS can include a minimum percentage of distinct subscribers  105  that have a specified advertisement displayed a minimum number of times for the multimedia system  101  or advertiser  150  specified cluster. This process can use the information contained Tables 1, 2 and 3, subscriber  105  viewing histories, external databases (for example, advertiser supplied databases) and advertiser  150  demographics of interest. Advertisers  150  can also purchase exclusivity or limited exclusivity during the viewing of a specified multimedia content by their selected or multimedia system  101  selected cluster profiles. In at least one embodiment, the subscriber  105  can be given a credit coupon by a product seller when associated advertising is viewed and the product is purchased to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses of the subscriber  105  to maintain services and multimedia content provided by the multimedia system  101 . The feedback of advertising to a purchase, AQoS, type of advertising (targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested), and subscriber  105  interaction with the CPE  110  can be used by the system processor  128  to measure an Advertising Impact Quality of Service (AIQoS). This can be performed for both national and regional advertisers  150 . 
     Placement of an advertisement within content is based on maximum value to an advertiser  150 . The system processor  128  can determine such value and priority using subscriber  105  profiles, subscriber  105  viewing history, subscriber  105  account profile, individual subscriber  105  profiles, subscriber  105  preferences, advertiser requests and parameters, interactions of the subscriber  105  with the CPE  110 , and/or one or more of factors show in tables 1-6. The system processor  128  can transmit results of such a determination to the CPE  110  for assembly of an advertisement within multimedia content. These factors can include: cluster-specific and individual-specific subscriber  105  profiles, type of advertisement (generic cluster-specific, advertiser-specific, and subscriber-requested), time and date of a start request, value and cycle (i.e., selection of a next advertisement in a value-ordered list of advertisements can be sent to a CPE  110  of a subscriber  105  to be inserted in the multimedia content. 
     The system controller  126  can transmit this list to the CPE  110 . The CPE  110  can maintain and update this ordered list through a prioritized list of advertisements assignments for each available commercial slot, tracking of a number of times a particular advertisement is viewed within a given time interval, a last time a particular advertisement was shown to a subscriber  105  of the CPE  110  to determine when such an advertisement should be shown again to cluster-specific and individual-specific subscribers  105 , subscriber  105  demographic profile (used by advertisement insertion instruction module of the CPE  110  (not shown)), type of advertising accepted or requested by a subscriber  105  via the CPE  110 , a predetermined value of a cluster-specific and individual-specific subscriber  105  to an advertiser  150  in its processing, decreasing value of an advertisement with the passage of time or repeated viewings within a specified time interval to a cluster-specific or individual-specific subscriber  105 , and repeated viewings of multimedia content can have different advertisements inserted for each viewing of the multimedia content by cluster-specific and individual-specific subscribers  105 . These factors can further include an advertisement or advertising campaign as specified by an advertiser  150  to be inserted within multimedia content based on one or more of cluster-exclusivity, limited cluster-exclusivity, content-specific insertion for selected cluster subscriber  105 -profiles, individual-subscriber  105  profiles, advertiser  150  specified minimum number of times an advertisement is displayed, a minimum number of repetitions within a time interval an advertisement can be shown to a subscriber-cluster or individual subscriber  105 , advertiser  150  specified demographic-seeding instructions to perform more focused clustering for products and services, advertiser  150  specified regional and national insertion and display of an advertisement, advertiser  150  specified advertisement play time of when the advertisement is presented to a subscriber  105  within the multimedia content relative to the start of the multimedia content, content position (cluster-specific and individual-specific) of advertising insertion times, an advertisement actual play time within a specific multimedia content, position of the advertisement, and content checked (against the specified advertisement play time, content and position) for AQoS and AIQoS validation. 
     The system and services gateway  120  can limit a subscriber  105  specified maximum price for a billing period (for example, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, yearly, and/or any other billing period selected by a subscriber  105 ) based on the subscriber&#39;s  105  desired multimedia content for viewing. The system and services gateway  120  can automatically adjust various subscriber parameters with respect to constraints of the content providers  140 , advertisers  150 , and transport provider(s)  160 . The system and services gateway  120  can automatically adjust preferences of the subscriber  105  to meet a subscriber  105  set price limit for a billing period based on selected multimedia content. The system processor  128  of the system and services gateway  120  can perform dynamic pricing that includes automatic design-to-price of personalized multimedia content programming of the subscribers  105  based on a willingness of the subscribers  105  to modify viewing choices and preferences. For example, the CPE  110  can allow a subscriber  105  to select and control modification of a preference including at least one of an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, the lead-time of electronic delivery, a multimedia content delayed viewing period, a multimedia content resolution, and targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types to meet the maximum price for the billing period. Such selection and modification can be based on the subscriber  105 , via the CPE  110 , selecting at least one of multimedia content for viewing, selecting a different time/date for viewing of the multimedia content, and modifying at least one of the subscriber selected preferences different from the at least one of the subscriber selected preferences modified to meet the maximum price for the billing period. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example interaction between the content provider  140  and the system controller  126 , and interaction between the system controller  126  and internal subsystems of the multimedia delivery system  100 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. Either the system controller  126  (Option  1 ) or a content provider  140  (Option  2 ) can initiate a request for content delivery to the multimedia delivery system  100 . The content provider  140  can respond to Option  1  or Option  2  with a pricing request. This pricing request can include an identification number of the content provider  140 , a unique multimedia content identification number, a suggested multimedia content price, and other parameters (for example, content screenplay, available content resolution(s), content file size(s), content runtime(s), and other multimedia content descriptive information). This information can be sent to the system controller  126  through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The system controller  126  then can send this information to the system processor  128 . 
     The system processor  128  can analyze data of the multimedia content, including advanced analytics to analyze the screenplay for plot, and other production choices, for example actors, directors. This analysis can be used in conjunction with subscriber  105  cluster interests. The system processor  128  can provide, based on this analysis, potential content pricing, popularity, and expected content provider  140  revenue. This processing can take into account a domain shift associated with changing subscriber  105  viewing preferences and habits. The system processor  128  can then pass this information back to the system controller  126  which passes the information back to the content provider  140 . The information returned to the content provider  140  from the system processor  128 , via the system controller  126 , can include: 1) the potential subscriber  105  demand for the multimedia content at as a function of price, 2) the predicted popularity of the multimedia content (for example, from clustering analysis performed in the system processor  128 ) and 3) expected revenue generated by the multimedia content as a function of time. The system processor  128  can analyze and optimize the multimedia content pricing and recommendation, advertising pricing and transport pricing functions either independently or all functions simultaneously/globally through the use of local and global adjudication. 
     The system controller  126  can calculate an optimum price together with a table that provides the expected demand, expected popularity and expected revenue as a function of a multimedia content price curve. This information can then be passed to a content provider  140  as a basis to select a multimedia content price. The content provider  140  can choose to select the optimum price for the multimedia content determined by the system and services gateway  120  or set a different price. The final selected price is sent by content provider  140  back to the system controller  126 . If the content provider  140  selects a multimedia content price that differs from the optimum price determined by the system and services gateway  120 , the system controller  126  can forward the new information to the system processor  128  for revaluation. The system processor  128  can reevaluate the popularity and revenue model for internal use by the multimedia delivery system  100 . However, even if the content provider  140  selects a suboptimum price, the multimedia delivery system  100  will use that price. The system controller  126  can forward this multimedia content pricing to the billing and payment module  124 . The interaction and operation between the system controller  126 , the system processor  128 , external interfaces (with content providers  140 , advertisers  150 , and content broadcast and network transport), the archive gateways  122 , and the distribution gateways  130  can be controlled by the system controller  126 . 
     The reevaluation of multimedia content popularity as a function of time can be necessary to maintain the archive gateways  122  and the distribution gateways  130 . The maintenance can purge less popular multimedia content, thereby freeing up storage for more popular multimedia content. Whenever new multimedia content is added to the archive gateways  122  or distribution gateways  130 , the system controller  126  can task the system processor  128  to perform a multimedia content popularity analysis to make storage available. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the system controller  126  can perform this purging process before enabling multimedia content (or advertising) transfer from a content provider  140  (or an Advertiser  150 ) to the archive gateways  122 . Also, the system controller  126  can perform this purging process before enabling multimedia content (or advertising) transfer from an archive gateway  122  to one or more regional distribution gateways  130 . 
     The distribution gateway  130  can be coupled (for example, contain) to one or more of solid state and/or disk-based storage. Periodically, the system controller  126  can task the system processor  128  to analyze subscriber  105  multimedia content requests. Based on the received analysis, the system controller  126  can reallocate existing distribution gateway  130  multimedia content between solid state and disk-based storage to achieve lower operating cost and faster multimedia content retrieval. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of an example archive gateway  122 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The archive gateway  122  can include an archive control &amp; status module  510 , a video ID &amp; buffer module  520 , a content &amp; advertising catalog  530 , video archive storage  540 , and a video distribution module  550 . The archive control &amp; status module  510  can be coupled to the control, status &amp; data bus  129  and a control, status &amp; data bus  501  within the archive gateway  122 . The video ID &amp; buffer module  520  can be coupled to a Virtual Private Network (VPN)  505 , the control, status &amp; data bus  501 , the content &amp; advertising catalog  530 , and the video archive storage  540 . The content &amp; advertising catalog  530  can be coupled to the control, status &amp; data bus  501  and the video distribution module  550 . The video archive storage  540  can further be coupled to the video distribution module  550 . The video distribution module  550  can further be coupled to the control, status &amp; data bus  501  and the distribution gateway  130 . 
     The archive gateway  122  can store all active multimedia content and advertising that may be accessed in the multimedia delivery system  100 . This includes licensed multimedia content and active advertising. All new multimedia content and advertising can be received via the VPN  505  from their respective sources, the content providers  140  and the advertisers  150 . The video data can be buffered for conversion into a format used by the multimedia delivery system  100  and cataloged. Once this process is complete, the multimedia delivery system  100  formatted multimedia content can be transferred to the video archive storage  540 . The content &amp; advertising catalog  530  can maintain an index for all multimedia content and advertising stored in the video archive storage  540 . 
     The video distribution module  550  can control transfer of multimedia content and advertising to the distribution gateway  130 . Commonly requested multimedia content (new and perennial favorites) can be stored and serviced directly from the distribution gateway  130  to minimize traffic on distribution infrastructure (for example, the Internet backbone). Infrequently accessed multimedia content can be serviced from the archive gateway  122  for delivery through the distribution gateway  130 . The system processor  128  of the distribution gateway  130  can regularly evaluate operations of the multimedia delivery system  100  to optimize storage of the distribution gateway  130 . Optimizing storage of the distribution gateway  130  can minimize overall costs by trading off storage of the distribution gateway  130  for distribution infrastructure transportation costs. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a block diagram of an example CPE  110 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. In particular, the CPE  110  can include a Wi-Fi/Cellular interface  602 , an Ethernet interface  604 , an environmental monitoring module  606 , an assembly engine  608 , an encryptor, decryptor, &amp; packetizer  610 , a CPE control and status module  612 , a tuner (for example, over-the-air tuner)/cable card (for example, satellite and/or cable) module  614 , and internal storage  616 . The CPE  110  can further include a DVD/Blu-ray drive  618 , a remote control interface  620 , and an HDMI interface  622 . All of the components of the CPE  110  can be inter-coupled with one another. The CPE  110  can be coupled to an external network attached storage (NAS) device  624 . The remote control interface  620  can communicate with a remote control  629 . The HDMI interface  622  can be coupled to a local television  630 . The assembly engine  608  can retrieve at least one of multimedia content and advertisements from the internal storage  616  and/or the NAS device  624  and output the at least one of multimedia content and advertisements to a display device, such as local television  630 , for viewing by the subscriber  105 . 
     The CPE  110  can be a “set-top” box that can provide a mechanism to store and display multimedia content (and advertisements) across a variety of devices, shown in  FIG. 6 . The CPE  110  can interact with the distribution gateway  130  and the subscriber  105  to coordinate the viewing of multimedia content. Although the multimedia delivery system  100  can stream multimedia content, the primary mode of operation is to display multimedia content that has been pre-stored on the CPE  110 . An advantage of pre-storing multimedia content on the CPE  110  is to reduce peak distribution infrastructure bandwidth requirements and eliminate susceptibility to momentary glitches in network delivery of the multimedia content. 
     The CPE  110  can have a primary CPE  110  account for bill paying, overall price control, and parental controls, as well as defining underlying individual profiles for viewing preferences and selections. In addition, an individual CPE  110  can have multiple primary accounts that can allow for separate billing. 
     The CPE  110  can store all preloaded multimedia content in an encrypted state until the CPE  110  receives a subscriber  105  requested to display the multimedia content. After viewing, any unencrypted buffered multimedia content can be purged, again leaving only the encrypted multimedia content resident on the CPE  110 . The CPE  110  can accept broadcast delivery via tuner/cable card module  614  from one or more broadcast infrastructure  632  (for example, over-the-air, satellite, and/or cable). In addition, the CPE  110  can be preloaded for general resale with popular current multimedia content so the subscriber  105  can start using the CPE  110  immediately without needing to stream and/or download the multimedia content prior to viewing. The preloaded multimedia content can also include a variety of promotional videos or content. 
     The WiFi/cellular interface  602  and Ethernet interface  604  can provide network interfaces to the distribution gateway  130  via the service provider  160  of the subscriber  105 . In addition, these interfaces can be used to connect to a video extender  626  and one or more portable devices  628  to the CPE  110 . The video extender  626  can be a stripped down CPE  110  that allows the CPE  110  to transfer video content to multiple televisions, simultaneously. The CPE  110  can directly transfer and store multimedia content on portable devices  628  for subsequent display of the multimedia content. The environmental monitoring module  606  can monitor for vibration, intrusion, temperature, power glitches, and any other factors that may cause an electronic failure with the CPE  110 . 
     The CPE  110  can use, for a multicast or any one-to-many multimedia content and/or advertisements delivery system, a unique encryption key and a common or general decryption key to decrypt multimedia and/or advertising content, if required. Once the CPE  110  receives the unique encryption key and the general decryption key, the CPE  110  can decrypt the multimedia and/or advertising content with the general decryption key and re-encrypt the multimedia and/or advertising content with the unique encryption key prior to placing the multimedia content in the internal storage  616  or the external NAS  624  device. The distribution gateway  130  can transmit to the CPE  110  information required to perform the multicast decryption and unique re-encryption per CPE  110  prior to placing the multimedia content and/or advertisements in storage. In response to a subscriber  105  request to play the multimedia content with the CPE  110 , the distribution gateway  120  can transmit a unique decryption key to the CPE  110  that permits the CPE  110  to decrypt and play the multimedia content on the CPE  110 . 
     The subscriber  105  can initiate actions at any time during viewing of selected multimedia content with the CPE  110 . These actions can include Pause/Resume, Fast Forward, Rewind and AdSkip. Each action modifies assembly instruction differently subject to a set of predetermined, programmable rules. In addition, the subscriber  105  can vote on individual advertisements with the potential to receive subsidies to offset the price of the multimedia content. 
     In each subscriber-initiated action, the CPE  110  can save the multimedia content state and capture the Time of Day (ToD) and the elapsed time from start of multimedia content viewing Tcs. At the start of multimedia content, Tcs can equal the current ToD and at the end of content Tce can equal the then current ToD. The ToD can include the time stamp of the day count (can be referenced to Jan. 1, 2015) and time (referenced from 0000 hours) and can be locked to an external, system time reference such as the NIST Time Server. Any subscriber  105  initiated action can carry both a ToD and a value relative to the Tcs. The ToD can include a day count starting at a multimedia system  101  defined point (can be referenced to Jan. 1, 2015). 
     Pause/Resume can allow the subscriber  105  to pause multimedia content and/or advertisement viewing and then resume multimedia content viewing when ready. Fast Forward can allow the subscriber  105  to fast forward the multimedia content and/or advertisement to a selected point and resume viewing. Associated with the Fast Forward action is a visual and/or timing (using the Tcs) cues to allow the subscriber  105  to find the desired point within the multimedia content and/or advertisement and resume viewing from that point. Rewind allows the subscriber  105  to find and replay a previously viewed point in the multimedia content and/or advertisement. Again, associated with the Rewind action is a visual and/or timing (using the Tcs) cues to allow the subscriber  105  to find the desired point and replay the multimedia content and/or advertisement. 
     AdSkip allows the subscriber  105  to skip a selected advertisement. Since the subscriber  105  can select the number of advertisements inserted into any given multimedia content, this feature is preferably limited. AdSkip can impact the potential advertiser  150  subsidy, and therefore the subscriber  105  costs within the multimedia system  101 . The CPE  110  can provide an Advertisement Skip Button for particularly undesirable advertising. This feature can be implemented as permanent commercial skipping for the particular advertisement. This information can be transmitted back to the advertiser  150 . If insufficient advertising subsidy remains to meet the subscriber&#39;s  105  requested subsidy, the CPE  110  can flash up on a display the cost impact of the commercial skip, indicate that additional advertisements might be needed to be viewed to make up for the skipped advertisement, or a combination of the two. 
     The Pause/Resume action can be implemented with the CPE  110 . When the subscriber  105  presses and activates the Pause/Resume button on a remote of the CPE  110  (using a remote control), the CPE  110  can immediately pause the multimedia content and/or advertisement at that point, and capture and saves the content state (including the ToD and Tcs). The time of action Ta is the content elapsed time from Tcs (when the content was paused). Additionally, a ToD can be assigned to the time of action. If the Ta of the resume minus the Ta of the pause is less than or equal to a maximum allowed pause interval, then the subscriber  105  can resume the viewing of the multimedia content and/or advertisement. If the Ta of the resume minus the Ta of the pause is greater than this maximum allowed pause interval, then the resume functionality causes a new token to be issued by the distribution gateway  150  and the viewing of the multimedia content and/or advertisement resumes from the exact point of the pause. If the current ToD minus the Tcs exceeds the subscriber&#39;s  105  purchased viewing window, a new token purchase can be required. This decision can be provided as an option from the content provider  140 . The subscriber actions, including play, pause, resume, fast forward, rewind, and ad-skip, can be reported to the system processor  128  of the system and services gateway  120  based on the time of action. The CPE  110  can capture and report actual multimedia content and advertisement viewing statistics in real-time and/or near real-time for use by the system processor  128  of the system and services gateway  120 . In addition, all interactions with the subscriber web interface can be reported to the system processor  128 . 
     The distribution gateway  130  can include a content packetizer  132  and a control and status module  134 . The distribution gateway  130  can monitor and manage, e.g., subscriber  105  usage of multimedia content and data per CPE  110 , billing data per CPE  110 , key(s)/token(s) to enable individual CPEs  110  to record and display content, and changes in a CPE  110  router IP address as dynamic addresses changes. In addition, the distribution gateway  130  can supply a subscriber  105  web interface. The web interface can allow the subscriber  105  to select multimedia content and set preferences, to control overall monthly charges, generate advertisement insertion instructions, and provide a VPN bank to service the associated CPEs  110 . The content packetizer  132  can deliver encrypted multimedia content and advertising (either encrypted or un-encrypted) to the CPE  110 . In addition, the subscriber  105  may access the subscriber  105  web interface via the CPE  110  to request content play, request multimedia content recommendations, etc. 
     The distribution gateway  130  can have a large front end storage to hold several million hours, or more, of frequently accessed multimedia content and current advertising. In addition, the front end storage can be used to buffer archived multimedia content, from the archive gateway  122 , that is less frequently accessed. This approach can be done to allow all encrypted multimedia content transfers to be handled identically, whether current or archived. The actual sizing of the front end storage is an on-going process and can regularly be calculated in the system processor  128  to trade off and optimize cost for local storage vs. transportation infrastructure delivery prices to minimize expenses for archived or “infrequent” multimedia content access. This process can add, delete, and move multimedia content between the archive gateway  122  and the distribution gateway  130 . 
     The control and status module  134  can provide the overall coordination of the distribution gateway  130 . The control and status module  130  can ensure that a subscriber  105  data use monitor, a local audit function, usage tracking and billing function, a token/Key manager, the subscriber web interface, advertising control, the VPN bank, and the content packetizer  132  all operate together without problems. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an example interactive, bidirectional-exchange of information between the CPE  110  and the distribution gateway  130 , and between the CPE  110  and the subscriber  105 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. 
     All aspects of pricing can be handled outside of the CPE  110 . The CPE  110 , if requested, can display the current and projected monthly billing cycle charges. In addition, a front panel LED can be set to display different colors based on used and projected multimedia content charges set against a selected threshold of the subscriber  105 . As an example, green might indicate less than 75% of the selected dollar threshold utilized, yellow might indicate 76 to 100% of the selected dollar threshold utilized, and red may indicate over 100% of the selected dollar threshold utilized. 
     The distribution gateway  130  can receive, via the CPE  110 , a subscriber  105  request for multimedia content. The subscriber  105  can send a request for multimedia content via a website or a user interface of the CPE  110 . In response to such a request, the distribution gateway  130  can transmit to the subscriber  105 , via the CPE  110 , a plurality of prices associated with delivery of the requested multimedia content. The plurality of prices associated with the delivery can be based on a content provider  140  price for the multimedia content, an amount of lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, a time/date the multimedia content is viewed or scheduled to be viewed with the CPE  110 , resolution of the multimedia content and/or a quality of the multimedia content. The plurality of prices can include any subsidies (for example, advertisements) that the subscriber  105  may receive when ordering the multimedia content. In one or more embodiments, system processor  128  can apply an additional subsidy to the subscriber content price based upon a demonstrated proof of a product purchase after the subscriber  105  viewed an associated advertising. A value of the additional subsidy can be based on whether the associated advertising is at least one of targeted, non-targeted, subscriber  105  requested, associated with a subscriber  105  identified cluster, and associated with an individual subscriber  105 . 
     The subscriber  105  can initiate an order, via the CPE  110 , to schedule delivery of the multimedia content by transmitting an “order” including selection of a price for delivery from the plurality of available prices. In response to the distribution gateway  130  receiving the order for multimedia content, the distribution gateway  130  can transmit the ordered multimedia content to the CPE  110  during a period when a delivery network of one or more of the transport providers  160  is being underutilized, for example midnight to 6 A.M. The CPE  110  can display a multimedia content conditions status page for the subscriber  105 . The CPE  110  can display when multimedia content will be available for viewing based on paid parameters. The CPE  110  can display an option for the subscriber  105  to initiate immediate viewing of the multimedia content, instead of waiting until the previously scheduled view time, for an additional fee. 
     The CPE  110  can inform the subscriber  105  that multimedia content is ready for viewing on a display page listing available multimedia content. The subscriber  105  can request to the view the multimedia content by sending a request to the CPE  110 . In one or more possible embodiments, the subscriber  105  can hit play on the remote control  629  of the CPE  110 . In response to the subscriber  105  requesting to view the multimedia content, the CPE  110  can send a request to the distribution gateway  130  for a content token. As long as multimedia content viewing conditions are met, the distribution gateway  130  can respond to such a request by sending a token unique to a requesting particular CPE  110  identifier and the particular multimedia content about to be viewed by the subscriber  105 . The CPE  110  can receive such a unique token and begin display of selected multimedia content. 
     The multimedia system  101  can provide for interactive, bidirectional-exchange of control information between the subscriber&#39;s CPE  110  and the distribution gateway  130 , for example within the VPN  505  network infrastructure, as shown in  FIG. 5 . From a perspective of the subscriber  105 , this control can include downloaded multimedia content identification, subscriber viewing choices and preferences (general and content-specific), and additional control parameters that flow from the CPE  110  to the distribution gateway  130 . From the perspective of the distribution gateway  130 , this control can include pricing based on subscriber  105  choices and alternate pricing strategies, which can lower the price of multimedia content. Additional information (for example, billing) can also pass through the VPN  505 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates an example of subscriber  105  multimedia content price timing  800 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The subscriber  105  multimedia content price timing  800  illustrates a timeline  830  showing timing for events from an earlier time to a later time comprising: a date/time of multimedia content is available for selection (start-time)  840 , a date/time that multimedia content selection  850 , a date/time that multimedia content is available  860  for viewing on the CPE  110 , and a date/time that multimedia content is scheduled to be viewed (view-time)  870  on the CPE  110 . 
     The subscriber content price sequence  800  can include a multimedia content provider  140  price curve  810  and a content delivery price curve  820 . The content provider  140  price curve  810  can decrease as a function of the length of time from a date/time of multimedia content is available for selection (start-time)  840 . The content provider  140  price curve  810  can decrease from a start price  875  that can be established at a time the multimedia content is made available for selection  840 . The content delivery price, as shown with curve  820 , can increase or decrease as function of lead-time (the length of time between the date/time of multimedia content selection  850  and the date/time of multimedia content is required to be available  860  on the CPE  110 ). 
     The system processor  128  can determine a lead-time by taking a difference between the time of the date/time of multimedia content being available  860  and the date/time of multimedia content selection  850 . The content delivery price  890  can be determined at any instantaneous time on the content delivery price curve  820  that intersects with the date/time of multimedia content selection  850 . In accordance with the principles disclosed herein, the system processor  128  can determine the lead-time and delivery time(s) that will result in the lowest price to deliver the multimedia content to the CPE  110 . The system processor  128  can determine the lead-time as hours, days, a week, two-weeks, a month, quarterly for a year, and/or any other period of time that can optimize the delivery price of the multimedia content and as an outcome of this, optimizes the bandwidth of the delivery infrastructure provided by one or more transport providers  160 . The multimedia content can be delivered all at once or in segmented portions to the CPE  110 . The multimedia content can be delivered throughout the lead-time period to be reassembled at the CPE  110  upon completion of the delivery to the CPE  110 . 
     The system processor  128  can determine a view-delay by taking a difference between the date/time of multimedia content is planned to be viewed (view-time)  870  and the date/time of multimedia content is available for selection (start-time)  840 . The multimedia content price  885  can be determined at any instantaneous time on the content provider  140  price curve  810  that intersects with the date/time of multimedia content is planned to be viewed (view-time)  870 . The system processor  128  can determine a subscriber  105  content price by adding a content provider  140  price and a content delivery price for transporting the multimedia content via one or more transport providers  160 . The content provider  140  price is a function of a time at which the multimedia content is scheduled to be viewed and the actual start time for the multimedia content. The content delivery price can be a function of the lead-time of delivery via the transport provider  160  to the CPE  110 . 
       FIG. 9  illustrates a functional block diagram of the example CPE  110 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The top half of  FIG. 9  illustrates the control and status interaction with the subscriber  105  and distribution gateway  130 . This interaction (listed in Tables 1 through 4) can include a subscriber web interface for setting up subscriber preferences, request multimedia content recommendations and selection(s), and billing. The distribution gateway  130  interface controls the preloading of content and advertising to the CPE  110 , the control of content playback and advertising insertion, and CPE  110  usage for customer billing. The lower left hand side of  FIG. 9  illustrates the interfaces that can load content and advertising into the CPE storage  616  via the delivery infrastructure (for example, the Internet and/or broadcast infrastructure). The lower right hand of  FIG. 9  illustrates the playback control and assembly of video streams to multiple displays responding to subscriber  105  requests. 
     The CPE  110  can encrypt all information passing through external display interfaces to increase the security of the CPE  110 . An external interface encryption key can be unique to each CPE  110  and particular multimedia content. The CPE  110  can be manufactured with a special epoxy or other adhesive to prevent integrated circuit (IC) delidding that could allow the internal decryption keys to be read. 
     The CPE  110  can maintain a log of all CPE  110  events to provide viewing historical feedback about/for the subscriber  105 . This can include a list of all content advertising viewed, graphical representation of cost/price as a function of time, price or program rating histograms, or other useful feedback. This historical feedback can be on a per profile basis or as a profile summary for the CPE  110 . 
       FIG. 10  illustrates example interaction between the advertiser  150  and the system controller  126 , and between the system controller  126  and internal subsystems of the system and services gateway  120 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. 
     The advertiser  150  can transmit an advertising pricing request to the system controller  126 . In response to such a request, the system controller  126  can pass such information to the system processor  128  to initiate an advertising pricing analysis. The system processor  128  can analyze requested advertising parameter(s), AQoS request, and AIQoS. The system processor  128  can transmit advertising pricing analysis results to the system controller  126 . The system controller  126  can transmit the advertising pricing analysis results to the advertiser  150 . The advertiser  150  can approve pricing for advertising by transmitting approval to the system controller  126 . The system controller  126  can transmit such an approval to the billing and payment module  124 . 
     The system controller  126  can transmit a request to the advertiser  150  to enable/start an advertising download. The system controller  126  can enable the archive gateway  122  to receive the advertising for storage. The advertiser  150  can transmit the advertising and associated parameters to the archive gateway  122  via the system controller  126 . The system controller  126  can reallocate distribution gateway  130  resources based on new advertising. The system controller  126  can transfer the advertising from the archive gateway  122  to selected distribution gateway(s)  210  and send instructions to the distribution gateway(s)  210  to purge any advertisements that are no longer being used by the advertisers  150 . 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an example interaction between the transport provider  160  and the system controller  126 , and between the system controller  126  and internal subsystems of the system and services gateway  120 , in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. 
     The transport provider  160  can receive a request for bandwidth resources from the system controller  126 . The transport provider  160  can evaluate the request for bandwidth and respond with a pricing bid to the system controller  126 . The pricing bid can include initial pricing of the bandwidth requested, available bandwidth, and any other parameters required to satisfy the request for bandwidth resources. The system controller  126  can initiate an analysis of delivery pricing by transmitting the delivery pricing bid to the system processor  128 . The system processor  128  can analyze potential pricing, popularity, and revenue for all participants, content providers, transport providers, and advertisers, individually and jointly. The system processor  128  can send results of the delivery pricing analysis to the system controller  126 . 
     The system controller  126  can transmit the pricing analysis results to the transport provider  160 . The transport provider  160  can evaluate the electronic delivery pricing analysis and respond to the system controller  126  with negotiated transport pricing. The system controller  126  can pass the negotiated delivery pricing to the system processor  128 . The system processor  128  can select a transport provider  160 , a delivery price, and a delivery schedule. The system processor  128  can pass the transport provider  160 , the delivery price, and the delivery schedule to the system controller  126  which transmits such information to a particular transport provider  160 . The particular transport provider  160  can respond to such information by transmitting, to the system processor  128  via the system controller  126 , an approval of the delivery price and the delivery schedule. The system processor  128  can schedule multimedia content delivery and pass the scheduled multimedia content delivery to the system controller  126 . The system controller  126  can pass the ultimate delivery pricing to the billing and payment module  124 . 
       FIG. 12  illustrates an example subscriber web interface  1200  displaying preference/price impact, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. 
     The subscriber web interface  1200  can display monthly billing cost as a function of a number of ads per hour, lead-time, content viewing delay, and advertisement preferences. Each variable can be independently displayed showing the cost/price impact of the preference selection by the subscriber  105 . Preferences can be set for all content, desired groupings of multimedia content, particular multimedia content for the subscriber  105  account, or can be further subdivided by individual profile. The subscriber  105  can also adjust price as an independent variable. The subscriber web interface  1200  can include an advertisement subsidy box  1210 , an advertisement slide control  1220 , a lead-time slide control  1230 , a delayed viewing period since release slide control  1240 , an advertisement preferences slide control  1250 , a subscriber maximum cost slide control  1260 , and a resolution and/or quality slide control  1270 . The subscriber  105  can change any of the slide controls  1220 ,  1230 ,  1240 ,  1250 ,  1260 , and  1270  and view a price result of such changes. The preferences available to the subscriber  105  can be set for all multimedia content, desired groupings of multimedia content, or individual multimedia content for the subscriber  105 . The preferences available to the subscriber  105  can be further subdivided by an individual profile of the subscriber  105 . 
     The subscriber web interface  1200  can further include subscriber selectable groupings. For example, the content class buttons  1280  can allow a subscriber  105  to set the groupings of multimedia content. The groupings can include classes of what particular multimedia content the subscriber  105  would make selections from. System defined content classes (for example, a default content class) can include selections for all, movie/TV, news, sports, and custom. As an example, subscriber  105  defined content class could include Movie/TV which would override the All Class setting for Movie/TV content. In addition, an individual multimedia content class would set a custom setting for a particular TV series which would override the Movie/TV settings for that particular series. The subscriber  105  web interface  1200  can further include account information  1290  for the subscriber  105 , such as nominal billing period hours left information, period estimated data usage information, and ISP data cap information. 
     The advertisement subsidy box  1210  can display, for the subscriber  105 , a maximum cost/price set by the subscriber  105 . The advertisement subsidy box  1210  can display a cost/price for particular multimedia content as a function of a number of advertisements that the subscriber  105  accepts to be viewed while watching the multimedia content. The advertisement slide control  1220  can allow the subscriber  105  to set a number of advertisements to be viewed within a given period of time (for example, per hour). Changes made to the advertisement slide control  1220  can be viewed in the advertisement subsidy box  1210 . 
     The lead-time slide control  1230  can allow the subscriber  105  to control a maximum amount of delay (lead-time) before multimedia content is to be sent to the CPE  110 . The delayed viewing period since release slide control  1240  can allow the subscriber  105  to control a number of days/months until the CPE  110  allows the subscriber  105  to view particular multimedia content. Advertisement preferences slide control  1250  can allow the subscriber  105  to control a number of advertisements that are inserted into the multimedia content and presented to the subscriber  1250  when viewing particular multimedia content. The subscriber max cost slide control  1260  can allow the subscriber  105  to adjust a maximum cost that the subscriber  105  will accept for a given billing period. The subscriber web interface  1200  can include the resolution and/or quality slide control  1270  to allow the subscriber  105  to select a resolution and/or quality for particular multimedia content. The lead-time slide control  1230  is illustrated as allowing a subscriber  105  to set the lead-time as an exemplary maximum of 3 days. However, the maximum lead-time that the lead-time slide control  1230  can allow the subscriber  105  to set can be any number of days that provides adequate flexibility to the subscriber  105 . For example, the lead-time slide control  1230  can allow the subscriber  105  to set the lead-time to a week, two-weeks, a month, quarterly for a year, and/or any other period of time that can optimize the delivery price of the multimedia content for the subscriber  105 . 
     The subscriber  105  can also manually adjust their control parameters, including cost, for specific subscriber  105  or system defined classes of content for their viewing experience. These classes can be defined for individual pieces of multimedia content, a content series, or selected subset of content that can include, as examples, newer television, older television, live sports, movies, etc. and/or can provide further refinements of class such as movie, action, etc. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates a flowchart of an example method  1300  of scheduling delivery of multimedia content, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The method  1300  is not limited to the example blocks shown and can include any of the processes performed by the multimedia delivery system  100 . 
       FIG. 13  illustrates a flowchart of an example method  1300  of scheduling delivery of multimedia content, in accordance with one or more possible embodiments. The method  1300  is not limited to the example blocks shown and can include any of the processes performed by the customer premises equipment  110 . 
     The method  1300  can begin with block  1310 . The method  1300  can begin by receiving a subscriber  105  content price for multimedia content. An external interface (for example, the Wi-Fi/Cellular interface  602  and/or Ethernet interface  604 ) of the customer premises equipment  110  can receive the subscriber  105  content price from the system and service gateway  120 . The subscriber  105  content price can be based on a lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content via at least one transport provider  160  servicing the CPE  110 . Block  1310  can proceed to block  1320 . 
     At block  1320 , the method  1300  can schedule delivery of the multimedia content. A user interface of the CPE  110  can be used to schedule electronic delivery of the multimedia content to the CPE  110  within the lead-time. Block  1320  can proceed to block  1330 . 
     At block  1330 , the method  1300  can receive the multimedia content. The external interface (for example, the Wi-Fi/Cellular interface  602 , Ethernet interface  604  and/or tuner/cable card  614 ) of the customer premises equipment  110  can receive the multimedia content within the lead-time. Block  1330  can proceed to block  1340 . 
     At block  1340 , the method  1300  can retrieve the multimedia content. The assembly engine  608  of the customer premises equipment  110  can retrieve the multimedia content from at least one of the internal storage  616  of the CPE  110  and the NAS device  624  coupled to the CPE  110 . Block  1340  can proceed to block  1350 . 
     At block  1350 , the method  1300  can output the multimedia content. The assembly engine  608  can output the multimedia content retrieved in block  1340  to a display device, such as the television  630  locally coupled to the CPE  110 . 
     Although the embodiments are directed toward the delivery of multimedia content, the teachings of the embodiments can be applied to any electronic paid content being served over a network or encrypted broadcast. The embodiments can be extended to traditional print media, on-line training, etc. One or more of the embodiments can even use a micro-payment system. 
     It should be understood that, notwithstanding the particular steps as shown in the figures, a variety of additional or different steps can be performed depending upon the embodiment, and one or more of the particular steps can be rearranged, repeated or eliminated entirely depending upon the embodiment. Also, some of the steps performed can be repeated on an ongoing or continuous basis simultaneously while other steps are performed. Furthermore, different steps can be performed by different elements or in a single element of the disclosed embodiments. 
     While this disclosure has been described with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or substituted in the other embodiments. Also, all of the elements of each figure are not necessary for operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art of the disclosed embodiments would be enabled to make and use the teachings of the disclosure by simply employing the elements of the independent claims. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure as set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. 
     In this document, relational terms such as “first,” “second,” and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The phrase “at least one of” followed by a list is defined to mean one, some, or all, but not necessarily all of, the elements in the list. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “a,” “an,” or the like does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. Also, the term “another” is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including,” “having,” and the like, as used herein, are defined as “comprising.” Furthermore, the background section is written as the inventor&#39;s own understanding of the context of some embodiments at the time of filing and includes the inventor&#39;s own recognition of any problems with existing technologies and/or problems experienced in the inventor&#39;s own work.