Patent ID: 7673318

Claim:
A channel merging method for a VOD system, said method comprising steps of: (1) in response to requests from a plurality of clients for a video program, establishing a root channel (SI) and at least one sub-channel (S 11 ), said root channel (SI) being established according to a request from a first client that makes an earliest request, each of said sub-channels (S 11 ) being established corresponding to a request of a second client that makes a later request; wherein the root channel and the sub-channels form a tree structure; and (2) monitoring variation of a number of the clients that are using each established channel, and maintaining the established channel if the number of the clients using a monitored channel is not zero, and closing the established channel if the number of the clients using the monitored channel becomes zero, such that loading of both a VOD sewer and a network employed for said VOD system are reduced; wherein step (2) comprises sub-steps of: (2-1) indicating the number of clients that are using each channel as a count parameter; (2-2) decreasing the value of said count parameter in response to occurrence of the event of merging, jumping or stopping of said each channel and sub-channels thereof; and (2-3) closing said channel on the server side if the value of said count parameter becomes zero; wherein said root channel (SI) and each of said sub-channels are established in response to one of: a play staffing request, and a program jumping request from a client, wherein said step (1) includes the sub-steps of: (1-1) searching a collection of root channels (SI) into which said sub-channels (S 11 ) is possibly merged for a root channel (SI), said root channels (SI) satisfying the condition of min(S 11 .start time−Si .start time)<object length/2, wherein the min(S 11 .start time−Si.start time) indicates minimal values of the difference between the start time of said sub-channels (S 11 ) and the start time of each root channel in said collection, and the object length/2 indicates the half of the total length of the played video program; and (1-2) if said root channel (SI) exists, searching a collection of posterity channels of said root channel (SI) for a parent channel (S 6 ) into which said sub-channel (S 11 ) will be merged, said parent channel satisfying the condition of min(S 11 .start time−S 6 .start time)<S 6 .start time−S 5 .start time, wherein S 6 .start time indicates the start time of said parent channel (S 6 ), and S 5 .start time indicates the start time of a parent channel (S 5 ) of said parent channel (S 6 ), and wherein when secondary sub-channels of said sub-channel (S 11 ) are established, steps (1-1) and (1-2) are repeated to take said sub-channel (S 11 ) as the parent channel of the secondary sub-channels, and the value of the count parameter of said sub-channel (S 11 ) is increased by 1.