Patent ID: 8028319

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a request from a requesting device for a video on demand (VOD) channel content; identifying a location of the requesting device with respect to a first edge aggregation device; when the location of the requesting device is downstream of the first edge aggregation device, then instructing the first edge aggregation device to forward the VOD channel content to the location of the requesting device, wherein the first end aggregation device receives the VOD channel content in a first stream from a VOD server, and wherein the first edge aggregation device forwards the VOD channel content to the requesting device without requesting a second stream of the VOD channel content from the VOD server; when the location of the requesting device is downstream of a second edge aggregation device, then instructing the first edge aggregation device to forward the VOD channel content to the location of the requesting device through the second edge aggregation device without requesting the second stream of the VOD channel content from the VOD server; and when the location of the request is downstream of the second edge aggregation device and the first edge aggregation device is downstream of a first metro aggregation router and the second edge aggregation device is downstream of a second metro aggregation router, then instructing the first edge aggregation device to forward the VOD channel content to the location of the request through the second metro aggregation router without requesting the second stream of the VOD channel content from the VOD server.