Patent ID: 7551832

Claim:
A method for managing cluster allocation in a client device with persistent storage, comprising the steps of: allocating by the client device a plurality of clusters of a hard disk as a buffer file; causing a plurality of media content instances to be written to the buffer file, wherein each instance of said plurality is stored on one or more clusters in the buffer file; creating a normal play time pointer for each stored media content instance, wherein each normal play time pointer points to the location of the cluster or clusters on which its corresponding media content instance is stored; storing the normal play time pointers in a data record for the hard disk; using the normal play time pointers to reference the media content instances stored in the clusters of the hard disk; storing a list of the clusters allocated as the buffer file in the data record; maintaining the size of the buffer file substantially constant over time, such that when the buffer file approaches a full status, the cluster storing the oldest media content instance is deallocated from the buffer file, and a new cluster is allocated to the buffer file; and updating the data record as clusters are deallocated from, and newly allocated to, the buffer file.