METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSTANT PLAYBACK OF A MOVIE

摘要

Method and systems for classifying and segmenting a file or a collection of media data are disclosed. According one aspect, each title in a library of titles are divided into a header and a plurality of segments. Furthermore, a library of titles is categorized into a first band and a second band, based on popularity. Titles in the first band are more popular and segments of the titles are distributed to all subscriber units. Titles in the second band are less popular and only a percentage of the segments of titles in the second band are distributed to each subscriber unit. In some embodiments, each subscriber unit has segments of approximately five percent of titles in the second band. The header of each title is distributed to each subscriber unit. When a subscriber unit requests a title, an instruction is made to a set of subscriber units that have segments of the title to distribute the segments to the requesting subscriber unit. Other embodiments are disclosed.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
categorizing, by a computer system, a library of titles into a first band and a second band, wherein titles placed in the first band have a greater popularity than titles placed in the second band; dividing, by the computer system, each title in the library of titles into a header and a sequence of data blocks; defining, by the computer system, segments from the sequence of data blocks; distributing, by the computer system, the header of each title of the library of titles into each of a plurality of subscriber units; distributing, by the computer system, at least one segment of each title in the first band to each of the plurality of subscriber units; distributing, by the computer system, at least one segment of a portion of the titles in the second band to each subscriber unit in the plurality subscriber units; receiving, by the computer system, from a requesting subscriber unit within the plurality of subscriber units, a request for one title from the library of titles; and transmitting, by the computer system, an instruction to the plurality of subscriber units to simultaneously transmit segments of the one title to the requesting subscriber unit.