| 摘要 |
Providing content to content receiving devices, such as digital video recorders, connected to a computer network through a content provider is described. According to one aspect, a server maintains a database correlating contact information to content receiving devices in its network. A user navigates to a web site of the content provider and selects a piece of content, which prompts the content provider to query the server for the contact information, and then transmit a request to download the piece of content to the content receiving device. The request can be a set of content identification information that automatically populates a content guide at the receiving device with an entry corresponding to the requested piece of content. This entry allows the user to confirm, interrupt, resume and cancel a download of the content as desired. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method for using a computer network to transmit selected content from a content provider device, the method comprising:
receiving, by the content provider device, a unique identifier of a digital video recording device (DVR); registering, by the content provider device, the DVR wherein registering the DVR includes providing, by the content provider device, a login name and password to a user of the DVR; storing, by the content provider device, the unique identifier of the DVR; transmitting, by the content provider device to a server device over the computer network, the unique identifier of the DVR, wherein the server device maintains contact information associated with the DVR, wherein the contact information includes a first network address and first port of the DVR; receiving, by the content provider device from a browser-enabled computing device separate from the DVR after registering the DVR, the login name and password associated with the user of the DVR and a request for the selected content, wherein the content provider device connects to the server device by the computer network, transmitting, by the content provider device to the server device over the computer network after the content provider device receives the login name and password associated with the user of the DVR and the request for the selected content from the browser-enabled computing device, the unique identifier of the DVR; receiving, by the content provider device from the server device in response to the content provider device transmitting the unique identifier of the DVR to the server device, the contact information identifying the first network address and first port of the DVR; and transmitting, by the content provider device over the computer network, the selected content to the first network address and first port of the DVR. |
