CONTENT PROVISIONING

FIELD OF INVENTION The invention relates to Internet Television (ITV) and in particular to systems, devices and methods for provisioning ITV content.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The Internet has become an integral part in the way in which content is delivered to end users. For example, newspapers, magazines, and television and cable networks have web sites that are increasingly being used to deliver content. The provisioning of ITV contents includes facilitating delivering a television (TV) content (e.g. TV programs, video clips, movies, and the like) over the Internet, and/or facilitating rendering web-sites content (including streaming media content) to TV sets and other media rendering devices. Problems of provisioning ITV content in home network architecture have been recognized in the Prior Art and various systems have been developed to provide a solution as, for example:

US Patent Application No. 2009/018679 discloses a home network connected to an external audio/video source to stream an audio/video content received from the external source on a digital television receiver, or set top box, of the home network. The home network comprises: a gateway device comprising audio/video reception means to receive audio/video streams from a communication medium and audio/video transmission means to transmit said received audio/video streams to the home network, a media center device having storage means for storing said audio/video steams received from the gateway device and audio/video re- transmission means to re-transmit said stored audio/video streams to the home network, a control device comprising means for streaming audio/video streams received from the home network, said control device further comprising time-shifting means for triggering the recording on the media center of audio/video streams transmitted by the gateway device to the home network upon stopping the streaming of said transmitted audio/video streams on said control device, and for retrieving said recorded audio/video streams from the media center upon resuming the streaming of audio/video streams on the control device.

US Patent Application No. 2007/118625 discloses a method of inter- working of UPnP AV devices via UPnP-based network system. US Patent Application No. 2005/028225 discloses a home video server system including a source control library and a streaming library. A stream controller is connected between the source control library and the streaming library. Moreover, a plurality of network display terminals can be connected to the streaming library via a network connection. The source control library can choose between a plurality of media sources for streaming video content. When the sources for the streaming video content change, the connection between the network display terminal and the streaming library remains the same.

US Patent Application No. 2006/184851 discloses a UPnP-compliant Media Renderer-

Control Point combination enabling to exploit an organizational context of a content item as represented in a UPnP Content Directory Service. To this end, the combination is enabled to receive a URI representative of a Content Directory Service description, together with an object ID representative of the content item.

There is a need in the art to provide for a new system and method for provisioning content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

hi accordance with an aspect of the invention there is provided, in a system for provisioning a content for rendering by one or more media rendering (MR) devices operatively connected to a Media server (MS) that is configured to store a closed garden of catalog directory data and associated content items, said devices constituting a part of a home network and operatively communicate through said home network format, a method for extending the home network for provisioning of open garden Internet content, comprising

(i) providing at least one gateway device operatively connected to said MRs; said gateway device constitutes a part of said home network;

(ii) the gateway device obtaining from an external catalogue directory data indicating on associated Internet TV content items, and creating, accordingly, home network catalogue directory complying with said home network format; wherein said home network catalog directory being a portion of said external catalog directory; said external catalog directory does not form part of said home network and forms a dynamically updated open garden of catalog directory data indicating on associated Internet content; (iii) providing said created home network directory or parts thereof to the media rendering device, and enabling a user to select an indication on at least one content item;

(iv) obtaining by the gateway device the Internet content items in accordance with said selection; and

(v)_enabling through the gateway device, a seamless interaction of the media rendering device with the Internet content items.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method, wherein the indication on content item being URL-related information. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is further provided a method, wherein the home network format being UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is still further provided a method wherein the gateway accommodates said MS.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is yet further provided a method, wherein said creating home network directory includes:

(a) creating, accordingly, internal catalogue directory of the gateway device;

(b) transforming the internal catalogue directory or parts thereof into said home network directory.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is still further provided a method further comprising the gateway communicating with an application server for extracting the catalogue directory data indicating on associated Internet content items, and wherein the application server searches the Internet and dynamically generates external catalogue directory data indicating on associated content items.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is still further provided a method wherein thegateway device obtains the catalogue directory data in a push and/or pull mode from the application server.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is yet further provided a method, wherein the obtaining the Internet content items includes accelerating the provision of the content to the MR. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is yet further provided a method, wherein the accelerating further includes storing the content from the Internet in a local buffer accommodated in the gateway device and providing the content to MR from the buffer in a transparent manner to the MR. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is still further provided a method, wherein the gateway device has a predefined downloading throughput, a local network node is provided with a predefined downloading throughput for downloading content from at least an upstream network node and wherein the gateway device is provided with a portion of the downloading throughput, the portion representing the true downloading throughput of the gateway device and is less than the predefined downloading throughput of the gateway device, the method comprising: a) determining a required number of tasks, wherein each task is configured for downloading a data segment of the Internet content item, and wherein the total downloading throughput of all of the tasks is greater than the true throughput; b) generating one or more tasks, according to their number; c) assigning to each of the one or more tasks a data segment of the Internet TV content item; d) utilizing the one or more tasks for downloading the data segments, thereby enabling the gateway device to utilize a downloading throughput which is greater than the true downloading throughput.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of provisioning an Internet TV content for rendering by one or more media rendering (MR) devices operatively connected to a gateway device, the devices constituting a part of a home network, the method comprising:

(i) the gateway device obtaining from an external catalogue directory data indicating on associated Internet content items, and creating, accordingly, home network catalogue directory complying with the home network format;

(ii) providing the directory or the parts by the media rendering device, and enabling a user to select an indication on particular content item;

(iii) the gateway device obtaining the Internet content items in accordance with the indication, wherein the obtaining includes accelerating the provisioning of the content items;

(iv) enabling through the gateway device, a seamless interaction of the media rendering device with the Internet content items.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is further provided a method, wherein the accelerating further includes storing the content from the Internet in a local buffer accommodated in the gateway device and providing the content to MR from the buffer in a transparent manner to the MR. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is yet further provided a method, wherein the gateway device has a predefined downloading throughput, a local network node is provided with a predefined downloading throughput for downloading content from at least an upstream network node and wherein the gateway device is provided with a portion of the downloading throughput, the portion representing the true downloading throughput of the gateway device and is less than the predefined downloading throughput of the gateway device, the method comprising: a) determining a required number of tasks, wherein each task is configured for downloading a data segment of the Internet content item, and wherein the total downloading throughput of all of the tasks is greater than the true throughput; b) generating one or more tasks, according to their number; c) assigning to each of the one or more tasks a data segment of the Internet TV content item; d) utilizing the one or more tasks for downloading the data segments, thereby enabling the gateway device to utilize a downloading throughput which is greater than the true downloading throughput.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is further provided, in a system for provisioning a content for rendering by one or more media rendering (MR) devices operatively connected to a Media server (MS) that is configured to store a closed garden of catalog directory data and associated content items, the devices constituting a part of a home network and operatively communicating through the home network format, a gateway device configured for provisioning an Internet content for rendering by the (MR) devices operatively connected to the gateway device, comprising: a module configured for obtaining, from an external catalogue, directory data indicating on associated Internet TV content items, and creating, accordingly, a home network catalogue directory complying with the home network format; wherein the home network catalog directory being a portion of the external catalog directory; the external catalog directory does not form part of the home network and forms a dynamically updated open garden of catalog directory data indicating on associated Internet content; a module configured for providing the created home network directory or parts thereof to the media rendering device, and enabling a user to select an indication on at least one content item; a module for obtaining the Internet content items in accordance with the selection, thereby enabling a seamless interaction of the media rendering device with the Internet content items. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is yet further provided a device, further including a module configured to accelerate the obtaining of said content items. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is yet further provided a device, wherein the acceleration module further comprises: a download accelerator comprising a downloading degradation factor calculator, and a tasks generator; the download accelerator is configured to identify that a requested downloading throughput, provided to the gateway device by a local network node, is greater than a true downloading throughput of the gateway device; wherein the true downloading throughput is a portion of a downloading throughput provided to the local network node by an upstream node for downloading content from the upstream network node; the downloading degradation factor calculator is configured, in response to the identification, to determine a required number of tasks, wherein each task is configured for downloading a data segment of the Internet TV content, and wherein the total downloading throughput of all of the tasks is greater than the true throughput; a tasks generator configured for receiving the number from the downloading degradation factor calculator and generating one or more tasks according to the number, the tasks generator is further configured for assigning to each of the one or more tasks a data segment from the Internet TV content; the one or more tasks are configured for downloading the data segments, thereby enabling the gateway device to utilize a downloading throughput which is greater than the true throughput.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is further provided a computer program product device comprising a storage storing computer code portions for provisioning an Internet TV content for rendering by one or more media rendering (MR) devices operatively connected to a gateway device, the devices constituting a part of a home network, the computer product comprising: computer code portion for obtaining, from an external catalogue directory, data indicating on associated Internet content items, and creating, accordingly, a home network catalogue directory complying with the home network format; computer code portion for providing the directory or the parts by the media rendering device, thereby enabling a user to select an indication on particular content item; computer code portion obtaining the Internet content items in accordance with the indication, wherein the obtaining includes accelerating the provisioning of the content items; thereby enabling through the gateway device, a seamless interaction of the media rendering device with the Internet TV content items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in order to provide what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. The description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a simplified system for ITV content provisioning according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a simplified functional block diagram of an ITV gateway device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a simplified flow diagram of a method of operating the ITV gateway device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a simplified flow diagram for extracting catalog data, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 5 schematically illustrates simplified a functional block diagram of certain modules in an ITV gateway device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a simplified flow diagram of processing indications on Internet content items, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention; Fig. 7 schematically illustrates a simplified flow diagram of obtaining TV content items utilizing accelerated mode of operation, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details, hi other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing", "providing", obtaining" "creating", "communicating", "extracting", "accelerating", "determining", generating", "assigning", "utilizing" , "calculating", "reading" or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer that manipulate and/or transform data into other data, said data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities and are representing the physical objects. The term "computer" should be expansively construed to cover any kind of electronic device with data processing capabilities, including, by way of non-limiting example, personal computers, servers, computing system, communication devices, storage devices, processors (e.g. digital signal processor (DSP), microcontrollers, field programmable gate array (FPGA), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.) and other electronic computing devices.

The operations in accordance with the teachings herein may be performed by a computer specially constructed for the desired purposes or by a general purpose computer specially configured for the desired purpose by a computer program stored in a computer readable storage medium.

Embodiments of the present invention are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the inventions as described herein.

The references cited in the background teach many principles of implementing ITV content provisioning in home networks. Therefore the full contents of these publications are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background. The term "media rendering device" used in this patent specification should be expansively construed to include any kind of customer premises equipment (CPE) and/or home network equipment with media rendering capabilities, including those adapted for coupling with voice, data, video and/or multimedia terminals. The media rendering devices include multimedia devices (e.g. TV sets (including external and/or internal set-up boxes), dedicated devices for streaming audio and video, etc.); fixed, cellular and IP phones, personal and other computers, dedicated data units (e.g. PDA), play stations, etc.

The term Internet-TV (ITV) is used herein for convenience only and is not bound to TV devices only. The Internet content can be directed to any desired media outputting device. Likewise, the term TV content item is used by way of example only, and accordingly content items are not bound to the TV domain.

Bearing this in mind, reference is made to Fig. 1 which schematically illustrates a simplified ITV content provisioning system 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. System 1 is adapted to allow a user 11 to search for a particular TV content item through the Internet, shown by cloud 2, and to access the content item for rendering via one or more user media rendering devices which may include, for example, a PC (personal computer) 14, a mobile phone 15, a laptop computer 16, a PDA (personal digital assistant) 17, a TV set 18 or any other media rendering (MR) devices. Optionally, the multiple MR devices are connected through a LAN. System 1 includes one or more Application Servers (AS) 3 connected to an ISP (not shown). AS 3 is adapted to search the Internet and dynamically generate, and optionally update, a catalogue of categories and/or references to TV content items. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, such catalogue may be dynamically generated and updated as disclosed, by way of non-limiting example in Provisional Application for Patent No. 61/136,278 titled "Internet service provider TV Broadcasting ", filed on August 25, 2008, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The catalogue may be comprised in the Application Server (e.g. in an internal memory storage device, and/or in an external memory storage device) and/or in an ITV gateway device described below.

In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, AS 3 is further adapted to communicate with one or more ITV gateway devices 10, and to transfer data associated with the generated and updated catalogue to the gateway device. Data transfer may include all, or optionally some, categories and/or references to TV content items; or only those categories and/or references to TV content items associated with a content item being requested by user 11 and/or configured by the ISP; or any combination thereof. The data transferred may include the URL address for one or more content items or other URL address related information. Data may be transferred from AS 3 to gateway device 10 responsive to a request from the gateway device. Alternatively or additionally, the data may be "pushed" by AS 3 to gateway device 10 without the request from the gateway device. In some embodiments of the invention, the gateway device is adapted to access the catalogue in the AS and to create and update an internal directory (e.g. virtual file system) comprising some, or optionally all, categories and/or references to TV content items in the catalogue. Optionally, the internal directory comprises only categories and/or references to TV content items associated with requests received from the MR device (selections made by the user). Additionally or alternatively, the gateway device is adapted to create and update the internal directory in the MR device.

The gateway device is further adapted to organize the categories and/or references to TV content items in a format compatible with that of the MR device, and for simplicity of use by the user. Optionally, the format may be similar to that of an electronic programming guide (EPG) with the categories displayed on-screen and functionally allowing the user to navigate, select, and discover the content by for example, time, title, channel, genre, and the like.

Optionally, the format may be a hierarchical structure, for example, a tree structure, wherein at the upper levels in each branch (upper leaves) are categories and at a lowest level of each branch (lowest leaves) are found the particular TV content items (including references such as a URL address and other linking information). For example, a top level may include categories such as Art, Nature, Religion, Politics, History, News, and the like. A second level may include under Art such categories as Modern Art, Renaissance Art, Greco-Roman Art, and the like. A third level may include under Modern Art such categories as 19 Century Art, Early 20 ^th Century (prior to WWI), Post WWI - Pre WWII, Post WWII, and so on. The levels may continue until reaching a level where one or more TV content items are exhibited and from which the user may select a particular content item

Optionally, the EPG is dynamic and is built by the tree of the content database. The database of the dynamic EPG continually changes, influencing changes in the EPG in the MR device.

Communications between AS 3 and gateway device 10 may be through communication means provided by the ISP and suitable for connecting user 11 to the Internet, as known in the art. The communication means may include a wired network 4 comprising, for example, telephone lines, electric lines, CATV, broadband lines, fiber optic, and the like, or any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively the communications means may include a wireless network 5 such as, for example, WiMAX (Broadband Wireless Access), MBWA (Mobile Broadband Wireless Access), WRAN (Wireless Regional Area Network), satellite, LTE (Long Term Evolution), A-LTE (Advanced LTE), or any combination thereof.

Optionally, the communication means may include any combination of wired and wireless networks 4 - 5. In system 1, wired network 4 and wireless network 5 may include all necessary equipment/ connections (not shown) to connect gateway device 10 to the ISP, including LAN (local area network) routers and other types of Ethernet connection equipment, and the like.

In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, ITV gateway device 10 is adapted to communicate with AS 3 to receive data associated with the generated and updated catalogue, and to create, and optionally update, an internal directory (virtual file system) comprising the categories and references to TV content items. Optionally, gateway device 10 is adapted to request from AS 3 all the categories and/or references to content items, some categories and/or references to content items, only those categories and/or references to content items selected by user 11, or any combination thereof. Optionally, gateway device 10 is adapted to receive the data "pushed" from AS 3. Gateway device 10 is further adapted, responsive to a request from a MR device for a particular content item, to extract the URL address or other linking information received from AS 3 and to request the content item from the ISP. Optionally, the request may be for several content items (several URL addresses or links). Optionally, the request may be from several MR devices. Gateway device 10 is further adapted to receive from the ISP the content item associated with the requested URL address, and to transfer the content item to the MR device translated into a format compatible for use by the MR device. Optionally, gateway device 10 is further adapted to organize the categories and/or references to TV content items in a format compatible with that of the MR device, and for simplicity of use by the user. For example, the format may be similar to that of an electronic programming guide (EPG) with the categories displayed on-screen and functionally allowing the user to navigate, select, and discover the content, for example, by time, title, channel, genre, and the like. Furthermore, the format may be arranged in a hierarchical structure, for example, a tree structure as previously described. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the ITV gateway device is further adapted to enable a seamless connection between the MR device and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address associated with the TV content item selected from the catalogue of categories and/or references to TV content items. Optionally, other linking information other than the URL address may be used to connect the MR device to the URL address. Responsive to a request from the MR device (user selection of TV content item), the gateway device extracts from the virtual file system the URL address of the content item and establishes a connection through the ISP. The selected content item is then downloaded for rendering by the MR device, wherein the gateway device translates the respective content item into a format compatible with that of the MR device. Optionally, the gateway device may be adapted to extract the URL address directly from the catalogue in the AS. Optionally, the URL address may be obtained from the internal directory created in the MR device.

In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, gateway device 10 is further adapted to enable a seamless connection with the MR devices, for example MR devices 14 - 18, so as to allow the MR devices to access the data in the virtual file system and to view the data in a compatible format. Additionally, gateway device 10 is adapted to enable the MR devices to view the content item received from the URL address. The seamless connection may comprise the use of UPnP technology. Optionally, the seamless connection may comprise the use of CIFS (Common Internet File System) technology, SMB (Server Message Block) technology, and/or any other technology enabling data sharing between gateway device 10 and the MR devices and enabling access to the data in the virtual file system.

The seamless connection may be achieved by connecting the MR device to the gateway device using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology, enabling the MR device to access files in the gateway device and to share data between them. In such case the gateway 10 may serve as a control point for UPnP MR devices.

Communications between gateway device 10 and the MR devices may comprise a LAN, or optionally other type of networks, and may include wired communications 12 and/or wireless communications 13. For example, wired communications 12 may be an Ethernet connection, while wireless communications 13 may include Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) and/or WPAN (Wireless personal area network).

In some embodiments of the invention, ITV gateway device 10 may be implemented as a stand-alone unit which is connected through an Ethernet connection to a LAN router. Optionally, gateway device 10, or parts thereof, may be included in any computing device such as a PC, a mainframe computer, a laptop computer, and the like. Optionally, the gateway device, or parts thereof, may be included in a network device such as a router, a bridge, a hub, a modem, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, gateway device 10, or parts thereof, may be included in any device adapted to be connected to an ISP and comprising a computing device. Additionally or alternatively the gateway device, or parts thereof, may be included in a content storage server allocated in the home network or the ISP network. Optionally, gateway device 10 or parts thereof may be included in a user MR device, for example, MR devices 14 - 18.

Reference is made to Fig. 2 which schematically illustrates a simplified functional block diagram of ITV gateway device 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Gateway device 10 comprises a controller 100 and additional gateway device components 108. Controller 100 may be represented by functional blocks which include a Protocol Converter 101, an optional CIF Server 102, a Virtual Files System (VFSI) 103, an UPnP Server 104, an SMB Server 105, a File System Driver (FSD) 106, and a WTV API 107. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention is not bound by the configuration of Fig. 2; equivalent and/or modified functionality may be consolidated or divided in another manner and may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof.

Additional gateway device components 108 include peripheral components as may be required for controller 108 operation and for network interfacing such as, for example, power supply, encoder, decoder, multiplexer, buffer, memory storage, I/O interface, and the like, as applicable. Optionally, gateway device 10 is adapted to interface with an external memory device (not shown) adapted to store catalogue information, as may be required by the user, or other information as may be deemed necessary from time to time by the user.

WTV API 107 is an application program interface (API) adapted to request and receive data from AS 3 pertaining to the categories and references to TV content items in the catalogue. Optionally, the data is "pushed" from AS 3. WTV API 107 may communicate with AS 3 using an Extended Mark-up Language (XML) protocol. Optionally, communication may comprise the use of Hyper-Text-Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Optionally, WTV API may communicate with AS 3 using other applicable protocols in the Applications Layer of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Model.

FSD 106 is an API adapted to generate VFS 103, which comprises the internal directory of categories and references of TV content item received through WTV API 107. FSD 106 may be additionally adapted to update the internal directory, adding or removing content items according to the data received from WTV API 107 and/or responsive to a request from the MR device. Optionally, FSD 106 may be adapted to generate and update the internal directory in the user MR device. Optionally, VFS 103 may be located in an external memory device connected to gateway device 10, for example a "flash card" (EEPROM) or similar device suitable for temporarily and/or permanently storing the data pertaining to the categories and references to TV content items. Optionally, VFS 103 may be located in a memory device in gateway device 10.

The internal directory in VSF 103 is arranged by FSD 106 so as to allow UPnP Server 104 to access the data in the internal directory and transfer the data to the user's MR device in the seamless connection. Transfer of data to the MR device may be responsive to a request from the MR device. UPnP Server 104 is adapted to negotiate communications between the MR devices, for example MR devices 14 - 18, VFS 103 and Protocol Converter 101. UPnP Server 104 is further adapted to manage communications when several MR devices are connected to gateway device 10 in an UPnP LAN. Optionally, CIFS Server 102 negotiates the communications between the MR devices, VFS 103 and Protocol Converter 101, and manages the communications in a CIFS LAN. Optionally, SMB Server 105 negotiates the communications between the MR devices, VFS 103 and Protocol Converter 101, and manages the communications in a SMB LAN.

Protocol Converter 101 is adapted, responsive to a request from the MR device, to request the URL address of a content item from the ISP. Protocol Converter 101 is additionally adapted to communicate with the URL address through HTTP, optionally Real Time Streaming Protocol/Real Time Transfer Protocol (RSTP/RTTP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP), for downloading of URL dynamic content (TV content item) to the MR device. Protocol Converter 101 is further adapted to translate the content item (URL content) to a format which may be received by the MR device (for example, UPnP, optionally CIFS and/or SMB) through the seamless connection.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention is not bound by the configuration of Fig. 2; equivalent and/or modified functionality may be consolidated or divided in another manner and may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Reference is made to Fig. 3 which schematically illustrates a simplified flow diagram of a method of operating ITV gateway device 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The method described below is non-limiting and a person of ordinary skill in the art may implement the method using different steps and/or a different sequence of steps. By way of non-limiting example and for purposes of the explanation only, it is assumed that the catalog of categories and references to TV content items is built based on a hierarchical structure, for example, a tree structure. Additionally assumed are that the tree is updated and wholly transferred from AS 3 to gateway device 10, and that the MR device is a UPnP device. [STEP 300 - obtaining catalogue directory data] Following ITV gateway device 10 being powered "on", Controller 100 logs in to AS 3 and requests transfer of categories forming the top level of the tree. Controller 100 then requests all categories at all levels in the catalog. The request may be level-by-level or optionally, all levels following the top level are requested at one time. The request may include all references to content items including URL addresses and/or other linking information for each content item. Communications between AS 3 and

WTV API 107, may be in an XML format. Optionally, the data may be in an HTTP format or other suitable formats as previously described. Optionally, the catalogue directory data (and/or updates thereof) may be obtained from a 3 ^rd party server, downloaded from a user's computer, or otherwise obtained by the gateway device 10.

[STEP 301 - creating internal catalogue directory] FSD 106 extracts from WTV API 107 the data associated with the top level categories of the tree and organizes the categories in the internal directory of VFS 103. FSD 106 then organizes the lower levels of the tree in the internal directory from the data associated with the lower level categories received through WTV API 107. The data is organized in VFS 103 such that the categories may be presented in the MR device in a format easy to use by the user, for example an EPG format. [STEP 302 — enabling presentation of the internal catalogue directory in user's device format]

The user wishing to find a particular TV content item connects the MR device, for example MR device 14 - 18 to gateway device 10 using UPnP technology. Optionally, one or more users may connect more MR devices to the gateway device 10 in a LAN. UPnP Server

104 detects the connection and negotiates communication with the MR device. The top level categories are then transferred to the MR device.

The user selects a top level category and the second level categories under the first category are transferred to the MR device. The user may then select a third level category under the second level category. The third level categories are then transferred to the MR device. This process of selection may continue until there are no more categories for the user to choose. At this time reference to one or more TV content items are transferred to the MR device and displayed to the user. The user then selects the particular TV content item of interest.

[STEP 303 - extracting URL related information in accordance with user's selection] UPnP Server 104 accesses VFS 103 and extracts the URL address and/or linking information associated with the particular content item (selected by the user) to Protocol Converter 101. Protocol Converter 101 translates the URL address and/or the linking information to a format acceptable for communicating with the ISP (for example, HTTP, RSTP/RTTP, UDP, and the like). [STEP 304 - requesting URL from ISP] Gateway device 10 communicates with the ISP and requests the URL address or access to the content item based on the linking information. Communication is between Protocol Converter 101 and the ISP using HTTP, RSTP/RTTP, UDP, or other protocol in the OSI Applications Layer suitable for accessing the URL address. [STEP 305 - obtaining streaming URL content] The ISP connects gateway device 10 to the URL address and a URL dynamic content (particular content item) is streamed to the gateway device.

[STEP 306 — enabling a seamless interaction of media rendering device operating with static format with the streaming content] Protocol Converter 101 receives the URL dynamic content and translates the dynamic content to UPnP format. UPNP server 104 accesses the media content as local files, emulation of the file system command by http commands. UPnP Server 104 then transfers the dynamic content to the MR device.

By way of a non-limiting example, in response to a regular UPnP "Read" seek operation, the gateway device translates as follows: seek (fp, pos, SEEK SET) translated to http_pos = pos. read (fp, buffer, len) translated to SET RANGE HEADER : range header (pos,len); GET "DOMAIN" RANGE = rangejieader. The GET function executes transfer from the source to input buffer data of offset according to the range header. Thus, the gateway provides dynamic conversion of http to local file operation.

If several MR devices requested content items, UPnP Server 104 manages the transfer of each particular content item to the respective MR device. Once received by the MR device, the user may view the selected TV content item. As is well known, a system for provisioning a content includes one or more media rendering (MR) devices operatively connected to a Media server (MS) that is configured to store a closed garden of catalog directory data and associated content items. The devices constituting a part of a home network and operatively communicate through said home network format, such as for example the specified UPnP format. Each of Media Rendering (MR) devices (e.g. PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox device, etc.) can render content that is extracted from the MS. For instance, the entire catalog (e.g. a tree of categories with a root category and interim categories, ending with plurality of leaves identifying the content items such as music file,s video clips etc) is loaded into the MS (from various devices connected to the home network) utilizing known per se UPnP command. Having loaded the entire catalog into the MS, the various MR devices can interact with the MS and extract for rendering desired portions of the catalog data and the content items utilizing UPnP commands. The specified content provisioning system is of local nature and relies on the home network and home network communication format (such as the UPnP). This is reflected, among others, by the closed garden nature of the content items that are of finite scope stored in one or more of the limited number of members of the home network and will be loaded in its entirety to the MS. While in the specified home network, catalog directory data and content items may be added, deleted and/or updated, they are still of non-scalable nature in the sense that the MS can accommodate the entire catalog (and therefore the latter is normally loaded in its entirety to the MS). The home network communication would normally be of multi-cast form that is adequate for local home network and not suitable for exo-home network communication.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided a method for extending the home network for provisioning of open garden Internet TV content. The open garden content allows the MR to render content items that reside in the Internet (in addition or instead of the closed gardens items accommodated in the home network devices). The open garden includes catalog of directory data and indication on associated content items and is of course of scalable nature due to the practical indefinite potential content that can be extracted from the Internet and accommodated in the external catalog. The external catalog can reside for example in application server 3. It should be noted that the catalog may reside in more than one server residing in one or more physical locations.

Thus, and as was shown in Fig.l, there is provided at least one gateway device (say 10) operatively connected to the MRs. The gateway device constitutes a part of the home network. The gateway device obtains from an external repository catalogue directory data indicating on associated Internet TV content items (e.g. through API 107), and creates, accordingly, home network catalogue directory complying with the home network format. The home network directory is stored, for instance, on UPnP Server module 104. The home network catalog directory is a portion of the external repository which, due to its large and scalable nature (and in contrast to the closed garden content), is not likely to be accommodated in its entirety in the UPnP server 104. Note that in accordance with certain embodiments, the external repository does not form part of the home network and does not support the home network format. Having stored the content in home network compatible format, the content or parts thereof can be fetched by the media rendering device thus enabling a user to select an indication on particular TV content item(s) of interest. Having selected (in a given MR) indication on content item, the gateway device can fetch the content items in accordance with the selection, e.g. by providing URL to the protocol converter 101 and extracting the content item(s) identified by the URL. The net effect would then be enabling through the gateway device, a seamless interaction of the media rendering device with the Internet TV content items.

In accordance with certain embodiments, the gateway communicates with an application server (3) for extracting said catalogue directory data indicating associated Internet TV content items. The application server (3) searches the Internet and dynamically generates external repository of catalogue directory data indicating associated TV content items. In accordance with certain embodiments, the gateway device obtains the catalogue directory data in a push and/or pull mode from the application server (3). Bearing this in mind, attention is drawn to Fig. 4, schematically illustrating a simplified flow diagram for extracting catalog data from an open garden external repository, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention (and with reference to the specific example of home network format being UPnP). Thus, in case that is it desired to get partial directory data 41 (say a generic category sports and its child categories, say football, basketball etc.) appropriate command in the home network command is issued 42 and applied to the external repository through the API (say 107 in Fig. 1). The sought partial data is extracted from the external repository 42 (say application server 3) already complying with UPnP field format and stored (after being converted to UPnP table format) in UPnP compatible data format in UPnP server 104 (step 43). It should be noted that so fetched data from the external repository is only a portion of the dynamically updated huge external repository (residing e.g. in application server 3). The MR device(s) can now interact with the UPnP server in a known per se manner in accordance with the UPnP communication protocol.

For illustrative purposes the operational steps of Fig. 4 will be exemplified with reference to a specific example, referring to extraction of a portion of directory. Note that by this particular embodiment the catalog in the external repository is held as a tree or forest where each node has an ID number (root id is 0). An interim node holds a category whereas a leaf node includes indication to content item (say URL address thereof, or the content item itself).

To get all categories or items under an interim node id 07200240 the command is act=browse&id=07200240&start=XX&limit=YY

The command "browse" enables request of portion of the root catalog directory data by the parameters start and limit, i.e. which category to start with and how many categories (in case that the root includes a plurality of categories). The "browse" command is UPnP compatible and is fed e.g. through API module 107 for communicating with Application

Server 3.

Turning now to the response as received through API 107 it may be:

<?xml version^" 1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <WTV-Meta> <episode>

<uuid>082002401143637</uuid>

<title>Rolls Royce 200EX Views [480X360] [2009-04- 10] </title> <description>Spectacular close up views of the Rolls Royce 200EX.</description>

The "uuid" "title" and "description" fields are compatible with the UPnP format.

In case for example that there is indication on content item, there may be additional URL data identified by the "file uri" field (listed below) which is also compatible with the UPnP format.

<file_uri>http://webtvplug.com/wtvms/redirect/l 1:11 :11 :11:11:11/2401 /143637</file_uri>

<file_size>14328708</file_size> <mime_type>video/mp4</mime_type>

<duration> 113.78</duration>

<media_container>mov</media_container>

<vcodec>h264</vcodec>

<acodec>aac</acodec> <res_x>480</res_x>

<res_y>360</res_y>

<thumbnail_uri>http://thumbs.webtview.com/api/thumb nail?http://www.29contentl2.com/29 motoHD/29MGrolls_royce_200EX_view.m4v</thumbnail_uri> </episode>

The specified data is then stored in appropriate storage, say in the UPnP server 104

(the structure of which is as is known per se) and the MRs can interact with the UPnP server 104.

Those versed in the art will readily appreciate that the specified transaction can be repeated as many times as required from different MRs that are coupled to the gateway each time extracting a selected portion of category data and possibly indication on content items which are stored in server 104. When the latter is filled, certain data may be discarded according to known per se prioritization techniques.

Note that in accordance with certain embodiments the API does not necessarily support the UPnP format and accordingly a UPnP command "browse" will be converted to corresponding command (and parameters) for communicating with the Application Server through appropriate Application server API and likewise the response is not necessary received in UPnP compatible form, in which case it is converted to UPnP form at the gateway end.

Note that in accordance with certain embodiments, the creation of home network catalogue directory complying with the home network format may include other stages such as generating of internal catalog directory and transforming the latter to the UPnP compatible format, utilizing for example the File system Driver module 106 and Virtual File system module 103 as described in detail with reference to Fig. 2 above. In accordance with certain embodiments the utilization of the internal catalog directory may serve as acache memory for extracting data that was previously fetched and which no longer resides in UPnP server 104 (e.g. due to data overflow in UPnP server 104), thereby obviating the need to access the external catalog and re-fetch the same data.

Note that the specified description with reference to the open garden implementation and with reference to Fig. 4 refers occasionally for clarity purposes to the system architecture of Figs. 1 and 2. Those versed in the art will readily appreciate that the system architecture of Figs. 1 and 2 are non-binding examples only and likewise the operational steps of Fig. 4 may be others, depending upon the particular application.

Through the interaction between the MR device and the gateway, one or more indications to content items are selected by the user (in the manner discussed above, with reference to various embodiments of the invention). Assuming that the indication to a given content item is a reference to the content item stored externally (say a URL identifying the location of the content in the Internet, rather than, say, a reference to the content item stored locally in the gateway), there is a need to download the content item. As is well known, the download throughput from the Internet may not be sufficient and may result in undue delay until the sought content item is fed to the MR for rendering. In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the gateway device obtains the Internet TV content item(s)( in accordance with said indication - say, URL) by applying an accelerating technique that increases the download throughput of fetching the content item(s), all as will be explained in greater detail below.

For a better understanding of the foregoing, attention is drawn to Fig. 5 schematically illustrating simplified functional block diagrams of certain modules in an ITV gateway device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, for accomplishing acceleration (i.e. increasing downloading throughput). Note that when describing Fig 5, reference is made occasionally also to Fig. 2. Thus, module 101 (of Fig. 2) includes by this embodiment a local buffer 50 operatively connected to URL manager 51 both of which are operatively connected to accelerator module 52 accommodating a buffer management module 53 that includes exemplary URL mapping table 54. Also shown in Fig. 5 is URL converter module 55 operatively connected to UPnP server 104 (of Fig.2). Although not shown in Fig. 5, the URl converter module is operatively connected to the WTV API module 107 of Fig. 2, or in accordance with certain other embodiments, to VFS 103. Note that the structural design of the modules of Fig. 5 as well as the integration thereof into the modules of Fig. 2 are by no means limiting.

The operation of the various modules of Fig. 5 will be explained with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. Turning now to Fig.6, there is shown a schematic illustration of a simplified flow diagram of processing indications on Internet content items (say processing URL related information), in accordance with a certain embodiment of the invention. Thus, after an interaction between an MR and the gateway, a sought indication on Internet content item is fetched through API module 107, all as discussed in detail above. The indication may be for example URL related information identifying the location of the sought content item. The URL is fed to the URL converter module 55 which inquires whether the gateway is configured to operate in accelerated mode 61, if no (62) the original URL is forwarded to the UPnP server and processed in the manner specified above. If the gateway is configured to accelerated mode 63 the so fetched URL address is replaced by a local indication to content item, say local URL 64. More specifically, in a possible implementation of step 64, module 55 accesses buffer module 53 and the latter inquires in conversion table 55 whether the so fetched Internet URL has a counterpart local URL, and if in the affirmative, the corresponding local URL is fetched from the conversion table 54 , returned to URL converter and the latter forwards it to the UPnP server. Reverting to table 54, if the so fetched URL does not have counterpart local URL , the buffer manager module 53 allocated space in buffer 50 and assigns thereto local URL which is stored in table 54 and returned to URL converter module 55 for storing in the UPnP server. The utilization of the local URL will be discussed in more detail with reference to Fig. 7.

The conversion of URL to local URL is exemplified herein by the following example:

Orginal UrI = http://publisher.com/vidiol .mov Redirect url will be : http://plug-IP/ publisher.com/vidiol .mov where plug-ip is the name of the local buffer 55 in the gateway "plug-IP"

(distinguishable from other gateways in the home network -see Fig. 1)

Bearing this in mind, attention is drawn to Fig. 7 illustrating schematically a simplified flow diagram of obtaining TV content items utilizing accelerated mode of operation, in accordance with certain embodiment of the invention. The description with reference to Fig. 7 refers occasionally also to Figs. 2, 5 and 6. Thus after having stored indication on content item in the UPnP server 104, e.g. in a form of local URL (as described with reference to Fig. 6), the MR can interact with the UPnP server for fetching the content item by invoking a UPnP compatible read command 71 for the specified local URL address. Note that by this embodiment, the converted URL address (into local address) is transparent to the MR in that the latter is unaware that the content will be actually fetched from a local buffer. In case that the gateway is configured to operate in regular mode 72, the content item is fetched from the Internet 73 (e.g. by stripping the gateway name from the URL or by accessing the conversion table 54 for extracting the external URL and provided to the MR for rendering 74 in the manner discussed in detail above. In case that the accelerated mode is active 75, the URL manager module 51 intercepts 76 the command (designated to access the Internet) and instead accesses the local buffer 50 and inquires 77 whether the data resides in the buffer at the local URL address. If the sought content item(s) reside in the local buffer 78 (meaning that they have been sought before, or pre fetched before), the data is extracted 79 from the local buffer, the intercept command is terminated 700 and the sought data is fed 74 through UPnP server 104 to the seeking MR. The whole sequence is relatively fast considering that the data resides in the local buffer rather than in a remote location. Reverting now to step 77, assuming that the sought data does not reside in local buffer 701, there is a need to get the data from the Internet. To this end the original URL address is extracted 702, e.g. by accessing the conversion table 54 and obtaining, based on the local URL data, its corresponding Internet URL (in the context of various embodiments, Internet URL, being an example of external network pointer). Having obtained the Internet URL, an acceleration procedure is invoked 703 (as will be discussed in greater detail below) for increasing the download throughput of fetching the sought content items and once the sought content items are fetched the intercept command (starting at 76) is terminated 704 and the fetched items are stored in the UPnP server and provided to the MR for rendering 705.

Note that although not shown in the Figs, the gateway device may accommodate a management module for managing various activities of the gateway such as gateway configuration (e.g. acceleration on/off toggle), allowing remote update of software, etc.

Turning now to the acceleration, the accelerator is described in p. 10, line 31 through p. 21, line 16 of co-pending US Provisional Application No. 61/302,986 filed on February 10, 2010 (hereinafter: '"986"), which is incorporated herein by reference and which discloses the operation of a device and a method for increasing downloading throughput. For clarity, it is to be noted that in '986 media rendering device is also referred to as "client" or "client device", user is also referred to as "client", URL address is also referred to as "location", content item(s) is also referred to as "content of interest", acceleration (and its inflections) is also referred to as

"increasing downloading throughput". Note that the invention is not bound by the specific steps of Fig. 7 and accordingly other steps may be added or existing steps may be deleted and/or modified all depending upon the particular implementation.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details set forth in the description contained herein or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Hence, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention.

It will also be understood that the system according to the invention may be a suitably programmed computer. Likewise, the invention contemplates a computer program being readable by a computer for executing the method of the invention. The invention further contemplates a machine-readable memory tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for executing the method of the invention.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and changes can be applied to the embodiments of the invention as hereinbefore described without departing from its scope, defined in and by the appended claims.