GB2586452A - A method of delivering digital content - Google Patents

A method of delivering digital content Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2586452A
GB2586452A GB1911543.5A GB201911543A GB2586452A GB 2586452 A GB2586452 A GB 2586452A GB 201911543 A GB201911543 A GB 201911543A GB 2586452 A GB2586452 A GB 2586452A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
digital content
user device
delivering
terrestrial
peer
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GB1911543.5A
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GB201911543D0 (en
Inventor
Maurice Deegan Niall
Stafford Eamon
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Individual
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Individual
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Priority to GB1911543.5A priority Critical patent/GB2586452A/en
Publication of GB201911543D0 publication Critical patent/GB201911543D0/en
Priority to PCT/EP2020/072668 priority patent/WO2021028499A1/en
Publication of GB2586452A publication Critical patent/GB2586452A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/14—Relay systems
    • H04B7/15—Active relay systems
    • H04B7/185—Space-based or airborne stations; Stations for satellite systems
    • H04B7/18502—Airborne stations
    • H04B7/18506—Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
    • H04B7/18508—Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
    • H04W84/04—Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
    • H04W84/06—Airborne or Satellite Networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/14—Relay systems
    • H04B7/15—Active relay systems
    • H04B7/185—Space-based or airborne stations; Stations for satellite systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/01—Protocols
    • H04L67/10—Protocols in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network
    • H04L67/104—Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/266—Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
    • H04N21/2665—Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/08—Reselecting an access point
    • H04W36/083—Reselecting an access point wherein at least one of the access points is a moving node
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
    • H04W4/30—Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
    • H04W4/40—Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
    • H04W4/42—Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/005—Moving wireless networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/18—Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/18—Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
    • H04W84/22—Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks with access to wired networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/04—Terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)

Abstract

A method of delivering digital content from a terrestrial digital content provider 101 to users of devices on an airplane 105. The airplane has a wireless network, a wireless router, and a satellite modem providing a satellite communication link to the terrestrial digital content provider 101. The method involves: a satellite communication link 107 between a first user device and the terrestrial digital content provider; delivering digital content via the satellite communication link to the first user device; establishing a peer-to-peer network between the first user device and the plurality of other user devices on the airplane; and distributing the digital content to the one or more of the other user devices over the peer-to-peer network. Dedicated satellite links for each user device are not required and less bandwidth is needed to deliver the content. Optionally there are the intermediate steps of: establishing a second satellite communication link between another user device and the terrestrial provider, and delivering content via the second satellite link from the terrestrial content provider, who may also provide multiplexing digital content feeds and a single content stream.

Description

"A method of delivering digital content"
Introduction
This invention relates to a method of delivering digital content. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of delivering digital content from a terrestrial digital content provider to a plurality of user devices on an airplane.
As air travel becomes increasingly common and as aircraft range and flight-times increase, there is a pressing need to improve the in-flight entertainment offerings provided to passengers. It is no longer sufficient to simply provide a limited catalogue of programmes, some, if not all of which are played "on a loop" to passengers during their flight. Nowadays, customers are demanding more choice from their airline up to and including live television services.
There is however a significant barrier to providing such high levels of entertainment service to passengers. Importantly, the cost of providing such services to customers can be prohibitively high, leading to accusations of price gouging and disenchantment amongst passengers. One of the root causes of the prohibitively high cost is the expense of providing a satellite connection for the passenger between the airplane and the terrestrially-based content provider.
In order to deliver viewing content of acceptable quality, it is necessary to provide a dedicated 2MB satellite uplink channel for the customer. Accordingly, if 100 passengers wish to view content simultaneously, it is necessary to provide a 200MB satellite uplink channel to the airplane. The cost of providing a 200MB satellite uplink channel can be prohibitively expensive and typically cannot be borne by the airline alone, hence a large portion, if not all, of the costs must be passed on to the customer. It would be highly advantageous for the airlines to be able to provide the high levels of entertainment services expected by their passengers at a more affordable cost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method that overcomes at least some of the above-identified problems. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a useful alternative choice for the consumer.
Statements of Invention
According to the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content from a terrestrial digital content provider to a plurality of user devices on an airplane, the airplane having a wireless network accessible by the plurality of user devices on the airplane, a wireless router, and a satellite modem operable to provide a satellite communication link to the terrestrial digital content provider, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a satellite communication link between a first user device and the terrestrial digital content provider; delivering digital content via the satellite communication link from the terrestrial content provider to the first user device; establishing a peer-to-peer network between the first user device and one or more of the other plurality of user devices on the airplane; and distributing the digital content delivered to the first user device to the one or more of the other user devices over the peer-to-peer network.
By having such a method, there is provided a simple and effective method of significantly reducing the amount of satellite bandwidth required to deliver digital content to the passengers on the airplane. The cost of providing high quality entertainment services to customers may be reduced to a fraction of the previous cost. Importantly, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated 2MB satellite link for each passenger viewing content with the terrestrial digital content provider. Instead, only one dedicated satellite link with the terrestrial digital content provider is required and the content is delivered over the satellite link from the terrestrial digital content provider to a first user device. From there, the content may then be shared with the other passengers wishing to view that same content over a peer-to-peer network that has been established amongst the passengers on the airplane. In this way, it is even possible to deliver live television content to the passengers without prohibitively high costs and connectivity issues. It is envisaged that the first user device may be operated by a passenger or alternatively could be a member of the airplane crew. Indeed, the first user device may be set on a timer or activated by a code once it is desired to set up a channel between the first user device and the terrestrial digital content provider.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the method comprises the initial step of an operator of the first user device initiating a request for digital content delivery to the terrestrial digital content provider. This is seen as a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention. By requiring an operator of the first user device to initiate a request for digital content delivery, a satellite channel will not be required until a request for content is made. This will reduce the bandwidth requirement and will further reduce the cost of providing the viewing content to the passengers.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the method comprises the intermediate steps of: establishing a second satellite communication link between another user device and the terrestrial digital content provider; delivering digital content via the second satellite communication link from the terrestrial digital content provider to the other user device; and upon establishment of the peer-to-peer network between the other user device and the first user device, terminating the second satellite communication link between the other user device and the terrestrial digital content provider.
In this way, a second satellite communication link will be established for a short period of time so that the second user device can receive the content from the terrestrial digital content provider without substantial delay. Once the peer-to-peer network is established and the second user device is able to access the content over the peer-to-peer network, the second satellite communication link can be terminated. It is envisaged that the second satellite communication link will be active for no more than a minute or so. This will also facilitate the control of access to content and the gathering of data relating to the content being viewed by the passengers.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the method comprises the initial intermediate step of an operator of the other user device initiating a request for digital content delivery to the terrestrial content provider. Again, this will keep the actual bandwidth usage down to an absolute minimum. A satellite communication link will not be established until such time that content is requested by a passenger and it will not be necessary to keep an additional satellite link active at all times, even when not in use.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content comprising the initial steps of the terrestrial digital content provider receiving digital content from third parties and hosting that content for distribution to user devices. This is seen as a useful embodiment of the invention as more viewing content will be available through one access point (the terrestrial digital content provider), thereby facilitating the retrieval, management and delivery of content to the passengers.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the method comprises the step of the terrestrial digital content provider reformatting the digital content received from third parties prior to delivery of that digital content to the user device. This is also seen as a useful embodiment of the present invention. The terrestrial digital content provider may manipulate the content so that it is in a format more suitable for delivery to the passengers on the flight. This may include a format that is more suitable for viewing on the available devices on the airplane and/or may include a format that is more suited for transmission of the content over one or both of the satellite communication link and the peer-to-peer network.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the method comprises the step of the terrestrial digital content provider multiplexing a plurality of digital content feeds together into a single digital content stream for delivery as the digital content to a user device.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the terrestrial digital content provider provides a web page accessible to the user devices with an internet protocol (IF) link to the digital content. This is seen as a suitable method for making the digital content available and for delivering the digital content to the passengers. The user devices can access the web page and "click" on the IP link to start accessing the content. By using an IP link on a web page, it will be easier to manage the content availability and accessibility to passengers of the airline.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the step of an operator of a user device initiating a request for digital content delivery comprises the operator of the user device clicking on an IF link to the digital content.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the operator accesses the digital content through one of a browser and an app on their user device. With a browser solution, nothing else needs to be added to the existing onboard platform. With an app, there is more control on what can be done in terms of features and end user enjoyment. Furthermore, the app solution provides more control for the delivery of services.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the digital content comprises live television content. This is seen as a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention. There is a particular difficulty of providing live television to passengers on an airplane due to the high bandwidth requirements. The method according to the present invention is ideally suited to allow users view live television content on their mobile devices. In this way, news, current affair or current entertainment programming that the passenger desires to watch that was heretofore inaccessible will be readily accessible to the passenger. This will also reduce the bespoke content that the airline will have to provide.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which the method comprises the first user device caching the digital content in memory. In some cases, such as for video on demand (VoD), gaming or the like, it may be advantageous to cache some of the content in memory. In this way, if there is a problem with the satellite communication link, the content in cache memory can be used to provide a seamless viewing experience to the viewers until the satellite communication link is back up and functioning. Furthermore, this will allow users to start a programme from the beginning or other desired point rather than joining at the stage that the programme is currently being transmitted.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which each user device in the peer-to-peer network connects to the nearest user device in the peer-to-peer network. In this way, the digital content will be delivered in a consistent robust manner to the passengers on the plane looking to view the digital content.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of delivering digital content in which on the satellite communication link between a first user device and the terrestrial digital content provider being terminated by the operator of the first user device, the method comprises the steps of: re-establishing a satellite communication link between the terrestrial digital content provider and another of the user devices in the peer-to-peer network; delivering the digital content via the satellite communication link from the terrestrial digital content provider to the other of the user devices; and distributing the digital content delivered to the other user device to the one or more of the other user devices over the peer-to-peer network.
In this way, if the original user should decide to stop watching a program and terminate the satellite link with the terrestrial digital content provider, all of the users in the peer-topeer network will not have their service interrupted. The method will not require each of the passengers to attempt to access the content again and re-establish the peer-to-peer network. Instead, the method comprises the step of re-establishing a satellite communication link from the terrestrial digital content provider with another of the user devices in the peer-to-peer network so that content may be delivered to that user device over the satellite communication link and thereafter to the other members of the peer-topeer network. This will provide a method that will be more robust and that will continue to provide content to the members in the peer-to-peer group even if the first user device should be disconnected from the terrestrial digital content provider.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The invention will now be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a method of delivering digital content known in the art; and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a method of delivering digital content according to the invention.
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a diagrammatic representation of a system in which a method of delivering digital content known in the art is performed, indicated generally by the reference numeral 100. The system comprises a terrestrial digital content provider 101, a satellite 103 and an airplane 105 on which there are a plurality of user devices (not shown). The user devices each request digital content from the terrestrial digital content provider and that content is delivered from the terrestrial digital content provider to the user device via a dedicated satellite uplink channel 107(a)-107(e). In the drawing shown, there are five uplink channels 107(1)-107(e) however more than five will typically be required as a dedicated satellite uplink channel is required for each user device. Typically, each satellite uplink channel will be a 2MB uplink channel for delivery of television quality content from the terrestrial digital content provider to the user device. However, there are significant problems with this approach. The method shown requires a substantial amount of bandwidth to cater for all the passengers on the airplane that wish to receive the service. This volume of bandwidth is expensive to provide and sufficient bandwidth is not always available to cater for all the passengers on the airplane. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an alternative method that requires less bandwidth to cater for the passenger's needs.
Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a diagrammatic representation of a system in which a method of delivering digital content according to the invention is performed, indicated generally by the reference numeral 200. Like parts have been given the same reference numeral as before. According to the invention, there is provided a single dedicated satellite uplink 201 for delivering content from the terrestrial digital content provider 101 to the user device on the airplane 105. However, the user device is connected to one or more other devices on the airplane by way of a peer-to-peer network established between the user devices over the airplanes WiFi network. The links of the peer-to-peer network are represented graphically by communication links 203. The airplane 105 has a wireless network accessible by the plurality of user devices on the airplane, a wireless router, and a satellite modem operable to provide a satellite communication link to the terrestrial digital content provider.
In use, an operator of a user device on the airplane connects their user device to the airplanes WiFi. Once connected, the user opens a browser on their user device and accesses a web page operated by the terrestrial digital content provider. The web page contains one or more links to digital content which may include, for example, one or more links to live television content. The user "clicks" on one of the links to select the content that they wish to view. The satellite modem thereafter establishes the satellite communication link with the terrestrial digital content provider. The satellite link is a dedicated 2 MB (Megabyte) link for transfer of the digital content from the terrestrial digital content provider to the user device.
Thereafter, an operator of a second user device on the airplane, also connects their device to the airplanes WiFi and attempts to access the digital content by clicking the link on the web page / App provided by the terrestrial digital content provider. A second (temporary, 2Mb) satellite link (not shown) is established between the second user device and the terrestrial digital content provider to start transferring the digital content from the terrestrial digital content provider to the second user device on the airplane. However, once established, the second user device checks to see whether or not there is another user device on the airplane that it can receive the content from.
This is achieved by all of the user devices connecting to a P2P/Signaling server (hereinafter referred to simply as the P2P server) of the terrestrial digital content provider. The terrestrial digital content provider will have a streaming server, a logging server and a P2P server. When a user makes a request for content and the terrestrial digital content provider is going through the check process to determine whether the content can be delivered to the user, the P2P server determines whether or not the content is already being streamed to another user on the plane and is therefore available to the second user locally. If so, it is not necessary to deliver the content to the second user from the ground over a high bandwidth connection anymore. The P2P server communicates to the second user device that the content is available to it locally and the second user device will thereafter source the content from the local source and cease streaming the content from the terrestrial digital content provider on the ground. A small connectivity channel remains between the second user device and the terrestrial digital content provider, in this case, about 20Kb for data logging purposes.
Once the second user device establishes that it can receive the content locally from the first user device, a peer-to-peer network using the planes WiFi is established between the first and second user devices and the second user device thereafter receives the digital content from the first user device over the peer-to-peer network. Once the peer-to-peer network is established, the second satellite link between the second user device and the terrestrial digital content provider is terminated. Thereafter, for each subsequent user device that wishes to access the content, the process is repeated in that the subsequent user device attempts to download the digital content, they establish a connection with the terrestrial digital content provider via a satellite link, they join the peer-to-peer network so that they can get the digital content that is being delivered to the first user device and the superfluous satellite communication link between that subsequent user device and the terrestrial digital content provider is terminated.
Preferably, rather than terminating the second satellite link in its entirety, a far lower bandwidth second satellite link is kept open for communication between the second user device and the ground services. The far lower bandwidth second satellite link, which may be of the order of a few Kb, can be used to transfer logging data from the second user device to the terrestrial digital content provider such as what the operator of the second user device is watching and for how long they are watching that content. This data can be useful for subsequent analysis by the terrestrial digital content provider. The content that requires high bandwidth is delivered from the local first user device on the airplane while logging data is passed between the second user device and the terrestrial digital content provider. Therefore, when reference is made to the second satellite link being terminated, this may be in whole or in large part (e.g. a large part of the second satellite link is not required and a far narrower bandwidth second satellite link remains for communications between the second user device and services on the ground).
In order to establish the peer-to-peer network, the initial connections are managed from the terrestrial digital content provider on the ground. The P2P/Signaling server controls who and where the feed is pulled from. The P2P / Signaling services running on the ground will notify the next user device attempting to access content that the content is available to them locally and to source that content locally and cut the high streaming connection once the local connection is established.
More specifically, initially, a user device will conned to streaming server(s) and establish the display and delivery of the content. In parallel, the device will send a small amount of data to the P2P/signaling server. The purpose of the P2P/signaling server is treated as a registry of devices currently connected to the same stream. The P2P/signaling server has been enhanced to allow recognition of the flight a device is on to restrict devices to sharing within a single flight. As other devices connect to the stream and register on the P2P/signaling server, they will receive small packets of data identifying other devices on the P2P/signaling server which are available to act as servers of that data. In this way, the connection is not in this instance based necessarily on the proximity of the devices, but rather the ability of the other devices to send the appropriate data to the second and subsequent devices.
In essence, each device communicating with the P2P / signaling server can act as both a client and a server. In other words, the app/player/browser on each device possesses the ability to consume and display content, but additionally is able to serve data in an appropriate forrnat to allow another app/player/browser to function. The clients/devices are further complicated by device specific restrictions and so both HLS and WebRTC Peering, delivery and place functionality are implemented. The connection to the P2P/signaling server is via websocket from the client device and there is no interaction between the signal server and the stream server.
Below is a brief summary of the communications between the user device and the terrestrial digital content provider to establish the user device as one of the P2P network devices and enable the user device to share or receive content with other user devices: Step 1: a user device (using an app or browser) connects to the streaming server and becomes a PEER; Step 2: The user device starts downloading initial media segments from the streaming server. This will allow media playback and with no other PEERS known to it yet, the user device will continue to take the segments from the source; Step 3: The user device that has registered as a PEER sends stream details (i.e. the content that it is viewing) and connection details (i.e. an IP address that it may be contacted on by other user devices) to the P2P/signaling server of the terrestrial digital content provider over a secure web socket and the user device obtains a list of other PEERS connected to same stream from the P2P server; Step 4: the user device that has registered as a PEER starts sharing segments with one or more other user devices that are registered as a PEER or downloads segments from the one of the list of PEERS obtained.
More specifically, the following steps may be carried out: -User logs in to the App or browser and submits their seat details. -Ground servers allow access based on successful login.
- User now sees a list of channels. (No other communication yet except for permission and log of user). -User clicks on channel.
- Request goes to streaming server and packets are delivered from the streaming server to the player - On the user device, a player window opens.
-The custom player communicates with the signaling server, sending the device details and media segments it can share. This is event based over a web socket and updates the signaling server. As the custom player receives events of segments received it sends updates to the signaling server. The player is HLS.js so the method and system can implement various communications scenarios.
-The custom player makes itself available to share the segments with other peers known to the signaling server. At this point, the signaling server knows this user is available to act as a P2P server.
-Second user logs in and is confirmed. The streaming server sends data to the user's player. The player communicates back to the signaling server (as per 1st device). All Players receive details of other connected devices from the signaling server over web socket.
-The player of the second user then switches to the peer to obtain the data for the streaming chunks.
-The signaling server keeps track of users per peer and updates the Players connected.
It can be seen that in this way, only one satellite uplink to the airplane is required to transfer the digital content to the user devices on the airplane. The peer-to-peer network distributes the content from the first user to the plurality of other user devices on the airplane that request the content. In doing so, separate satellite links are not required to deliver content from the terrestrial digital content provider to the other user devices.
Throughout the specification, reference is made to a terrestrial digital content provider. It will be understood that in some jurisdictions, some providers are said to provide "satellite" television whereas other providers are said to provide "terrestrial" television. In the present specification, the term terrestrial is simply used to indicate that the provider is land based to differentiate the provider of the digital content as being remote from the user device in the airplane.
Throughout the specification, reference is made to a user device. The user device may be a mobile phone, a so-called smart phone, a tablet, a phablet, a laptop, a personal computer or other device capable of receiving digital content. Indeed, the user device may comprise a "seat back" monitor such as those commonly provided on planes on long haul flights. In that instance, the user device need not belong to the user but may be allocated to them for a period of time (e.g. for the duration of the flight). Reference is made to wireless communications however it will be understood that a mixture of wired and wireless communications could be used in some instances or indeed wired communications to the "seat back" monitors on planes to implement certain aspects of the present invention.
Throughout the specification, reference is made to a 2Mb uplink satellite channel. It will be understood that this has been used for illustrative purposes in the context of the present invention. The satellite uplink channel could be more or less than 2Mb. For example, depending on the content (e.g. high definition (HD), ultra-high definition (UHD) content) being delivered to the user, the bandwidth requirement and size of bandwidth channel may differ. What is important is that the satellite channel requires substantial bandwidth and 2Mb is illustrative of the size of bandwidth channel that would be required for many services in the circumstances. The present invention relates to a solution to deliver content over IP to aircraft, whereby for the purpose of the description we have discussed satellite delivery.
It will be further understood that various parts of the present invention are performed in hardware and other parts of the invention may be performed either in hardware and/or software. It will be understood that the method steps and various components of the present invention will be performed largely in software and therefore the present invention extends also to computer programs, on or in a carrier, comprising program instructions for causing a computer or a processor to carry out steps of the method or provide functional components for carrying out those steps. The computer program may be in source code format, object code format or a format intermediate source code and object code. The computer program may be stored on or in a carrier, in other words a computer program product, including any computer readable medium, including but not limited to a floppy disc, a CD, a DVD, a memory stick, a tape, a RAM, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM or a hardware circuit. In certain circumstances, a transmissible carrier such as a carrier signal when transmitted either wirelessly and/or through wire and/or cable could carry the computer program in which cases the wire and/or cable constitute the carrier.
It will be further understood that the present invention may be performed on two, three or more devices with certain parts of the invention being performed by one device and other parts of the invention being performed by another device. The devices may be connected together over a communications network. The present invention and claims are intended to also cover those instances where the system and/or method is operated across two or more devices or pieces of apparatus located in one or more locations.
In this specification the terms "comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising" and the terms "include, includes, included and including" are all deemed totally interchangeable and should be afforded the widest possible interpretation.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (1)

  1. Claims: (1) A method of delivering digital content from a terrestrial digital content provider to a plurality of user devices on an airplane, the airplane having a wireless network accessible by the plurality of user devices on the airplane, a wireless router, and a satellite modem operable to provide a satellite communication link to the terrestrial digital content provider, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a satellite communication link between a first user device and the terrestrial digital content provider; delivering digital content via the satellite communication link from the terrestrial content provider to the first user device; establishing a peer-to-peer network between the first user device and one or more of the other plurality of user devices on the airplane; and distributing the digital content delivered to the first user device to the one or more of the other user devices over the peer-to-peer network.(2) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in claim 1 in which the method comprises the initial step of an operator of the first user device initiating a request for digital content delivery to the terrestrial digital content provider.(3) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the method comprises the intermediate steps of: establishing a second satellite communication link between another user device and the terrestrial digital content provider; delivering digital content via the second satellite communication link from the terrestrial digital content provider to the other user device; and upon establishment of the peer-to-peer network between the other user device and the first user device, terminating the second satellite communication link between the other user device and the terrestrial digital content provider.(4) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in claim 3 in which the method comprises the initial intermediate step of an operator of the other user device initiating a request for digital content delivery to the terrestrial content provider.(5) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding claim comprising the initial steps of the terrestrial digital content provider receiving digital content from a third party and hosting that content for distribution to user devices.(6) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in claim 5 in which the method comprises the step of the terrestrial digital content provider reformatting the digital content received from the third party prior to delivery of that digital content to the user device.(7) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding claim in which the method comprises the step of the terrestrial digital content provider multiplexing a plurality of digital content feeds together into a single digital content stream for delivery as the digital content to a user device.(8) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding claim in which the terrestrial digital content provider provides a web page accessible to the user devices with an internet protocol (IP) link to the digital content.(9) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding claim in which the step of an operator of a user device initiating a request for digital content delivery comprises the operator of the user device clicking on an IP link to the digital content.(10) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in claim 9 in which the operator accesses the digital content through one of a browser and an app on the user device.(11) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding daim in which the digital content comprises live television content.(12) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding daim in which the method comprises the first user device caching the digital content in memory.(13) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding daim in which each user device in the peer-to-peer network connects to the nearest user device in the peer-to-peer network.(14) A method of delivering digital content as claimed in any preceding daim in which on the satellite communication link between a first user device and the terrestrial digital content provider being terminated by the operator of the first user device, the method comprises the steps of: re-establishing a satellite communication link between the terrestrial digital content provider and another of the user devices in the peer-to-peer network; delivering the digital content via the satellite communication link from the terrestrial digital content provider to the other of the user devices; and distributing the digital content delivered to the other user device to the one or more of the other user devices over the peer-to-peer network.
GB1911543.5A 2019-08-12 2019-08-12 A method of delivering digital content Withdrawn GB2586452A (en)

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GB1911543.5A GB2586452A (en) 2019-08-12 2019-08-12 A method of delivering digital content
PCT/EP2020/072668 WO2021028499A1 (en) 2019-08-12 2020-08-12 Delivering satelitte content over a peer-to-peer network

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GB1911543.5A GB2586452A (en) 2019-08-12 2019-08-12 A method of delivering digital content

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