DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/3/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting Rejection
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Independent claims 1, 11, and 12 dependent claims 2-10 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. US 12244883 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claim so the current application are broader in scope and read on the claimed limitations of U.S. Patent No. US 12244883B2.
Current Application 19058419 U.S. Patent No. US 12244883 B2
1. A system, comprising: a memory for storing instructions; and one or more processors for executing the instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a portion of a programming schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining a collection of disparate manifest units from a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; and storing the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters that enable an event-based generation of a live output stream manifest, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein obtaining the collection of disparate manifest units from the source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content comprises: obtaining the source manifest based on the portion of the programming schedule; and deconstructing one or more HTTP Live Streaming directive within the source manifest to obtain the collection of disparate manifest units.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: initiating a generation of a live output stream manifest based on the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units, wherein the live output steam manifest is published to a content delivery network.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the live output stream manifest is generated in response to a client request that originates from a client player.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the client request is associated with a manifest window size and the live output stream manifest is generated using a subset of the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units based on the manifest window size.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the live output stream manifest comprises a set number of manifest units that rotate with playout of a corresponding live output stream and the set number of manifest units is based on the manifest window size.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein the content delivery network is configured to cache the live output stream manifest for a target duration based on the manifest window size.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein the manifest window size is based on a player buffer of a media player of the client device.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the data store comprises a temporary storage system and is configured to persist the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units until a specified expiration date that is based on the time-to-live parameter.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of indexing parameters comprises the playout time parameter, the time-to-live parameter, and a live media output stream identifier.
11. A computer-implemented method, comprising: obtaining, by one or more processors, a portion of a programming schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining, by one or more processors, a collection of disparate manifest units based on processing of a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; and storing, by one or more processors, the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters that enable an event-based generation of a live output stream manifest, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule.
12. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: obtaining a portion of a programming schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining a collection of disparate manifest units based on processing of a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; and storing the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters that enable an event-based generation of a live output stream manifest, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule.
1. A computing system, comprising: a memory for storing instructions; and one or more processors for executing the instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a portion of a programing schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining a collection of disparate manifest units based on processing of a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; storing the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule; and generating a live output stream manifest during a current iteration based on an event including a set of the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units retrieved from the data store in response to a client request comprising a set of client request parameters, wherein the retrieval of the set of indexed disparate manifest units from the data store is performed just-in-time based on (i) a query that corresponds to the set of client request parameters associated with the client request and (ii) a plurality of playout time parameters and a plurality of time-to-live parameters respectively assigned to the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units.
2. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein: (i) the event, in response to which the live output stream manifest is generated, corresponds to a receipt of a first programming schedule, a second programming schedule, or a user input at a client device, (ii) the first programming schedule and the second programming schedule correspond to at least two categories of the programming schedule, (iii) the first programming schedule corresponds to an initial programming schedule, (iv) the second programming schedule corresponds to a different programming schedule generated based on a user interaction at a decision point, (v) the decision point is encountered by a player at the client device during a playout of the current iteration of the live output stream manifest, and (vi) the decision point corresponding to a manifest directive in a disparate manifest unit is defined by a programming indicator, an interactive element, a non-programming indicator, and/or a programming media content marker.
3. The computing system according to claim 2, wherein the second programming schedule corresponds to additional programming media content or non-programming media content, a modified media content, or an alternate programming media content referenced by an updated playback position within or outside the playlist of media content corresponding to the set of indexed disparate manifest units.
4. The computing system according to claim 2, wherein: (i) additional client request parameters are received or inferred from the client device in response to the user interaction performed at the decision point, (ii) the additional client request parameters comprise additional information and a live media output stream identifier associated with the live output stream manifest, and (iii) the second programming schedule is generated based on the additional client request parameters.
5. The computing system according to claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a branched programming schedule that is generated based on an integration of the second programming schedule with the first programming schedule for the client device; and generating a personalized live output stream manifest during a subsequent iteration based on another event that corresponds to the receipt of the branched programming schedule, wherein altered or additional manifest units corresponding to the second programming schedule are inserted in or appended to the set of indexed disparate manifest units.
6. The computing system according to claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise: generating additional personalized live output stream manifests based on different rearrangements of a sequence of manifest units corresponding to the set of indexed disparate manifest units and the altered or the additional manifest units corresponding to the second programming schedule.
7. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: generating one or more additional live output stream manifests based on different rearrangements of a sequence of the set of indexed disparate manifest units.
8. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: publishing the live output stream manifest during the current iteration to a content delivery network.
9. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting the live output stream manifest to a client device in a sequence defined in the programming schedule, the set of client request parameters, and the set of indexing parameters, wherein disparate manifest units from the set of indexed disparate manifest units are transmitted in entirety or one-by-one during the current iteration.
10. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving an updated client request associated with a live media output stream identifier when the live output stream manifest is played out at a client device; retrieving, in response to the updated client request, a plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units from the data store based on an updated query that corresponds to an updated set of client request parameters; and generating an updated live output stream manifest during a subsequent iteration based on the set of indexed disparate manifest units and the plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units retrieved from the data store, wherein: (i) the updated live output stream manifest is maintained in a manifest window that corresponds to a number of manifest segments that a player can buffer, (ii) the manifest window is inferred or defined by an initial client request and/or the updated client request, and (iii) the initial client request and the updated client request correspond to a first programming schedule.
11. The computing system according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units is continually added to the set of indexed disparate manifest units in the manifest window during subsequent iterations.
12. The computing system according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units replace older manifest units from the set of indexed disparate manifest units in the manifest window during subsequent iterations such that size of the manifest window remains as defined or inferred based on the initial client request and/or the updated client request.
13. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein: (i) the programming schedule comprises a respective start time of each media content in the playlist of media content, a live media output stream identifier, and additional playout parameters, (ii) the set of indexing parameters comprises a scheduled playout time, multiple live media output stream identifiers defined in the programming schedule, and a sequence of the collection of the disparate manifest units defined in the source manifest, and (iii) the set of client request parameters comprises the live media output stream identifier, a playout time, a manifest window size, and a type of the live output stream manifest.
14. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the manifest unit further comprises an associated manifest directive or multiple manifest directives and a manifest unit header.
15. A computer-implemented method, comprising: obtaining, by one or more processors, a portion of a programing schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining, by the one or more processors, a collection of disparate manifest units based on processing of a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; storing, by the one or more processors, the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule; and generating, by the one or more processors, a live output stream manifest during a current iteration based on an event including a set of the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units retrieved from the data store in response to a client request comprising a set of client request parameters, wherein the retrieval of the set of indexed disparate manifest units from the data store is performed just-in-time based on (i) a query that corresponds to the set of client request parameters associated with the client request and (ii) a plurality of playout time parameters and a plurality of time-to-live parameters respectively assigned to the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units.
16. The computer-implemented method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving, by the one or more processors, a branched programming schedule that is generated based on an integration of a differential programming schedule with a first programming schedule for a client device; and generating, by the one or more processors, a personalized live output stream manifest during a subsequent iteration based on another event that corresponds to the receipt of the branched programming schedule, wherein altered or additional manifest units corresponding to the differential programming schedule are inserted in or appended to the set of indexed disparate manifest units of the personalized live output stream manifest.
17. The computer-implemented method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving, by the one or more processors, an updated client request associated with a live media output stream identifier when the live output stream manifest is played out at a client device; retrieving, by the one or more processors, in response to the updated client request, a plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units from the data store based on an updated query that corresponds to an updated set of client request parameters; and generating, by the one or more processors, an updated live output stream manifest during a subsequent iteration based on the set of indexed disparate manifest units and the plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units retrieved from the data store, wherein: (i) the updated live output stream manifest is maintained in a manifest window that corresponds to a number of manifest segments that a player can buffer, (ii) the manifest window is inferred or defined by an initial client request and/or the updated client request, and (iii) the initial client request and the updated client request correspond to a first programming schedule.
18. The computer-implemented method according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units are continually added to the set of indexed disparate manifest units in the manifest window during subsequent iterations or the plurality of new indexed disparate manifest units replace older manifest units from the set of indexed disparate manifest units in the manifest window during the subsequent iterations such that size of the manifest window remains as defined or inferred based on the initial client request and/or the updated client request.
19. A non-transitory computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable code, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a portion of a programing schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining a collection of disparate manifest units based on processing of a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; storing the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule; and generating a live output stream manifest during a current iteration based on an event including a set of the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units retrieved from the data store in response to a client request comprising a set of client request parameters, wherein the retrieval of the set of indexed disparate manifest units from the data store is performed just-in-time based on (i) a query that corresponds to the set of client request parameters associated with the client request and (ii) a plurality of playout time parameters and a plurality of time-to-live parameters respectively assigned to the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units.
The independent claims 1, 11, 12 of the current application are directed, similarly to representative independent claims 1, 15, 19 reciting, “obtaining a portion of a programming schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining a collection of disparate manifest units from a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; and storing the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters that enable an event-based generation of a live output stream manifest, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule” and claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. US 12244883B2 is directed to “obtaining a portion of a programing schedule that defines a playlist of media content for playout; obtaining a collection of disparate manifest units based on processing of a source manifest encapsulated by the playlist of media content; storing the collection of disparate manifest units as a plurality of indexed disparate manifest units in a data store based on a set of indexing parameters, wherein: (i) the playlist of media content corresponds to one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (ii) a manifest unit from the collection of the disparate manifest units comprises a referenced media segment indicative of a path to a media segment comprising a portion of media content from the one or more pre-encoded media assets or live input streams, (iii) the manifest unit is assigned a playout time parameter and a time-to-live parameter, (iv) the playout time parameter is relative to a position of the referenced media segment and a start time of the media content as defined in the programming schedule, and (v) the time-to-live parameter is relative to an end time of the media content in the programming schedule; and generating a live output stream manifest during a current iteration based on an event including a set of the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units retrieved from the data store in response to a client request comprising a set of client request parameters, wherein the retrieval of the set of indexed disparate manifest units from the data store is performed just-in-time based on (i) a query that corresponds to the set of client request parameters associated with the client request and (ii) a plurality of playout time parameters and a plurality of time-to-live parameters respectively assigned to the plurality of indexed disparate manifest units.” In further reviewing the dependent claims 2-14 of U.S. Patent No. US 12244883B2, all the elements of the current independent claims read on the claims of U.S. Patent No. US 12244883B2. Therefore, the mere broadening of the limitations of U.S. Patent No. US 12244883B2 amounts to the mere rearranging of elements to broaden the scope of the parent application.
With respect to the dependent claims 2-10 are further rejected as being dependent on a rejected independent claims.
CONCLUSION
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/ALFONSO CASTRO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421