Patents Assigned to N2 Broadband, Inc.
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Patent number: 7761899Abstract: Assets, such as content and related data are packaged, transmitted, received and managed in a digital cable television system to standardize the distribution of content and services from a content/service provider to subscribers in the system. The standardized format for packaging content enables the digital cable system to package, transmit, receive and manage diverse types of content, such as MPEGs, executable files, HTML pages, and the like, using standard system components without requiring reprogramming of the system to deploy new services. Service and content providers are freed from having to develop custom formats for delivering content and data to the cable system. Moreover, the standardized bundling of content and related data that is enabled by the invention allows the cable system operator to automate the deployment of services based on specific content and data to select subscribers.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2002Date of Patent: July 20, 2010Assignees: N2 Broadband, Inc., Time Warner CableInventors: Joseph G. Buehl, Darryl Lanay DeFreese
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Patent number: 7757261Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: GrantFiled: November 12, 2003Date of Patent: July 13, 2010Assignee: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Patent number: 7627868Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: GrantFiled: November 12, 2003Date of Patent: December 1, 2009Assignee: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Patent number: 7620574Abstract: Systems and methods that divide the billing function of a billing system from the provisioning function of a service in digital cable systems. Because the billing system is only responsible for billing, rather than the provisioning of services, new services may be quickly added to cable systems without the time consuming and expensive task of configuring the billing system specifically for new services added to the system. The services are implemented using an offering package created by the service, where the offering package contains billing related information forwarded to the billing system to bill for the service.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2002Date of Patent: November 17, 2009Assignees: N2 Broadband, Inc., Time Warner Cable (division of Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P)Inventors: Joseph G. Buehl, Darryl Lanay DeFreese
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Patent number: 7194756Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: GrantFiled: November 12, 2003Date of Patent: March 20, 2007Assignee: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Patent number: 7171678Abstract: Systems and methods facilitate the provisioning of a new service in a cable system without requiring that server hardware and/or software be changed to implement the service, or that an equivalent session manager be created in a set-top box. Session requests are generated at the STB and transmitted to the service, which then interprets the request, rather than forwarded from the STB to a server implementing the service, as in conventional systems. To effect the routing to the service the session request contains routing information. Servers facilitating the implementation of services do not know details about, or even the existence of, new services added to the system.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2002Date of Patent: January 30, 2007Assignees: N2 Broadband, Inc., Time Warner CableInventors: Joseph G. Buehl, Darryl Lanay DeFreese, Timothy Hall Addington
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Publication number: 20050177616Abstract: In a system for managing and selecting a service to fulfill a request, a client application can issue a message to execute a function. A service proxy can receive the message from the client application and identify one of a plurality of services to execute the function in accordance with one or more rules. Upon identifying the service to execute the function in accordance with the rules, the service proxy can send a message to the identified service to execute the function. Alternatively, the service proxy can send the identity of the identified service to the client application. The client application can then send the message to execute the function to the identified service upon receiving the identity of the identified service from the service proxy.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 19, 2003Publication date: August 11, 2005Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Stephen Berger, Darryl DeFreese
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Publication number: 20040268420Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 30, 2004Publication date: December 30, 2004Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Publication number: 20040261126Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 12, 2003Publication date: December 23, 2004Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Publication number: 20040260798Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 12, 2003Publication date: December 23, 2004Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Publication number: 20040261114Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 12, 2003Publication date: December 23, 2004Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Publication number: 20040261092Abstract: Flexible systems and methods are disclosed that may be used for provisioning, configuring, and controlling a host embodied in a cable set top box or other digital device attached to a digital communication network, such as cable distribution network. An enhanced services system maintains various host files for various types of hosts that a cable subscriber may purchase and connect to the cable network. The Enhanced Services Server interacts with the host using the host files. The host files may be downloaded from the host manufacturer into a database that distributes the modules as required to the various enhanced services systems. The host may be purchased by the cable subscriber and provisioning may be initiated by the retailer at the time of purchase using a provisioning network interacting with the appropriate cable system serving the subscriber. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 12, 2003Publication date: December 23, 2004Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy Addington, Ira Lehrman
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Publication number: 20040025181Abstract: An asset provider can identify a segment of a broadcast stream to be extracted at a distribution endpoint and formatted for on-demand viewing by cable subscribers. An asset provider can use a start time code and a stop time code to identify the start and end of the segment in the broadcast stream. The asset provider can also insert tags into the broadcast stream identifying a segment to be extracted at the distribution endpoint. Upon receiving the broadcast stream, the distribution endpoint can then extract the segment identified by either the start and stop time codes or the tags.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 12, 2002Publication date: February 5, 2004Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Timothy H. Addington, Rajesh Amin, James Tureaud Grosch
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Publication number: 20030028893Abstract: A personal video service manager can store one or more personal video assets on a server. A personal video asset can comprise a recording of a broadcast stream of a broadcast asset or an asset that has been pre-authored in a personal video asset format. Upon receiving a request from a subscriber to receive the personal video asset, the personal video service manager can facilitate a connection between the server and the subscriber for distributing the personal video asset from the server to the subscriber.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 1, 2002Publication date: February 6, 2003Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventor: Timothy H. Addington
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Publication number: 20020199200Abstract: In a system for scheduling the distribution of digital assets by multiple asset providers to multiple receivers, an asset provider can send a request to a scheduler to schedule the distribution of an asset to one or more receivers. The scheduler determines whether the distribution of the asset can be scheduled based upon the availability of the asset provider's resources to distribute the asset and the availability of the receivers' resources to receive the assets. If the resources are not available, the scheduler can attempt to reschedule the distribution of other assets to accommodate the request.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 24, 2002Publication date: December 26, 2002Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventor: Timothy H. Addington
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Publication number: 20020104093Abstract: Assets, such as content and related data are packaged, transmitted, received and managed in a digital cable television system to standardize the distribution of content and services from a content/service provider to subscribers in the system. The standardized format for packaging content enables the digital cable system to package, transmit, receive and manage diverse types of content, such as MPEGs, executable files, HTML pages, and the like, using standard system components without requiring reprogramming of the system to deploy new services. Service and content providers are freed from having to develop custom formats for delivering content and data to the cable system. Moreover, the standardized bundling of content and related data that is enabled by the invention allows the cable system operator to automate the deployment of services based on specific content and data to select subscribers.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 18, 2002Publication date: August 1, 2002Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.Inventors: Joseph G. Buehl, Darryl Lanay DeFreese
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Publication number: 20020100059Abstract: Systems and methods facilitate the provisioning of a new service in a cable system without requiring that server hardware and/or software be changed to implement the service, or that an equivalent session manager be created in a set-top box. Session requests are generated at the STB and transmitted to the service, which then interprets the request, rather than forwarded from the STB to a server implementing the service, as in conventional systems. To effect the routing to the service the session request contains routing information. Servers facilitating the implementation of services do not know details about, or even the existence of, new services added to the system.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 18, 2002Publication date: July 25, 2002Applicant: N2 Broadband, Inc.and Time Warner CableInventors: Joseph G. Buehl, Darryl Lanay DeFreese, Timothy Hall Addington