Abstract: A virtual content store may be provided. Upon receiving a request for a content stream from a subscriber at a regional headend, a central content vault may be examined to determine whether the content stream is available. Once the content stream is determined to be available in the central content vault, a streaming session may be established to the subscriber from the regional headend. The content stream may be retrieved from the central content vault and provided to the subscriber via the streaming session.

Abstract: A technique for providing program restart functionality in a digital video network involves receiving requests from different end-user devices to restart a program and servicing the program restart requests from the different end-user devices via a single broadcast stream. In an embodiment, program restart requests that are received within an established time interval, referred to as an aggregation interval, are serviced by the same broadcast stream. Additionally, during the aggregation interval and before the program restart begins, personalized content can be provided to the end-user devices via, for example, unicasting. Once the aggregation interval is over, all of the unicast streams are switched over to the same broadcast stream and the program broadcast is restarted. In an embodiment, a switch buffer is provided just before the restarted broadcast stream in order to ensure a smooth transition from each of the multiple unicast streams to the restarted broadcast stream.

Abstract: A virtual content store may be provided. Upon receiving a request for a content stream from a subscriber at a regional headend, a central content vault may be examined to determine whether the content stream is available. Once the content stream is determined to be available in the central content vault, a streaming session may be established to the subscriber from the regional headend. The content stream may be retrieved from the central content vault and provided to the subscriber via the streaming session.

Abstract: A technique for providing program restart functionality in a digital video network involves receiving requests from different end-user devices to restart a program and servicing the program restart requests from the different end-user devices via a single broadcast stream. In an embodiment, program restart requests that are received within an established time interval, referred to as an aggregation interval, are serviced by the same broadcast stream. Additionally, during the aggregation interval and before the program restart begins, personalized content can be provided to the end-user devices via, for example, unicasting. Once the aggregation interval is over, all of the unicast streams are switched over to the same broadcast stream and the program broadcast is restarted. In an embodiment, a switch buffer is provided just before the restarted broadcast stream in order to ensure a smooth transition from each of the multiple unicast streams to the restarted broadcast stream.