At&t Intellectual Property I, LP

David J Segelstein

Douglas M Nortz

Mark W Altom

Thomas Joseph Killian

Robert Sayko

Juan A Garay

Susan Feit

John H Zink

A system for providing multicast distribution of incrementally enhanced content is disclosed. The system may include encoding content by utilizing an incremental layer encoding algorithm to generate a low resolution base stream for content and one or more incremental streams for the content. The incremental streams may each have higher resolutions than the base stream. The system may provide the base streams and one or more of the incremental streams to a client device based on available bandwidth and based on the capabilities of the client device. Each of the streams of content may be provided to the client device by having the client device connect to one or more multicast sessions. As the streams are accessed by the client device, the client device may combine and decode the base streams, along with any accessed incremental streams, to obtain the content at an available resolution.

Multicast distribution of incrementally enhanced content

An end user computer is assigned a multicast content distribution group by a network service intelligence platform. The network service intelligence platform authenticates a token sent by the user and signed by a third part content controller, and provides the user with credentials for joining the group. The credentials include an authorization key as well as identifications of the user and the requested content. The credentials are encrypted and authenticated by the third party content controller. The user includes the encrypted and authenticated credentials in a join request sent to a network resource, such as an edge router. After verifying the credentials, the network resource adds the end user computer to the multicast group.

Authorization, authentication and accounting protocols in multicast content distribution networks

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Aberdeen, NJ, United States of America

David J Segelstein