Sri International

Tout Industries, Inc.

David W J Stringer-Calvert

Patrick Denis Lincoln

Steven Mark Dawson

John P McIntire

In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and apparatus for selecting related content for display in conjunction with a media. One embodiment of a method for selecting related content for display in conjunction with a media, where the media includes a primary media and a secondary media that is time-synchronized with the primary media, includes retrieving one or more items of metadata associated with the media, selecting at least one item of related content based on the metadata, and displaying the related content substantially simultaneously with display of the media.

Method and apparatus for selecting related content for display in conjunction with a media

In one embodiment, the invention is a method and apparatus for annotating media streams. One embodiment of a method for facilitating creation of an annotated media stream by a user includes receiving the media stream from the user, mapping at least one item of supplemental content to at least a portion of the media stream to produce the annotated media stream, and storing the annotated media stream. In another embodiment, a method for distributing an annotated media stream provided by a user includes receiving the annotated media stream from the user, where the annotated media stream includes at least one item of supplemental content mapped to at least a portion of a media stream to produce the annotated media stream, storing the annotated media stream, receiving a request from a viewer to view the annotated media stream, and distributing the annotated media stream to the viewer. In another embodiment, a method for distributing an annotated media stream provided by a user includes distributing the annotated media stream to a viewer, where the annotated media stream includes at least one item of supplemental content mapped to at least a portion of a media stream to produce the annotated media stream, and collecting a commission when the annotated media stream is viewed by the viewer. In one embodiment, the collecting requires further action on a part of the viewer (such as selection of a hyperlink contained in the at least one item of supplemental content or consummation of a commercial transaction).

Method and apparatus for annotating media streams

A groupware management system for collaborative groups is disclosed that is scalable to support large, dynamic, multiple, and other virtual VPNs. The system may introduce a graph (or hierarchical) structure to the VPN, providing multiple master nodes controlling membership in subsets of the collaborative group. Use of multiple master nodes in a graph-structured (or hierarchical) network topology often relaxes the need for a single, centralized, globally consistent view of VPN group membership, and enables distribution of the management burden among multiple master nodes. Membership in the VPN may be changed dynamically by the second master node for the member nodes of the second subset, without requiring the first master node to dynamically update its group membership records to reflect the change and in many cases without even having to notify the first master node (and vice versa), for example. In further embodiments, the use of multiple master nodes may increase the reliability and efficiency of VPNs, such as by enabling load balancing of master node tasks. Fail-over mechanisms may also be used to transparently re-route management tasks to an alternate master node especially in the case of failure of the current master node serving a given member node.

Methods and apparatus for scalable, distributed management of virtual private networks

A scalable method and architecture for efficiently locating desired resources within a network containing a plurality of server nodes, each of which hosts or otherwise provides access to a subset of a global resource set. In one aspect of the invention, each of the server nodes are assigned membership in at least two sets, an 'announce' set and a 'request' set.

Method and apparatus for providing scalable resource discovery

A method and apparatus for deconstructing video into a hierarchical structure, distributing the deconstructed video and reconstructing the deconstructed video to form a video signal having characteristics that match the capabilities of a user device. The video stream may be deconstructed using a single dimension deconstruction or a multidimensional deconstruction.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

David W J Stringer-Calvert