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Abstract

Techniques of providing media services based on a hybrid architecture are disclosed. The hybrid architecture is provided to take the benefits, features and advantages of both distributed architecture and client-server architecture. According to one aspect of the present invention, data pertaining to a title (e.g., a movie, a game, a data file or a piece of footage) is divided or organized into several segments that are distributed among boxes in service. General orders of titles being offered in a library are fulfilled by a group of selected client devices delivering respective segments to an ordering box. Special orders of certain programs (e.g., a live event or a rare title not included in the library) are fulfilled directly by at least a server. In addition, the server is configured to supply some of the segments to an ordering box or back up any one of the selected boxes designated to supply the needed data to an ordering box. Because of the inherent superior computing power and more bandwidth, the server may deliver more than one segment at a time.

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First Claim