Video On Demand

WHAT IT IS
USVO’s Store-and-Forward video patent (No. 5,130,792) is a pioneering patent in the field of Internet video delivery and covers a broad range of video delivery methods. The patent was filed in February 1990 and issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on July 14, 1992. The patent has little prior art and has been cited in over 185 subsequent patents. USVO has recently been awarded similar patents in England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Canada, and Japan.

HOW IT WORKS
The Patent describes a system or process for electronically transmitting compressed video programs from a central data facility to a receiver over switched networks and therefore covers content distribution processes such as downloads, streaming from cache or edge servers, and progressive streaming.

For more information on licensing USVO’s patent, contact USVO, at

Store and Forward Video-On-Demand Patent

United States Patent No. 5,130,792 covers, among other things, Store-and-Forward. Claim 1 of the patent is the principal claim covering the services and products of many electronic video distribution enterprises. This claim describes a system or process for electronically transmitting video programs to remote locations over switched networks and comprises the following components: i) a central data facility with stored digital compressed versions of video programs; ii) a request interface that receives requests for video programs from remote locations over the network and communicates them to the central data facility; iii) a distribution interface that initiates connections with remote locations over the network in response to requests received by the request interface, then transmits the compressed versions of video programs from the central data facility; and iv) a receiver at the remote location for receiving, storing, and playing the video programs in real time on a video display.

The video distribution models covered by the scope of the patent include:
Video delivery directly from a central server facility using the Internet or other connectivity medium. Video delivery whereby the video is first downloaded from a central server to any intermediate device, such as an edge server or a cache server installed on a local area network, and then distributed. Video downloads to any end-user digital storage devices for later access, such as digital media recorders, set-top boxes, or computer hard drives.

Analyses of the patent and its file wrapper have validated its applicability to many video distribution models being employed today.

History of Video-On-Demand

The Invention: Patent #5,130,792

The Early Years
USA Video To Test Digital Image Service
(Electronic News April 1992)

Ring In the New
(Wall Street Journal February 1993)

Telco Takes Swing at Video Dial Tone
(Cable World February 1993)

A small player in a big race
(The Dallas Morning News June 1993)

Video-by-phone service to be tested here in March
(Democrat and Chronicle October 1993)

Bell Atlantic To Get VDT Competition
(Multichannel News January 1994)

Few Movie Studios Sign for RochesterTel VOD Test
(Multichannel News March 1994)

Samsung Thickens Telco Set-top Plot
(Multichannel News March 1994)

Five VIPs Ready for Bell Video Test in Va.
(Multichannel News March 1994)

Cable TV Test for Rochester
(New York Times March 1994)

Calling Up Video
(Democrat and Chronicle September 1994)

Premiere of video on demand
(USA Today October 1994)

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Video-On-Demand: Present and Future
Information Source: InStat/MDR

Last Updated ( Monday, 30 October 2006 )