SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR BANDWIDTH CONSERVATION IN VIDEO ON DEMAND SYSTEMS.

摘要

A method is disclosed for using social networking information to conserve bandwidth in a video-on-demand (VOD) system operated by a service provider. In a VOD server system, a request for a VOD content item is accepted from a first client system associated with a user of the VOD system. A list of social networking friends of the user is obtained. A node-sharing group of the list of social networking friends is determined. The node-sharing group includes the first client system and zero or more client systems sharing a distribution node of the VOD server system with the first client system. A video delivery start message is sent through the shared distribution node to each client system in the node-sharing group.