Secure cached subscription service

Claim 2

A secure cached subscription system comprising: At least one content provider having fee-based, on-demand information and also having billing software to bill a user account when the fee-based, on-demand information is requested by the user; At least one primary caching device connected to the at least one content provider to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider is to speculatively download the fee-based, on-demand information into the caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; At least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one primary caching device to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; and At least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one secondary caching device to process the fee-based, on-demand information, the content provider to charge the user account a fee after the processing device has processed the fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 wherein the content provider is to also download the fee-based, on-demand information based on a user profile.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 further comprising: a decoding device to decode the fee-based, on-demand information before processing the fee-based on-demand information.

Claim 5

The system of claim 3 wherein the decoding device is a set-top box.

Claim 6

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises: a content cache to store the fee-based, on-demand information; and a decoder to decode the fee-based information in the content cache prior to processing by the processing device.

Claim 7

The system of claim 5 wherein the at least one secondary caching device is connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the processing device.

Claim 8

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises: a content cache to store the fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 9

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises: a decoder to decode the fee-based, on demand information.

Claim 10

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processing device comprises: a decoder to decode the fee-based, on-demand information before processing.

Claim 11

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is remotely connected to the at least one content provider.

Claim 12

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider during off-peak hours.

Claim 13

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider on a separate channel.

Claim 14

The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one content provider comprises a profiler to maintain user preference information.

Claim 15

The system of claim 13 further comprising a subscription manager to update the profiler with user preference information.

Claim 16

The system of claim 1 further comprising an authentification manager configured to control access to the fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 17

A secure cached subscription system comprising: At least one content provider having fee-based, on-demand information and also having billing software to bill a user account when the fee-based, on-demand information is requested by the user, and having an encoder to encode the fee-based, on-demand information; At least one primary caching device connected to the at least one content provider to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider is to speculatively download the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information into a content cache in the primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; At least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one primary caching device to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device is to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device into a content cache in the secondary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; At least one decoding device connected to the at least one secondary caching device to decode the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information to produce unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information; and At least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one decoding device to process the unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information, the processing device connected to the content provider, and the content provider to charge the user account a fee after the processing device has processed the unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 18

A secure cached subscription system comprising: At least one content provider having fee-based, on-demand information and also having billing software to bill a user account when the fee-based, on-demand information is requested by the user, and having an encoder to encode the fee-based, on-demand information; At least one primary caching device connected to the at least one content provider to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider is to speculatively download the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information into a content cache in the primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; At least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one primary caching device to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device is to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device into a content cache in the secondary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; At least one decoding device connected to the at least one secondary caching device to decode the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information to produce unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information; and At least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one decoding device to process the unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information, the processing device connected to the content provider, and the content provider to charge the user account a fee after the processing device has processed the unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 19

The system of claim 16 further comprising: a profiler connected to the at least one content provider to maintain user preference information; a subscription manager to update the profiler with current user preference information; and an authentification manager configured to control access to the fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 22

The method of claim 18 further comprising: decoding the fee-based, on-demand information after speculatively downloading the fee-based, on-demand information into the caching device.

Claim 23

The method of claim 18 further comprising: authenticating access to the fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 24

The method of claim 18 further comprising speculatively downloading the fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider based upon user data.

Claim 25

The method of claim 18 further comprising speculatively downloading the fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider based upon a user profile.

Claim 26

The method of claim 18 wherein the caching device is remotely connected to the content provider.

Claim 27

The method of claim 18 wherein speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider is done during off-peak hours.

Claim 28

The method of claim 18 wherein speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider is done on a separate channel.

Claim 29

The method of claim 18 further comprising decoding the fee-based, on-demand information before processing the fee-based, on-demand information.

Claim 30

The method of claim 26 further comprising: accumulating billing information during decoding of the fee-based, on demand information; and transferring the billing information to the content provider.

Claim 33

An article of manufacture having one or more computer-readable media with executable instructions therein, which when executed by a processing device, causes the processing device to: Speculatively download fee-based, on-demand information from a content provider into an at least one primary caching device, and then into an at least one secondary caching device, based upon viewing-habit data of a user, the content provider having billing software to bill a user account; Transfer the fee-based, on-demand information from the caching device to a processing device, upon a request of the user, so that the user can view the fee-based, on-demand information; and Charge the user account a fee after the fee-based, on demand information has been transferred to the processing device.

Claim 34

An article of manufacture having one or more computer-readable media with executable instructions therein, which when executed by a processing device, causes the processing device to: Speculatively download fee-based, on-demand information from a content provider into an at least one primary caching device, and then into an at least one secondary caching device, based upon viewing-habit data of a user, the content provider having billing software to bill a user account; Transfer the fee-based, on-demand information from the caching device to a processing device, upon a request of the user, so that the user can view the fee-based, on-demand information; and Charge the user account a fee after the fee-based, on demand information has been transferred to the processing device.