A data obtaining method and apparatus. The method comprises: determining address information of data to be obtained (S101); judging whether a disk corresponding to the address information of the data to be obtained is a damaged disk or not (S102); if the disk corresponding to the address information of the data to be obtained is not a damaged disk, obtaining the data to be obtained according to the address information of the data to be obtained to obtain current data (S103); if the disk corresponding to the address information of the data to be obtained is a damaged disk, determining the address information of next data to be obtained, and returning to the step of judging whether a disk corresponding to the address information of the data to be obtained is a damaged disk or not (S104). According to the method, undamaged data in a disk array can be obtained when a ultra-redundant bad disk occurs.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for watermark outage detection. Example methods include evaluating an onset time and duration of a detected watermark outage based on a model of expected watermark outages to determine whether the detected watermark outage corresponds to at least one of the expected watermark outages represented in the model. Example methods further include generating an alert in response to determining the detected watermark outage does not correspond to at least one of the expected watermark outages included in the model, and suppressing the alert in response to determining the detected watermark outage corresponds to the at least one of the expected watermark outages represented in the model.

Systems and methods for optimizing sensory signal capturing by reconfiguring robotic device configurations. In an implementation, upcoming sensor readings are predicted based on navigation path data. Based on the predicted sensor readings, optimized sensor parameters that will improve the quality of resulting sensory signals are determined. Sensors of a robotic device are reconfigured based on the optimized sensor parameters. In another implementation, deficiencies in sensory signals are determined. A motion configuration of a robotic device is optimized based on the deficiencies to allow for capturing better quality sensory signals.

Various techniques for providing video feed redundancy are described herein. Instructions may be provided for switching input to an output video feed between two or more redundant input video feeds. In some examples, the redundant input video feeds may not be duplicates, may not be frame synchronized, may not be transmitted from the same location, may not be transmitted using the same network types or transmission protocols, and/or may not be initiated at the same time. In some examples, the instructions for video feed redundancy may be associated with respective authorization keys for the redundant input video feeds.

This disclosure is directed to systems and methods that automatically detects static content within a media item. While consuming a media item, such as a movie, a user might notice, unexpectedly, that a portion of the movie does not change resulting in a poor user experience. By dividing the media item into portions and analyzing the portions, the systems and methods described can automatically detect the static content and, in some instances, correct the static content.

The present disclosure relates to a method and an ad decision sever for determining personalized messages during a provisioning of digital content. The method comprises to provide a set of personalized messages candidates by executing a relevance algorithm, which matches message metadata and content metadata. The method continues with receiving calculated network costs for the set of personalized message candidates in order to determine a set of personalized messages, which are optimized with respect to the received network costs by applying a multivariate optimization algorithm.

An edge server is served by a rendering machine supplying groups of pictures (GOPs) and comprises a buffer for a predetermined lead time over actual time. If a rendering machine fails then the partially available GOP from that rendering machine is discarded and another rendering machine, having the capacity to handle the GOPs stream, is activated. It provides GOPS from the failed GOP onwards and rendering continues therefrom by the replacing rendering machine. Rendering initially at a faster than real-time speed it is possible to catch-up on time so that the edge server continues to receive and transmit the GOPs without interruption. A plurality of rendering machines continuously operate to feed the edge server(s) and the number of channels used is such that allows for sufficient redundancy as well as for the faster than real-time rendering that is necessary in the case of a need for failover.

A system can include multiple content ingress sites to process content into portions of content. A content ingress site, of the multiple content ingress sites, can include a first set of devices. The first set of devices can be configured to process the content in a synchronized manner. The first set of devices can be configured to have excess processing capacity to facilitate failover of a first segmenter device to a second segmenter device. The first set of devices can be configured to process content from multiple sources. The system can include multiple content distribution sites to encode the portions of content. A content distribution site can include a second set of devices. The system can include multiple content satellite offices to provide the portions of content to one or more destination devices. A content satellite office can include a third set of devices.

A technique is described for improved issue reporting by a receiving device such as a set-top boxes for satellite and cable television services. In an example embodiment, the receiving device generates an issue report based on internal operational logs, captured screens and/or video of a visual output, and a recording of the user's voice that includes a description of the issue they are experiencing. This issue report can be generated as an object file that can then be transmitted, via a communications network, to an issue reporting platform for processing, for example, by a technical support representative or an automated troubleshooting system.

A method includes receiving media content at a media server and encoding the media content to form a first content stream. The method includes encoding an audio portion of the media content to form a second content stream having a first bit rate. The method includes causing the first content stream to be transmitted to a media device via a satellite distribution system and causing the second content stream to be concurrently transmitted to the media device via a terrestrial distribution system. The method also includes receiving an indication of a disruption of the first content stream at the media device, and , after receiving the indication, causing a change from transmission of the second content stream to transmission of a third content stream of the media content to the media device via the terrestrial distribution system. The third stream has a second bit rate greater than the first bit rate.