Systems and methods are described for a media guidance application (e.g., implemented on a user device) that dynamically adapts network performance parameters for applications based on their respective usage likelihoods.

Provided is a method for pre-loading content data. The method includes: acquiring a download speed; determining target content data in response to the download speed being less than a first speed threshold and a trigger event occurring, wherein the trigger event is configured to trigger pre-loading of the target content data, and the first speed threshold is determined based on corresponding play data in different speed ranges, the play data including at least one of a play amount or a lag rate; and loading the target content data.

Systems and methods are disclosed for determining portions of media assets for cooperative reception by multiple devices. The disclosed techniques herein include identifying cooperating devices that are able to communicate with a selected device for relaying portions of a media asset. For example, a group of people each travelling together in a vehicle may wish to view a media asset by cooperatively using their network resources of their smartphones to relay portions of the media asset for viewing. Network service data for each of the plurality of cooperating devices is then received. Based on the network service data, a determination is made for each cooperating device regarding reception of a respective portion of the media asset to each cooperating device. Instructions to receive and relay the respective portions of the media asset are transmitted to each cooperating device.

A streaming device may request and download multi-layer video segments based on a number of factors including the artistic interest associated with the video segments and/or the status of a buffer area managed by the streaming device. The multi-layer segments may be coded using scalable coding techniques or a combination of scalable coding and simulcast coding techniques by which each of the video segments may be coded into one or more representations of different qualities and/or bitrates. When requesting the multi-layer segments, the streaming device may ensure that the fullness of the buffer area falls between a buffer underflow threshold and a backfilling threshold under various network conditions. The streaming device may estimate the available network bandwidth in order to facilitate the scheduling decisions. The streaming device may consider the artistic interest associated with the video segments during scheduling and may give priority to those segments with higher artistic interest.

Facilitating pre-positioning of streaming content onto communication devices is provided herein. A system can comprise a processor and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations. The operations can comprise facilitating an identification of a first multimedia content stream and a second multimedia content stream. The identification can be based on a usage preference of a defined entity associated with a communication device. The operations can also comprise, in response to a determination that an available network satisfies a defined network criterion, facilitating pre-positioning, at a data store of the communication device, the first multimedia content stream and the second multimedia content stream.

Methods and systems for intelligent use of off-peak bandwidth are disclosed. An example method can comprise receiving a request for content from a user device. The content server can transmit the content to the user device. Upon receiving a teardown command to suspend transmission of the content, after transmitting a first portion of the content to the user device, the content server can determine that playback of the content is likely to be resumed at a peak time. The content server can then pre-position a second portion of the content proximate to the user device prior to the peak time.

A method provides for delivering video content from a server to a plurality of media devices is disclosed that distributes accurately excess bandwidth. The method includes: determining, by the server, the bandwidth to allocate to each of the plurality of media devices using a hypertext transfer protocol-based live streaming client model or a need parameter vector and/or measured bandwidth limitations associated with each of the plurality of media devices and providing the allocated bandwidth to each of the plurality of media devices, wherein the video content is transmitted in a plurality of segments from the server, and wherein each segment is transmitted at a bitrate that may vary from segment to segment.

Systems, devices, and methods for streaming or otherwise delivering media content over a network are provided. One exemplary method of streaming media content over a network using a RS-DVR system involves receiving, at the RS-DVR system, a request for a portion of the media content from a media player on a client device via the network, receiving, at the RS-DVR system, the portion of the media content from an origin server on the network, buffering the portion of the media content at the RS-DVR system, and transmitting the portion of the media content to the media player on the client device. The portion of media content may be transmitted using a modified transport layer protocol, and in some embodiments, marked as non-cacheable.

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to network resource management and content delivery. A method may include a first device determining a first bandwidth demand associated with a second device sending a first addressable advertisement using a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) bandwidth using a first advertisement spot for a first linear segment addressability (LSA) television channel, and determining a second bandwidth demand associated with the second device sending a second addressable advertisement using the DOCSIS bandwidth for presentation using a second advertisement spot. The method may include determining that the first bandwidth demand is below a threshold bandwidth, and determining that the second bandwidth demand exceeds the threshold bandwidth. The method may include sending a reference to the first addressable advertisement over the DOCSIS bandwidth for presentation using the first advertisement spot and, and determining a recommendation associated with presentation of the second addressable advertisement.

Provided are methods and systems for providing variable bitrate content (e.g., video content, audio content, multimedia content, etc.). The content may comprise a plurality of portions (e.g., frames, segments, fragments, etc.). Each portion of the content may be tagged and/or associated with a content element. A content element may be associated with and/or indicate one or more of an encoding parameter associated with a respective portion of the content, attributes of the content (e.g., a scene transition, scene change, etc.) associated with the respective portion of the content, or additional content related items (e.g., one or more advertisements, etc.) associated with the respective portion of the content. The content element may be used to determine a bitrate to associate with the respective portion of the content. The content may be received/retrieved according to the determined bitrates.