Mobile content delivery through heterogeneous access networks

In the current communications environment, there is rapid proliferation of different types of broadband wired and wireless access networks. It is conceivable for users to roam between these heterogeneous networks and access content and services in a seamless manner and at different times. From the viewpoint of a service provider, the availability of different networks creates the possibility to deliver content using the most cost-effective route. This is particularly important for most multimedia content, especially of the entertainment genre where there is flexibility of time of delivery. Because of the added flexibility on the consumption time, a route selection among the different available networks for content delivery becomes feasible. In this paper, we present a solution that uses a remote site downloading function to deliver requested content through a customer selected route. Key problems of remote site downloading are addressed, including location management, remote service invocations, access account management and security etc. An overall system architecture design is presented.