A Broadcasting Strategy for Interactive Video-on-Demand Services

In this paper, we employ the approach of linear programming to propose a new interactive broadcast method. In our method, a film S is divided into n equal parts and broadcast via k channels. The user simultaneously downloads these segments from k channels into the user’s set-top-box (STB) and plays them in order. Our method assumes that the initial p segments will not have fast-forwarding capabilities. Every time the user wants to initiate d times fast-forwarding, according to our broadcasting strategy, the necessary segments already saved in the user’s STB or are just download on time for playing. The proposed broadcasting strategy not only allows the user to pause and rewind, but also to fast-forward. Keywords—Broadcasting, Near Video-on-Demand (VOD), Linear Programming, Video-Cassette-Recorder (VCR) Functions, Waiting Time.