Device and method for receiving scalable content from multiple sources having different content quality

Abstract

A device and a method in a device for receiving scalable content. The method includes receiving a first portion of content to be received with a desired content quality from a first source having a first version of the receivable content. A second portion of content to be received with a desired content quality is received from a second source having a second version of the receivable content, where a value for at least one quality factor of the second version of the receivable content is different than a value for the corresponding quality factor of the first version of the receivable content. At least the first portion of content to be received and the second portion of content to be received is then combined, wherein at least one of the first version and the second version includes non-duplicative data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at an electronic device, a first portion of content to be received with a desired content quality from a first electronic source having a first version of the receivable content;   receiving, at the electronic device, a second portion of content to be received with the desired content quality from a second electronic source having a second version of the receivable content, wherein the first version of the receivable content comprises a lower fidelity than a version of the content capable of being used on the electronic device, and wherein the second version of the receivable content comprises a higher fidelity than the version of the content capable of being used on the electronic device; and   combining, at the electronic device, the first portion of content and the second portion of content, wherein one of the first version and the second version comprises non-duplicative data, wherein when one of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content comprises a lower fidelity than the desired content quality, the higher fidelity version of the content is accessed to supplement the content available in the lower fidelity version, and when one of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content comprises a higher fidelity than the desired content quality, a subset of the content is utilized.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-duplicative data comprises one of the first version and the second version including data that is not available from the other one of the first version and the second version. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising receiving a list of error checking values for each of a plurality of different portions of the content to be received with the desired content quality. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein receiving the list of error checking values comprises validating an integrity of the received content. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising receiving the content to be received with the desired content quality as part of a download to the electronic device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising receiving the content to be received with the desired content quality as part of a streaming to electronic device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the streaming comprises rendering the content via a user interface of the electronic device proximate to a time of receipt of the content to be received. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a value of a quality factor of one of the first version and the second version is different from a desired value of a corresponding quality factor of the content to be received with the desired content quality. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein one of the first version and the second version comprises a value of a quality factor higher than the desired value of the corresponding quality factor of the content to be received with the desired content quality. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein one of the first version and the second version comprises a value of a quality factor lower than the desired value of the corresponding quality factor of the content to be received with the desired content quality. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the quality factor comprises a sampling rate, a frame rate, a resolution, a color depth, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, the code comprising instructions to:
 cause an electronic device to receive a first portion of content to be received with a desired content quality from a first electronic source having a first version of the receivable content;   cause the electronic device to receive a second portion of content to be received with the desired content quality from a second electronic source having a second version of the receivable content, wherein the first version of the receivable content comprises a lower fidelity than a version of the content capable of being used on the electronic device, and wherein the second version of the receivable content comprises a higher fidelity than the version of the content capable of being used on the electronic device; and   cause the electronic device to combine the first portion of content and the second portion of content, wherein one of the first version and the second version comprises non-duplicative data, wherein when one of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content comprises a lower fidelity than the desired content quality, the higher fidelity version of the content is accessed to supplement the content available in the lower fidelity version, and when one of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content comprises a higher fidelity than the desired content quality, a subset of the content is utilized.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the electronic device to send a request to the first electronic source or the second electronic source to identify the usable portions requested of the first version and the second version. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the request comprises a list of a plurality of different sections of usable portions of the first version and the second version. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the electronic device to combine the first portion and the second portion by receiving a list of usable portions of one of the first version and the second version. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the electronic device to receive a first video content as the first portion of content and to receive a second video content as the second portion of content. 
     
     
         17 . An electronic device, comprising:
 at least one processor configured to:
 receive a first portion of content to be received with a desired content quality from a first electronic source having a first version of the receivable content; 
 receive a second portion of content to be received with the desired content quality from a second electronic source having a second version of the receivable content, wherein the first version of the receivable content comprises a lower fidelity than a version of the content capable of being used on the electronic device, and wherein the second version of the receivable content comprises a higher fidelity than the version of the content capable of being used on the electronic device; and 
 combine the first portion of content and the second portion of content, wherein one of the first version and the second version comprises non-duplicative data, wherein when one of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content comprises a lower fidelity than the desired content quality, the higher fidelity version of the content is accessed to supplement the content available in the lower fidelity version, and when one of the first portion of the content and the second portion of the content comprises a higher fidelity than the desired content quality, a subset of the content is utilized. 
   
     
     
         18 . The electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the processor comprises a scalable codec. 
     
     
         19 . The electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the first version and the second version each comprises a value of a quality factor, and wherein the quality factor comprises a sampling rate, a frame rate, a resolution, a color depth, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the first version of the receivable content comprises a resolution of approximately 640×480, and wherein the second version of the receivable content comprises a resolution of approximately 320×240.