1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to recording devices used in a communications system, and, more specifically to a method for transferring video and sound data directly between a digital video recorder in a first distinct network to another digital video recorder in a second distinct network through a multichannel broadband communications network such as a cable, satellite or wireless network.
2. Background Art
Personalized recording of television shows, movies, sporting events and the like has been an ever increasing trend over the last several decades. The personalized recording of these programs has migrated from the video cassette recorder (VCR) to the digital video disc (DVD) recorder to the digital video recorder (DVR) also known as a personal video recorder (PVR). While each of the DVR, DVD and VCR will provide for recording a program at one point in time for viewing at a later point in time, recordings made by DVR have distinct advantages to those recordings made by DVD and VCR.
First, DVRs typically contain a computer hard drive, e.g., a disk, which allows an individual to store recorded material directly to the DVR rather than a separate medium such as a magnetic tape as is used with a VCR or compact optical disc as is used with DVDs. Second, DVRs allow an individual to pause live programming, rewind and replay a portion previously telecast. Once a particular portion of the program has been replayed and reviewed to the viewer's satisfaction, an individual may begin watching the program again at the point it was paused without missing any of the remaining program.
A third advantage that DVRs provide is the ability to program the DVR to record at a specified time from remote locations. While individuals may program a VCR or DVD to record a particular program, generally, the VCR and DVD are programmed on location and set to a specific time to record that usually cannot be changed once the individual leaves the premises. Typically, an individual may program each of these recording means to record a specified program at a specified time. However, with DVRs, individuals who may have forgotten to program their DVR previously to record a program may direct their DVR to record a show with the use of their cellular telephone or computer from a remote location through the internet.
Although the DVR has revolutionalized personal recording of television programs and movies, there is, however, one advantage that the DVD and VCR still maintain over a DVR. Recordings made by DVD and VCR may be preserved on mass storage devices such as a compact disc and magnetic tape, respectively. The disc and tape may be easily stored and moved. This allows for easy transport and viewing of the recording at almost any locale as long as there is a VCR or DVD player on location. As stated above, DVRs store recordings on a mass storage device or hard drive that is internal to the DVR, there may be no external media such as a tape or compact disc to capture the program. Although possible, it is very cumbersome to move a DVR for viewing of the program elsewhere. A VCR tape and DVD compact disc may also provide for practically unlimited storage space as long as there is room to physically store the tape or disc. Conversely, the hard disk of the DVR typically has a finite storage space that may not be used to store a large number of previously recorded programs if new programs are to be recorded.
A further drawback of today's DVR occurs if an individual has forgotten to record a program or, after talking with another, has found a previously aired program to be interesting and worth viewing. In this instance, if the program has not been recorded by the individual to their own DVR, the individual may have missed their opportunity to view the program altogether, e.g. a sporting event. In the past, if one had recorded the program to a VCR tape or DVD compact disc, the tape or disc could easily be provided to a second individual for their own personal viewing. A recording made by DVR is not as easy to provide to a second individual for personal viewing. The internal DVR hard drive and overall size of the DVR make it difficult and cumbersome to move to a second location for viewing by another and nearly impossible to do if the second individual does not live in the same locale as the first. While the internet and electronic mail may be used to transfer previously recorded programming to another individual, the recordings are often very large and difficult to transfer and also require internet access to do so.
Therefore, a need exists for a method to transfer video and sound data directly between a digital video recorder in a first distinct network to another digital video recorder in a second distinct network through a multichannel broadband communications network such as a cable, satellite or wireless network.