1. A method for rapid content switching between pieces of content presented in a plurality of stations using streaming content distribution, comprising:
processing at least a portion of a station manifest using a playback device, where the station manifest comprises:
identifiers for a plurality of content stations; and
identifiers for a plurality of pieces of content, where each piece of content is associated with at least one content station;
selecting a plurality of jump points using the playback device, where each jump point is associated with a specific location within a piece of content;
determining a current content station from the plurality of content stations using the playback device;
playing at least a portion of a current piece of content associated with the current content station from the plurality of pieces of content using the playback device;
determining a plurality of alternative pieces of content from the plurality of pieces of content using the station manifest using the playback device;
preparing additional content for playback at each of the plurality of jump points by preparing alternative pieces of content during playback of the current piece of content using the playback device;
receiving a user instruction during playback of the current piece of content using the playback device;
selecting a target jump point from the plurality of jump points based upon the received user instruction using the playback device; and
commencing playback of prepared additional content starting from the selected target jump point using the playback device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected target jump point is associated with a specific location within an alternative piece of content.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected target jump point is associated with a specific location within the current piece of content.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content for playback comprises buffering at least a portion of each of the plurality of alternative pieces of content using the playback device.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein buffering at least a portion of at least some of the plurality of alternative pieces of content using the playback device comprises buffering alternative content starting from a jump point in each alternative piece of content.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the likelihood that certain jump points will be selected by a user instruction and wherein buffering alternative content starting from a jump point in each alternative piece of content further comprises buffering a stream of the alternative piece of content whose bitrate is related to the likelihood a jump point in the alternative piece of content will be selected.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the number of jump points at which alternative content is buffered and the bitrate of the alternative content that is buffered are related to the current available bandwidth.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content for playback further comprises preparing the current piece of content.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content for playback comprises downloading at least one content manifest associated with an alternative piece of content.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content for playback comprises downloading metadata associated with an alternative piece of content.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing additional content for playback comprises pre-fetching cryptographic information that can be used to decrypt alternative pieces of content.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the current piece of content is determined based upon the current content station and a current time; and
wherein determining a plurality of alternative pieces of content using the playback device further comprises determining a plurality of alternative pieces of content based upon the current content station and the current time.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a user interface listing at least some of the plurality of content stations and at least one piece of content associated with each listed content station using the playback device; and
wherein receiving a user instruction using the playback device comprises receiving a user instruction via the interactive user interface that identifies a listed piece of content.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifiers for a plurality of pieces of content are references to content manifests, where a reference to a content manifest is associated with each piece of content.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the station manifest further comprises a plurality of references to content manifests, where a reference to a content manifest is associated with each piece of content.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the station manifest further comprises a plurality of jump points, where each jump point is associated with a specific location within a piece of content.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting a station manifest from a station manifest server using the playback device.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the station manifest is generated based a user profile.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the station manifest is generated based on the current time.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the plurality of jump points periodically.
21. The method of claim 1, wherein playing a current piece of content associated with the current content station from the plurality of pieces of content using the playback device further comprises requesting content using adaptive bitrate streaming.
22. The method of claim 1, wherein the content manifests are in at least two different formats and come from at least two different content sources.
23. The method of claim 1, wherein the user instruction is for a station change and the selected target jump point is within an alternative piece of content.
24. The method of claim 1, wherein the user instruction is for playback from a different point within the current piece of content and the selected target jump point is within the current piece of content.
25. A playback device for rapid content switching between pieces of content presented in a plurality of stations using streaming content distribution, comprising:
a processor;
a network interface; and
memory comprising a playback application;
wherein the processor is configured by the playback application to:
process at least a portion of a station manifest using a playback device, where the station manifest comprises:
identifiers for a plurality of content stations; and
identifiers for a plurality of pieces of content, where each piece of content is associated with at least one content station;
select a plurality of jump points, where each jump point is associated with a specific location within a piece of content;
determine a current content station from the plurality of content stations using the playback device;
play at least a portion of a current piece of content associated with the current content station from the plurality of pieces of content using the playback device;
determine a plurality of alternative pieces of content from the plurality of pieces of content using the station manifest using the playback device;
prepare additional content for playback at each of the plurality of jump points by preparing alternative pieces of content during playback of the current piece of content using the playback device;
receive a user instruction during playback of the current piece of content using the playback device;
select a target jump point from the plurality of jump points based upon the received user instruction using the playback device; and
commence playback of prepared additional content starting from the selected target jump point using the playback device.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of protecting a surface of an article against aquatic biofouling, said method comprising:
placing the article on a holder for rotation in a chamber while applying a thin film coating within said chamber onto said surface to form a protective external coating thereon;
wherein said method comprises the steps of rotating the holder with the article placed thereon;
applying a bias to the said article, applying a layer of silicon material on said surface from a solid target of silicon material;
applying a layer of SiO2 on top of the silicon material layer and then
applying, simultaneously, material from the solid silicon target of material and material from gases in the form of HMDSO and O2 introduced into the said chamber, to form the final and external layer of the said coating and the silicon material is deposited from the solid target using closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering and operating an electrode in the chamber to assist in the breaking down of gases as the said final and external layer of the coating is formed.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the coating is applied using Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD).
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the deposited coating is transparent and is applied to a surface to be used for optical purposes.
4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the coating is applied to the surface of a heat exchanger tube or plate with respect to which water is used as a coolant.
5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the coating is applied to the surface of a filtering membrane for water.
6. A method according to claim 1 wherein corrosive andor toxic by-products are trapped before release of the gases into the atmosphere.
7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the morphology of the surface of the coating is formed so as to resist attachment of fouling agents to the same.
8. An article comprising:
at least one surface which is to be exposed to aquatic conditions and wherein said at least one surface has a coating applied thereto to form an external face thereof, said coating formed in accordance with the method as herein described with reference claim 1.