Personal video recorder systems and methods

• US 10,021,443 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2016
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Baumgartner, Joseph P., Carpenter, Jr., Kenneth F., Ellis, Michael D., Gaydou, II, Danny R.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHANG, ANNAN Q
• Application Number:
  US15/290,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20170048575A1
• Time in Patent Office: 637 Days
• Field of Search: 725 39, 725 54- 61, 709217-232
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43622 Interfacing an external recording device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4424 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing an interactive television system for recording television programming. The interactive television system may include components for providing personal video recorder (PVR) functionality, such as an interactive television program guide (IPG), PVR extensions, PVR application programming interfaces (APIs), a PVR device, any suitable hardware or software, or a combination thereof. These components may be implemented in, for example, an arrangement having an integrated PVR-compliant device with a PVR device, or in an arrangement having a PVR-compliant device (e.g., a set-top box) coupled to PVR equipment (e.g., a remote PVR server or a PVR sidecar) with a PVR device. The PVR-compliant device may include software and hardware configured to implement the IPG. The PVR APIs may be a library of intelligent vendor-specific and vendor-independent APIs able to determine the type of PVR device being used. The PVR extensions and PVR APIs may be configured to provide a seamless integration of functionality associated with the PVR-compliant device and the PVR device. A full port of the IPG may be implemented in both the PVR-compliant device and the PVR device.

Claims

1. A method for communicating with a personal storage device, the method comprising:

storing, at a server, a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs), each of the APIs being associated with a different type of personal storage device;

receiving, at the server over a network, a communication from a personal storage device;

processing the communication to identify a type of the personal storage device;

searching the plurality of APIs to identify a first API of the plurality of APIs that is associated with a given type of personal storage device that corresponds to the identified type of the personal storage device;

selecting the first API identified as a result of the searching; and

generating an instruction for transmission from the server to the personal storage device over the network using the selected first API.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the server is included in a set-top box.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a device type identification query to the personal storage device; and

receiving, in response to the device type identification query, a device type identification data packet from the personal storage device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the APIs includes at least one of routines, protocols, and tools corresponding to the respective type of personal storage device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring one or more communication channels on the network to detect the personal storage device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is received in response to detecting the personal storage device being coupled to the network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the server does not have recording capabilities.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal storage device is compatible with the first API.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically generating a driver source code using the first API in response to detecting the personal storage device being coupled to the network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a hot plug connection.

11. A system for communicating with a personal storage device, the system comprising:

a server configured to;

store a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs), each of the APIs being associated with a different type of personal storage device;

receive, over a network, a communication from a personal storage device; and

control circuitry configured to;

process the communication to identify a type of the personal storage device;

search the plurality of APIs to identify a first API of the plurality of APIs that is associated with a given type of personal storage device that corresponds to the identified type of the personal storage device;

select the first API identified as a result of the searching; and

generate an instruction for transmission from the server to the personal storage device using the selected first API.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is included in a set-top box.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is further configured to:

send a device type identification query to the personal storage device; and

receive, in response to the device type identification query, a device type identification data packet from the personal storage device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein each of the APIs includes at least one of routines, protocols, and tools corresponding to the respective type of personal storage device.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to monitor one or more communication channels on the network to detect the personal storage device.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication is received in response to detecting the personal storage device being coupled to the network.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the server does not have recording capabilities.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the personal storage device is compatible with the first API.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to automatically generate a driver source code using the first API in response to detecting the personal storage device being coupled to the network.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the network comprises a hot plug connection.