Method and apparatus for managing multiple media services

• US 10,255,418 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2017
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Baldwin, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Woldemariam, Aklilu K
• Application Number:
  US15/692,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20170372053A1
• Time in Patent Office: 586 Days
• Field of Search: 382118, 707736, 707722, 707610, 707706, 707640, 707674
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/40 by quorum, i.e. whereby two or more security principals are required
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/103 Transmitter-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25875 involving end-user authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; arrangements for secret or secure communication including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44245 Monitoring the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. its availability, bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining a group of facial objects detected from an image captured by a camera coupled with a media device where the facial objects correspond to a plurality of users, determining authentication information for each of the plurality of users based on the facial objects, and providing the authentication information to a group of content service systems for enabling the media device to access aggregated media services from the group of content service systems. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

authenticating a plurality of users in response to identifying the plurality of users within a viewing area of a media device and verifying user-generated input, wherein identifying the plurality of users comprises capturing an image of the viewing area and using facial pattern recognition to identify each of the plurality of users, wherein the user-generated input comprises a voice signal for each of the plurality of users, and wherein the verifying user-generated input comprises identifying the voice signal for each of the plurality of users;

in response to the authenticating, determining a group of media services and a history of prior access to the group of media services by the plurality of users according to subscription plans for the plurality of users; and

filtering out redundant media services among the group of media services to generate aggregated media services, wherein the filtering out of the redundant media services includes choosing a selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a quality of service threshold.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the choosing of the selected redundant media service comprises choosing the selected redundant media service among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a cost threshold.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the operations comprise:

monitoring a cost for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the cost for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the cost threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the choosing of the selected redundant media service comprises choosing the selected redundant media service among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a network condition threshold.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the operations comprise:

monitoring a network condition for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the network condition for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the network condition threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the quality of service threshold is one of an image quality threshold and a streaming quality threshold.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:

monitoring a quality of service for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the quality of service for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the quality of service threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the choosing of the selected redundant media service comprises choosing the selected redundant media service among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a user criteria threshold.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the operations comprise:

monitoring a user criteria for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the user criteria for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the user criteria threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the user criteria is one of service provider agreements, user profiles, and user preferences.

11. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

authenticating a plurality of users in response identifying the plurality of users within a viewing area of a media device and verifying user-generated input, wherein identifying the plurality of users comprises capturing an image of the viewing area and using facial pattern recognition to identify each of the plurality of users;

in response to the authenticating, determining a group of media services and a history of prior access to the group of media services by the plurality of users according to subscription plans for the plurality of users, wherein the user-generated input comprises a voice signal for each of the plurality of users, and wherein the verifying user-generated input comprises identifying the voice signal for each of the plurality of users; and

filtering out redundant media services among the group of media services to generate aggregated media services, wherein the filtering out of the redundant media services includes choosing a selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a cost threshold.

12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the choosing of the selected redundant media service comprises choosing the selected redundant media service among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a quality of service threshold.

13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the operations comprise:

monitoring a quality of service for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the quality of service for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the quality of service threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the quality of service threshold is one of an image quality threshold and a streaming quality threshold.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the choosing of the selected redundant media service comprises choosing the selected redundant media service among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a network condition threshold.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations comprise:

monitoring a network condition for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the network condition for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the network condition threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11,

monitoring a cost for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting the cost for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the cost threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

18. A method, comprising:

authenticating, by a processing system including a processor, a plurality of users in response to identifying, by the processing system and verifying user-generated input, the plurality of users within a viewing area of a media device, wherein the user-generated input comprises a voice signal for each of the plurality of users, and wherein the verifying user-generated input comprises identifying the voice signal for each of the plurality of users;

in response to the authenticating, determining, by the processing system, a group of media services and a history of prior access to the group of media services by the plurality of users according to subscription plans for the plurality of users; and

filtering out, by the processing system, redundant media services among the group of media services to generate aggregated media services, wherein the filtering out of the redundant media services includes choosing a selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services for inclusion in the aggregated media services based on satisfying a user criteria threshold.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising:

monitoring, by the processing system, a user criteria for the selected redundant media service during utilization of the selected redundant media service;

detecting, by the processing system, the user criteria for the selected redundant media service failing to satisfy the user criteria threshold; and

responsive to the detecting, replacing, by the processing system, the selected redundant media service with another selected redundant media service from among the redundant media services that were filtered out.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the user criteria is one of service provider agreements, user profiles, and user preferences.