Media content distribution system and methods for use therewith

• US 10,674,197 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2018
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2018
• 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: Fuetsch, Andre, Koch, Robert, Craine, Ari
• Primary Examiner(s): Huerta, Alexander Q
• Application Number:
  US15/907,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20190268645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 825 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26603 for automatically generating descriptors from content, e.g. when it is not made available by its provider, using content analysis techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system configured for obtaining a plurality of segments of media content, generating a plurality of tagged media segments by tagging each of the plurality of segments of media content according to one of a plurality of content designators, and generating a plurality of content groups by grouping the plurality of tagged media segments according to their corresponding content designators. The system can be further configured for identifying an activity of a user according to activity data collected from at least one device, generating, according to the activity of the user, a selected content group by selecting a content group from the plurality of content groups, and transmitting to a target communication device a notification associated with the selected content group. 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, the operations comprising;

receiving a plurality of segments of media content from a plurality of media content sources;

generating a plurality of content designators according to activity data associated with activities of a user;

generating a plurality of tagged media segments by tagging each of the plurality of segments of media content according to one of the plurality of content designators;

generating a plurality of content groups by grouping the plurality of tagged media segments according to a plurality of segment lengths and their corresponding content designators;

generating data to obtain generated data based on received data that is received from at least one of a plurality of devices that monitor the activities of the user;

detecting an activity of the user according to at least a portion of the generated data to obtain a detected activity;

determining a particular segment length of the plurality of segment lengths according to a context of the detected activity;

determining a particular content designator of the plurality of content designators according to the context of the detected activity;

generating a selected content group by selecting a content group from the plurality of content groups according to the particular segment length of the plurality of segment lengths and the particular content designator of the plurality of content designators;

selecting a target communication device to present to the user a message associated with the selected content group; and

transmitting information associated with the message to the target communication device.

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

obtaining a profile that is descriptive of the user;

generating, according the profile, a request for media content; and

submitting the request to the plurality of media content sources.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the receiving the plurality of segments of media content from the plurality of media content sources is responsive to a search request initiated according to user-generated input associated with the user.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the user-generated input includes audible input, image input, keyboard input, or any combinations thereof.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments of media content comprises audio content, video content, still image content, textual content, augmented reality content, virtual reality content, or any combinations thereof.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the data comprises location data identifying a location of the user, movement data identifying a trajectory of the user, network data initiated by a device utilized by the user, orientation data provided by a communication device utilized by the user, calendar data identifying activities of the user, audio data generated from audible content obtained in a vicinity of the user, image data generated from image content obtained in the vicinity of the user, or any combinations thereof.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving user-generated input from the target communication device, wherein the user-generated input is associated with the message.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise initiating, according to the user-generated input, a presentation of media content from the selected content group.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the presentation of the media content is at a display device identified by the user-generated input.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the display device is a component part of the target communication device.

11. The device of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise recording at a recording device, responsive to the user-generated input, media content from the selected content group.

12. The device of claim 7, wherein the user-generated input comprises an audible signal obtained by the target communication device.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured according to a plurality of selectable computing resources.

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

obtaining a plurality of segments of media content;

generating a plurality of content designators according to activity data associated with activities of a user;

generating a plurality of tagged segments by tagging each of the plurality of segments of media content according to one of the plurality of content designators;

generating a plurality of content groups by grouping the plurality of tagged segments according to a plurality of segment lengths and their corresponding content designators;

obtaining data provided by at least one of a plurality of devices obtaining the activity data associated with the activities of the user, wherein at least a portion of the data is related to an activity of the user;

detecting an activity of the user according to the at least the portion of the data;

determining a particular segment length of the plurality of segment lengths according to the activity detected;

determining a particular content designator of the plurality of content designators according to the activity detected;

generating, according to the activity, a selected content group by selecting a content group from the plurality of content groups according to the particular segment length of the plurality of segment lengths and the particular content designator of the plurality of content designators; and

transmitting to a target communication device a notification associated with the selected content group.

15. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the notification includes media content obtained from the selected content group.

16. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the media content comprises audio content, video content, still image content, textual content, augmented reality content, virtual reality content, or any combinations thereof.

17. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the data comprises location data identifying a location of the user, movement data identifying a trajectory of the user, network data initiated by a device utilized by the user, orientation data provided by a communication device utilized by the user, calendar data identifying activities of the user, audio data generated from audible content obtained in a vicinity of the user, image data generated from image content obtained in the vicinity of the user, or any combinations thereof.

18. A method, comprising:

obtaining, by a processing system including a processor, a plurality of segments of media content;

determining, by the processing system, a plurality of content designators according to activity data of a user collected from at least one device;

generating, by the processing system, a plurality of tagged media segments by tagging each of the plurality of segments of media content according to one of the plurality of content designators;

generating, by the processing system, a plurality of content groups by grouping the plurality of tagged media segments according to their corresponding content designators and a plurality of segment lengths;

identifying, by the processing system, an activity of the user according to the activity data collected from at least one device;

determining, by the processing system, a particular segment length of the plurality of segment lengths according to the activity detected;

determining, by the processing system, a particular content designator of the plurality of content designators according to the activity detected;

generating, by the processing system according to the activity of the user, a selected content group by selecting a content group from the plurality of content groups according to the particular segment length of the plurality of segment lengths and the particular content designator of the plurality of content designators; and

transmitting, by the processing system, to a target communication device a notification associated with the selected content group.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving, by the processing system and responsive to the notification, a request to obtain media content from the selected content group, wherein the media content comprises audio content, video content, still image content, textual content, augmented reality content, virtual reality content, or any combinations thereof.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the activity data comprises location data identifying a location of the user, movement data identifying a trajectory of the user, network data initiated by a device utilized by the user, orientation data provided by a communication device utilized by the user, calendar data identifying activities of the user, audio data generated from audible content obtained in a vicinity of the user, image data generated from image content obtained in the vicinity of the user, or any combinations thereof.