System and method for unprompted, context-sensitive querying during a televison broadcast

• US 20020083464A1
• Filed: 12/22/2000
• Published: 06/27/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Digeo Incorporated (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Digeo Broadband Incorporated
• Inventors: Stettner, Armando P., Behrens, Martin L., Tomsen, Mai-Ian
• Application Number:
  US09/748,080
• Publication Number:
  US 20020083464A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/112
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/278 Content descriptor database or directory service for end-user access details of content or meta data based information retrieval of video data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A user initiates an unprompted, context-sensitive request for supplemental content related to a television broadcast being displayed by an interactive television system. The information request includes an identification of the interactive television system and contextual information pertaining to the television program being viewed. The content source searches for supplemental content based upon the contextual information. If no supplemental content is found, a global information network, such as the Internet, is searched. The supplemental content is from the content source or the global information network to the interactive television system for display to the user.

Claims

1. A method for selectively retrieving and displaying supplemental content related to a television program being displayed by an interactive television system, the method comprising:

receiving a user command to find supplemental content;

obtaining contextual information pertaining to the television program being displayed;

sending an information request to a content source, the information request comprising the contextual information; and

in response to the content source identifying supplemental content related to the television program being displayed based upon the contextual information, retrieving the supplemental content from the content source for display by the interactive television system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user command is received in response to a user activating a specifically-designated button on a remote control device for the interactive television system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual information comprises an indication of the television program being displayed.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein obtaining comprises:

reading the indication of the television program from vertical blanking interval (VBI) data associated with the television program.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein obtaining comprises:

reading the indication of the television program from electronic programming guide (EPG) data associated with the television program.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

searching the content source for supplemental content related to the indication of the television program.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual information comprises a time index.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the time index indicates a time at which the user command is received.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

searching the content source for supplemental content related to a particular time segment of the television program based upon the time index.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual information comprises at least one keyword obtained from closed-captioning text associated with the television program.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

searching the content source for supplemental content comprising the at least one keyword.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

in response to supplemental content comprising the at least one keyword not being found at the content source;

searching a global information network for supplemental content comprising the at least one keyword; and

retrieving the supplemental content from the global information network for display by the interactive television system.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to supplemental content related to the television program not being found at the content source;

searching a global information network for supplemental content related to the television program based on the contextual information; and

retrieving the supplemental content from the global information network for display by the interactive television system.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the information request comprises an identifier of the interactive television system.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the identifier comprises a media access control (MAC) address.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the identifier comprises an Internet protocol (IP) address.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein retrieving comprises:

sending the identified supplemental content from the content source to an interactive television system associated with the identifier.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual information comprises an indication of a channel being displayed, the method further comprising:

using the indication the channel to identify a content source to receive the information request.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the supplemental content simultaneously with the television program.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

reducing the size of the displayed television program relative to the size of the displayed supplemental content.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving comprises:

receiving a list of supplemental content items from the content source in response to a search by the content source;

receiving a user selection of a supplemental content item from the list;

sending the user selection to the content source; and

retrieving from the content source the selected supplemental content item for display by the interactive television system.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the list comprises at least one link to an item of supplemental content stored at the content source.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one link comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

filtering the list of items of supplemental content results based on a set of user preferences.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the information request comprises the set of user preferences.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one user preference indicates a type of supplemental content to exclude.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one user preference indicates a type of supplemental content preferred by the user.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one user preference indicates a source of supplemental content preferred by the user.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one user preference is stored in response to historical analysis of user selections from prior lists of items of supplemental content.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a list of supplemental content items from the content source in response to a search of a global information network;

receiving a user selection of a supplemental content item from the list; and

retrieving from the global information network the selected supplemental content item for display by the interactive television system.

31. A system for selectively retrieving and displaying supplemental content related to a television program being displayed by an interactive television system, the system comprising:

a remote control device for the interactive television system, the remote control device comprising a specifically-designated button for requesting supplemental content related to the television program; and

a set top box for the interactive television system, the set top box being configured to obtain contextual information pertaining to the television program being displayed, send an information request comprising the contextual information to a content source, and retrieve supplemental content from the content source for display by the interactive television system in response to the content source identifying supplemental content related to the television program based upon the contextual information.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

a display device for displaying the supplemental content retrieved from the content source.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the contextual information comprises an indication of the television program being displayed.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the set top box is further configured to read the indication of the television program from vertical blanking interval (VBI) data associated with the television program.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the set top box is further configured to read the indication of the television program from electronic programming guide (EPG) data associated with the television program.

36. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

a search engine configured to search the content source for supplemental content related to the indication of the television program.

37. The system of claim 31, wherein the contextual information comprises a time index.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the time index indicates a time at which the user command is received.

39. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

a search engine configured to search the content source for supplemental content related to a particular time segment of the television program based upon the time index.

40. The system of claim 31, wherein the contextual information comprises at least one keyword obtained from closed-captioning text associated with the television program.

41. The system of claim 40, further comprising:

a search engine configured to search the content source for supplemental content comprising the at least one keyword.

42. The system of claim 41, further comprising:

a search engine configured, in response to supplemental content comprising the at least one keyword not being found at the content source, to search a global information network for supplemental content comprising the at least one keyword;

wherein the set top box is further configured to retrieve the supplemental content from the global information network for display by the interactive television system.

43. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

a search engine configured, in response to supplemental content related to the television program not being found at the content source, to search a global information network for supplemental content related to the television program based on the contextual information; and

wherein the set top box is further configured to retrieve the supplemental content from the global information network for display by the interactive television system.

44. The system of claim 31, wherein the information request comprises an identifier of the interactive television system.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the identifier comprises a media access control (MAC) address.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein the identifier comprises an Internet protocol (IP) address.

47. The system of claim 44, wherein the content source is configured to send the identified supplemental content to an interactive television system associated with the identifier.

48. The system of claim 31, wherein the contextual information comprises an indication of a channel being displayed, and wherein the set top box is further configured to use the indication the channel to identify a content source to receive the information request.

49. The system of claim 31, wherein set top box is configured to simultaneously display the supplemental content with the television program.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the set top box is further configured to reduce the size of the displayed television program relative to the size of the displayed supplemental content.

51. The system of claim 31, wherein the set top box is further configured to receive a list of supplemental content items from the content source in response to a search by the content source, receive a user selection of a supplemental content item from the list, send the user selection to the content source, and retrieve from the content source the selected supplemental content item for display by the interactive television system.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the list comprises at least one link to an item of supplemental content stored at the content source.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the at least one link comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).

54. The system of claim 50, further comprising:

a filtering component configured to filter the list of items of supplemental content results based on a set of user preferences.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein the information request comprises the set of user preferences.

56. The system of claim 54, wherein at least one user preference indicates a type of supplemental content to exclude.

57. The system of claim 54, wherein at least one user preference indicates a type of supplemental content preferred by the user.

58. The system of claim 54, wherein at least one user preference indicates a source of supplemental content preferred by the user.

59. The system of claim 54, wherein at least one user preference is stored in response to historical analysis of user selections from prior lists of items of supplemental content.

60. The system of claim 31, wherein the set top box is further configured to receive a list of supplemental content items from the content source in response to a search of a global information network, receive a user selection of a supplemental content item from the list, and retrieve from the global information network the selected supplemental content item for display by the interactive television system.