Electronic program guide for processing content-related information configured using a reference information model
First Claim
1. A method for processing content-related information for delivery to a processing device configured to support an electronic program guide of a first type, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining a reference information model for use with the content-related information; and
configuring at least a portion of the content-related information for consistency with corresponding portions of the reference information model, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by at least the electronic program guide of the first type.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electronic program guide (EPG) processing techniques are disclosed which involve processing content-related information in the form of documents generated using a reference information model (RIM). The documents may be configured in an extensible mark-up language (XML) or other standard format. At least a portion of the content-related information is configured for consistency with corresponding portions of the RIM, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by different EPG applications. The RIM preferably comprises multiple classes of information, and specifies properties of the classes utilizing attributes, relationships and states. For example, instances of the classes may be configured as objects in an object-oriented programming format, and one or more of the objects may contain structures represented as attributes. The RIM may be generated utilizing an iterative process in which progressively more inclusive versions are generated by modifying previous versions to support additional data specifications.
40 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for processing content-related information for delivery to a processing device configured to support an electronic program guide of a first type, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a reference information model for use with the content-related information; and
configuring at least a portion of the content-related information for consistency with corresponding portions of the reference information model, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by at least the electronic program guide of the first type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for use in a processing device configured to support an electronic program guide of a first type for processing content-related information, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving the content-related information, at least a portion of the content-related information being configured for consistency with corresponding portions of a reference information model, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by at least the electronic program guide of the first type; and
processing the content-related information to generate a corresponding output at the processing device.
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17. An apparatus for processing content-related information for delivery to a processing device configured to support an electronic program guide of a first type, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor operative to configure at least a portion of the content-related information for consistency with corresponding portions of a reference information model, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by at least the electronic program guide of the first type; and
a memory coupled to the processor, for at least temporarily storing at least a portion of the content-related information.
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18. An apparatus associated with a processing device configured to support an electronic program guide of a first type for processing content-related information, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor operative to implement at least a portion of the electronic program guide of the first type for processing the content-related information, at least a portion of the content-related information being configured for consistency with corresponding portions of a reference information model, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by at least the electronic program guide of the first type; and
a memory coupled to the processor, for at least temporarily storing at least a portion of the content-related information.
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19. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable storage medium containing one or more software programs for processing content-related information for delivery to a processing device configured to support an electronic program guide of a first type, wherein the one or more software programs when executed implement the steps of:
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determining a reference information model for use with the content-related information; and
configuring at least a portion of the content-related information for consistency with corresponding portions of the reference information model, the portion of the content-related information so configured thereby being suitable for processing by at least the electronic program guide of the first type.
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Specification