Apparatus and method for program selection utilizing exclusive and inclusive metadata searches

• US 20030093260A1
• Filed: 11/13/2001
• Published: 05/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Dimitrova, Nevenka, Jasinschi, Radu S., Dagtas, Serhan
• Granted Patent: US 6,859,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/685 using automatically derived transcript of audio data, e.g. lyrics speech recognition G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7844 using original textual content or text extracted from visual content or transcript of audio data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

There is disclosed an apparatus and method for conducting exclusive and inclusive metadata searches to identify and select multimedia programs. The apparatus of the invention comprises a metadata search controller that compares user specified search words with metadata words to find programs that meet user specified search criteria. The metadata search controller executes an inclusive metadata search to search for matches between a user specified search word and a metadata word that is related to the user specified search word in a word pair contained within a word pair database. The metadata search controller calculates a rank value for each program that is found by a metadata search and creates a ranked list of such programs.

Claims

1. An apparatus for identifying a multimedia program that contains at least one word that is related to a user specified search word, said apparatus comprising:

a metadata search controller capable of receiving metadata that contains words present in said multimedia program;

wherein said metadata search controller is capable of executing an inclusive metadata search that is capable of identifying a match between said user specified search word and a metadata word of said multimedia program that is related to said user specified search word.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said metadata search controller comprises:

a word pair database that contains a plurality of word pairs wherein each word pair in said word pair database comprises a first word and a second word; and

a word pair weight factor assigned to each word pair in said word pair database, said word pair weight factor indicating a relative significance of a relationship between said first word and said second word of said word pair.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of executing an inclusive metadata search that is capable of identifying at least one word pair in said word pair database wherein one word of said word pair matches a metadata word of said multimedia program and wherein another word of said word pair matches said user specified search word.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of assigning a search field weight factor to each of a plurality of search fields in said inclusive metadata search wherein said search field weight factor is a number that reflects a relative importance of a search field.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of receiving a search field weight factor from one of:

(1) a user instruction and (2) information concerning user viewing habits.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of assigning a word pair weight factor to at least one word pair in said word pair database.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of receiving a word pair weight factor from one of:

(1) a user instruction and (2) information concerning user viewing habits.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of receiving an inclusive search request comprising a plurality of search fields where a relationship between a first search field and a second search field is expressed by one of:

logical operator AND, logical operator OR, logical operator NOT, and a logical operator comprising a combination of said logical operators AND, OR, and NOT.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of executing an exclusive metadata search that is capable of identifying a match between said user specified search word and a metadata word of said multimedia program that exactly matches said user specified search word.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of receiving a user instruction to execute one of:

an inclusive metadata search and an exclusive metadata search.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of receiving an exclusive search request comprising a plurality of search fields where a relationship between a first search field and a second search field is expressed by one of:

logical operator AND, logical operator OR, logical operator NOT, and a logical operator comprising a combination of said logical operators AND, OR, and NOT.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of calculating a rank value for each multimedia program identified by said inclusive metadata search using:

a search field weight factor for each search field;

a word pair weight factor for each word pair detected during said inclusive metadata search; and

a number of matches of words found during said inclusive metadata search.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said rank value for each multimedia program identified by said inclusive metadata search is calculated with the equation:

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of creating a search result list of multimedia programs identified during said inclusive metadata search where said multimedia programs are listed in accordance with their respective rank values.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of using a rank value of a multimedia program identified during said inclusive metadata search to automatically update a priority of a multimedia program that is to be recorded by a multimedia recorder.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of deleting a multimedia program from a program list based on a value of a program deletion factor calculated using a rank value of said multimedia program.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16 wherein said program deletion factor (PDF) is calculated from the equation:

18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of calculating a rank value for each multimedia program identified by said exclusive metadata search using:

a search field weight factor for each search field; and

a number of matches of words found during said exclusive metadata search.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of creating a search result list of multimedia programs identified during said exclusive metadata search where said multimedia programs are listed in accordance with their respective rank values.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of using a rank value of a multimedia program identified during said exclusive metadata search to automatically update a priority of a multimedia program that is to be recorded by a multimedia recorder.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20 wherein said metadata search controller is capable of deleting a multimedia program from a program list based on a value of a program deletion factor calculated using a rank value of said multimedia program.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21 wherein said program deletion factor (PDF) is calculated from the equation:

23. A method for identifying a multimedia program that contains at least one word that is related to a user specified search word, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving in a metadata search controller metadata that contains words present in said multimedia program; and

executing in said metadata search controller an inclusive metadata search; and

identifying a match between said user specified search word and a metadata word of said multimedia program that is related to said user specified search word.

24. The method as claimed in claim 23 further comprising the steps of:

creating a word pair database in said metadata search controller, said word pair database containing a plurality of word pairs wherein each word pair in said word pair database comprises a first word and a second word; and

assigning a word pair weight factor to each word pair in said word pair database, said word pair weight factor indicating a relative significance of a relationship between said first word and said second word of said word pair.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24 further comprising the steps of:

executing in said metadata search controller an inclusive metadata search; and

identifying at least one word pair in said word pair database wherein one word of said word pair matches a metadata word of said multimedia program and wherein another word of said word pair matches said user specified search word.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25 further comprising the step of:

assigning a search field weight factor to each of a plurality search fields in said inclusive metadata search wherein said search field weight factor is a number that reflects a relative importance of a search field.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26 further comprising the step of:

receiving in said metadata search controller a search field weight factor from one of;

(1) a user instruction and (2) information concerning user viewing habits.

28. The method as claimed in claim 25 further comprising the step of:

assigning a word pair weight factor to at least one word pair in said word pair database using said metadata search controller.

29. The method as claimed in claim 28 further comprising the step of:

receiving in said metadata search controller a word pair weight factor from one of;

(1) a user instruction and (2) information concerning user viewing habits.

30. The method as claimed in claim 29 further comprising the steps of:

receiving in said metadata search controller an inclusive search request comprising a plurality of search fields where a relationship between a first search field and a second search field is expressed by one of;

logical operator AND, logical operator OR, logical operator NOT, and a logical operator comprising a combination of said logical operators AND, OR, and NOT.

31. The method as claimed in claim 23 further comprising the steps of:

executing in said metadata search controller an exclusive metadata search; and

identifying a match between said user specified search word and a metadata word of said multimedia program that exactly matches said user specified search word.

32. The method as claimed in claim 31 further comprising the step of:

receiving a user instruction in said metadata search controller to execute one of;

an inclusive metadata search and an exclusive metadata search.

33. The method as claimed in claim 31 further comprising the step of:

receiving in said metadata search controller an exclusive search request comprising a plurality of search fields where a relationship between a first search field and a second search field is expressed by one of;

logical operator AND, logical operator OR, logical operator NOT, and a logical operator derived from a combination of said logical operators AND, OR, and NOT.

34. The method as claimed in claim 26 further comprising the steps of:

calculating a rank value for each multimedia program identified by said inclusive metadata search using;

a search field weight factor for each search field;

a word pair weight factor for each word pair detected during said inclusive metadata search; and

a number of matches of words found during said inclusive metadata search.

35. The method as claimed in claim 34 further comprising the step of:

calculating said rank value for each multimedia program identified by said inclusive metadata search with the equation;

$\mathrm{Rank}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br>w_i<br><br>\underset{j=1}{\overset{M}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br>r_j$

where N is a total number of words in a search field, and where w_i is a search field weight factor for field “

i”

, and where M is a total number of words within a field, and where r_j is a matching factor for a “

j”

^th word in a particular field, and where if a match is exact, then a value of r_j is equal to one (1).

36. The method as claimed in claim 34 further comprising the step of:

creating a search result list of multimedia programs identified during said inclusive metadata search where said multimedia programs are listed in accordance with their respective rank values.

37. The method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the step of:

automatically updating a priority of a multimedia program that is to be recorded by a multimedia recorder using a rank value of a multimedia program identified during said inclusive metadata search.

38. The method as claimed in claim 37 further comprising the step of:

using said metadata search controller to delete a multimedia program from a program list based on a value of a program deletion factor calculated using a rank value of said multimedia program.

39. The method as claimed in claim 38 wherein said program deletion factor (PDF) is calculated from the equation:

40. The method as claimed in claim 31 further comprising the step of:

calculating a rank value for each multimedia program identified by said exclusive metadata search using;

a search field weight factor for each search field; and

a number of matches of words found during said exclusive metadata search.

41. The method as claimed in claim 40 further comprising the step of:

creating a search result list of multimedia programs identified during said exclusive metadata search where said multimedia programs are listed in accordance with their respective rank values.

42. The method as claimed in claim 41 further comprising the step of:

automatically updating a priority of a multimedia program that is to be recorded by a multimedia recorder using a rank value of a multimedia program identified during said exclusive metadata search.

43. The method as claimed in claim 42 further comprising the step of:

using said multimedia search controller to delete a multimedia program from a program list based on a value of a program deletion factor calculated using a rank value of said multimedia program.

44. The method as claimed in claim 43 wherein said program deletion factor (PDF) is calculated from the equation:

45. Computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium for identifying a multimedia program that contains at least one word that is related to a user specified search word, the computer executable instructions comprising the steps of:

receiving in a metadata search controller metadata that contains words present in said multimedia program; and

executing in said metadata search controller an inclusive metadata search; and

identifying a match between said user specified search word and a metadata word of said multimedia program that is related to said user specified search word.

46. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 45 further comprising the steps of:

creating a word pair database in said metadata search controller, said word pair database containing a plurality of word pairs wherein each word pair in said word pair database comprises a first word and a second word; and

assigning a word pair weight factor to each word pair in said word pair database, said word pair weight factor indicating a relative significance of a relationship between said first word and said second word of said word pair.

47. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 46 further comprising the steps of:

executing in said metadata search controller an inclusive metadata search; and

identifying at least one word pair in said word pair database wherein one word of said word pair matches a metadata word of said multimedia program and wherein another word of said word pair matches said user specified search word.

48. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 47 further comprising the step of:

assigning a search field weight factor to each of a plurality of search fields in said inclusive metadata search wherein said search field weight factor is a number that reflects a relative importance of a search field.

49. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 48 further comprising the step of:

receiving in said metadata search controller a search field weight factor from one of;

(1) a user instruction and (2) information concerning user viewing habits.

50. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 47 further comprising the step of:

assigning a word pair weight factor to at least one word pair in said word pair database using said metadata search controller.

51. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 50 further comprising the step of:

receiving in said metadata search controller a word pair weight factor from one of;

(1) a user instruction and (2) information concerning user viewing habits.

52. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 51 further comprising the steps of:

receiving in said metadata search controller an inclusive search request comprising a plurality of search fields where a relationship between a first search field and a second search field is expressed by one of;

logical operator AND, logical operator OR, logical operator NOT, and a logical operator comprising a combination of said logical operators AND, OR, and NOT.

53. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 45 further comprising the steps of:

executing in said metadata search controller an exclusive metadata search; and

identifying a match between said user specified search word and a metadata word of said multimedia program that exactly matches said user specified search word.

54. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 53 further comprising the step of:

receiving a user instruction in said metadata search controller to execute one of;

an inclusive metadata search and an exclusive metadata search.

55. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 53 further comprising the step of:

receiving in said metadata search controller an exclusive search request comprising a plurality of search fields where a relationship between a first search field and a second search field is expressed by one of;

logical operator AND, logical operator OR, logical operator NOT, and a logical operator derived from a combination of said logical operators AND, OR, and NOT.

56. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 48 further comprising the steps of:

calculating a rank value for each multimedia program identified by said inclusive metadata search using;

a search field weight factor for each search field;

a word pair weight factor for each word pair detected during said inclusive metadata search; and

a number of matches of words found during said inclusive metadata search.

57. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 56 further comprising the step of:

calculating said rank value for each multimedia program identified by said inclusive metadata search with the equation;

$\mathrm{Rank}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br>w_i<br><br>\underset{j=1}{\overset{M}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br>r_j$

where N is a total number of words in a search field, and where w_i is a search field weight factor for field “

i”

, and where M is a total number of words within a field, and where r_j is a matching factor for a “

j”

^th word in a particular field, and where if a match is exact, then a value of r_j is equal to one (1).

58. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 56 further comprising the step of:

creating a search result list of multimedia programs identified during said inclusive metadata search where said multimedia programs are listed in accordance with their respective rank values.

59. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 58 further comprising the step of:

automatically updating a priority of a multimedia program that is to be recorded by a multimedia recorder using a rank value of a multimedia program identified during said inclusive metadata search.

60. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 59 further comprising the step of:

using said metadata search controller to delete a multimedia program from a program list based on a value of a program deletion factor calculated using a rank value of said multimedia program.

61. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 60 wherein said program deletion factor (PDF) is calculated from the equation:

62. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 53 further comprising the step of:

calculating a rank value for each multimedia program identified by said exclusive metadata search using;

a search field weight factor for each search field; and

a number of matches of words found during said exclusive metadata search.

63. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 62 further comprising the step of:

creating a search result list of multimedia programs identified during said exclusive metadata search where said multimedia programs are listed in accordance with their respective rank values.

64. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 63 further comprising the step of:

automatically updating a priority of a multimedia program that is to be recorded by a multimedia recorder using a rank value of a multimedia program identified during said exclusive metadata search.

65. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 64 further comprising the step of:

using said multimedia search controller to delete a multimedia program from a program list based on a value of a program deletion factor calculated using a rank value of said multimedia program.

66. The computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium as claimed in claim 65 wherein said program deletion factor (PDF) is calculated from the equation: