Efficient customization of advertising programs for broadcast TV

• US 20030106070A1
• Filed: 12/03/2002
• Published: 06/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Homayoon Saam
• Original Assignee: Homayoon Saam
• Inventors: Saam, Homayoon
• Application Number:
  US10/308,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20030106070A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/135
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• 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 21/439 Processing of audio elementary streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440236 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures, audio is converted into text
• 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 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/445 for displaying additional information H04N5/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/081 the additional information signals being transmitted by means of a subcarrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0882 for the transmission of character code signals, e.g. for teletext circuits for the digital non-picture data signal H04N7/035
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A system and method for efficient communication of customized messages is described which builds upon existing mechanisms for the transmission and playback of advertising programs and enhances the advertising programs by providing customized components of the program in an efficient manner. This scheme reduces the bandwidth requirements and eases the task of production by the advertising producers of a multiplicity of customized advertising messages, each targeting a separate household or groups of households.

Claims

1. A system for communicating video programs along with customized program content, in the form of data packets with custom content, the system comprising:

Means for creating a plurality of customized data packets corresponding to a plurality of viewing population segments with each population segment assigned one or more data packets;

Means for scheduling and synchronizing the transmission of customized data packets at a specific time point of the video program, and transmitting this composite program, consisting of video and data, to the set-top box residing at a viewer'"'"'s residence;

Means in the set-top box for selecting the appropriate customized data packets from the composite program being received based on a plurality of parameters;

Means in the set-top box for rendering of the selected data packets just received, into graphical, voice or audio program components based on instructions embedded in the data packets.

Means in the set-top box for overlaying the said selectively received and rendered program components on top of the video program being received in real-time to play back the combined video program and the customized overlay on a video display device, in order to create a customized program relevant to that particular viewer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the said video program being customized is an advertisement within existing television programs.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the video program being customized is advertisements within pre-recorded video used in video-on-demand service offering.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the video program being customized is general programming content that is intended to have an advertisement overlay.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the program being customized is an infomercial resulting in targeted offerings to different segments of the viewing population.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of creating customized data packets consists of a software program correlating one or more marketing databases, to automatically and selectively fill in specific fields of a generic text message.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said parameter for identifying the population segment to which the viewer belongs, is stored ahead of time in the set-top box.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of communicating video programs and data packets is based on Motion Pictures Experts Group, or MPEG, transport technology as deployed by cable TV or satellite TV operators.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of transmitting customized data packets to the set-top box is the private-data section of an MPEG transport.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of transmitting customized data packets is an Internet-based video delivery system to a personal computer system.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of transmitting the customized data packets is a dedicated frequency channel available through a dedicated tuner in the set-top box.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of transmitting the customized data packets is the vertical blanking interval, or VBI, of the analog video.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein rendered graphical and audio components are used to selectively replace a segment of a video program, or to fill in a blank segment of a video program.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein one means of customizing the program is using MPEG-4 to create new video content.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein customized voice overlays are created from a speech synthesis software running on the set-top box.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein customized voice overlays are created from compressed voice packets by a speech decompression software running on the set-top box.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein a cue-tone is used to determine the insertion point of the customized data packets for advertisement enhancement.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein a digital signal is used to determine the insertion point of the customized data packets into the program video.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said means of rendering in the set-top box include ability to control desirable aspects of the graphics, voice or audio consisting of the physical shape and location, color, speed of movement, timing of appearance and disappearance, loudness and similar features based on instructions embedded in the data packets;

20. The system of claim 1, wherein an error-correction mechanism is used in the set-top box to correct for transmission errors in the data packets.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein graphical libraries are downloaded to the set-top box ahead of time.