Frontend media filter for digital TV broadcast

• US 20030110510A1
• Filed: 12/10/2001
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Wang, Sidney, Gong, Hubert Le Van
• Application Number:
  US10/015,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20030110510A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/127
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21805 enabling multiple viewpoints, e.g. using a plurality of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4347 Demultiplexing of several video streams
• 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 21/4545 Input to filtering algorithms, e.g. filtering a region of the image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/505 Invisible or silent tuning

Abstract

A method and apparatus to filter a plurality of multimedia streams of a presentation is described. According to one embodiment, a filtering apparatus receive user profile information describing user preferences and a plurality of multimedia streams including metadata streams. The metadata streams describe each of the plurality of multimedia streams. The filtering apparatus filters the plurality of multimedia streams to select a multimedia stream based on the metadata and the user profile information.

Claims

1. A method to filter a plurality of multimedia streams of a presentation comprising:

receiving user profile information describing user preferences;

receiving the plurality of multimedia streams including metadata describing each of the plurality of multimedia streams; and

filtering the plurality of multimedia streams to select a multimedia stream based on the metadata and the user profile information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the metadata describes characteristics of the plurality of multimedia streams.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the metadata describes relationships of the plurality of multimedia streams.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected multimedia stream is selected from the group consisting of an audio stream, a video stream, a graphics stream, a data stream, a simulated audio stream, a simulated video stream, and a simulated data stream.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a simulated multimedia stream associated with the selected multimedia stream; and

integrating the simulated multimedia into the selected multimedia stream.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the integrating is performed after the filtering.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the integrating is performed before the filtering.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting the selected multimedia stream to a display component.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transferring the selected multimedia stream to a data store.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the user profile information is delivered via a viewer control.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the presentation is selected from the group consisting of a sporting event, a concert, a movie, a television program, and a play.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein a subset of the plurality of multimedia streams are transmitted each from a plurality of broadcast cameras.

13. A filtering apparatus comprising:

a filter component to select a multimedia stream from a plurality of multimedia streams based on metadata and a user profile information.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a display component to present the selected multimedia stream to a viewer.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a data store to store the selected multimedia stream.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a digital TV broadcast media from which the filter component receives the plurality of multimedia streams.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the filter apparatus is integrated into a system from the group consisting of a digital TV receiver, a set top box, and a personal computer.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the plurality of multimedia streams are selected from the group consisting of an audio stream, a video stream, a graphics stream, a data stream, a simulated audio stream, a simulated video stream, and a simulated data stream.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a simulation server to generate and integrate simulated multimedia into the selected multimedia stream.

20. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a simulation server to generate and integrate simulated multimedia into the plurality of multimedia streams.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a viewer control to provide user profile information to the filter component.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the viewer control selected from the group consisting of a television remote control and a graphical user interface.

23. A machine-readable medium having executable instructions to cause a machine to perform a method comprising:

receiving user profile information describing user preferences;

receiving a plurality of multimedia streams of a presentation including metadata describing each of the plurality of multimedia streams; and

filtering the plurality of multimedia streams to select a multimedia stream based on the metadata and the user profile information.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the metadata describes characteristics of the plurality of multimedia streams.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the metadata describes relationships of the plurality of multimedia streams.

26. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the selected multimedia stream is selected from the group consisting of an audio stream, a video stream, a graphics stream, a data stream, a simulated audio stream, a simulated video stream, and a simulated data stream.

27. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising:

generating a simulated multimedia stream associated with the selected multimedia stream; and

integrating the simulated multimedia into the selected multimedia stream.

28. The machine-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the integrating is performed after the filtering.

29. The machine-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the integrating is performed before the filtering.

30. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising:

presenting the selected multimedia stream to a display component.

31. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising:

transferring the selected multimedia stream to a data store.

32. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the user profile information is delivered via a viewer control.

33. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the presentation is selected from the group consisting of a sporting event, a concert, a movie, a television program, and a play.

34. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein a subset of the plurality of multimedia streams are transmitted each from a plurality of broadcast cameras.