Selectively receiving broadcast data according to one of multiple data configurations

• US 20040131076A1
• Filed: 01/08/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Geoffrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,606,255 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/432
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/258 Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30
• 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 21/442 Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk arrangements for monitoring broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/29; arrangements for identifying or recognising characteristics with a direct linkage to broadcast information H04H60/35; monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; monitoring in wireless networks H04W24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4508 Management of client data or end-user data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• 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 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• 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 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems

Abstract

A client device selectively receives broadcast data according to any one of multiple data configurations. A broadcast data server enables broadcast of multiple data configurations by maintaining configuration definitions that define how broadcast data may be configured for presentation to a viewer. The broadcast data server also maintains region definitions that identify regions that may be associated with client devices for receiving broadcast data. The configuration definitions are mapped to region definitions, enabling a client device associated with a particular region to selectively receive broadcast data according to any one of multiple data configurations that are associated with the particular region.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a configuration file that is one of multiple broadcast configuration files wherein the configuration file includes multiple configuration definitions associated with broadcast data;

selecting one of the multiple configuration definitions from the configuration file; and

selectively receiving portions of the broadcast data according to the selected configuration definition.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the multiple configuration definitions define how the broadcast data may be presented to a viewer.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein at least one of the multiple configuration definitions is associated with a language in which the broadcast data is to be displayed.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein at least one of the multiple configuration definitions is associated with a viewer interest that is to be represented in a layout in which the broadcast data is to be displayed.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein at least one of the multiple configuration definitions is associated with a viewer interest that is to be used to target advertisements when the broadcast data is displayed.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the receiving comprises:

selecting the configuration file from the multiple broadcast configuration files based on a region identifier that is associated with the configuration file; and

acquiring the configuration file from a broadcast network.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selecting comprises selecting the one of the multiple configuration definitions based on a configuration identifier associated with a previously selected configuration definition.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selecting comprises selecting one of the multiple configuration definitions based on an order of configuration definitions in the configuration file.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selecting comprises:

rendering a list of the multiple configuration definitions; and

enabling viewer selection of one of the multiple configuration definitions.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selectively receiving comprises acquiring portions of the broadcast data in an order that is specified by the selected configuration definition.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selectively receiving comprises acquiring portions of the broadcast data based on a maximum data size, such that data over the maximum data size is not acquired.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selectively receiving comprises acquiring portions of the broadcast data such that the data that is acquired is associated with a data source location that is also associated with the selected configuration definition.

13. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the selectively receiving comprises acquiring portions of the broadcast data at a client device such that the data that is acquired is associated with a particular client device type.

14. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the configuration file is associated with a region identifier and wherein the region identifier is associated with one or more client devices configured to receive broadcast data.

15. The method as recited in claim 14 wherein a name of the configuration file is based on the region identifier.

16. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein individual ones of the multiple configuration definitions comprise at least one of a metadata tag, a required data tag, and an optional data tag.

17. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein individual ones of the multiple configuration definitions comprise an ordered set of tags wherein one or more metadata tags are followed by one or more required tags.

18. The method as recited in claim 17 wherein the ordered set of tags further comprises one or more optional tags that follow the one or more required tags.

19. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the metadata tag comprises a configuration name.

20. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the metadata tag comprises a configuration identifier.

21. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the required tag identifies a data type for which a client device must acquire data.

22. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the optional tag identifies a data type for which a client device may or may not acquire data depending on a configuration of the client device.

23. A television set-top box configured to perform the method as recited in claim 1.

24. A digital video recorder configured to perform the method as recited in claim 1.

25. A method comprising:

receiving multiple configuration definitions associated with broadcast data;

selecting a configuration definition from the configuration file, wherein the configuration definition comprises a plurality of tags, wherein each tag comprises;

a data type;

a client device type; and

a data source location that indicates where data of the specified data type that is appropriate for the specified client device type is broadcast from.

26. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the data type is associated with a data type group.

27. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the data type group comprises a basic data type group that associates data types that support basic client device functionality.

28. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the data type group comprises an advanced data type group that associates data types that support advanced client device functionality.

29. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the data type is associated with data that defines a layout for rendering data associated with another data type.

30. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the data type is associated with data that can be rendered according to a layout that is defined by data associated with another data type.

31. The method as recited in claim 30 wherein the data type group is also associated with the another data type.

32. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the data type is associated with data that defines a layout for rendering data associated with another data type.

33. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the data type is associated with data that can be rendered according to a layout that is defined by data that is associated with another data type.

34. The method as recited in claim 33 wherein the data type is further associated with data that defines an override layout to be used in place of at least a portion of the layout that is defined.

35. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the client device type comprises a client name that may be associated with a plurality of client devices.

36. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the client device type comprises a client version that may be associated with a plurality of client devices.

37. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the client device type comprises a client name and a client version that may be associated with a plurality of client devices.

38. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the client device type comprises a wildcard value, indicating that the configuration definition is supported by client devices of multiple client device types.

39. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein the data source location comprises a name of a broadcast carousel data directory.

40. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein each tag further comprises a tag type that indicates whether the specified data type is a required data type or an optional data type.

41. The method as recited in claim 25 wherein each tag further comprises a data group indicator associated with the data type.

42. The method as recited in claim 41 wherein the data group indicator identifies a plurality of related data types, such that data associated with the related data types, when taken individually are not useable by a client device, but when taken together form a complete set of usable data.

43. The method as recited in claim 41 wherein the data group indicator is associated with a first data type associated with data that defines a layout, and a second data type associated with data that can be rendered according to the layout.

44. The method as recited in claim 43 wherein the second data type is further associated with data that defines an override for at least a portion of the layout.

45. A television set-top box configured to perform the method as recited in claim 25.

46. A digital video recorder configured to perform the method as recited in claim 25.

47. A method comprising:

receiving multiple configuration definitions associated with broadcast data;

selecting one of the multiple configuration definitions; and

maintaining a configuration value associated with the configuration definition that is selected, thereby providing a mechanism for re-selecting the same configuration definition at a later time.

48. The method as recited in claim 47 wherein the configuration value comprises:

a configuration identifier; and

a client device region identifier.

49. A method comprising:

receiving multiple configuration definitions associated with broadcast data;

selecting a first configuration definition from the multiple configuration definitions;

selectively receiving a portion of the broadcast data according to the first configuration definition;

subsequently selecting a second configuration definition from the multiple configuration definitions; and

selectively receiving an additional portion of the broadcast data according to the second configuration definition, such that only data that is associated with the second configuration and not associated with the first configuration definition is received in response to the selection of the second configuration definition.

50. The method as recited in claim 49 wherein the selecting a first configuration definition comprises identifying and selecting a previously selected configuration definition.

51. The method as recited in claim 49 wherein the selecting a first configuration definition comprises selecting a default configuration definition.

52. The method as recited in claim 49 wherein the selecting a second configuration definition comprises receiving a viewer selection of a configuration definition.

53. The method as recited in claim 49 further comprising deleting a portion of the data that was received according to the first configuration definition wherein the data that is deleted is not associated with the second configuration definition.

54. A method comprising:

selectively receiving and maintaining data from a first data broadcast according to a selected configuration definition; and

in an event that a modified version of the data is subsequently broadcast, selectively receiving and replacing the data that is maintained with the modified version of the data from the subsequently broadcast data.

55. A method comprising:

selecting a configuration definition that defines an ordered set of data types such that a first data type has a higher priority than a second data type; and

receiving broadcast data according to the configuration definition such that broadcast data associated with the first data type is received before broadcast data associated with the second data type is received.

56. The method as recited in claim 55 wherein the broadcast data that is received in association with the second data type includes data that overrides data that is received in association with the first data type.

57. The method as recited in claim 55 further comprising:

receiving a request for data; and

searching for the data that was received wherein the broadcast data associated with the second data type is searched before the broadcast data associated with the first data type is searched.

58. A system comprising:

one or more tuners configured to receive data and configuration files that are broadcast; and

a data configuration module configured to;

determine available data configurations based on the broadcast configuration files;

select one of the data configurations; and

acquire portions of the data according to the selected data configuration.

59. The system as recited in claim 58, wherein the data configuration module comprises:

a task object configured to selectively acquire a portion of the data associated with a particular data type; and

a client object configured to manage a plurality of task objects.

60. The system as recited in claim 59, wherein the client object is further configured to enable viewer selection of one of multiple data configurations.

61. The system as recited in claim 59, wherein the client object is further configured to select a previously selected data configuration based on a stored configuration value.

62. The system as recited in claim 59, wherein the client object is implemented as a state machine.

63. The system as recited in claim 59, wherein the task object is implemented as a state machine.

64. The system as recited in claim 58, further comprising a memory component configured to maintain a configuration value associated with a selected data configuration to enable subsequent selection of the same data configuration.

65. A system comprising:

means for receiving broadcast data and multiple broadcast configuration definitions;

means for determining a selected configuration definition from the multiple broadcast configuration definitions; and

means for selectively receiving portions of the broadcast data according to the selected configuration definition.

66. The system as recited in claim 65 wherein the determining means comprises:

means for determining a configuration value associated with a previously selected configuration definition; and

means for selecting a configuration definition from the multiple broadcast configuration definitions based on the configuration value.

67. The system as recited in claim 65 wherein the determining means comprises:

means for determining a default configuration definition based on a location within a file containing the multiple broadcast configuration definitions.

68. The system as recited in claim 65 wherein the determining means comprises:

means for enabling viewer selection of one of the multiple broadcast configuration definitions.

69. A system comprising:

means for selectively acquiring, based on a region identifier, a region configuration file from multiple region configuration files that are broadcast, wherein the region configuration file includes multiple configuration definitions; and

means for selectively acquiring portions of broadcast data based on a selected one of the multiple configuration definitions.

70. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a computing system to:

receive a configuration file that identifies multiple available configurations, where each configuration defines parameters for rendering broadcast data;

determine a selected configuration, selected from the multiple available configurations; and

acquire and render broadcast data according to the selected configuration.

71. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 70 further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a computing system to:

determine a configuration value associated with a previously selected configuration; and

select the selected configuration based on the configuration value.

72. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 70 further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a computing system to:

select the selected configuration based on a default configuration position within the configuration file.

73. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 70 further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a computing system to:

render a list of the multiple available configurations; and

enable viewer selection of one of the multiple available configurations.

74. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a client device to:

select a data configuration definition from multiple broadcast data configuration definitions based on a region identifier associated with the client device;

acquire the data configuration definition; and

selectively acquire a subset of broadcast data based on the data configuration definition.

75. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct a client device to:

determine a selected configuration definition that identifies an ordered group of multiple data types; and

selectively receive broadcast data according to the selected configuration definition such that portions of the broadcast data associated with the multiple data types are received in the order identified by the configuration definition.

76. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 75, further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct the client device to:

receive a request for data that was selectively received; and

find the data that is requested by searching, in an order that is a reverse of the order identified by the configuration definition.

77. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 75, further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, direct the client device to:

determine a group associated with one or more of the multiple data types; and

avoid processing the broadcast data that is received until broadcast data for each data type associated with the group is received.

78. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 77, wherein the processing comprises receiving a request for the data.