Television program recording with user preference determination

• US 20050204386A1
• Filed: 06/14/2002
• Published: 09/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thomson Licensing SAS (Vantiva SA)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing SAS (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Stupak, Yuri, Ismail, Labeeb K., Gogoi, Amar N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,351,765 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/466 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies services using the results of monitoring in broadcast systems H04H60/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• 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 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

A system for recording television programs for subsequent viewing by a user includes a preference determination module which is responsive to attribute information associated with television programs viewed by the user. The preference determination module categorizes the attribute information in accordance with categorization parameters to generate recordation preference information, indicative of television program viewing preferences of the user. The system also includes a recordation module which is responsive to the recordation preference information, for causing recordation on a storage medium of subsequently transmitted television programs, having attribute information corresponding to the recordation preference information.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A process for the simultaneous storage and play back of multimedia data, comprising the steps of:

accepting television (TV) broadcast signals, wherein said TV signals are based on a multitude of standards, including, but not limited to, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) broadcast, PAL broadcast, satellite transmission, DSS, DVB, or ATSC;

tuning said TV signals to a specific program;

converting said specific program to a Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) formatted stream for manipulation and storage, where said MPEG stream comprises separate video and audio components;

storing said video and audio components on a storage device;

extracting said video and audio components from said storage device;

wherein said video and audio components are converted into TV output signals;

wherein said TV output signals are delivered to a TV receiver; and

accepting control commands from a user, wherein said control commands are sent through the system and affect the flow of said MPEG stream.

26. The process of claim 25, wherein said MPEG stream is directed to the destination by said control commands.

27. The process of claim 25, wherein said MPEG stream video and audio components are extracted from the storage device directed by said control commands.

28. The process of claim 25, wherein the storing and extracting of said video and audio components from said storage device are performed simultaneously.

29. The process of claim 25, further comprising the step of:

providing a multimedia recording device, including, but not limited to, a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) or a Digital Video Disk-Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM) device, wherein said recording device is attached to the output side of said decoder, allowing said user to record said TV output signals.

30. An apparatus for the simultaneous storage and play back of multimedia data, comprising:

apparatus for accepting television (TV) broadcast signals, wherein said TV signals are based on a multitude of standards, including, but not limited to, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) broadcast, PAL broadcast, satellite transmission, DSS, DVB, or ATSC;

apparatus for tuning said TV signals to a specific program;

apparatus for converting said specific program to a Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) formatted stream for manipulation and storage;

where said MPEG stream comprises separate video and audio components;

apparatus for storing said video and audio components on a storage device;

apparatus for extracting said MPEG stream video and audio components from said storage device;

wherein said MPEG stream is converted into TV output signals;

wherein said TV output signals are delivered to a TV receiver; and

accepting control commands from a user, wherein said control commands are sent through the system and affect the flow of said MPEG stream.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said MPEG stream is directed to the destination indicated by said control commands.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said MPEG stream said video and audio components are extracted from the storage device directed by said control commands.

33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the storing and extracting of said video and audio components from said storage device are performed simultaneously.

34. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising:

a multimedia recording device, including, but not limited to, a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) or a Digital Video Disk-Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM) device, wherein said recording device is attached to the output side of said decoder, allowing said user to record said TV output signals.