Data structures and methods adapted for heterogeneous clients in an information distribution system

• US 20050240966A1
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TVWorks LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Decenzo, Christopher John, Hindle, James Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 7,865,508 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2358 for generating different versions, e.g. for different recipient devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts

Abstract

A method includes processing data associated with event and service information to create a base data block and an index table. The base data block has an array of objects, and each object in the array may have at least one attribute. The index table also has an array of objects, and each object in the index table relates to an object in the base data block. The method of processing data may be performed by a server located at a cable headend. In one embodiment, the present invention also comprises a storage medium having a representation of a data structure produced by the data processing. In one embodiment, a STB may receive and utilize the processed data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

processing data associated with event and service information to create a base data block and an index table, the base data block having an array of objects, each object in the array having at least one attribute, the index table having an array of objects, each object in the index table related to at least one of the objects in the base data block.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the base data block comprises a multipart key.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the objects in the array of the base data block are ordered according to at least one of a preferred sorting order and a typical sorting order.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the arrangement of the objects in the array of the index table relate to a second sorting order of the objects in the array of the base data block.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein each object in the base data block comprises at least one offset having a value which indicates the address of a next object in the array belonging to a same category.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the offset has a value which indicates the relative position from a present object in the array to the next object in the array belonging to the same category.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing comprises:

creating a second index table having an array of objects, each object in the array having at least one offset, the at least one offset having a value which indicates the address of the first occurrence in the array of objects of the base data block comprising an attribute having a value which meets a certain condition.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising:

sending the base data block and the index table to a set top box via a cable television distribution system.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving and storing the data associated with event and service information at a server at a cable headend.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing comprises:

creating a jump table, the jump table having n^x entries comprising offsets into the index table.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the objects in the array of the index table are sorted into a sorting order according to an attribute of the objects of the array of objects of the base data block, the first character of the value of the attribute comprising a character from a character set having a size of n, the jump table providing offsets to locations of prefixes of the value of the attribute, and the number of characters of the prefix for which the jump table provides offsets having a value of x.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing comprises:

deciding which objects are included in the data block based on a time span convention, the time span convention comprising a starting time and a time period.

13. The method of claim 12, comprising:

choosing the time span for a given block based upon the nature of the data block.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a set top box, data associated with event and service information, the data comprising a base data block and an index table, the base data block having an array of objects, each object in the array having at least one attribute, the index table having an array of objects, each object in the index table related to an object in the base data block.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising:

receiving, at the set top box, a second index table having an array of objects, each object in the array having at least one offset, the at least one offset having a value which indicates the address of the first occurrence in the array of objects of the base data block having an attribute meeting a certain condition.

16. The method of claim 14, comprising:

receiving, at the set top box, a jump table, the jump table having n^x entries comprising offsets into the index table, wherein the objects in the array of the index table are sorted into a sorting order according to an attribute of the objects of the array of objects of the base data block, the first character of the value of the attribute comprising a character from a character set having a size of n, the jump table providing offsets to locations of prefixes of the value of the attribute, and the number of characters of the prefix for which the jump table provides pointers having a value of x.

17. A data storage medium which, when accessed by a set top box, provides event and service information, the data storage medium comprising a representation of a base data block and an index table, the base data block having an array of objects, each object in the array having at least one attribute, the index table having an array of objects, each object in the index table related to an object in the base data block.

18. The data storage medium of claim 17, comprising a representation of a second index table having an array of objects, each object in the array having at least one offset, the at least one offset having a value which indicates the address of the first occurrence in the array of objects of the base data block having an attribute meeting a certain condition.

19. The data storage medium of claim 17, comprising a representation of a jump table, the jump table having n^x entries comprising offsets into the index table, wherein the objects in the array of the index table are sorted into a sorting order according to an attribute of the objects of the array of objects of the base data block, the first character of the value of the attribute comprising a character from a character set having a size of n, the jump table providing offsets to locations of prefixes of the value of the attribute, and the number of characters of the prefix for which the jump table provides offsets having a value of x.

20. A method, using an index table and a jump table, the index table comprising a sorted array of object identifiers (IDs) of a set of objects, the jump table having n^x entries comprising offsets into the index table, the set of objects sorted according to an attribute of the set of objects to create the sorted array of object IDs, the first character of the value of the attribute comprising a character from a character set having a size of n, the jump table providing offsets to prefixes of the attribute, and x being the number of characters of the attribute value prefix for which the jump table provides offsets, the method comprising:

(a) locating the first object ID in the index that matches a predetermined first x characters;

(b) constructing a new string of characters comprising the first x characters with the character at location x replaced with the next character in a sorting order of the character set;

(c) locating the first object ID in the index that matches the new string;

(d) collecting all objects IDs in the index table starting with the location from (a) and ending immediately before the location from (c),

whereby the resulting collection is the subset of object IDs, the first x characters of which match the predetermined first x characters.