Multimedia mobile personalization system

• US 20050246738A1
• Filed: 04/12/2005
• Published: 11/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Solutions Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TiVo Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Beach, Brian, Goodman, Andrew M., Feder, Adam, Barton, James M., Platt, David C., Brown, David Avraham, Lockett, David, Klar, Michael F.
• Granted Patent: US 8,689,265 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/43
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42206 characterized by hardware details
• 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 21/441 Acquiring end-user identification , e.g. using personal code sent by the remote control or by inserting a card
• 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 21/47 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 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8547 involving timestamps for synchronizing content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/7605 on discs or drums H04N5/781, H04N5/805, H04N5/83, H04N5/85 take precedence

Abstract

A multimedia mobile personalization system provides a remote control that detects a user'"'"'s electronic tag, e.g. an RFID tag. The remote control notifies a multimedia device of the user'"'"'s identity. The multimedia devices tailors it operations to the user'"'"'s preferences stored locally. Multimedia content such as broadcast or recorded television programs, music play lists, and the like could be sorted, displayed, or restricted, depending on the user identifier.

Claims

1. A method for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

receiving a signal from a user'"'"'s identification tag on a remote control;

wherein the signal contains an identifier for the user;

sending the identifier from the remote control to a multimedia device; and

wherein the multimedia device configures its operations to the user based on the identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia device configures its operations to the user based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal contains a user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device, and wherein the remote control extracts the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device from the signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sending step sends the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device to the multimedia device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the multimedia device configures its operations based on the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia device displays multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, wherein the recording step records the multimedia content for a specified amount of time.

55. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, wherein the server deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences after a specified amount of time has passed and/or an event has occurred.

9. A method for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

sending a user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a digital video recorder (DVR) service to a server;

recording multimedia content on the server based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences;

allowing a local DVR to access the recorded multimedia content on the server; and

wherein the DVR plays the multimedia content to the user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the DVR service retrieves the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from the user'"'"'s DVR.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the DVR service deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from local storage after sending the user'"'"'s viewing preferences to the server.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the recording step records the multimedia content for a specified amount of time.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the server deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences after a specified amount of time has passed and/or an event has occurred.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving a unique identifier from a remote control at a multimedia device;

wherein the unique identifier identifies a particular user; and

wherein the multimedia device displays a list of recorded multimedia content that the user had directed the multimedia device to record and/or pre-recorded multimedia content that the user is expected to have an interest in based on the unique identifier.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the multimedia device is a digital video recorder (DVR).

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the multimedia device is an MP3 player.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia programs that the user is expected to have an interest in based on the user'"'"'s preferences.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the multimedia device customizes its user interface according to the user'"'"'s preferences stored at the multimedia device.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the multimedia device does not display to the user any recorded multimedia content that other users had directed the multimedia device to record.

20. A method for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

receiving a plurality of signals from a plurality of user identification tags on a multimedia device;

wherein a signal contains an identifier for a user;

retrieving user preferences on the multimedia device for the received plurality of signals;

wherein the multimedia device customizes its operations based on a commonalty between said user preferences.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the multimedia device customizes its display of a list of recorded multimedia content according to the commonalty between said user preferences.

22. An apparatus for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

a module for receiving a signal from a user'"'"'s identification tag on a remote control;

wherein the signal contains an identifier for the user;

a module for sending the identifier from the remote control to a multimedia device; and

wherein the multimedia device configures its operations to the user based on the identifier.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the multimedia device configures its operations to the user based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the signal contains a user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device, and wherein the remote control extracts the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device from the signal.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the sending module sends the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device to the multimedia device.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the multimedia device configures its operations based on the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device.

28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

29. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the multimedia device displays multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

30. An apparatus for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

a module for sending a user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a digital video recorder (DVR) service to a server;

a module for recording multimedia content on the server based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences;

a module for allowing a local DVR to access the recorded multimedia content on the server; and

wherein the DVR plays the multimedia content to the user.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the DVR service retrieves the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from the user'"'"'s DVR.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the DVR service deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from local storage after sending the user'"'"'s viewing preferences to the server.

33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the recording module records the multimedia content for a specified amount of time.

34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the server deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences after a specified amount of time has passed and/or an event has occurred.

35. An apparatus, comprising:

a module for receiving a unique identifier from a remote control at a multimedia device;

wherein the unique identifier identifies a particular user; and

wherein the multimedia device displays a list of recorded multimedia content that the user had directed the multimedia device to record and/or pre-recorded multimedia content that the user is expected to have an interest in based on the unique identifier.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multimedia device is a digital video recorder (DVR).

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multimedia device is an MP3 player.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia programs that the user is expected to have an interest in based on the user'"'"'s preferences.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multimedia device customizes its user interface according to the user'"'"'s preferences stored at the multimedia device.

40. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the multimedia device does not display to the user any recorded multimedia content that other users had directed the multimedia device to record.

41. An apparatus for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

a module for receiving a plurality of signals from a plurality of user identification tags on a multimedia device;

wherein a signal contains an identifier for a user;

a module for retrieving user preferences on the multimedia device for the received plurality of signals;

wherein the multimedia device customizes its operations based on a commonalty between said user preferences.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the multimedia device customizes its display of a list of recorded multimedia content according to the commonalty between said user preferences.

43. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for a multimedia mobile personalization system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving a signal from a user'"'"'s identification tag on a remote control;

wherein the signal contains an identifier for the user;

sending the identifier from the remote control to a multimedia device; and

wherein the multimedia device configures its operations to the user based on the identifier.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the multimedia device configures its operations to the user based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the signal contains a user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device, and wherein the remote control extracts the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device from the signal.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the sending step sends the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device to the multimedia device.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the multimedia device configures its operations based on the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device.

48. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences for the multimedia device.

49. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

50. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the multimedia device displays multimedia content based on the user'"'"'s preferences stored on the multimedia device.

51. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for a multimedia mobile personalization system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

sending a user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a digital video recorder (DVR) service to a server;

recording multimedia content on the server based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences;

allowing a local DVR to access the recorded multimedia content on the server; and

wherein the DVR plays the multimedia content to the user.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, wherein the DVR service retrieves the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from the user'"'"'s DVR.

53. The computer-readable medium of claim 52, wherein the DVR service deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from local storage after sending the user'"'"'s viewing preferences to the server.

56. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of, comprising:

receiving a unique identifier from a remote control at a multimedia device;

wherein the unique identifier identifies a particular user; and

wherein the multimedia device displays a list of recorded multimedia content that the user had directed the multimedia device to record and/or pre-recorded multimedia content that the user is expected to have an interest in based on the unique identifier.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the multimedia device is a digital video recorder (DVR).

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the multimedia device is an MP3 player.

59. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the multimedia device records multimedia programs that the user is expected to have an interest in based on the user'"'"'s preferences.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the multimedia device customizes its user interface according to the user'"'"'s preferences stored at the multimedia device.

61. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the multimedia device does not display to the user any recorded multimedia content that other users had directed the multimedia device to record.

62. The computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for a multimedia mobile personalization system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving a plurality of signals from a plurality of user identification tags on a multimedia device;

wherein a signal contains an identifier for a user;

retrieving user preferences on the multimedia device for the received plurality of signals;

wherein the multimedia device customizes its operations based on a commonalty between said user preferences.

63. The computer-readable medium of claim 62, wherein the multimedia device customizes its display of a list of recorded multimedia content according to the commonalty between said user preferences.