Voting and headend insertion model for targeting content in a broadcast network

• US 20060293954A1
• Filed: 01/12/2006
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Invidi Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: Invidi Technologies Corporation
• Inventors: Boulet, Daniel A., Anderson, Bruce J., Wilson, Daniel C.
• Application Number:
  US11/332,771
• Publication Number:
  US 20060293954A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/103 Transmitter-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/18 Arrangements for synchronising broadcast or distribution via plural systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/22 Arrangements for broadcast of identical information via plural broadcast systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/26 Arrangements for switching distribution systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/31 using in-band signals, e.g. subsonic or cue signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/33 by plural channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/30 characterised by the use of a return channel, e.g. for collecting users' opinions, for returning broadcast space/time information or for requesting data
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/70 : characterised in that receivers can be addressed
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/80 : characterised in that motion picture association of America [MPAA] ratings are used
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/06 : Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/13 : Arrangements for device control affected by the broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/16 : on playing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/17 : on recording information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 : Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/32 : Arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations, e.g. malfunction or breakdown of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 : Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 : for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/375 : Commercial
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/40 : for identifying broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 : for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 : for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 : for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/47 : for recognising genres
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 : of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/63 : for services of sales data processing systems or methods specially adapted for electronic commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 : for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/82 : the transmission system being the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/97 : using uplink of the CATV systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 : Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/18 : Delegation of network management function, e.g. customer network management [CNM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 : Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 : wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 : being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 : involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 : Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2407 : Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 : Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 : Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 : Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 : Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 : being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/262 : Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 : the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 : involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26225 : involving billing parameters, e.g. priority for subscribers of premium services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 : involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 : Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 : involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 : Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• 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 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 : for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 : with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system and method is provided for use in connection with delivering content that is targeted to users of a broadcast network. In order to select content that is targeted to users of the broadcast network, signals are received from a plurality of customer premise equipment devices (CPEs) of the network users via a broadcast network interface. Based on the received signals, broadcast assets (e.g., programming, advertisements etc.) are selected from a collection of available asset options. Accordingly, at least a portion of the selected assets are inserted into a content stream of the broadcast network. Once the content stream is broadcast over a broadcast network interface, at least a portion of the selected assets area available for receipt by at least a portion of the CPEs. The CPEs generate reports regarding assets delivered such that asset providers can be billed based on guaranteed targeted impressions.

Claims

1. A method for use in connection with delivering selected content to users of a broadcast network, the broadcast network primarily involving synchronized distribution of broadcast content to multiple users, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving signals from a plurality of customer premise equipment devices (CPEs) via a broadcast network interface;

based on the signals, selecting assets from a collection of available assets; and

inserting at least a portion of selected assets into a content stream of the broadcast network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

broadcasting the content stream over the broadcast network interface, wherein the selected assets inserted into the broadcast stream are available for receipt by at least a portion of the CPEs via the network interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of receiving comprises receiving the signals from currently active CPEs, wherein the currently active CPEs are outputting content to a network user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of receiving comprises receiving the signals from a statistical sample of less than an entirety of the CPEs associated with the broadcast network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing information to at least a portion of the CPEs regarding a set of said available assets.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the information includes at least one target parameter for each of at least some of the available assets.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of receiving comprises receiving individual signals from individual CPEs, wherein each individual signal indicates a fit between the target parameter for the at least one available asset and a classification parameter of an individual CPE.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the information is provided to less than all of the CPEs, wherein the CPEs are randomly selected.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising developing a content insertion plan for inserting at least two of the available assets into the content stream.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting comprises executing a selection process substantially free from consideration of information regarding users of individual CPEs.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting further comprises processing the signals to select at least first and second different sets of assets.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein inserting further comprises:

inserting a first set of selected assets into a first content stream of the broadcast network; and

inserting a second set of selected assets into a second content stream of the broadcast network.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

simultaneously broadcasting the first and second content streams over the broadcast network interface.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of inserting is performed at a platform in the broadcast network at a location separate from each of the plurality of CPEs.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein a first selected asset is inserted into the content stream during a programming break of a first broadcast transmission band of the broadcast network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a second selected asset is inserted into a second content stream during the programming break of the first broadcast transmission band.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

inserting a plurality of different selected assets into a plurality of parallel content streams during the programming break of the first broadcast transmission band.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

providing a notification to the CPEs indicating the plurality of parallel content streams that are available during the programming break.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

identifying available network bandwidth for a period of time corresponding with the programming break of the first broadcast transmission band; and

selecting the plurality of parallel content streams based at least in part on the available network bandwidth.

20-32. -32. (canceled)

33. A method for use in connection with delivering selected content to users of a broadcast network, the broadcast network primarily involving synchronized distribution of broadcast content to multiple users, the method comprising the steps of:

generating information corresponding to a collection of available assets;

broadcasting the information over a broadcast network, wherein the information is receivable by a plurality of customer premise equipment devices (CPEs) via the broadcast network;

receiving response signals via the broadcast network, the response signals originating from at least a portion of the CPEs; and

selecting assets from the collection of available assets based on the response signals.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

inserting at least a portion of the selected assets into a content stream of the broadcast network.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

broadcasting the content stream over the broadcast network.

36-46. -46. (canceled)

47. A system for use in connection with delivery of selected content to users of a broadcast network, wherein the broadcast network primarily involves synchronized distribution of broadcast content to multiple users, the system comprising:

a content selection processor operative to;

process signals originating from customer premise equipment devices (CPEs) of users of the broadcast network; and

select assets based at least in part on the processed signals;

an interface to a repository of available assets, wherein the content selection processor selects assets from the available assets;

an inserter for inserting selected assets into a content stream of the broadcast network; and

a network interface for broadcasting the content stream.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the content selection processor and the inserter are located at a common platform in the broadcast network.

49. The system of claim 47, wherein the inserter is operative to splice at least a portion of the selected assets into a programming break of a first broadcast transmission band of the broadcast network.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein the inserter is operative to insert at least a portion of the selected assets into a second broadcast transmission band during the programming break of the first transmission band.

51. The system of claim 50, further comprising:

a controller for generating a control signal, wherein the control signal contains identification information regarding the first and second transmission bands and content information regarding the selected assets of the first and second transmission bands.

52. The system of claim 48, wherein the inserter is operative to insert at least a portion of the selected assets into a collection of assets for broadcast transmission across the network interface, wherein the collection of assets are available for receipt and storage by at least a portion of CPEs associated with the broadcast network.

53. The system of claim 47, wherein the content selection processor is further operative to:

generate information regarding available assets.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the inserter is operative to insert the information into the content stream, wherein the information is available for receipt by at least a portion of CPEs associated with the broadcast network.

55. The system of claim 47, wherein the repository comprises a content database operatively interconnected to the content selection processor.

56. The system of claim 47, further comprising:

a demographic database including demographic information associated with the broadcast network, wherein the demographic information is accessible by the content selection processor for use in selecting assets.

57-64. -64. (canceled)

65. A system that delivers content to users of a broadcast network, said broadcast network primarily involving synchronized distribution of the content to multiple users, said system comprising:

a content selection processor that processes votes from customer premises equipment of said users for dissemination of assets via said equipment; and

a content synchronizer that, when directed by the content selection processor, delivers selected ones of the assets.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein a delivery of assets includes insertion of the assets into a programming stream at a platform of said broadcast network channel switching to an asset transmission band at customer premises equipment, or a combination thereof.

67. The system of claim 65, wherein said customer premises equipment generates said votes and provides said votes to the content selection processor.

68. The system of claim 65, wherein the content selection processor and the content synchronizer are resident on each said customer premise equipment and wherein each said customer premise equipment includes a storage element that stores the assets for retrieval by the content selection processor.

69. The system of claim 65, wherein the content selection processor and the content synchronizer are resident at an operations center.

70. The system of claim 65, wherein the customer premises equipment of said users generates reports that indicate delivery of the assets.

71. The system of claim 65, further comprising:

a traffic and billing module that calculates an economic value for the delivery of the assets based on the reports.

72. The system of claim 65, wherein said traffic and billing module further calculates the value of the delivery based on a level of matching of classification parameters of said broadcast network users to a target audience.