Apparatus and methods for providing and presenting customized channel information

• US 20070073834A1
• Filed: 11/08/2005
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Collins, Bruce, Walker, Gordon, Charlebois, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 8,893,179 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for providing and presenting customized channel information include receiving service attribute information corresponding to a base service, where the base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device. The apparatus and methods further include customizing the service attribute information, and providing channel information to the device. The channel information comprising the customized service attribute information, thereby providing a custom view of a channel.

Claims

1. A method for providing content information, comprising:

receiving a definition of a plurality of service attribute information each corresponding to one of a plurality of base services, wherein each base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

receiving a customized definition of attributes to apply to at least one of the plurality of service attribute information; and

providing a plurality of channel information to the device, at least one of the plurality of channel information comprising the customized definition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the customized definition further comprises receiving a customized definition associated with each one of a plurality of retailers operable to provide to the device the base service corresponding to the customized definition.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the customized definition further comprises receiving a customized definition for each of the plurality of service attribute information receivable by the device from at least a respective one of the plurality of retailers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the customized definition further comprises receiving a definition that directs at least a portion of each of the plurality of service attribute information for replacement by a corresponding portion of a plurality of custom attribute information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a customized definition further comprises receiving a definition identifying a custom one of at least one of a channel icon, a channel weight, a name of the presentation, a description of the presentation, a reference to additional information about the presentation, a description of the reference to additional information, a rating associated with the presentation, and an indication of a type of device required to access the reference to additional information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a customized definition of the service attribute information comprises receiving a definition that identifies a custom datacast presentation element associated with the presentation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a customized definition further comprises receiving a definition that associates the base service corresponding to the customized service attribute information with an auxiliary service that provides auxiliary presentations to supplement the base service.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving a customized definition further comprising identifying at least one of an intro, an outro, an advertisement, a barker, a universal resource locator (URL), and a datacast presentation to supplement the base service.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a customized definition further comprises identifying a custom one of at least one of an indicator that determines if the presentation corresponding to the customized service attribute information comprises an auxiliary presentation, and an identification of the auxiliary presentation associated with the presentation corresponding to the customized service attribute information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a customized definition further comprises receiving a customized definition that customizes the service attribute information for each one of a plurality of content retailers, wherein a predetermined one of the plurality of content retailers is operable to provide the presentation to the device, and wherein providing further comprises providing the customized channel information corresponding to the predetermined content retailer to the device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein providing further comprises providing a media presentation guide to the device based on the received customized definition.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein providing further comprises providing a customized presentation to the device based on the received customized definition.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service further comprises receiving a definition of presentation-specific service attribute information for at least one of a plurality of presentations, and wherein receiving a customized definition of the service attribute information further comprises receiving a customized definition of the presentation-specific service attribute information for at least the one presentation.

14. A computer program resident in a computer readable medium that, when executed, directs a computer device to perform the actions of:

receiving a definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service for each of a plurality of base services, wherein each base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

receiving a customized definition of at least one of the plurality of service attribute information; and

providing a plurality of channel information to the device, at least one of the plurality of channel information comprising the customized definition.

15. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

receiving a definition of a plurality of service attribute information each corresponding to one of a plurality of base services, wherein each base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

receiving a customized definition of at least one of the plurality of service attribute information; and

providing a plurality of channel information to the device, at least one of the plurality of channel information comprising the customized definition.

16. An apparatus for providing content information, comprising:

means for receiving a definition of a plurality of service attribute information each corresponding to one of a plurality of base services, wherein each base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

means for receiving a customized definition of at least one of the plurality of service attribute information; and

means for providing a plurality of channel information to the device, at least one of the plurality of channel information comprising the customized definition.

17. An apparatus for providing content information, comprising:

a content server having a first definition of service attribute information and a second definition of custom attribute information, wherein the service attribute information corresponds to a base service operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device; and

a generator module operable to generate and transmit a system information message having at least one customized channel definition for transmission to the device, wherein the customized channel definition comprises a predetermined combination of at least a portion of the first definition of the service attribute information and a corresponding portion of the second definition of the custom attribute information.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a customized channel definition for each one of a plurality of retailers operable to provide to the device the base service corresponding to the customized channel definition.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the customized channel definition defines at least a portion of the service attribute information for replacement by a corresponding portion of a custom attribute information.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the customized channel definition defines changing the service attribute information with the custom attribute information for at least one of a channel icon, a channel weight, a name of the presentation, a description of the presentation, a reference to additional information about the presentation, a description of the reference to additional information, a rating associated with the presentation, and an indication of a type of device required to access the reference to additional information.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the customized channel definition defines changing the service attribute information with the custom attribute information for a datacast presentation element associated with the presentation.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the customized channel definition defines an association between the base service and an auxiliary service that provides auxiliary presentations to supplement the base service.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the auxiliary service comprises at least one of an intro, an outro, an advertisement, a barker, a universal resource locator (URL), and a datacast presentation to supplement the base service.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the customized channel definition defines changing the service attribute information with the custom attribute information for at least one of an indicator that determines if the presentation comprises an auxiliary presentation, and an identification of the auxiliary presentation associated with the presentation.

25. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the customized channel definition defines changing the service attribute information with the custom attribute information for each one of a plurality of content retailers, wherein a predetermined one of the plurality of content retailers is operable to provide the presentation and the customized channel information to the device.

26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the system information message includes a media presentation guide block that defines a media presentation guide on the device based on the customized channel definition.

27. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the content server is operable to provide a customized presentation to the device based on the customized channel definition.

28. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the service attribute information further comprises presentation-specific service attribute information for at least one of a plurality of presentations, wherein the custom attribute information comprises presentation-specific custom attribute information for at least the one presentation, and wherein the customized channel definition defines changing the presentation-specific service attribute information with the presentation-specific custom attribute information for at least the one presentation.

29. A method for presenting content information, comprising:

receiving a definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service, wherein the base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

receiving a definition of custom attribute information; and

generating a view of custom channel information based on a predetermined combination of the defined custom attribute information with the defined service attribute information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein receiving the defined custom attribute information further comprises receiving a definition of custom attribute information for each one of a plurality of retailers operable to provide to the device the base service.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising receiving subscription information associated with a subscription to content provided by one of the plurality of retailers, wherein generating the view further comprises generating the view based on combining the defined service attribute information with the defined custom attribute information associated with the one retailer associated with the subscription information.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising receiving the definition of service attribute information corresponding to the base service for each of a plurality of base services, and wherein receiving the defined custom attribute information further comprises receiving a definition of custom attribute information for each of the plurality of service attribute information corresponding to each of the plurality of base services receivable by the device from at least a respective one of the plurality of retailers.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein generating further comprises replacing at least a portion of the defined service attribute information with a corresponding portion of the defined custom attribute information.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the defined custom attribute information further comprises at least one of a channel icon, a channel weight, a name of the presentation, a description of the presentation, a reference to additional information about the presentation, a description of the reference to additional information, a rating associated with the presentation, and an indication of a type of device required to access the reference to additional information.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein generating further comprises generating a custom datacast presentation associated with the presentation.

36. The method of claim 29, wherein generating comprises associating the base service with an auxiliary service that provides auxiliary presentations to supplement the base service.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising presenting at least one of an intro, an outro, an advertisement, a barker, a universal resource locator (URL), and a datacast presentation as a supplement the base service.

38. The method of claim 29, wherein receiving the definition of custom attribute information further comprises receiving a definition of custom attribute information for each of a plurality of content retailers, and wherein generating the view of custom channel information further comprises replacing at least a portion of the service attribute information with a respective portion of one of the plurality of custom attribute information corresponding to the one of the plurality of content retailers providing the corresponding base service to the device.

39. The method of claim 29, wherein generating further comprises generating a media presentation guide based on the defined custom attribute information.

40. The method of claim 29, wherein generating further comprises generating a customized presentation based on the defined custom attribute information.

41. The method of claim 29, wherein receiving the definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service further comprises receiving a definition of presentation-specific service attribute information for at least one of a plurality of presentations, wherein receiving the definition of custom attribute information further comprises receiving a definition of presentation-specific custom attribute information for at least the one presentation, and wherein generating the view of custom channel information further comprises replacing the presentation-specific service attribute information with the presentation-specific custom attribute information for the corresponding presentation.

42. The method of claim 29, wherein generating the view of the custom channel further comprises generating a view of a combination of real-time media and non real-time media.

43. A computer program resident in a computer readable medium that, when executed, directs a computer device to perform the actions of:

receiving a definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service, wherein the base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

receiving a definition of custom attribute information; and

generating a view of custom channel information based on a predetermined combination of the defined custom attribute information with the defined service attribute information.

44. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

receiving a definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service, wherein the base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

receiving a definition of custom attribute information; and

generating a view of custom channel information based on a predetermined combination of the defined custom attribute information with the defined service attribute information.

45. A wireless device, comprising:

means for receiving a definition of service attribute information corresponding to a base service, wherein the base service is operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation to a device;

means for receiving a definition of custom attribute information; and

means for generating a view of custom channel information based on a predetermined combination of the defined custom attribute information with the defined service attribute information.

46. A wireless device, comprising:

a computer platform having a data repository comprising a first definition and a second definition, the first definition defining service attribute information corresponding to a base service operable to provide at least a portion of a presentation, the second definition defining custom attribute information; and

a media manager module on the computer platform and operable to initiate generation of a view of custom channel information based on a predetermined combination of the defined custom attribute information with the defined service attribute information.

47. The wireless device of claim 46, wherein the second definition defining custom attribute information further defines custom attribute information for each one of a plurality of retailers operable to provide to the device the base service.

48. The wireless device of claim 47, wherein the data repository further comprises subscription information associated with a subscription to content provided by one of the plurality of retailers, wherein the media manager module is further operable to initiate generation of the view based on combining the defined service attribute information with the defined custom attribute information associated with the one retailer associated with the subscription information.

49. The wireless device of claim 47, wherein the first definition of service attribute information comprises service attribute information for each of a plurality of base services, and wherein the second definition of custom attribute information further comprises custom attribute information for each of the plurality of service attribute information corresponding to each of the plurality of base services receivable by the device from at least a respective one of the plurality of retailers.

50. The wireless device of claim 46, wherein the predetermined combination comprises overwriting the defined custom attribute information onto the defined service attribute information.

51. The wireless device of claim 46, wherein the defined custom attribute information further comprises at least one of a channel icon, a channel weight, a name of the presentation, a description of the presentation, a reference to additional information about the presentation, a description of the reference to additional information, a rating associated with the presentation, and an indication of a type of device required to access the reference to additional information.

52. The wireless device of claim 46, further comprising a user interface, and wherein the media manager module is operable to initiate a view comprising a custom datacast presentation associated with the presentation based on the predetermined combination.

53. The wireless device of claim 46, further comprising a user interface, wherein the defined custom attribute information comprises a defined auxiliary service, and wherein the media manager module is operable to initiate a view comprising the base service supplemented with the defined auxiliary service based on the predetermined combination.

54. The wireless device of claim 53, wherein the defined auxiliary service comprises at least one of an intro, an outro, an advertisement, a barker, a universal resource locator (URL), and a datacast presentation as a supplement the base service.

55. The wireless device of claim 46, wherein the defined custom attribute information further comprises custom attribute information for each of a plurality of content retailers, and wherein the predetermined combination comprises replacing at least a portion of the defined service attribute information with a respective portion of one of the plurality of defined custom attribute information corresponding to the one of the plurality of content retailers providing the corresponding base service to the device.

56. The wireless device of claim 46, further comprising a user interface, and wherein the media manager module is operable to initiate a view comprising a media presentation guide based on the defined custom attribute information.

57. The wireless device of claim 46, further comprising a user interface, and wherein the media manager module is operable to initiate a view comprising a customized presentation based on the defined custom attribute information.

58. The wireless device of claim 46, wherein the defined service attribute information corresponding to the base service further comprises presentation-specific service attribute information for at least one of a plurality of presentations, wherein the defined custom attribute information further comprises presentation-specific custom attribute information for at least the one presentation, and wherein the predetermined combination comprises replacing the presentation-specific service attribute information with the presentation-specific custom attribute information for the corresponding presentation.

59. The wireless device of claim 46, wherein the view comprises a combination of real-time media and non real-time media.