Programming content on a device

• US 20070192368A1
• Filed: 02/16/2006
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Zermatt Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Ross, Mark, Nichols, Timothy, Lawson, Clare, van Hoff, Arthur
• Granted Patent: US 8,868,547 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/635 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/683 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/686 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title or artist information, time, location or usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side

Abstract

Discovering content on a device. Content stored on a device can be examined or searched based on the programming of channels that are available to the device. The content can be searched using other rules related to user preferences. Based on the results of the examination of the content, playlists are generated. Each playlist includes content from the device that matches or partially matches the content associated with one of the channels. Using the playlists, a user can load content from their device that has a theme consistent with a particular channel. The playlists can also be used to tune to the channels associated with the playlists and thereby discover the content on those channels.

Claims

1. In a system including a device capable of receiving channels of content from a content provider, a method for discovering content at the device, the method comprising:

scanning content on the device to produce a correlation matrix, wherein the correlation matrix indicates how the content on the device correlates with channels of content available to the device;

presenting at least a portion of the correlation matrix to a user of the device; and

generating a playlist by selecting content from the correlation matrix that best matches a particular channel of content available to the device.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein scanning content on the device to produce a correlation matrix further comprises:

examining metadata of the content on the device; and

comparing the metadata of the content on the device with metadata associated with the channels of content available to the device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting at least a portion of the correlation matrix to a user of the device further comprises presenting a list of channels, each channel in the list associated with specific content on the device that has an affinity with the associated channel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting at least a portion of the correlation matrix to a user of the device further comprises presenting content on the device that has the highest affinity with a particular channel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein scanning content on the device to produce a correlation matrix further comprises relating content on the device to channels of content available to the device based on how well the content matches the channels of content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a particular portion of the content has affinity with more than one channel of content.

7. In a system including a device that receives content from a content provider, a method for discovering content, the method comprising:

examining content on a device using rules, wherein one or more of the rules are associated with channels of content available to the device;

generating one or more playlists based on the rules; and

displaying results associated with the one or more playlists on a display of the device.

8. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein examining content on a device using rules further comprises receiving the one or more rules from a content provider of the channels of content available to the device.

9. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein at least one rule is used to identify content that is consistent with a particular channel associated with the at least one rule.

10. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein generating one or more playlists based on the rules further comprises generating the one or more playlists based on an affinity between content stored on the device or accessible to the device and the channels of content available to the device.

11. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein displaying results associated with the one or more playlists further comprises at least one of:

displaying one or more channels having the highest affinity to the content on the device;

displaying a correlation matrix at least between content on the device and the channels available to the device;

or

displaying the one or more playlists on the device.

12. A method as defined in claim 11, wherein the one or more channels displayed are set as preset channels on the device.

13. A method as defined in claim 7, further comprising updating the rules.

14. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein updating the rules comprises updating the rules when content on the device changes or content included in the one or more channels changes.

15. A method as defined in claim 7, further comprises at least one of:

loading content associated with a particular playlist;

or

tuning to a channel associated with the particular playlist.

16. In a system that receives content over one or more channels delivered over one or more networks, a method for discovering content on a device that is related to the content included in the one or more channels, the method comprising:

examining content on a device using at least programming associated with one or more channels;

generating one or more playlists associated with the content on the device, each playlist associated with a particular channel of the one or more channels; and

loading content based on at least one of the one or more playlists onto the device.

17. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein examining content on a device using at least programming associated with one or more channels further comprises searching the content based on the programming.

18. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein searching the content based on the programming further comprises searching the content using at least one of an artist, a genre, or a time period for each channel.

19. A method as defined in claim 18, further comprising searching the content hierarchically such that each portion of the content is associated with at least one channel.

20. A method as defined in claim 19, further comprising searching the content hierarchically based on at least one of artist or genre.

21. A method as defined in claim 16, further comprising displaying the one or more playlists on the device.

22. A method as defined in claim 16, further comprising examining content stored on computer with which the device docks.

23. A method as defined in claim 16, further comprising loading the one or more playlists on another device.

24. A method as defined in claim 16, further comprising displaying channels that correspond to at least some of the one or more playlists.

25. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein examining content on a device using at least programming associated with one or more channels further comprises applying one or more rules to the content.

26. A method as defined in claim 25, wherein generating one or more playlists associated with the content on the device further comprises generating a correlation matrix that matches the content on the device to at least some of the one or more channels available to the device.

27. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 16.

28. In a device that receives content over one or more channels delivered over a satellite network, a method for discovering content based on the programming of the one or more channels, the method comprising:

searching at least one of content on a device or content on a computer with which the device docks with a discovery module, wherein the discovery module applies rules to the content such that each portion of the content is associated with at least one channel; and

generating one or more playlists based on results of the rules, wherein each playlist corresponds to a particular channel.

29. A method as defined in claim 28, further comprising one or more of:

displaying the one or more playlists on a display of the device;

displaying a correlation matrix on the display that indicates how the content on the device matches with the one or more channels;

loading at least one playlist;

tuning to a channel associated with one of the playlists; and

setting presets for the device based on the one or more playlists.

30. A method as defined in claim 28, wherein searching at least one of content on a device or content on a computer with which the device docks with a discovery module further comprises at least one of:

searching the content hierarchically based on the rules, wherein the rules include for each channel, one or more of artists, genres, time periods, and user preferences.

31. A method as defined in claim 28, further comprising updating the rules at least when the content on the device changes or when content in the one or more channels changes.