Inserting data objects into encrypted video streams

• US 20070192789A1
• Filed: 02/15/2006
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Medford, Brad
• Granted Patent: US 7,802,277 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23476 by partially encrypting, e.g. encrypting the ending portion of a movie
• 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 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream

Abstract

In a particular embodiment a method is disclosed for inserting data objects into a video stream. The method encrypts a first portion of the video stream at a server, suspends encryption of a second portion of the video stream, and sends the first and second portions of the video stream to a client device for insertion of the object into the video stream. In another embodiment a system is disclosed for inserting data objects into a video stream. The system encrypts a first portion of the video stream at a server, suspends encryption of a second portion of the video stream, and sends the first and second portions of the video stream to a client device for insertion of the object into the video stream.

Claims

1. A method for inserting data objects into a combined video stream, comprising:

receiving a video stream for encrypting at a server;

encrypting a first portion of the video stream at the server;

suspending encryption of a second portion of the video stream after detecting a first signal; and

sending the encrypted portion and unencrypted portion video stream from the server to a client device over a data network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second portions of the video stream are sent from the server to the client device for insertion of the object into the video stream at the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data object is an advertisement and the data network is an internet protocol (IP) network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

resuming encryption of a third portion of the video stream; and

sending the encrypted third portion of the video stream from the server to the client device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein resuming encryption further comprises:

resuming encryption of the third portion of the video stream after detecting a second signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal is an ad insertion signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal is part of the video stream.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the client device is a set top box (STB), the method further comprising:

sending an IP address for an advertisement to the STB for switching from the video stream to the advertisement.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving at the server a signal from the STB to join an IP multicast for the advertisement; and

sending the IP multicast advertisement from the server to the STB.

10. A method for inserting advertisements into an internet protocol (IP) video stream comprising:

receiving a video stream having a first and second portion, wherein the first portion of the video stream is encrypted and the second portion of the video stream is not encrypted;

detecting a first signal in the second portion of the video stream;

inserting an advertisement into the video stream after detection of the first signal; and

sending the first and second portions of the video stream with the advertisement inserted into the video stream to a client device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first signal is an ad insertion signal.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

matching a sound level for the advertisement to a sound level for the second portion of the video stream.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein inserting an advertisement further comprises:

detecting an I frame in the second portion of the video stream for synchronizing the advertisement with the video stream.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

encrypting a third portion of the video stream upon detecting a second signal; and

sending the third portion of the video stream to the client device.

15. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising:

duplicating the video stream into a plurality of streams;

inserting a different advertisement in each of the plurality of streams; and

sending each one of the plurality of streams to a different market area.

16. A video content management system for inserting an advertisement into an internet protocol (IP) video stream, comprising:

an encryption system for encrypting a video stream, the encryption system further comprising;

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a computer program, stored in the memory, the computer program comprising;

instructions to suspend encryption of the video stream after detection of a first signal; and

a router for sending the video stream to a client device for inserting an advertisement into the video stream.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a video encoder for encoding a video signal wherein the video encoder further comprises a processor configured to insert the first signal into the video stream wherein the first signal is an advertising insertion signal.

18. The system of claim 16, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to resume encryption of the video stream after detection of a second signal.

19. The system of claim 16, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to send an IP multicast address for an alternate advertisement to the client device.

20. A video content processing system for inserting an advertisement into a video stream having an encrypted portion and an unencrypted portion, the system comprising:

an ad server for providing the advertisement;

a video splicer for splicing the advertisement into the video stream, the video splicer further comprising;

a processor;

a memory coupled to a processor;

a computer program stored in the memory, the computer program comprising;

instructions to detect a first signal in the unencrypted portion of the video stream; and

instructions to insert the advertisement into the video stream upon detection of the first signal.

21. The system of claim 20, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to match a sound level for the advertisement to a sound level for the video stream.

22. The system of claim 20, the method further comprising:

duplicating the video stream into M streams and placing a different advertisement in each of the M streams; and

sending each of the M streams to a different market area.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the client device is a set top box (STB), the method further comprising:

sending an IP address for an advertisement to the STB for switching from the video stream to the advertisement.

24. A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method for inserting data objects into a combined video stream, comprising:

receiving a video stream for encrypting at a server;

encrypting a first portion of the video stream at the server;

suspending encryption of a second portion of the video stream after detecting a first signal; and

sending the encrypted portion and unencrypted portion video stream from the server to a client device over a data network.

25. The medium of claim 24, wherein in the method the first and second portions of the video stream are sent from the server to the client device for insertion of the object into the video stream at the client device.

26. The medium of claim 24, wherein in the method the data object is an advertisement and the data network is an internet protocol (IP) network.

27. The medium of claim 24, the method further comprising:

resuming encryption of a third portion of the video stream; and

sending the encrypted third portion of the video stream from the server to the client device.

28. A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method for inserting advertisements into an internet protocol (IP) video stream comprising:

receiving a video stream having a first and second portion, wherein the first portion of the video stream is encrypted and the second portion of the video stream is not encrypted;

detecting a first signal in the second portion of the video stream;

inserting an advertisement into the video stream after detection of the first signal; and

sending the first and second portions of the video stream with the advertisement inserted into the video stream to a client device.

29. The medium of claim 28, wherein in the method the first signal is an ad insertion signal.

30. The medium of claim 28, the method further comprising:

matching a sound level for the advertisement to a sound level for the second portion of the video stream.