Method and Device for the Automatic Processing of Spontaneous Data

• US 20070268381A1
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Published: 11/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Original Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Cutullic, Christophe, Decerf, Erich, Gastinger, Rene
• Application Number:
  US10/592,582
• Publication Number:
  US 20070268381A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/231.200
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• 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 21/266 Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

According to the invention, a first characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) is associated with the spontaneous information (I1, I2) and/or a second characteristic (CART) with a stream reproducer terminal (T). The reproduction of a multimedia stream (F1, F2) on the reproducer terminal (T) automatically triggers the sending of the first and/or second characteristic (CAR1, CAR2, CART) to an analysis filter (FA) in order to send the spontaneous information (I1, I2) to the reproducer terminal (T) or not as a function of the first and/or the second characteristic (CAR1, CAR2, CART). The first and/or second characteristic (CAR1, CAR2, CART) may include an indicator (A1, A2, AT) of immediate or deferred reproduction. The reproducer terminal (T) reproduces the spontaneous information (I1, I2) when it has been sent to it.

Claims

1. A method of automatically processing spontaneous information intended to be reproduced on a reproducer terminal (T) with a multimedia stream,

the method being characterized in that

each spontaneous information item (I1, 12) is associated with at least one first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) from a group comprising a plurality of prescribed spontaneous information characteristics (CAR),

the reproducer terminal (T) is associated with at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) from the group comprising a plurality of prescribed spontaneous information characteristics (CAR),

said at least one first spontaneous information characteristics (CAR1, CAR2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) comprising at least one first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) intended for the terminal (T) and/or said at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) of the terminal (T) comprising at least one second reproduction indicator (AT) intended for the terminal (T),

the reproduction of a multimedia stream (F1, F2) on the reproducer terminal (T) automatically triggers the sending of the first and the second spontaneous information characteristics (CAR1, CAR2, CART) present to an analysis filter (FA), for sending the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) or not, as a function at least of the first and the second spontaneous information characteristics (CAR1, CAR2, CART) sent to the analysis filter (FA),

the analysis filter (FA), in the event of authorization, commanding (E13, E16, E17) the sending (E14, E20) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) in conformance with the second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T) or, in the absence of the second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T), in conformance with the first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12),

the reproducer terminal (T) reproducing the spontaneous information (I1, 12) when it has been sent to it.

2. An automatic processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) and/or the second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T) are each selected from an indicator of immediate reproduction on the terminal (T) to command the immediate sending (E14) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) and an indicator of non-immediate reproduction to command the sending (E20) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) in the event of detection (E19) of a particular triggering event by the analysis filter (FA).

3. A processing method according to claim 2, characterized in that the triggering event is one of the following events:

the end of the reproduction of the multimedia stream (F1, F2) on the terminal (T), the sending on the terminal (T) of a request for stopping the reproduction of the stream (F1, F2), the stopping on the terminal (T) of the reproduction of the stream (F1, F2), the switching of the terminal (T) to another stream (F1, F2) or program, a predefined time of reproduction of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) on the terminal (T), a prescribed period for deferring the reproduction of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) on the terminal (T), a prescribed period for deferring the reproduction of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) on the terminal (T) after the reproduction thereon of a previous spontaneous information item, and an action of the user on the terminal (T).

4. A processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) of the spontaneous information (I1, I2) comprises at least one first theme (TH1, TH2) relating to a spontaneous information multimedia content and at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) of the terminal (T) comprises at least one second theme (TH) relating to a spontaneous information multimedia content,

the analysis filter (FA) comparing (E8) the first theme (TH1, TH2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the second theme (TH) of the terminal (T) to authorize sending (E14, E20) the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) if the comparison (E8) determines that the first theme (TH1, TH2) is found in the second theme (TH) and not to authorize sending (E9) the spontaneous information (I1, I2) to the reproducer terminal (T) if the comparison (E8) determines that the first theme (TH1, TH2) is not found in the second theme (TH).

5. A processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that

the second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) is associated with an identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal (T) on a management server (SA) remote from the reproducer terminal (T) in at least one table (THT, TAT), the analysis filter (FA) being in the management server (SA), and

the reproduction of the multimedia stream (F1, F2) on the reproducer terminal (T) automatically triggers consultation by the analysis filter (FA) of the second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) associated with the identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal (T) in the identification table (THT, TAT).

6. A processing method according to claim 5, characterized in that the association of the second spontaneous characteristic (CART) with the identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal (T) in the table (THT, TAT) is executed from the reproducer terminal (T).

7. A processing method according to claim 6, characterized in that

the second theme (TH) of the terminal (T) is associated with the identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal (T) in a table (TTH) of interests in the management server (SA), and/or

the second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T) is associated with the identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal (T) in a table (TAT) of indicators in the management server, and

the reproduction of the multimedia stream (F1, F2) on the reproducer terminal (T) automatically triggers consultation by the analysis filter (FA) of the second theme (TH) associated with the identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal in the table (THT) of interests and, in the event of authorization (E10) to send (E14, E20) the spontaneous information (I1, 12), triggers consultation by the analysis filter (FA) of the second reproduction indicator (AT) associated with the identifier (IDT) of the reproducer terminal (T) in the table (TAT) of indicators or, in the absence of a second reproduction indicator (AT), consultation by the analysis filter (FA) of the first reproduction indicator (A1, A2).

8. A processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that

the first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) is associated with the spontaneous information (I1, 12) in a database (BI) remote from the reproducer terminal (T) providing the spontaneous information (I1, 12) and

the reproduction of the multimedia stream (F1, F2) on the reproducer terminal (T) automatically triggers consultation by the analysis filter (FA) of the first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) associated with the spontaneous information (I1, 12) in the database (BI).

9. Apparatus for implementing the automatic processing method according to claim 1 to process automatically spontaneous information intended to be reproduced on a reproducer terminal (T) with a multimedia stream, the apparatus being characterized in that it includes:

at least one database (BI) remote from the reproducer terminal (T) for providing spontaneous information (I1, 12) and in which each spontaneous information item (I1, I2) is associated with at least one first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) from a group of prescribed spontaneous information characteristics (CAR),

at least one remote management server (SA) for associating with the production terminal (T), in at least one table (TTH, TAT), at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) from the group of prescribed spontaneous information characteristics (CAR), said at least one first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) comprising at least one first reproduction indicator (A1, A2), intended for the terminal (T), and/or said at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CARD) of the terminal (T) comprising at least one second reproduction indicator (AT), intended for the terminal T,

means for automatically triggering in the management server (SA), when a multimedia stream (F1, F2) is reproduced on the reproducer terminal (T), consultation of the first characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) associated with the spontaneous information (I1, 12) in the database (BI) and of the second characteristic (CART) associated with reproducer terminal (T) in the table (TTH, TAT), and sending to an analysis filter (FA) in the management server (SA) of the first and second characteristics (CAR1, CAR2, CART) obtained, the analysis filter including means for sending or not sending the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) as a function at least of the first and second characteristics (CAR1, CAR2, CART) sent to the analysis filter (FA), and, in the event of authorization, for commanding (E13, E16, E17) the sending (E14, E20) to the reproducer terminal (T) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) in conformance with the second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T) or the first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) of the spontaneous information (I1, I2) in the absence of a second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T), the reproducer terminal (T) including means for reproducing the spontaneous information (I1, I2) when it has been sent to it.

10. Processing apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) and/or the second reproduction indicator (AT) of the terminal (T) are each chosen from an indicator of immediate reproduction on the terminal (T) to command the immediate sending (E14) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) and an indicator of non-immediate reproduction to command the sending (E20) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) to the reproducer terminal (T) in the event of detection (E19) of a particular triggering event by the analysis filter (FA).

11. Processing apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that means are provided for sending signals to the management server (SA) to communicate to it the occurrence of events originating from the reproducer terminal (T).

12. A management server (SA) for automatically processing spontaneous information intended to be reproduced on a reproducer terminal (T) with a multimedia stream,

the server being characterized in that it comprises:

means for receiving spontaneous information (I1, 12) from at least one data base (BI) for supplying spontaneous information (I1, 12), each spontaneous information item (I1, 12) being associated with at least one first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) from a group comprising a plurality of prescribed spontaneous information characteristics (CAR), said at least one first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) of the spontaneous information (I1, 12) comprising at least a first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) for the terminal (T);

means for associating the reproducer terminal (T), in at least one table (TTH, TAT), with at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) from the group of a plurality of prescribed spontaneous information characteristics (CAR), said at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) of the terminal (T) comprising at least one second reproduction indicator (AT) for the terminal (T); and

an analysis filter (FA) including means for sending or not sending to the reproducer terminal (T), as a function of at least the first and second characteristics (CAR1, CAR2, CART) sent to the analysis filter (FA), the spontaneous information (I1, 12), and, when authorized, for commanding (E13, E16, E17) the spontaneous information (I1, I2) to be sent (E14, E20) to the reproducer terminal (T) in conformance with the second reproduction indicator (AT), or in the absence of the second reproduction indicator (AT), to send the first reproduction indicator (A1, A2).

13. A reproduction terminal (T) for co-operating with a management server according to claim 12, characterized in that it includes means for reproducing the spontaneous information (I1, I2) when it has been sent thereto.

14. A signal for automatically processing spontaneous information that is to be reproduced on a reproducer terminal (T), the signal being characterized in that it comprises at least a first spontaneous information characteristic (CAR1, CAR2) comprising at least a first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) for the terminal (T), said at least one first reproduction indicator (A1, A2) being taken by default in the absence of at least one second reproduction indicator (AT) included in at least one second spontaneous information characteristic (CART) associated with said reproduction terminal (T).