System and method of distributing multimedia content

• US 20080066126A1
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Walter, Edward, Adams, Thomas H., Raftelis, Michael Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 7,788,695 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/97
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25875 involving end-user authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; arrangements for secret or secure communication including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4227 Providing Remote input by a user located remotely from the client device, e.g. at work
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for enhanced multimedia distribution. The method can include displaying a multimedia selection at a display device coupled to a first receiver of a video distribution system, where the multimedia selection is determined by a user of a second receiver. A multimedia device can include a user interface module to receive a command from a first user to accept a channel selection of a second user. An indication of an attribute of multimedia content associated with a channel selected at a multimedia device can be received from a server having a channel content guide and stored to a database.

Claims

1. A method distributing multimedia content, the method comprising:

displaying a multimedia selection at a display device coupled to a first receiver of a video distribution system, wherein the multimedia selection is determined by a user of a second receiver of the video distribution system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first user of the first receiver and a second user of the second receiver are both members of a group.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a server of the video distribution system stores data identifying members of the group.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an indication of the multimedia selection.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying content of the multimedia selection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia selection is a channel of the video distribution system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first receiver is a first set-top box, and wherein the second receiver is a second set-top box.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first receiver is an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) enabled device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a first signal from the video distribution system at the first receiver, the first signal indicating a channel selected by the user of the second receiver; and

displaying at the display device an indication of the channel selected by the user of the second receiver.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying a selectable menu at the display device, the selectable menu including a first menu option to display content associated with the multimedia selection determined by the user of the second receiver;

receiving a selection of the first menu option from a user of the first receiver; and

displaying the content at the display device.

11. A method of distributing multimedia content, the method comprising:

providing a multimedia selection to a first multimedia device of a first user, wherein the multimedia selection is determined by a second user at a second multimedia device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending an indication of the multimedia selection to the first multimedia device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending content of the multimedia selection to the first multimedia device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first multimedia device is coupled to a television system, and wherein the second multimedia device is coupled to the television system.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

maintaining data identifying members of a group, wherein the first user is a first member of the group and the second user is a second member of the group;

identifying a third multimedia device, wherein the third multimedia device is used by a third member of the group; and

providing the multimedia selection to the third multimedia device.

16. A method of distributing multimedia content, comprising:

receiving first data at a server of a video distribution system, wherein the first data identifies a first television channel selected at a first multimedia device;

determining first multimedia content associated with the first data;

receiving second data indicating a first attribute of the first multimedia content from a server having a channel content guide; and

storing an indication of the first attribute and an indication of the first multimedia content to a database.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first data further identifies a recording to a digital video recorder of the first multimedia device, and further comprising:

receiving third data that identifies a retrieval from the digital video recorder; and

storing an indication of a time of the retrieval from the digital video recorder.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first data is received from the first multimedia device.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first data is received from a multimedia content source of the video distribution system.

20. A multimedia device, comprising:

a memory device accessible to a processor;

a user identification module to identify a first user of the multimedia device; and

a user interface module to receive a command from the first user to accept a channel selection of a second user, wherein the channel selection is received via the network interface.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the user interface module is executable by the processor to display a notification of the channel selection at a display device.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the user interface module is executable by the processor to send a selectable menu to the display device with the notification, and wherein the selectable menu includes a first option to display content associated with the channel selection.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the selectable menu further includes a second option to display content associated with all channel selections provided by members of a predefined group that includes the first user and the second user.

24. The device of claim 20, further comprising:

a network interface;

a display interface to communicate with the display device;

a buffer module to receive multimedia content from a first source via the network interface; and

a coder-decoder module to process the multimedia content.

25. A graphical user interface, comprising:

a first viewing region to display first video content received at a first multimedia device from a multimedia distribution system;

a second viewing region to display second video content received from the multimedia distribution system, wherein the second video content is determined by a user of a second multimedia device coupled to the multimedia distribution system; and

an indication of a channel selected by a user of a third multimedia device coupled to the multimedia distribution system.

26. A processor readable medium embodying executable instructions, the executable instructions comprising:

instructions to receive a data stream from a television system via a network interface;

instructions to send a video signal included in the data stream to display at a display device;

instructions to send a first selectable menu to display at the display device when a first menu tag is identified in the data stream;

instructions to send a first signal to a server of the television system that stores viewer feedback, wherein the first signal indicates a selected option of the first selectable menu;

instructions to send a second selectable menu to display at the display device when a second menu tag is identified in the data stream; and

instructions to send a second signal to a server of the television system that identifies a channel selection of members of a group, wherein the second signal indicates a selected option of the second selectable menu.