METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ATTRIBUTE BROWSING OF VIDEO ASSETS

• US 20080163328A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Laboratories Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.), Verizon Services Organization Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Paschetto, James E., Morley, Beau D., Zhang, Xi, Philbin, David A., Fyock, Christina L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,898,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/139
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/743 a collection of video files or sequences
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An approach is provided for faceted browsing of video assets. A metadata file is parsed to categorize and rank attributes corresponding to a video asset, wherein the ranked attributes are based on a criterion. A set-top box provides attribute browsing to determine selection of the video asset.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting a first list of objects and associated attributes, wherein each of the objects represents a video asset;

receiving a first input indicating selection of one of the attributes;

presenting a second list of objects and associated attributes in response to the first input,

wherein the second list of objects has attributes matching the one selected attribute;

receiving a second input indicating selection of one of the objects in the second list; and

retrieving the video asset corresponding to the one selected object.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a metadata file including the attributes for the first list of objects;

parsing the metadata file to categorize the attributes; and

ranking the categorized attributes according to a criterion.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the criterion specifies frequency of occurrence.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the file has an extensible markup language (XML) format.

5. A method according to claim 2, wherein the file is retrieved on a periodic basis.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the video asset includes a video file, a broadcast program, a video game, or a combination thereof.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first input is provided a user via a remote control device.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to present a first list of objects and associated attributes, wherein each of the objects represents a video asset; and

an input interface configured to receive a first input indicating selection of one of the attributes,

wherein the processor is further configured to present a second list of objects and associated attributes in response to the first input, the second list of objects having attributes matching the one selected attribute,

wherein the input interface is further configured to receive a second input indicating selection of one of the objects in the second list, and the video asset corresponding to the one selected object is retrieved.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

communicating with a server to obtain a metadata file that includes the attributes for the first list of objects, wherein the attributes are categorized and ranked, the ranking being based on a criterion.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the criterion specifies frequency of occurrence.

11. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the file has an extensible markup language (XML) format.

12. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the file is retrieved on a periodic basis.

13. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the video asset includes a video file, a broadcast program, a video game, or a combination thereof

14. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the input interface is configured to receive a signal representing the first input from a remote control device.

15. A system comprising:

an asset parser configured to parse a metadata file to categorize and rank attributes corresponding to a video asset, wherein the ranked attributes is based on a criterion; and

an asset server configured to communicate with the asset parser and to transmit the ranked attributes to a set-top box, wherein the set-top box is configured to provide attribute browsing to determine selection of the video asset.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein the criterion specifies frequency of occurrence.

17. A system according to claim 15, wherein the metadata file has an extensible markup language (XML) format.

18. A system according to claim 15, wherein the video asset includes a video file, a broadcast program, a video game, or a combination thereof.

19. A system according to claim 15, wherein the asset parser receives the metadata file from a content provider system that maintains the video asset.

20. A system according to claim 15, farther comprising:

a rules database configured to store a plurality of rules for ranking the attributes.