Predicted concurrent streaming program selection

• US 20090055546A1
• Filed: 08/24/2007
• Published: 02/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Rinaldo, John D. JR., Lord, Robert W., Jung, Edward K.Y., Levien, Royce A., Malamud, Mark A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,118,811 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4508 Management of client data or end-user data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; 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 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• 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 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

Embodiments provide an apparatus, a system, and a method. A method includes determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed. The method also includes identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic. The method further includes saving at least a portion of the identified concurrently available streaming content.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed;

identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic; and

saving at least a portion of the identified concurrently available streaming content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a content characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a time, channel, genre, actor, director, plot, team, team affiliation, and/or subject matter characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a characteristic of at least one of a streaming television, a radio, and/or Internet content selected by a user and currently being displayed.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a predictive characteristic of a streaming content currently selected by a user and currently being displayed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed for viewing.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed for listening.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and having been previously presented for viewing.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a common characteristic of at least two instances of streaming content respectively selected by a user and displayed for human perception.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining a common characteristic of at least two instances of streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed further includes:

determining a characteristic common to a first instance of streaming content selected by a user for current viewing and to a second instance of streaming content selected by the user for a previous viewing.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic further includes:

identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic using a heuristic procedure, a pattern recognition, a classifier, and/or an artificial intelligence.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic further includes:

identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic, at least a portion of the identified streaming content being available for downloading proximate in time to the display of the streaming content selected by the user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic further includes:

identifying in response to the determined characteristic a streaming content at least a portion of which is available during the display of the streaming content selected by the user.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic further includes:

identifying a streaming content that is available on-demand in response to the determined characteristic.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the saving at least a portion of the identified concurrently available streaming content further includes:

receiving and saving at least a portion of the identified concurrently available streaming content.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the saving at least a portion of the identified concurrently available streaming content further includes:

receiving, saving, and outputting the identified concurrently available streaming content.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of the streaming content selected by the user and currently being displayed.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of concurrently available streaming content.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a human perceivable indication of the identified concurrent available streaming content.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the identified concurrently available streaming content in response to a user input.

21. A system comprising:

an output circuit operable to provide a signal to a display device indicative of a first streaming content selected by a user for a current display;

an analytic circuit operable to identify a second concurrently available streaming content predicted to be of interest to the user in response to an attribute of the first streaming content; and

a digital storage device operable to save the identified second concurrently available streaming content predicted to be of interest to the user.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the analytic circuit operable to identify a second concurrently available streaming content predicted in response to an attribute of the first streaming content to be of interest to the user further includes:

an analytic circuit operable to identify a second concurrently available streaming content from among at least two other instances of streaming content, the second concurrently available streaming content predicted in response to an attribute of the first streaming content to be of interest to the user.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a switch circuit operable to select an instance of streaming content for presentation by the display device in response to a received user selection, the received user selection selecting from among the first streaming content and the second concurrently available streaming content predicted to be of interest to the user.

26. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a receiver operable to tune in the at least two instances of streaming content.

23. (canceled)

24. (canceled)

27. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a characteristic of a streaming content selected by a user and currently being displayed;

means for identifying a concurrently available streaming content in response to the determined characteristic; and

means for saving at least a portion of the identified concurrently available streaming content.