Method and Apparatus for Acquiring Program Information

• US 20090178100A1
• Filed: 01/03/2008
• Published: 07/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Leary, Patrick, Stone, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,886,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• 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

Abstract

A process receives content from a recording device. The content is provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device. Further, the process receives, from the recording device, transmission data corresponding to the recorded content. The transmission data indicates one or more transmission identifiers that identify the transmission. In addition, the process sends the transmission data to a server. Finally, the process receives, from the server, program data that is descriptive of the content.

Claims

3-1. The method of claim 1, wherein the program data includes a title of the content.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

receive content from a recording device, the content being provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device;

receive, from the recording device, transmission data corresponding to the recorded content, the transmission data indicating one or more transmission identifiers that identify the transmission;

send the transmission data to the server; and

receive, from the server, program data that is descriptive of the content.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the program data includes a title of the content.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers include a frequency.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers include a modulation mode.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers include a program identifier.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers include a virtual channel map identifier.

19. A peripheral device comprising:

a content reception module that receives content from a recording device, the content being provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device;

a transmission data reception module that receives, from the recording device, transmission data corresponding to the recorded content, the transmission data indicating one or more transmission identifiers that identify the transmission;

a transmission data query module that sends the transmission data to a server; and

a program data reception module that receives, from the server, program data that is descriptive of the content.

20. The peripheral device of claim 19, wherein the recording device is a set top box.