Hypervisor and webtop in a set top box environment

• US 20100122197A1
• Filed: 09/28/2009
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Inventors: Fujioka, Robb
• Application Number:
  US12/586,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20100122197A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4433 Implementing client middleware, e.g. Multimedia Home Platform [MHP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method for an instant-on environment in a set top box environment. The apparatus, system and method may include a hypervisor instantiated by a BIOS, at least one application space instantiated by the hypervisor in parallel to, and prior to complete boot of, at least one main operating system, and a graphical user interface including at least one application software, which at least one application software includes at least one embedded content, launched within said at least one application space.

Claims

1. An instant-on environment for a set top box, comprising:

a hypervisor instantiated by a BIOS associated with at least one processor;

at least one application space instantiated by said hypervisor in parallel to, and prior to complete boot of, at least one set top box operating system; and

a graphical user interface comprising at least one application software, which at least one application software comprises at least one received content and at least one embedded content, launched within said at least one application space;

wherein the at least one received content is accessed by said hypervisor after instantiation.

2. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein the received content is delivered based on user attributes.

3. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein the received content is information regarding one selected from the group consisting of available on-demand content, locally available content, present viewing availability, and future viewing availability.

4. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein said graphical user interface comprises a webtop.

5. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein the at least one embedded content comprises at least one widget.

6. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein said hypervisor directs a networked communication for the BIOS.

7. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein the at least one embedded content comprises an advertisement.

8. The instant-on environment of claim 7, wherein the advertisement comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a banner ad, a text ad and a popup ad.

9. The instant-on environment of claim 7, wherein the advertisement comprises a targeting to an active user of said graphical user interface.

10. The instant-on environment of claim 9, wherein the targeting comprises at least one cookie obtained by said graphical user interface.

11. The instant-on environment of claim 9, wherein the targeting comprises at least one cookie obtained by the operating system.

12. The instant-on environment of claim 7, wherein the at least one advertisement comprises a widget.

13. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein the at least one embedded content comprises a network search capability.

14. The instant-on environment of claim 13, wherein the network search capability is associated with a sponsor.

15. The instant-on environment of claim 13, wherein the network search capability presents at least one networked advertisement in association with a search result.

16. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein the at least one application software comprises virtual ware.

17. The instant-on environment of claim 16, wherein the virtual ware comprises a remote server access provided by the BIOS via an executed network link.

18. The instant-on environment of claim 1, wherein said graphical user interface comprises virtual ware.

19. The instant-on environment of claim 18, wherein the virtual ware comprises a webtop, and wherein the webtop comprises a remote drag-and-drop content functionality with at least one environment native to the BIOS.

20. The instant-on environment of claim 18, wherein the virtual ware comprises a webtop, and wherein the webtop provides web-based centralized storage.

21. The instant-on environment of claim 18, wherein the webtop provides access to at least one on-line store.

22. The instant-on environment of claim 1, further comprising a overlay engine, wherein said overlay engine overlays said graphical user interface and the set top box tuner upon a user instruction.