NETWORK BASED DIRECTORY SERVICE FOR TERRESTRIAL BROADCASTS

• US 20110060760A1
• Filed: 09/10/2009
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, Tsuwei, Zhou, Junlan, Ji, Zhengrong
• Granted Patent: US 8,255,378 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/770
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/70 using geographical information, e.g. maps, charts or atlases
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/85 which are mobile communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23109 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/278 Content descriptor database or directory service for end-user access details of content or meta data based information retrieval of video data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for providing access for a networked device to a directory service for terrestrial broadcasts. A networked-based directory service that includes broadcasting data for one or more broadcasting stations within various geographical locations is provided. The broadcasting data includes tuning information that enables receivers to tune in one or more terrestrial broadcasts transmitted by the one or more broadcasting stations. A request is received from a networked device to obtain information about an availability of terrestrial broadcasts at a geographical location of the networked device. The directory service is queried using the geographical location as a query parameter. A response is transmitted to the networked device. The response includes tuning information that enables a receiver to automatically tune to one or more terrestrial broadcasts associated with the geographical location of the networked device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing access for a networked device to a directory service for terrestrial broadcasts, the method comprising:

providing a networked-based directory service that includes broadcasting data for one or more broadcasting stations within various geographical locations, the broadcasting data comprising tuning information that enables receivers to tune in one or more terrestrial broadcasts transmitted by the one or more broadcasting stations;

receiving a request from a networked device to obtain information about an availability of terrestrial broadcasts at a geographical location of the networked device;

querying the directory service using the geographical location as a query parameter; and

transmitting to the networked device a response that includes tuning information that enables a receiver to automatically tune to one or more terrestrial broadcasts associated with the geographical location of the networked device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiver is included in the networked device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the networked device is one of:

a mobile device and a stationary device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the networked device includes one or more of:

a cell phone, a radio, a television, a computer, and a portable digital media player.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the terrestrial broadcasts pertain to one or more of:

radio broadcasts and television broadcasts.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network-based directory service is a global directory service accessible from any geographical location on planet Earth from which geographical location the networked device is able to access the service.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcasting data includes one or more of:

real-time broadcasting data and static broadcasting data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the real-time broadcasting data for each of the one or more broadcasting stations includes one or more of:

a current program schedule and a current program being broadcast by the station.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the static broadcasting data for each of the one or more broadcasting stations includes one or more of:

a name of the broadcasting station, a type of the broadcasting station, a code name for the broadcasting station, a language of the broadcasting station, a target audience for the broadcasting station, a station genre for the broadcasting station, a receiver type to be used for receiving broadcasts from the broadcasting station, a frequency spectrum used by the broadcasting station, tower locations for the broadcasting station, antenna transmit power for the broadcasting station, antenna height for the broadcasting station, and geographical coverage for the broadcasting station.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographical location for the networked device is determined through one or more of:

a cellular network identifier, a wireless access point media access control address, a set of global positioning system coordinates, and a navigational system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a networked-based directory service includes:

providing a broadcasting stations database serving as a repository for broadcasting data for the one or more broadcasting stations;

providing a relational database serving as a repository for the correlation of geographical location data with the broadcasting data in the broadcasting stations database; and

providing a directory service application program interface through which the networked device can submit queries to and receive responses from the broadcasting stations database and the relational database.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

populating the broadcasting stations database and the relational database with geographical location data and broadcasting data using one or more of;

a vehicular crawler, an authorized station upload interface, a station crawler, and the networked device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the vehicular crawler is operable to populate the broadcasting stations database and the relational database by:

traveling along a path to various geographical locations and collecting broadcasting data for one or more broadcasting stations available along the path;

recording geographical location data along the path to be correlated with the broadcasting data; and

uploading the collected broadcasting data and geographical location data to the broadcasting stations database and the relational database.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the vehicular crawler is further operable to:

record a portion of one or more ongoing broadcasts; and

uploading the recordings to the broadcasting stations database and the relational database.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the authorized station upload interface is operable to populate the broadcasting stations database and the relational database by:

receiving uploads of broadcasting data from broadcasting stations through a secure and authenticated network interface; and

uploading the received broadcasting data to the broadcasting stations database and the relational database.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the station crawler is operable to populate the broadcasting stations database and the relational database by:

searching the Internet to identify websites containing information about broadcasting data;

extracting pertinent broadcasting data from the identified websites; and

uploading the extracted broadcasting data to the broadcasting stations database and the relational database.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the networked device is operable to populate the broadcasting stations database and the relational database by:

collecting broadcasting data for one or more broadcasting stations available at the geographical location of the networked device; and

uploading the collected broadcasting data to the broadcasting stations database and the relational database.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein populating the broadcasting stations database and the relational database further comprises:

processing uploaded broadcasting data and geographical location data to estimate a geographical footprint for each broadcasting station; and

storing the geographical footprint for each broadcasting station in the relational database.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from the networked device occurs in response to a user turning on or otherwise activating the networked device.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the request includes user preferences in addition to geographical location information.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein transmitting a response includes transmitting a response that contains only information satisfying the user preferences in the request.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining by querying the directory service whether a broadcast of higher quality is available compared to a broadcast that is currently received by the networked device; and

in response to determining that a higher quality broadcast is available, notifying a user of the networked device of the availability of the higher quality broadcast.

23. A computer program product, stored on a machine-readable medium, for providing access for a networked device to a directory service for terrestrial broadcasts, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to:

provide a networked-based directory service that includes broadcasting data for one or more broadcasting stations within various geographical locations, the broadcasting data comprising tuning information that enables receivers to tune in one or more terrestrial broadcasts transmitted by the one or more broadcasting stations;

receive a request from a networked device to obtain information about an availability of terrestrial broadcasts at a geographical location of the networked device;

query the directory service using the geographical location as a query parameter; and

transmit to the networked device a response that includes tuning information that enables a receiver to automatically tune to one or more terrestrial broadcasts associated with the geographical location of the networked device.

24. A system for providing access for a networked device to a directory service for terrestrial broadcasts, comprising:

a networked-based directory service that includes broadcasting data for one or more broadcasting stations within various geographical locations, the broadcasting data comprising tuning information that enables receivers to tune in one or more terrestrial broadcasts transmitted by the one or more broadcasting stations; and

a directory service application program interface operable to;

receive a request from a networked device to obtain information about an availability of terrestrial broadcasts at a geographical location of the networked device;

query the directory service using the geographical location as a query parameter; and

transmit to the networked device a response that includes tuning information that enables a receiver to automatically tune to one or more terrestrial broadcasts associated with the geographical location of the networked device.