System and Method of Voting Via an Interactive Television System

• US 20110067042A1
• Filed: 11/17/2010
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Piatt, Kathy Goode, Howcroft, Jerald Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,100,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/5
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8545 for generating interactive applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A computer implemented method includes receiving, at a server of an internet protocol television (IPTV) network, a voting selection from a set-top box device. The voting selection is associated with video content that is received at the set-top box device via the IPTV network. The computer implemented method includes not adding the voting selection to a tally of votes associated with the video content when a voting status indicates that a previous vote was received from the set-top box device. The computer implemented method also includes sending a message to the set-top box device from the server, the message indicating that the previous vote associated with the video content was received from the set-top box device.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a server of an internet protocol television (IPTV) network, a voting selection from a set-top box device, the voting selection associated with video content that is received at the set-top box device via the IPTV network;

not adding the voting selection to a tally of votes associated with the video content when a voting status indicates that a previous vote was received from the set-top box device; and

sending a message to the set-top box device from the server, the message indicating that the previous vote associated with the video content was received from the set-top box device.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising sending data associated with a voting interface from the server to the set top box device to receive the voting selection, the voting interface including a ballot interface, wherein the voting selection is one of a plurality of selectable voting selections included in the ballot interface.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, further comprising sending a payment interface from the server to the set-top box device to receive payment information when payment information is required to accept the voting selection.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, further comprising comparing the payment information to information stored at a billing server of the IPTV network, wherein the voting interface is sent to the set-top box device in response to determining that the payment information matches the stored information.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 3, further comprising establishing a secure connection with the set-top box device before sending the payment interface.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding the voting selection to the tally of votes associated with the video content when the voting status indicates that the previous vote has not been received from the set-top box device; and

changing the voting status to indicate that a vote has been received from the set-top box device after adding the voting selection to the tally of votes.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising sending a confirmation to the set-top box device from the server to indicate that the voting selection has been received.

8. A set-top box device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to;

receive data related to a voting interface from a server of an internet protocol television (IPTV) network;

send the voting interface to a display device to receive user input from a remote control device associated with the set-top box device; and

send the user input to the server to cast a vote associated with video content that is received at the set top box device via the IPTV network.

9. The set-top box device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to cease sending the voting interface to the display device when the user input is not received within a predetermined period of time.

10. The set-top box device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive data associated with a payment interface from the server.

11. The set-top box device of claim 8, wherein the voting interface includes at least one user selectable voting option associated with the video content.

12. The set-top box device of claim 8, wherein the video content is received from a multicast server of the IPTV network.

13. The set-top box device of claim 8, wherein the user input is received via a key press of a key of the remote control device.

14. A server, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory memory device comprising operational instructions that,

when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a voting selection from a set-top box device, the voting selection associated with video content received at the set-top box device via an internet protocol television (IPTV) network;

not add the voting selection to a tally of votes associated with the video content when a voting status indicates that a previous vote was received from the set-top box device; and

send a message to the set-top box device, the message indicating that the previous vote associated with the video content was received from the set-top box device.

15. The server of claim 14, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to transfer the tally of votes to a storage device for association with at least one media content item.

16. The server of claim 14, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to send a payment interface from the server to the set-top box device to receive payment information.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to compare the payment information to information stored at a billing server of the IPTV network, wherein a voting interface is sent to the set-top box device in response to determining that the payment information matches the stored information.

18. The server of claim 16, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to remove information identifying at least one of a set-top box device identifier and a user identifier from each voting selection before adding the voting selection to the tally of votes.

19. The server of claim 14, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to:

add the voting selection to the tally of votes associated with the video content when the voting status indicates that the previous vote has not been received from the set-top box device; and

change the voting status to indicate that a vote has been received from the set-top box device after adding the voting selection to the tally of votes.

20. The server of claim 14, wherein the tally of votes includes at least one of a highest vote recipient and a range of voting recipients and their associated votes.