System and Method of Proactively Recording to a Digital Video Recorder for Data Analysis

• US 20110067078A1
• Filed: 09/14/2009
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2009
• 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: White, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,829 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/110
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25 Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/22 Negotiating communication rate

Abstract

An Internet Protocol television (IPTV) system includes a selector module adapted to select content items based upon metadata information associated with the content items, send the content items to a respective set-top box, direct each respective set-top box to record the content item and analyze content information associated with the content item to create an index of the content information, and receive from the set-top boxes the indices of the content information. A method includes selecting a content item based upon metadata information associated with the content item, sending the content item to a set-top box on an IPTV network, directing the set-top box to record the content item, and directing the set-top box to analyze content information associated with the content item to create an index of the content information in response to recording the content item.

Claims

1. An Internet Protocol television (IPTV) system comprising a selector module adapted to:

select a plurality of content items based upon metadata information associated with the plurality of content items;

send each particular content item of the plurality of content items to a respective set-top box of a plurality of set-top boxes;

direct each respective set-top box to;

record the particular content item; and

analyze content information associated with the particular content item to create an index of the content information; and

receive from the set-top boxes the indices of the content information.

2. The IPTV system of claim 1, wherein the selector module is further adapted to instruct a first particular set-top box, based upon information in the index, to erase the particular content item.

3. The IPTV system of claim 2, wherein the selector module comprises a data analysis module adapted to send the instruction to the first particular set-top box in response to receiving the index from the particular set-top box.

4. The IPTV system of claim 2, wherein the selector module comprises a recommendation module adapted to:

in response to receiving the index, make a first determination that the index includes a term that meets an indexing criteria; and

in response to making the first determination, send a recommendation to a user of a second particular set-top box to view the content item.

5. The IPTV system of claim 4, wherein the recommendation module is further adapted to:

in response to receiving the index, make a second determination that the index does not include the term that meets the indexing criteria; and

in response to making the second determination, send the instruction to the first particular set-top box.

6. The IPTV system of claim 1, wherein, in analyzing the content information associated with a particular content item, the respective set-top box is adapted to analyze closed-caption information.

7. A set-top box comprising:

a recording device adapted to record a content item received from an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) network; and

an analyzer module adapted to;

receive the content item from the recording device;

analyze content information associated with the content item to create an index of the content information; and

send the index to a selector module in the IPTV network that is remote from the set-top box for consideration with metadata associated with the content item.

8. The set-top box of claim 7, wherein the analyzer module is further adapted to:

receive an instruction from the selector module based upon information in the index; and

in response to receiving the instruction, erase the content item.

9. The set-top box of claim 8, wherein the selector module comprises a data analysis module adapted to send the instruction in response to receiving the index.

10. The set-top box of claim 8, wherein the selector module comprises a recommendation module adapted to:

make a first determination that the index includes a term that meets an indexing criteria, in response to receiving the index; and

in response to making the first determination, send a recommendation to a user of the set-top box to view the content item.

11. The set-top box of claim 10, wherein the recommendation module is further adapted to:

in response to receiving the index, make a second determination that the index does not include the term that meets the indexing criteria; and

in response to making the second determination, send the instruction.

12. The set-top box of claim 10, wherein the analyzer module includes the recommendation module.

13. The set-top box of claim 7, wherein, in analyzing the content information, the analyzer module is further adapted to analyze closed-caption information.

14. A method comprising:

selecting a content item based upon metadata information associated with the content item;

sending the content item to a first set-top box on an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) network;

directing the first set-top box to record the content item;

in response to recording the content item, directing the first set-top box to analyze content information associated with the content item to create an index of the content information.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving the index from the first set-top box.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising sending an instruction to the first set-top box to erase the content item, based upon the index.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

in response to receiving the index, making a first determination that the index includes a term that meets an indexing criteria; and

in response to making the first determination, sending a recommendation to a user of a second set-top box to view the content item.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the recommendation is sent from a recommendation module in the IPTV network that is remote from the set-top box.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

in response to receiving the index, making a second determination that the index does not include the term that meets the indexing criteria; and

in response to making the second determination, sending the instruction to the first set-top box.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein, in analyzing the content, a closed captioning track of the content information is analyzed.