System and Method for an Interactive Internet Radio Application in an Internet Protocol Television System

• US 20110131600A1
• Filed: 12/02/2009
• Published: 06/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2009
• 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: Vleck, Paul Van, Howcroft, Jerald R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,458,749 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8106 involving special audio data, e.g. different tracks for different languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A set-top box for an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network includes a radio interface module, a remote control interface module, and a display interface module. The radio interface module accesses an Internet radio service on the IPTV network and outputs a list of Internet radio stations received from the Internet radio service to a particular IPTV channel on the display interface module, receives a selection of an Internet radio station from the remote control interface module, retrieves an Internet radio stream associated with the selected Internet radio station from the Internet radio service in response to receiving the first selection, and outputs the Internet radio steam on the particular IPTV channel of the display interface module.

Claims

1. A set-top box for an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network, comprising:

a radio interface module;

a remote control interface module; and

a display interface module;

wherein the radio interface module;

accesses an Internet radio service on the IPTV network and outputs to the display interface module a list of a plurality of Internet radio stations, the list being received from the Internet radio service, wherein the output to the display interface module is to a particular IPTV channel;

receives a first selection of a particular Internet radio station from among the plurality of Internet radio stations from the remote control interface module;

in response to receiving the first selection, retrieves an Internet radio stream associated with the selected Internet radio station from the Internet radio service; and

outputs the Internet radio steam to the display interface module on the particular IPTV channel.

2. The set-top box of claim 1, wherein the radio interface module further outputs to the display interface module a plurality of search criteria, wherein the output to the display interface module is to the particular IPTV channel.

3. The set-top box of claim 2, wherein the radio interface module further:

receives a second selection of a particular search criteria from among the plurality of search criteria from the remote control interface module; and

in response to receiving the second selection, retrieves information comprising the plurality of Internet radio stations from the Internet radio service, wherein content provided by the plurality of Internet radio stations is related to the second selection.

4. The set-top box of claim 3, wherein receiving the first selection is in response to displaying the plurality of Internet radio stations.

5. The set-top box of claim 3, wherein the plurality of search criteria comprises a genre of music.

6. The set-top box of claim 3, wherein the plurality of search criteria comprises a music artist.

7. The set-top box of claim 1, wherein before outputting the Internet radio stream, the radio interface module determines that the selected Internet radio station meets a parental control criteria.

8. A method comprising:

accessing an Internet radio service on an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network from a radio interface module in a set-top box;

outputting to a display interface module in the set-top box a list of a plurality of Internet radio stations, the list being received from the Internet radio service, wherein the output to the display interface module is to a particular IPTV channel;

receiving at the radio interface module a selection of a particular Internet radio station from among the plurality of Internet radio stations, wherein the selection is received from a remote control module in the set-top box;

in response to receiving the selection, retrieving an Internet radio stream associated with the selected Internet radio station from the Internet radio service; and

outputting the Internet radio stream from the radio interface module to the display interface module on the particular IPTV channel.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising outputting to the display interface module a plurality of search criteria, wherein the output to the display interface module is to the particular IPTV channel.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving at the radio interface module a second selection of a particular search criteria from among the plurality of search criteria; and

in response to receiving the second selection, retrieving information comprising the plurality of radio stations, wherein the content provided by the plurality of radio stations is related to the search criteria.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the first selection is in response to receiving the second selection.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of search criteria comprises a genre of music.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of search criteria comprises a music artist.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising, before sending the Internet radio stream, determining that the selected Internet radio station meets a parental control criteria.

16. The machine-executable code of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises outputting to the display interface module a plurality of search criteria, wherein the output to the display interface module is to the particular IPTV channel.

17. The machine-executable code of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the radio interface module a second selection of a particular search criteria from among the plurality of search criteria; and

in response to receiving the second selection, retrieving information comprising the plurality of radio stations, wherein the content provided by the plurality of radio stations is related to the search criteria.

18. The machine-executable code of claim 17, wherein receiving the first selection is in response to receiving the second selection.

19. The machine-executable code of claim 17, wherein the plurality of search criteria comprises a genre of music.

20. The machine-executable code of claim 17, wherein the plurality of search criteria comprises a music artist.

15. Machine-executable code embedded within a tangible medium and including instructions for carrying out a method comprising:

accessing an Internet radio service on an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network from a radio interface module in a set-top box;

outputting to a display interface module in the set-top box a list of a plurality of Internet radio stations, the list being received from the Internet radio service, wherein the output to the display interface module is to a particular IPTV channel;

receiving at the radio interface module a selection of a particular Internet radio station from among the plurality of Internet radio stations, wherein the selection is received from a remote control module in the set-top box;

in response to receiving the selection, retrieving an Internet radio stream associated with the selected Internet radio station from the Internet radio service; and

outputting the Internet radio stream from the radio interface module to the display interface module on the particular IPTV channel.