Electronic Program Guide Generation

• US 20110239251A1
• Filed: 03/25/2010
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Miller, James Vernon
• Granted Patent: US 9,313,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2355 involving reformatting operations of additional data, e.g. HTML pages optimising the visualization of content for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/9577; tracking of instant messages H04L51/234; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23608 Remultiplexing multiplex streams, e.g. involving modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4344 Remultiplexing of multiplex streams, e.g. by modifying time stamps or remapping the packet identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

An electronic program guide may be provided. A plurality of encoded content streams may be received along with associated program guide information. The content streams may be re-modulated and associated with new channel assignments. Program guide entries for the content streams may be created and/or updated to reflect the new channel assignments. The re-modulated content streams and program guide entries may then be distributed to a plurality of display devices.

Claims

1. A method for providing a program guide, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of channel streams, wherein each of the plurality of channel streams is associated with a channel;

receiving content information associated with at least one of the plurality of channel streams;

re-modulating the at least one of the plurality of channel streams to associate the at least one of the plurality of channel streams with a new channel;

associating the content information associated with the at least one of the plurality of channel streams to the new channel; and

generating a program guide comprising the content information associated with the at least one of the plurality of channel streams and the new channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content information associated with the at least one of the plurality of channel streams is associated with the new channel according to a channel map comprising data identifying the new channel for the at least one of the plurality of channel streams to the new channel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the channel map is created according to a local premises content distribution network.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

re-modulating the at least one of the plurality of channel streams to associate the at least one of the plurality of channel streams with a second new channel; and

updating the channel map to reflect the association of the at least one of the plurality of channel streams with the second new channel.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the channel map is created by a provider of the plurality of channel streams and comprises a physical channel associated with each of the plurality of channel streams, a virtual channel associated with each of the plurality of channel streams, and the new channel associated with the at least one of the plurality of channel streams.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

encoding a new content stream for distribution with the at least one of the plurality of channel streams.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising adding program information associated with the new content stream to the program guide.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

encoding a plurality of new content streams, wherein each of the new content streams are received from an associated content provider; and

adding program information associated with each of the plurality of new content streams to the program guide, wherein the program information associated with each of the plurality of new content streams is received from the associated content provider.

9. A computer-readable medium which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a method for creating a program guide, the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

receiving a content stream associated with a virtual channel;

receiving a guide entry comprising program information associated with the encoded content stream and the virtual channel;

determining whether the encoded content stream is assigned for distribution on a different virtual channel; and

in response to determining that the encoded content stream is assigned for distribution on the different virtual channel, creating a new guide entry comprising the program information associated with the encoded content stream and the different virtual channel.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein determining whether the encoded content stream is assigned for distribution on a different virtual channel comprises determining whether a channel map file comprises an entry associating the virtual channel with the different virtual channel.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the channel map further comprises a physical channel associated with the content stream.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the new guide entry comprises at least one graphical layout instruction.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the at least one graphical layout instruction comprises at least one of the following:

a position, a font, a text color, and a background color.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the graphical layout instruction is associated with a shared graphics library.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the graphical layout instruction is associated with a local graphics library.

16. A system for providing a program guide, the system comprising:

a memory storage; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to;

receive a plurality of encoded content streams;

receive a program guide comprising content information associated with each of the plurality of encoded content streams;

re-modulate at least one of the plurality of encoded content streams;

generate a program guide entry associated with the re-modulated at least one of the plurality of encoded content streams according to the received program guide; and

transmit the re-modulated at least one of the plurality of encoded content streams and the program guide entry to a plurality of display devices.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the program guide entry is generated according to a channel map comprising a first channel assignment and a second channel assignment, wherein the first channel assignment comprises a channel assignment associated with the at least one of the plurality of encoded content streams prior to being re-modulated and the second channel assignment comprises a channel assignment associated with the at least one of the plurality of encoded content streams after being re-modulated.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing unit is further operative to:

detect a change in the second channel assignment; and

update the program guide entry according to the changed second channel assignment.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the first channel assignment and the second channel assignment each comprise at least one of the following:

a virtual channel assignment and a physical channel assignment.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the processing unit is further operative to:

encode a new content stream;

add a new program guide entry associated with the new content stream; and

transmit the new encoded content stream and the new program guide entry to the plurality of display devices.