INTEGRATING VIDEO SHARE AND TEXT MESSAGING WITH SET-TOP BOX AND ACCESS POINT

• US 20110307932A1
• Filed: 06/11/2010
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2010
• 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: Fan, James, Lam, Jennifer K., Liu, Cheng P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,100,707 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/110
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4131 home appliance, e.g. lighting, air conditioning system, metering devices home automation data switching networks exchanging configuration information on appliance services H04L12/2807
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• 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 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

System(s), method(s), and device(s) providing converged wireline and wireless services in part by employing a set-top box (STB) with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication are presented. The STB, associated with an access point, such as a femtocell, can be used to send/receive messages, including video, to/from user equipment (UE) via a core network. A monitoring system includes a sensor component that is triggered under specified conditions, and the STB records events in response to the trigger, where a recorded event can be sent as a message to the UE. The STB or associated remote control can indicate a received message to a user, who can view the message on the STB, remote control, or associated television. A meter component is associated with the STB via the femtocell or other desired connection. The STB can receive and store utility meter readings for validation or dispute by the user.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates communications associated with a set-top box, comprising:

the set-top box configured to transmit or receive one or more messages at least wirelessly to or from at least one other communication device; and

the at least one other communication device configured to transmit or receive the one or more message at least wirelessly to or from the set-top box.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one other communication device comprising at least one of a mobile communication device, a meter component, a communication device associated with a monitor system, or a communication device of a remote data center associated with an utility provider or a service provider, wherein the meter component is configured to monitor and track consumption of at least one of a product or a service associated with the utility provider or the service provider.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more messages comprising a meter reading message that comprises information relating to consumption of the product or the service over a given period of time, and wherein the set-top box is configured to facilitate display of at least a portion of the meter reading message on at least a portion of at least one display screen associated with the set-top box, wherein the at least one display screen is located on the set-top box, is associated with a television, or is associated with a remote control component.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

the remote control component configured to receive or transmit information from or to the set-top box, wherein at least one of the set-top box or the remote control component is further configured to receive information that indicates the information in the meter reading message is at least one of verified or disputed, and wherein the set-top box is further configured to create a copy of the meter reading message that incorporates the information that indicates the information in the meter reading message is at least one of verified or disputed, and wherein the meter reading message and the copy of the meter reading message are stored in a data store associated with the set-top box.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the set-top box transmits the copy of the meter reading message, which incorporates the information that indicates the information in the meter reading message is at least one of verified or disputed, to the remote data center.

6. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

the monitor system configured to monitor at least a portion of a physical location associated with a user, sense a change in condition associated with the at least a portion of the physical location, capture information relating to the change in condition, and transmit at least one of a change-in-condition indicator or a message comprising the information relating to the change in condition to the set-top box via the communication device of the monitor system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the set-top box is further configured to transmit at least one of an alert indicator or at least a portion of the information relating to the change in condition to the at least one other communication device in accordance with predefined alert criteria.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one other communication device is the meter component and is further configured to monitor a specified area surrounding the meter component to detect or attempt to detect an available wireless communication connection with a home gateway to facilitate establishing a wireless communication connection with the home gateway.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the set-top box is .further configured to identify respective priority levels of at least a portion of the one or more messages received from the at least one other communication device and presents at least one of a first message, which is identified as having a highest priority level relative to other of the at least a portion of the one or more messages, or a message indicator associated with the first message to at least one of a display screen associated with the set-top box or a remote control component, wherein the remote control component is configured to communicate with the set-top box.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more messages comprises at least one of textual content, video content, or audio content.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of a femto access point or a pico access point that is configured to establish communication sessions between the set-top box and the at least one other communication device, comprising a meter component, without the communication sessions being routed through a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel to a mobile core network, to facilitate communication of at least a portion of the one or more messages between the set-top box and the meter component.

12. A method that facilitates communications associated with a set-top box, comprising:

communicating at least one message between the set-top box and at least one other communication device via at least a wireless communication connection between the set-top box and the at least one other communication device; and

presenting the at least one message by at least one of the set-top box or the at least one other communication device.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the at least one message, comprising a first message and a second message;

identifying a first priority level associated with the first message and a second priority level associated with the second message;

determining which of the first priority level and the second priority level is a higher priority level relative to the other; and

presenting the first message prior to the second message when the first message is determined to have the higher priority level.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving information captured in response to detecting at least a predefined amount of change in conditions associated with a physical location associated with the set-top box; and

transmitting at least one of a portion of the information captured or an alert indicator, which relates to the at least the predefined amount of change in conditions, from the set-top box to the at least one other communication device via the at least the wireless communication connection.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the at least one message from the at least one other communication device;

identifying a priority level associated with the at least one message;

determining whether the priority level at least meets a predefined minimum threshold priority level for forwarding the at least one message to a remote communication device; and

forwarding the at least one message to the remote communication device when the priority level at least meets the predefined minimum threshold priority level for forwarding.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the at least one message, comprising a meter reading associated with a utility provided to a subscriber associated with the set-top box, from the at least one other communication device via the at least the wireless communication connection, wherein the wireless communication connection is a local wireless communication connection between the set-top box and the at least one other communication device facilitated via at least one of a femtocell or a picocell;

storing the at least one message in a data store associated with the set-top box.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving information relating to the meter reading from the subscriber or other person authorized by the subscriber, wherein the information comprising at least one of a valid-meter-reading indicator or a disputed-meter-reading indicator;

storing a version of the meter reading, comprising the at least one of the valid-meter-reading indicator or the disputed-meter-reading indicator, in the data store; and

transmitting the version of the meter reading to a communication device located at a remote data center associated with a utility provider providing the utility.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

configuring the set-top box to communicate with the at least one other communication device via the at least the wireless communication connection.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a selection of pre-configured text to facilitate generating the at least one message or at least one other message in response to the at least one message;

transmitting the at least one message or at least one other message from the set-top box to the at least one other communication device.

20. A system, comprising:

means for communicating at least one message between a set-top box and at least one other communication device via at least a wireless communication connection between the set-top box and the at least one other communication device; and

means for displaying the at least one message by at least one of the set-top box or the at least one other communication device.