RETRIEVING SERVICE PROVIDER INFORMATION AND CHANNEL MAP VIA INTERNET PROTOCOL CONNECTIONS

• US 20110314504A1
• Filed: 06/21/2010
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: RUIZ-VELASCO, Enrique
• Granted Patent: US 8,533,758 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/49
• 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 21/462 Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82

Abstract

A digital television (DTV) receiver retrieves, from a memory, a standardized hostname and a standardized filename for a web-based service for providing a channel map associated with service providers. The DTV receiver adds, to the standardized hostname, a name for a particular service provider and sends, to a data server, a request for channel map information, where the request is based on the standardized hostname, the name for the particular service provider, and the standardized filename. The DTV receiver receivers, from the data server, a channel map file based on the standardized filename and extracts information from the channel map file to present to a user.

Claims

1. A method performed by a digital television receiver, comprising:

retrieving, by the digital television receiver and from a memory, a standardized hostname and a standardized filename for a web-based service for providing a channel map associated with service providers;

adding, by the digital television receiver and to the standardized hostname, a name for a particular service provider;

sending, by the digital television receiver and to a data server, a request for channel map information based on the standardized hostname, the name for the particular service provider, and the standardized filename;

receiving, by the digital television receiver and from the data server, a channel map file based on the standardized filename; and

extracting, by the digital television receiver, information from the channel map file to present to a user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from a domain name system (DNS) server, an Internet protocol (IP) address based on the standardized hostname and the name for the particular service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, where the standardized hostname and the standardized filename are stored in the memory by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

4. The method of claim 1, where the standardized hostname and the standardized filename are received from the service provider via a network connection.

5. The method of claim 1, where the name for the particular service provider is provided by the user.

6. The method of claim 1, where the name for the particular service provider is provided by the service provider via a network connection.

7. The method of claim 1, where the name for the particular service provider is selected from a group of names of service providers stored in the memory.

8. The method of claim 1, where the channel map file includes an expiration date and instructions for the digital television receiver to delete the channel map file based on the expiration date.

9. The method of claim 1, where the request for channel map information includes a uniform resource locator (URL) sent over an Internet protocol (IP) connection.

10. The method of claim 1, where the channel map file includes Extensible Markup Language (XML).

11. The method of claim 1, where the channel map file includes information for all channels available from the particular service provider.

12. The method of claim 11, where the channel map file includes information about the particular service provider and information about how to retrieve electronic guide data.

13. One or more server devices, comprising:

a memory to store instructions and a channel map file for a particular service provider, where the channel map file includes a standardized filename; and

a processor to execute the instructions to;

receive, from a digital television and via an Internet protocol (IP) connection, a request for the channel map file, where the request for the channel map file includes the standardized filename,

retrieve, from the memory and based on the standardized filename, the channel map file for the particular service provider, and

send, to the digital television and via the IP connection, the channel map file for the particular service provider.

14. The one or more devices of claim 13, where the request for the channel map file is a uniform resource locator (URL) request comprising a standardized hostname, a name for the particular service provider, and the standardized filename.

15. The one or more devices of claim 14, where the processor further is to execute the instructions to:

send, to the digital television and via an IP connection, the name for the particular service provider.

16. The one or more devices of claim 13, where the channel map file is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file that includes information for all channels available from the particular service provider.

17. A digital television receiver, comprising:

a memory to store instructions, a standardized hostname, and a standardized filename for providing a channel map file associated with television service providers; and

a processor to execute the instructions to;

retrieve, from the memory, the standardized hostname and the standardized filename;

add, to the standardized hostname, a name for a particular service provider;

send, to a data server as a uniform resource locator, a request for channel map information, where the URL includes the standardized hostname, the name for the particular service provider, and the standardized filename;

receive, from the data server, a channel map file based on standardized filename; and

extract, from the channel map file, channel information to present to a user.

18. The digital television receiver of claim 17, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

identify an expiration date for the channel map file, and

delete the channel map file based on the expiration date.

19. The digital television receiver of claim 17, where the memory further stores a group of names of service providers, and where the name for the particular service provider is selected from the group of names.

20. A digital television system, comprising:

a digital television receiver to;

retrieve, from a local memory, a standardized hostname and a standardized filename,

add, to the standardized hostname, a domain name for a particular service provider, where the name domain name is selected by a user,

generate, based on the standardized hostname, the name for the particular service provider, and the standardized filename, a uniform resource locator (URL) request for channel map information,

receive, via an Internet protocol (IP) connection, a channel map file based on the standardized filename, and

extract, from the channel map file, channel information to present to a user; and

a data server to;

receive, via the IP connection, the URL request,

retrieve the channel map file for the particular service provider based on the URL request, and

send, to the digital television receiver and via the IP connection, the channel map file for the particular service provider.