METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PRESELECTING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT

• US 20120090008A1
• Filed: 10/12/2010
• Published: 04/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2010
• 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: Roberts, Linda A., King, Robert, Moore, Darryl Cynthia
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,984 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time

Abstract

A method and system for remote control at a client of a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN) enables a user to add desired multimedia program listings to a user collection. The user collection may be saved at an MCDN server for subsequent retrieval. Multimedia programs corresponding to the listings may be stored in a user collection cache. The user may easily select the listings in a user collection for presentation at an MCDN client. The multimedia programs may be provided from a plurality of content sources, including external content providers and the Internet.

Claims

1. A method for preselecting multimedia content delivered over a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN), comprising:

displaying an indication of multimedia programs available via the MCDN, wherein the available multimedia programs include multimedia programs from a plurality of multimedia content sources;

receiving first user input for selecting one of the available multimedia programs;

adding a listing of the selected multimedia program to a user collection of multimedia program listings; and

displaying an indication of the user collection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of available multimedia programs includes an electronic programming guide (EPG) provided by the MCDN, and wherein the plurality of multimedia content sources includes at least one of:

a video-on-demand program, a prerecorded program, a pay-per-view program, streaming Internet content, a scheduled program, and a program broadcast in real time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user input is received at a remote control device, and wherein the indication of the user collection is displayed on the remote control device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving second user input for selecting a multimedia program listing in the user collection; and

initiating playback of a multimedia program corresponding to the selected multimedia program listing.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the selected multimedia program to be recorded and stored in a user collection cache (UCC) for subsequent playback from the UCC.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving third user input for naming the user collection; and

causing the user collection to be stored based on the third user input, including causing the multimedia program listings included in the user collection to be stored.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving fourth user input for selecting a named user collection; and

displaying an indication of the named user collection.

8. A wireless user device in communication with a multimedia handling device (MHD) for preselecting multimedia content provided via a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN), the wireless user device comprising:

a processor coupled to memory media;

a wireless interface coupled to the processor; and

wherein the memory media include processor executable instructions to;

display, using a display accessible to the processor, an indication of available multimedia programs from a plurality of multimedia content sources and accessible via the MCDN;

receive first user input to add an available multimedia program listing to a user collection of multimedia program listings;

display, using the display, the user collection; and

receive second user input to select a current multimedia program listing from the displayed user collection for output by the MHD.

9. The wireless user device of claim 8, wherein the memory media further include processor executable instructions to:

send a message to the MHD to output a multimedia program corresponding to the second user input.

10. The wireless user device of claim 8, wherein the plurality of multimedia content sources includes at least one of:

an electronic programming guide provided by the MCDN, a video-on-demand program, a prerecorded program, a pay-per-view program, streaming Internet content, a scheduled program, and a program broadcast in real time.

11. The wireless user device of claim 8, wherein the memory media further include processor executable instructions to:

store a multimedia program corresponding to the first user input in a user collection cache (UCC) for subsequent playback from the UCC.

12. The wireless user device of claim 11, wherein the UCC is a digital video recorder associated with the MHD.

13. The wireless user device of claim 8, wherein the memory media further include processor executable instructions to:

cause the user collection, including the multimedia program listings, to be stored on an MCDN server.

14. The wireless user device of claim 13, wherein the memory media further include processor executable instructions to:

receive third user input for selecting a stored user collection from an MCDN server;

retrieve the selected user collection from the MCDN server; and

display, using the display, an indication of the retrieved user collection.

15. Computer-readable memory media, including instructions for preselecting multimedia content from a plurality of multimedia content sources for display at a client of a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN), said instructions executable to:

receive first user input to add an available multimedia program listing to a user collection of multimedia program listings;

display, on a display, the user collection;

receive second user input to select a multimedia program listing from the displayed user collection for output by the MCDN client; and

send a command to the MCDN client to output a multimedia program corresponding to the selected multimedia program listing.

16. The memory media of claim 15, further comprising instructions executable to:

display, on the display, an indication of available multimedia programs accessible via the MCDN, wherein at least a portion of the displayed indication is selected to provide the first user input.

17. The memory media of claim 15, wherein the plurality of multimedia content sources includes at least one of:

an electronic programming guide provided by the MCDN, a video-on-demand program, a prerecorded program, a pay-per-view program, streaming Internet content, a scheduled program, and a program broadcast in real time.

18. The memory media of claim 15, further comprising instructions executable to:

cause the user collection, including the multimedia program listings, to be stored on an MCDN server.

19. The memory media of claim 18, further comprising instructions executable to:

receive third user input for selecting a stored user collection from an MCDN server;

retrieve the selected user collection from the MCDN server; and

display, on the display, the retrieved user collection.

20. The memory media of claim 19, further comprising instructions executable to:

cause a plurality of multimedia programs corresponding to the retrieved user collection to be output at the MCDN client in a predetermined sequence determined by sequence information included in the user collection.