MESSAGE DELIVERY MECHANISM

• US 20130086601A1
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Adimatyam, Venkata S., Gavade, Sameer Vasant, Ruiz-Velasco, Enrique
• Granted Patent: US 8,959,539 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

A method may include receiving a video stream, wherein the video stream is divided into video segments, and wherein the video stream is being sent to a customer device and receiving a request to insert a message into the video stream. The method may further include determining a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream; inserting the message into video stream after the particular video segment; and sending the video stream to the customer device, wherein the video stream includes the inserted message.

Claims

1. A method performed by a server device, the method comprising:

receiving, by the server device, a video stream, wherein the video stream is divided into video segments, and wherein the video stream is being sent to a customer device;

receiving, by the server device, a request to insert a message into the video stream;

determining, by the server device, a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream;

inserting, by the server device, the message into video stream after the particular video segment; and

sending, by the server device, the video stream to the customer device, wherein the video stream includes the inserted message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream is performed independently of a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers 35 specification message cue associated with the video stream.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes an advertisement.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes one or more of:

a message from a billing system;

a message from a service system;

a message from a customer;

or

a message from an emergency messaging system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream includes:

determining a time at which to insert the message into the video stream;

determining a duration of a video segment;

determining a current video segment; and

determining the particular video segment based on the time at which to insert the message, the duration of a video segment, and the current video segment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream includes:

detecting a scene change associated with the video stream; and

selecting a video segment associated with the detected scene change as the particular video segment.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of video streams;

determining one or more customers that are to receive the message;

determining at least one of the plurality of video streams that is associated with the determined one or more customers; and

inserting the message into the at least one of the plurality of video streams.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining one or more customers that are to receive the message includes:

identifying a location associated with the message; and

determining the one or more customers that are to receive the message based on the identified location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending of the video stream includes sending of the video stream to a first plurality of customer devices, the method further comprising:

sending the video stream to a second plurality of customer devices without inserting the message into the video stream sent to the second plurality of customer devices; and

synchronizing sending of the video stream to the first plurality of customer devices and the sending of the video stream to the second plurality of customer devices, wherein the synchronizing causes a same video segment to be sent to the first plurality of customer devices and to the second plurality of customer devices at a substantially same time.

10. A system comprising:

one or more server devices configured to;

receive a video stream, wherein the video stream is divided into video segments, and wherein the video stream is being sent to a customer device;

receive a request to insert a message into the video stream;

determine a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream;

insert the message into video stream after the particular video segment; and

sending the video stream to the customer device, wherein the video stream includes the inserted message.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the video stream is received from at least one of:

a content delivery server device that delivers a television broadcast to the one or more server devices;

an on-demand server device that delivers on-demand video content to the one or more server devices;

or

an interactive server device that provides interactive video content to the one or more server devices.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the customer device includes at least one of:

a set-top box;

a personal computer;

or

a mobile communication device.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the message is received from at least one of:

an advertisement server device that provides advertisements to the one or more server devices;

a billing system that generates bills for customer accounts associated with the one or more server devices;

a service system that provides service or maintenance for customer accounts associated with the one or more server devices;

a customer messaging system that enables a first customer associated with the one or more server devices to send a message to a second customer associated with the one or more server devices;

or

an emergency messaging system that provides emergency messages or public announcements to the one or more server devices.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein, when the one or more server devices determine the particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream, the one or more server devices are further configured to:

determine a time at which to insert the message into the video stream;

determine a duration of a video segment;

determine a current video segment; and

determine the particular video segment based on the time at which to insert the message, the duration of a video segment, and the current video segment.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein, when the one or more server devices determine the particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream, the one or more server devices are further configured to:

detect a scene change associated with the video stream; and

select a video segment associated with the detected scene change as the particular video segment.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more server devices are further configured to:

receive a plurality of video streams;

determine one or more customers that are to receive the message;

determine at least one of the plurality of video streams that is associated with the determined one or more customers; and

insert the message into the at least one of the plurality of video streams.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more server devices are configured to send the video stream to a first plurality of customer devices, and wherein the one or more server devices are further configured to:

send the video stream to a second plurality of customer devices without inserting the message into the video stream sent to the second plurality of customer devices; and

synchronize the sending of the video stream to the first plurality of customer devices and the sending of the video stream to the second plurality of customer devices, wherein the synchronizing causes a same video segment to be sent to the first plurality of customer devices and to the second plurality of customer devices at a substantially same time.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

one or more instructions to receive a video stream, wherein the video stream is divided into video segments, and wherein the video stream is being sent to a customer device;

one or more instructions to receive a request to insert a message into the video stream;

one or more instructions to determine a particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream;

one or more instructions to insert the message into video stream after the particular video segment; and

one or more instructions to send the video stream to the customer device, wherein the video stream includes the inserted message.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more instructions to determine the particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream include:

one or more instructions to determine a time at which to insert the message into the video stream;

one or more instructions to determine a duration of a video segment;

one or more instructions to determine a current video segment; and

one or more instructions to determine the particular video segment based on the time at which to insert the message, the duration of a video segment, and the current video segment.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more instructions to determine the particular video segment after which to insert the message into the video stream include:

one or more instructions to detect a scene change associated with the video stream; and

one or more instructions to select a video segment associated with the detected scene change as the particular video segment.