SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFECTIVELY TRANSMITTING CONTENT ITEMS TO ELECTRONIC DEVICES

• US 20140052829A1
• Filed: 10/24/2013
• Published: 02/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Carpio, Fredrik, Georgis, Nikolaos, Frazier, Milton
• Application Number:
  US14/061,992
• Publication Number:
  US 20140052829A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A system and method for effectively transmitting content items to electronic devices includes a content server that is configured to access and store various types of content information. A recommendation engine of the content server analyzes network statistics and client profiles to identify appropriate content items for device users of the electronic devices. A transmitter receives the targeted content items from the content server, and responsively provides the content items to the electronic devices by broadcasting the content items over a unidirectional telecommunications link.

Claims

1. A content server for supporting a content distribution in an electronic network comprising one or more computers associated with a user, said content server comprising:

at least one processor operable to;

determine usage of said one or more computers;

analyze network statistics associated with said one or more computers based on said determined usage;

select a content based on said analyzed network statistics; and

transmit said selected content to an electronic device associated with said user, through a unidirectional telecommunication link.

2. The content server of claim 1, wherein said content comprises one or more of:

news data, traffic data, weather data, image data, audio/video data, program guide data, software data, and/or Internet website data.

3. The content server of claim 1, wherein said network statistics comprise Internet browsing statistics.

4. The content server of claim 1, wherein said at least one processor is operable to select said content based on a client profile associated with said electronic device.

5. The content server of claim 4, wherein said at least one processor is operable to automatically create said client profile based on said analyzed network statistics.

6. The content server of claim 4, wherein said client profile is manually created by said user.

7. The content server of claim 4, wherein said client profile comprises demographic information corresponding to said user.

8. The content server of claim 7, wherein said demographic information comprises one or more of:

a user age, a user gender, a user location, a user ethnicity, a user marital status, user family information, a user annual income bracket, user occupation, user hobbies, user interests, and/or a user political affiliation.

9. The content server of claim 1, wherein said at least one processor is operable to select said content from a plurality of content items stored in a content database.

10. The content server of claim 9, wherein said content database stores a client profile associated with said electronic device.

11. A method for supporting a content distribution in an electronic network comprising one or more computers associated with a user, said method comprising:

determining usage of said one or more computers;

analyzing network statistics associated with said one or more computers based on said determined usage;

selecting a content based on said analyzed network statistics and a client profile; and

transmitting said selected content to an electronic device associated with said user, through a unidirectional telecommunication link.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said content and said client profile are stored in a content database.

13. An electronic device for supporting a content reception in an electronic network comprising one or more computers associated with a user, said electronic device comprising:

at least one processor operable to;

receive a content from a content server through a unidirectional telecommunication link, wherein said content server selects said content based on usage of said one or more computers and wherein said electronic device is associated with said user.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said electronic device is a portable wireless device.

15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said at least one processor is operable to receive said content from said content server through a transmitter.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein said transmitter is a radio-frequency television broadcasting transmitter

17. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein said at least one processor is operable to receive said content through said unidirectional telecommunication link between said transmitter and said electronic device.

18. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said electronic device is implemented without a wireless transmission capability.

19. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said at least one processor is operable to determine whether to accept said received content based upon content acceptance criteria.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein said content acceptance criteria are manually programmed as a user preference by said user.

21. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said at least one processor is operable to locally store said received content and determine whether said locally-stored content is obsolete.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein said at least one processor is operable to periodically delete said obsolete locally-stored content.

23. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said at least one processor is operable to present an information window interface to said user for cataloguing and navigating said received content.

24. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein said at least one processor is operable to indicate to said user that requested functionalities are unavailable.

25. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein said at least one processor is operable to offer said user one or more alternative functionalities when said requested functionalities are unavailable.