Apparatus and method for digital advertisement insertion in a bitstream

• US 6,487,721 B1
• Filed: 01/08/1999
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Safadi, Reem
• Primary Examiner(s): Faile, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Koenig, Andrew Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/227,793
• Time in Patent Office: 1,418 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.710, H04/N.7025, 725/35, 725/36, 725/32, 725/42, 348/473, 348/705, 348/722, 375/240.26
• US Class Current: 725/36
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• 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 21/234354 by altering signal-to-noise ratio parameters, e.g. requantization
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A system for inserting commercials into an audiovisual bit stream by providing cue commands in response to cue tones in a pre-existing analog signal, and/or in response to control signals from an uplink (/programmer/network) site or headend (/affiliate). Firmware upgrades are provided to a digital encoder to facilitate generating spliceable bit streams and generation of cue_commands. This enables commercial insertion at an uplink site (/programmer/network) as well as at a cable television headend (/affiliate). The system provides functional compatibility between a digital bit stream and the analog cue tones. The cue commands are preferably carried in the transport layer of the bit stream so there is no need to decode and process several layers of the bit stream. Accordingly, a new commercial insertion capability can be added to existing uplink and headend equipment in a backward compatible manner minimizing upgrade-related expenses, yet allowing different splicing techniques to be employed depending on cost-performance tradeoffs in terms of desired post-splicing audiovisual quality.

Claims

1. A method for inserting digital commercials into a digital audiovisual bitstream, comprising the steps of:

processing a first analog audiovisual signal to determine whether analog cue tones are present therein;

encoding said first analog audiovisual signal as a digital spliceable data stream;

providing digital cue commands corresponding to said analog cue tones, if present, in said digital spliceable data stream;

said digital cue commands being provided in the form of a digital message in said digital spliceable data stream and indicating splicing points for splicing a digital commercial into the digital spliceable data stream; and

forwarding the digital spliceable data stream to a commercial inserter;

wherein;

said commercial inserter detects said digital cue commands and inserts a commercial into said digital spliceable data stream in response thereto at a splice point designated by a first detected digital cue command; and

said commercial inserter monitors said digital spliceable data stream for a subsequent digital cue command to splice back from the inserted commercial to the digital spliceable data stream.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the further steps of:

multiplexing a plurality of single video program transport streams including said digital spliceable data stream into a multi-program transport stream; and

forwarding the multi-program transport stream to the commercial inserter.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said digital cue commands are provided in said digital spliceable data stream at an uplink site;

said plurality of single video program transport streams including said digital spliceable data stream are multiplexed into the multi-program transport stream at said uplink site; and

multi-program transport stream is forwarded from said uplink site to said commercial inserter at a headend.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said digital cue commands are provided in said digital spliceable data stream at an uplink site;

said plurality of single video program transport streams including said digital spliceable data stream are multiplexed into the multi-program transport stream at said uplink site; and

the multi-program transport stream is forwarded to said commercial inserter at said uplink site.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said digital cue commands are provided in a transport layer of said digital spliceable data stream.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

digital cue commands are provided in said digital spliceable data stream regardless of a presence of said analog cue tones according to a real-time trigger or a scheduler/controller.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said digital cue commands designate at least one desired program attribute of the inserted commercial.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7, wherein:

said at least one desired program attribute comprises at least one of bit rate and stream construct.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the digital spliceable data stream is a constant bit rate or a variable bit rate stream.

10. An apparatus for inserting digital commercials into a digital audiovisual bitstream, comprising:

a cue tone detector for processing a first analog audiovisual signal to determine whether analog cue tones are present therein;

an encoder for encoding said first analog audiovisual signal as a digital spliceable data stream;

control responsive to said cue tone detector for providing digital cue commands corresponding to said analog cue tones, if present, in said digital spliceable data stream;

said digital cue commands being provided in the form of a digital message in said digital spliceable data stream and indicating splicing points for splicing a digital commercial into the digital spliceable data stream;

a commercial inserter; and

means for forwarding the digital spliceable data stream to said commercial inserter;

wherein;

said commercial inserter detects said digital cue commands and inserts a commercial into said digital spliceable data stream in response thereto at a splice point designated by a first detected digital cue command; and

said commercial inserter monitors said digital spliceable data stream for a subsequent digital cue command to splice back from the inserted commercial to the digital spliceable data stream.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a multiplexer for multiplexing a plurality of single video program transport streams including said digital spliceable data stream into a multi-program transport stream; and

means for forwarding the multi-program transport stream to the commercial inserter.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

said control and said multiplexer are provided at an uplink site; and

said commercial inserter is provided at a headend.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

said control, said multiplexer, and said commercial inserter are provided at an uplink site.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

said digital cue commands are provided in a transport layer of said digital spliceable data stream thereof.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

digital cue commands are provided in said digital spliceable data stream regardless of a presence of said analog cue tones according to a real-time trigger or a scheduler/controller.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

said digital cue commands designate at least one desired program attribute of the inserted commercial.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein;

said at least one desired program attribute comprises at least one of bit rate and stream construct.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the digital spliceable data stream is a constant bit rate or a variable bit rate stream.