Apparatus for receiving programs

• US 6,493,688 B1
• Filed: 11/16/1999
• Issued: 12/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sisvel S.p.A. (Fineur International S.A.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Bakker, Christian P. W., Van Loon, Paul M., Westerink, Joanne H. D. M., Das, Duco A. D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Davis, George B.
• Application Number:
  US09/440,765
• Time in Patent Office: 1,120 Days
• Field of Search: 706/20, 705/10, 725/116, 345/721
• US Class Current: 706/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42209 for displaying non-command information, e.g. electronic program guide [EPG], e-mail, messages or a second television channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4823 using a channel name
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for receiving a multitude of programs which may be classified by a first and a second attribute. For example, a program may be classified by a channel name and a program category. The apparatus is capable of defining one or more user profiles which comprise ratings for some or all combinations of values of the first and the second attribute. Thus, a user can supply preferences in a very precise way. The user profile influences the behavior of various components, such as the zap function and the electronic program guide.

Claims

1. An apparatus for receiving a multitude of programs, said programs being classified by at least a first and a second attribute, the apparatus comprising user-operable profiling means for defining a subset of said multitude of programs constituting a user profile, wherein the user profile comprises a rating for a value combination of at least a value of the first attribute and a value of the second attribute, the rating determining whether a program classified by said value combination is a member of said subset.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first attribute is a channel name and the second attribute is a program category.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, the apparatus comprising zap means for sequentially selecting members of said multitude of programs, wherein the profiling means are adapted to control the zap means in accordance with said rating to sequentially select the members of said subset only.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, the apparatus comprising an electronic program guide, wherein the profiling means are adapted to control the electronic program guide in accordance with said rating to present program information relating to the members of said subset only.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the profiling means are arranged to simultaneously assign the same rating to all value combination which contain a specific value of a specific attribute.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, the apparatus having a display screen, wherein the profiling means are adapted to present the user profile on the display screen as a matrix, each row of which is identified by a value of the first attribute and each column by a value of the second attribute.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the profiling means are further adapted to present a focus part of said matrix in fall detail, and to present a major part of said matrix in lower detail and indicate the location of said focus part with respect to said major part.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the profiling means are adapted to store multiple user profiles and means for selecting each one of the user profiles.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the profiling means comprise a default user profile designating all value combinations as members of said subset.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, the apparatus having a display screen, wherein the profiling means are adapted to present at least a part of the value combinations of a user profile on the display screen, and to indicate which of the presented value combinations correspond to a program which is being received.

11. A method of establishing a subset of a multitude of programs, said programs being classified by at least a first and a second attribute, the method comprising a step of defining a user profile, wherein the method further comprises a step of assigning a rating for a value combination of at least a value of the first attribute and a value of the second attribute, the rating determining whether a program classified by said value combination is a member of said subset.

12. A remote control device for controlling an apparatus for receiving a multitude of programs, comprising user operable profiling means for defining a subset of said multitude of programs constituting a user profile, the user profile comprising a rating for a value combination of at least a value of the first attribute and a value of the second attribute, the rating determining whether a program classified by said value combination is a member of said subset.

13. A remote control device as claimed in claim 12, comprising zap means for sequentially selecting members of said multitude of programs, the profiling means being adapted to control the zap means in accordance with said rating to sequentially select the members of said subset only.

14. A remote control device as claimed in claim 12, comprising an electronic program guide, the profiling means being adapted to control the electronic program guide in accordance with said rating to present program information related to the members of said subset only.