Method and apparatus for customized rendering of commercials

• US 6,671,880 B2
• Filed: 10/30/1998
• Issued: 12/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Moore, Kenneth A., Shah-Nazaroff, Anthony A., Goldschmidt Iki, Jean M., Hackson, David N., Smith, Eric O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Srivastava, Vivek
• Application Number:
  US09/183,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20020010930A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,887 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.712, H04/N.710, H04/N.7025, H04/N.5445, G06/F.310, G06/F 1.310, 348/6, 348/8, 348/10, 348/12, 345/327, 709/217-219, 398/9, 398/1, 398/2, 455/2, 725/35, 725/36, 725/42, 725/44, 725/45, 725/46, 725/47, 705/10, 705/14
• US Class Current: 725/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• 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

An entertainment system receives entertainment programming interposed with commercials. The entertainment system selectively renders the commercial in accordance with characteristics associated with a user of the entertainment programming. In one embodiment, the entertainment system selectively renders a selected one among multiple received versions of a commercial. In another embodiment, the entertainment system selectively renders a selected one among multiple received commercials.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving entertainment programming interposed with commercials;

saving at least a portion of the commercials for selectively rendering later;

computing interest potential indices for the saved commercials, using selected ones of one or more characteristics associated with a user;

applying an incrementing weight to the interest potential indices of each respective saved commercial proportional to an age of the commercial since its last respective rendering so that commercials with the greatest likelihood of interest to the user and having a greater age since the last rendering are selected for rendering;

saving the computed interest potential indices for the user in association with each respective saved commercial; and

selectively rendering the saved commercials to the user in accordance with the computed interest potential indices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein applying an incrementing weight comprises applying a full weight to a very old previously rendered commercial and applying a relatively small weight to a relatively young previously rendered commercial.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively rendering includes selecting one of a plurality of received commercials based on the various received commercials'"'"' interest potential to the user, with the interest potential being determined based on the computed interest indices, the computed interest indices being based on the one or more characteristics associated with the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering the commercial comprises rendering the commercial using a first channel, the method further comprising conditionally restoring a second channel as a current channel after rendering the commercial.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics associated with the user comprises selected ones of profile characteristics, preference information and entertainment programming consumption characteristics.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein computing interest potential indices comprises adding up a number of matching characteristics between the commercial and the characteristics associated with the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving comprises receiving at the user entertainment system, wherein saving the commercials and saving the interest potential indices comprise saving at the user entertainment system, wherein computing comprises computing at the user entertainment system, and wherein rendering comprises rendering to the user at the user entertainment system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively rendering the commercials comprises selecting commercials from among received commercials and the saved commercials.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a commercial breakpoint and selecting a saved commercial for rendering at the commercial breakpoint in accordance with the computed interest potential indices and wherein selectively rendering comprises rendering the selected saved commercial at the detected commercial breakpoint.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the commercials comprise a plurality of versions of a commercial.

10. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving entertainment programming interposed with commercials;

saving at least a portion of the commercials for selectively rendering later;

computing interest potential indices for the saved commercials, using selected ones of one or more characteristics associated with a user;

applying an incrementing weight to the interest potential indices of each respective saved commercial proportional to an age of the commercial since its last respective rendering so that commercials with the greatest likelihood of interest to the user and having a greater age since the last rendering are selected for rendering;

saving the computed interest potential indices for the user in association with each respective saved commercial; and

selectively rendering the saved commercials to the user in accordance with the computed interest potential indices.

11. The medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for computing interest potential indices further comprise instructions which, when executed by the machine, cause the machine to perform further operations comprising adding up a number of matching characteristics between the commercial and the characteristics associated with the user.

12. The medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions for selectively rendering the commercials further comprise instructions which, when executed by the machine, cause the machine to perform further operations comprising selecting commercials from among received commercials and the saved commercials.

25. The medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more characteristics associated with the user comprises selected ones of profile characteristics, preference information and entertainment programming consumption characteristics.

13. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving entertainment programming interposed with commercials;

means for saving at least a portion of the commercials for selectively rendering later;

means for computing interest potential indices for the saved commercials, using selected ones of one or more characteristics associated with a user;

means for applying an incrementing weight to the interest potential indices of each respective saved commercial proportional to an age of the commercial since its last respective rendering so that commercials with the greatest likelihood of interest to the user and having a greater age since the last rendering are selected for rendering;

means for saving the computed interest potential indices for the user in association with each respective saved commercial; and

means for selectively rendering the saved commercials to the user in accordance with the computed interest potential indices.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for rendering the commercial comprises means for rendering the commercial using a first channel, the apparatus further comprising means for conditionally restoring a second channel as a current channel after rendering the commercial.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the one or more characteristics associated with the user comprise selected ones of profile characteristics, preference information and entertainment programming consumption characteristics.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein computing interest potential indices comprises adding up a number of matching characteristics between the commercial and the characteristics associated with the user.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for detecting a commercial breakpoint and selecting a saved commercial for rendering at the commercial breakpoint in accordance with the computed interest potential indices and wherein the means for selectively rendering comprises rendering the selected saved commercial at the detected commercial breakpoint.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the means for receiving, the means for saving, the means for computing, and the means for selectively rendering are components of a single user entertainment system at a single location.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the means for receiving comprises a receiver of a user entertainment system, wherein the means for saving the commercials and the computed interest potential indices comprise a storage subsystem of the user entertainment system, and wherein the means for computing interest potential indices and the means for selectively rendering comprise a rendering subsystem of the user entertainment system.

26. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the commercials comprise a plurality of versions of a commercial.

20. An entertainment system comprising:

a user characteristics subsystem to supply a number of characteristics associated with a user of entertainment programming;

a rendering subsystem coupled to the user characteristics subsystem to compute interest potential indices for a plurality of received commercials using selected ones of one or more of the supplied characteristics associated with the user, the interest potential indices of each respective saved commercial having an incrementing weight proportional to an age of the commercial since its last respective rendering so that commercials with the greatest likelihood of interest to the user and having a greater age since the last rendering are selected for rendering, and to render entertainment programming to the user including commercials interposed in the entertainment programming, the commercials being rendered selectively in accordance with the interest potential indices so that commercials with the greatest likelihood of interest to the user are selected for rendering; and

a storage subsystem to save at least a portion of the received commercials for later selective rendering by the rendering subsystem and to save the computed interest potential indices for the user in association with each respective saved commercial.

21. The entertainment system of claim 20, wherein the one or more characteristics associated with the user comprise selected ones of profile characteristics, preference information and entertainment programming consumption characteristics.

22. The entertainment system of claim 20, wherein the rendering subsystem computes interest potential indices by adding up a number of matching characteristics between the commercial and the characteristics associated with the user.

23. The entertainment system of claim 20, wherein the user characteristics subsystem, the rendering subsystem, and the storage subsystem are components of a single user entertainment system at a single location.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the commercials comprise a plurality of versions of a commercial.