Transmission announcement system and method for announcing upcoming data transmissions over a broadcast network

• US 6,973,050 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2003
• Issued: 12/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Witty, Carl R., Sargent, James Randall, Moran, Brian, Byrne, David S., Birdwell, Kenneth J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elallam, Ahmed
• Application Number:
  US10/420,341
• Publication Number:
  US 20040027996A1
• Time in Patent Office: 960 Days
• Field of Search: 370/270, 370/312, 370/332, 370/345, 370/431, 370/432, 370/442, 370/498, 340/825.22, 348/729, 348/732, 709/203, 709/219, 709229-232
• US Class Current: 370/270
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

In a broadcast system in which computer data and other content are delivered from multiple content servers to multiple clients at least partly over a broadcast network, a transmission announcement system announces upcoming broadcast transmissions and instructs the clients on how to receive the broadcast transmissions. Announcement servers (which may or may not be the same as the content servers which serve the data for the broadcast transmissions) generate announcements containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network. The announcement server makes the announcements available to the clients over the broadcast network or over a secondary link other than the broadcast network. As possible examples of the secondary link, the announcement servers might send the announcements to a multicast address over a public network, such as the Internet, or post the announcements at a publicly accessible site on a data network, such as a Web site on the Internet. The clients receive the announcements via the broadcast network or the secondary link. The clients filter the announcements according to predetermined criteria, keeping the announcements satisfying the criteria and discarding the rest. The client searches the announcements that are kept to extract information pertaining to retrieval of the broadcast transmission (e.g., a broadcast protocol, a broadcast locator, a transmission time, etc.). The client then tunes a broadcast receiver to the broadcast locator and launches a receiving application to receive the transmission according to the broadcast protocol.

Claims

1. In a system where multimedia transmissions are broadcast over a broadcast network and announcements of the multimedia transmissions are made available prior to the broadcasts, a a computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for handling an announcement of the announcements, the computer-program instructions comprising instructions for;

automatically defining criteria based upon user behavior;

responsive to receiving the announcement;

evaluating the announcement based on the criteria;

in an event that the announcement complies with the criteria, searching the announcement for information specifying how to receive the multimedia transmission over the broadcast network; and

using the information from the announcement to prepare to receive the multimedia transmission over the broadcast network.

2. A computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer-program instructions further comprise instructions for defining the criteria according to parameters entered by a user or defining the parameters based upon user behaivior.

3. A computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer-program instructions further comprise instructions for launching a software application to receive the broadcast transmission.

4. A computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer-program instructions further comprise instructions for tuning a broadcast receiver to a designated broadcast channel to receive the broadcast transmission.

5. A computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the announcements is received over a secondary link that is separate from the broadcast network.

6. A computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the announcements is stored at a site on a data network separate from the broadcast network.

7. A computing device as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the announcements is stored at a site identified by a multicast address on the Internet, the Internet being separate from the broadcast network.

8. A computer-readable medium for use in a system where multimedia transmissions are broadcast over a broadcast network and announcement of multimedia transmissions are made available prior to the broadcasts, the computer-readable medium comprising computer-program instructions executable by a processor for:

automatically defining criteria based upon user behavior;

responsive to receiving the announcement;

evaluating the announcement based on the criteria;

in an event that the announcement complies with the criteria, searching the announcement for information specifying how to receive the multimedia transmission over the broadcast network; and

using the information from the announcement to prepare to receive the multimedia transmission over the broadcast network.