Method and apparatus for periodically delivering an optimal batch broadcast schedule based on distributed client feedback
First Claim
1. A method for generating a broadcast schedule, comprising:
- broadcasting meta-data to a plurality of client systems, the meta-data including descriptions of a plurality of pieces of content that are in consideration for upcoming broadcasts by a broadcast operations center but may or may not be included in an actual broadcast schedule to be generated;
receiving individual sets of client demand feedback data from at least a portion of said plurality of client systems, each individual set of client demand feedback data comprising data indicating a client interest level in at least a portion of the plurality of pieces of content;
maintaining a broadcast schedule queue comprising an ordered list of pieces of content that indicates relative levels of client interest in each piece of content that are derived from an aggregation of the client demand feedback data; and
selecting a batch of content comprising one or more pieces of content from a top portion of the broadcast schedule queue to be broadcast during a next broadcast schedule window based on a size of said one or more pieces of content in combination with an available bandwidth for the next broadcast schedule window.
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Abstract
A method and system for periodically deriving an optimal batch broadcast schedule based on client demand feedback data from a distributed set of broadcast clients. The broadcast system includes an operation center that broadcasts meta-data to a plurality of client systems. The meta-data describes a plurality of pieces of content that are in consideration for upcoming broadcasts by the server. Each client receives the broadcasted meta-data from and sends back a set of client demand feedback data to the operations center, wherein the user feedback data reflects a client'"'"'s interest level in at least a portion of the pieces of content. The feedback data, which typically may include ratings and/or relative rankings, may be user-generated, automatically-generated, or a combination of the two. The system then send a batch of content based on an aggregation of the feedback data in combination with available broadcast bandwidth and broadcast schedule window.
182 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A method for generating a broadcast schedule, comprising:
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broadcasting meta-data to a plurality of client systems, the meta-data including descriptions of a plurality of pieces of content that are in consideration for upcoming broadcasts by a broadcast operations center but may or may not be included in an actual broadcast schedule to be generated; receiving individual sets of client demand feedback data from at least a portion of said plurality of client systems, each individual set of client demand feedback data comprising data indicating a client interest level in at least a portion of the plurality of pieces of content; maintaining a broadcast schedule queue comprising an ordered list of pieces of content that indicates relative levels of client interest in each piece of content that are derived from an aggregation of the client demand feedback data; and selecting a batch of content comprising one or more pieces of content from a top portion of the broadcast schedule queue to be broadcast during a next broadcast schedule window based on a size of said one or more pieces of content in combination with an available bandwidth for the next broadcast schedule window. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor having circuitry to execute instructions; a communications interface coupled to the processor to receive data from the one or more client systems; a storage device coupled to the processor, having sequences of instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to receive individual sets of client demand feedback data from a plurality of client systems, each individual set of client demand feedback data generated in response to meta-data that is broadcast to the plurality of client systems, the meta-data including descriptions of a plurality of pieces of content that are in consideration for upcoming broadcasts but may or may not be included in an actual broadcast, each individual set of client demand feedback data indicating a client interest level in at least a portion of the plurality of pieces of content; maintain a broadcast schedule queue comprising an ordered list of pieces of content that indicates relative levels of client interest in each piece of content that are derived from an aggregation of the client demand feedback data; and select a batch of content comprising one or more pieces of content from a top portion of the broadcast schedule queue to be broadcast during a next broadcast schedule window based on a size of said one or more pieces of content in combination with an available bandwidth for the next broadcast schedule window. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A machine-readable medium having a plurality of machine-executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:
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receive individual sets of client demand feedback data from a plurality of client systems, the individual sets of client demand feedback data generated in response to meta-data that is broadcast to the plurality of client systems, the meta-data including descriptions of a plurality of pieces of content that are in consideration for a upcoming broadcast but may or may not be included in an actual broadcast, each individual set of client demand feedback data indicating a client interest level in at least a portion of the plurality of pieces of content; maintain a broadcast schedule queue comprising an ordered list of pieces of content that indicates relative levels of client interest in each piece of content that are derived from an aggregation of the client demand feedback data; and select a batch of content comprising one or more pieces of content from a top portion of the broadcast schedule queue to be broadcast during a next broadcast schedule window based on a size of said one or more pieces of content in combination with an available bandwidth for the next broadcast schedule window. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. The machine-readable medium of 41, wherein a current set of meta-data corresponding to a set of pieces of content considered for an upcoming broadcast is broadcast as a continuous stream that is repeated and includes a respective content descriptor for each piece of content included in the set of pieces of content, and wherein at least a portion of the individual sets of client demand feedback data includes a ranked list expressing a relative interest in all of the pieces of content in the set of pieces of content.
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44. A system, comprising:
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a broadcast server; a database server, linked in communication with the broadcast server; and a plurality of client systems linked in communication with the broadcast server via a first communications link and linked in communication with the database server via a second communication link; wherein the broadcast server is programmed to broadcast meta-data to said plurality of client systems via the first communications link, the meta-data including descriptions of a plurality of pieces of content that are considered for an upcoming broadcast but may or may not be included in an actual broadcast schedule to be generated; wherein each of said plurality of client systems is programmed to generate an individual set of client demand feedback data indicating a client interest level in at least a portion of the plurality of pieces of content based, in part, on the descriptions of such provided by the meta-data; wherein at least a portion of the plurality of client systems send individual sets of client demand feedback data to the database server via the second communications link; wherein the database server is programmed to maintain a broadcast schedule queue comprising an ordered list of pieces of content that indicates relative levels of client interest in each piece of content that are derived from an aggregation of the client demand feedback data; and wherein at least one of the broadcast server and database server is programmed to select a batch of content comprising one or more pieces of content from a top portion of the broadcast schedule queue to be broadcast during a next broadcast schedule window based on a size of said one or more pieces of content in combination with an available bandwidth for the next broadcast schedule window. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification