Optimizing use of storage space in a video data recording system

• US 7,088,910 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2001
• Issued: 08/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horowitz, Steven M., Potrebic, Peter J., Smith, Geoffrey R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Thai
• Assistant Examiner(s): ATALA, JAMIE JO
• Application Number:
  US09/781,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20020110353A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,006 Days
• Field of Search: 386/96, 386/83, 386/95, 345/721, 725 38- 40, 725/44, 725/52, 348/561
• US Class Current: 386/291
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/036 Insert-editing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4435 Memory management allocation of memory to service a request G06F9/5016; addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures G06F12/02
• 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 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape

Abstract

Systems and methods for optimizing the use and availability of storage space in a video data recording system. An intelligent disk recording and management system selectively assigns tags to determine the manner and/or priority of recording programs onto a storage device and the priority of maintaining the programs on the storage device once the programs are recorded. The tags are automatically assigned based on known user preferences or are assigned by the viewer, and can be modified once a program is replayed. The tags allow the system to automatically determine whether or not to record over a previously recorded program and which previously recorded program to record over so as to allow the storage device to be more efficiently and optimally used. The system further includes an interface that provides improved assistance and explanations that relate to the recording of programs and the maintaining of the recorded programs on the storage device.

Claims

1. In a video data recording system that is associated with a television on which a program can be displayed and includes a storage device for storing video data associated with the program, a method for optimizing the use of available storage space on the storage device, the method comprising the acts of:

receiving a request by a viewer for the system to record a first program on the storage device;

upon receiving the request from the viewer to record the first program, selectively assigning a first tag to said first program, wherein said first tag is used by the system to control, at least in part, recording of said first program, said first tag including at least one of a guaranteed tag, an optional tag or a priority tag, each of the guaranteed, optional and priority tags corresponding to different criteria for recording said program;

applying recording rules to said first tag to determine whether the request to record said first program is to be fulfilled; and

if it is determined that the request is to be fulfilled, automatically programming the system to record the first program on the storage device.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said first tag is automatically assigned by the system.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein viewer input input received by the system assigns said first tag to said first program.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising informing said viewer when insufficient space is available on the storage device to record said first program.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said first tag is a guaranteed tag for causing sufficient recording space on the storage device to be reserved when said request is received for recording said first program on the storage device as opposed to a time at which said first program is broadcast to the system.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein:

said act of applying recording rules to the first tag to determine whether the request to record the first program is to be fulfilled comprises determining, at a time when said request is received, whether said sufficient storage space is available on the storage device to record said first program; and

said act of automatically programming the system to record the video data associated with said first program on the storage device comprises;

reserving said sufficient storage space for the recording of said first program if said sufficient storage space is available; and

automatically programming the system to record said first program in said sufficient storage space when said first program is broadcast.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein if said sufficient storage space is not available, the method further comprises informing said viewer that insufficient storage space is available on the storage device to record said first program.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said first tag is an optional tag for causing said first program to be recorded on the storage device if sufficient storage space exists on the storage device when said first program is broadcast.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein:

said act of applying recording rules to the first tag to determine whether the request to record the first program is to be fulfilled comprises determining, at the time when said first program is to be broadcast, whether sufficient storage space is available on the storage device to record said first program; and

said act of automatically programming the system to record the video data associated with said first program on the storage device comprises recording said first program on the storage device if said sufficient storage space is available when said first program is broadcast.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein if said sufficient storage space is not available when said first program is to be broadcast the method further comprises informing said viewer that insufficient storage space is available on the storage device to record said first program.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said first tag identifies a first priority for recording said first program.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the acts of:

receiving a request for the system to record a second program on the storage device; and

selectively assigning a second tag to said second program to identify a second priority for recording said second program on the storage device.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein when storage space available on the storage device is only sufficient to store data associated with one of said first program and said second program, the method further comprises the acts of:

determining which of said first priority and said second priority is a higher priority; and

overwriting said first program with said second program if said second priority is higher than said first priority.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein if said first priority is a higher priority, the method further comprises the net of informing said viewer that insufficient space is available on the storage device to record said second program.

15. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the acts of:

comparing said first priority with a third priority corresponding to a third tag assigned to a previously recorded program stored on the storage device;

determining which of said first priority and said second priority is a higher priority; and

if said first priority is a higher priority, recording said first program over said previously recorded program.

16. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the act of recording said first program on the storage device.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising the acts of:

applying storage rules to said first tag to determine when said first program is to be deleted from the storage device; and

deleting said first program from the storage device.

28. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein subsequent to the user being notified there is insufficient space to record the first program, the method further includes changing the priority of the first tag and recording the first program over other programming stored in the storage device.

29. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first tag includes the priority tag as well as at least one of the optional tag and the guaranteed tag.

18. In a video data management system that is associated with a television on which a program can be displayed and includes a storage device for storing video data associated with one or more recorded programs, a method for optimizing the availability of storage space on the storage device, the method comprising the acts of:

selectively assigning a first tag to a first recorded program to identify a first priority for maintaining said first recorded program on the storage device, wherein the first priority of the first tag changes after the first recorded program is viewed on the system;

determining whether said first recorded program is a partially recorded program;

automatically applying storage rules to said first tag to determine whether to delete said first recorded program from the storage device, wherein it is determined that said first recorded program should be deleted when the first recorded program is a partially recorded program or when the priority of the first tag changes; and

if it is determined that said first recorded program is to be deleted from the storage device, automatically deleting said first recorded program from the storage device.

19. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein:

said act of applying recording rules to said first tag comprises;

indicating that said first recorded program is to be overwritten when a second program is recorded on the storage device if said first recorded program is a partial program.

20. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein if said first recorded program is a partial program, the method further comprises notifying a viewer that said first recorded program is to he overwritten when a second program is recorded on the storage device.

21. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein if said first tag includes a time for deletion, the method further comprises deleting said first recorded program from the storage device at said deletion time.

22. A method as recited in claim 18, further comprising the acts of:

determining whether said first recorded program is included in a defined bucket of related programs; and

if said first recorded program is included in said defined bucket, further performing the acts of;

determining a bucket size allocated for said bucket;

determining whether said bucket size is exceeded; and

deleting one or more recorded programs on the storage device if said bucket size is exceeded.

23. An intelligent recording and management system for recording and managing video data on a storage device, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving a signal carrying programming;

a recording device coupled to said receiver for selectively recording video data corresponding to a program of said programming based on a recording tag assigned to said program and recording rules that determine whether said program is to be recorded, wherein said recording device includes means for;

receiving a request by a viewer for the system to record the program on the storage device;

upon receiving the request from the viewer to record the program, selectively assigning a tag to the program, wherein said tag is used by the system to control, at least in part, recording of said program, said tag including at least one of a guaranteed tag, an optional tag or a priority tag, each of the guaranteed, optional and priority tags corresponding to different criteria for recording said program;

applying the recording rules to said tag to determine whether the request to record said program is to be fulfilled; and

if it is determined that the request is to be fulfilled, automatically programming the system to record video data associated with the program on the storage device;

a storage device coupled to said recording device for storing said recorded video data based on a storage tag assigned to said recorded video data and storage rules that determine whether said recorded video data is to be deleted; and

an interface coupled to said recording device for informing a viewer.

24. A system as recited in claim 23, wherein said interface informs said viewer as to an amount of space that is available on said storage device for storing video data.

25. A system as recited in claim 23, wherein said interface informs said viewer of recording said video data corresponding to said program on said storage device.

26. A system as recited in claim 23, wherein said interface informs said viewer of deleting said recorded video data from said storage device.

27. A system as recited in claim 23, wherein said interface informs said viewer as to why only a portion of said video data was recorded on said storage device.