Television program recommendation system

• US 7,188,355 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2000
• Issued: 03/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Dong Mei, Islam, Farhad Fuad, Trayers, Paul, Prokopenko, Mikhail, Kowalczyk, Ryszard, Butler, Marc, Wong, Wait Yat, Oldfield, Michael Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Beliveau; Scott E.
• Application Number:
  US09/668,465
• Time in Patent Office: 2,353 Days
• Field of Search: 725/46, 725/61, 725/14, 382/225, 707/3, 707/6
• US Class Current: 725/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• 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: H04H 60/72 using electronic programme guides [EPG] focusing on identifying broadcast space time H04H60/39 ; menu type display of EPG in television receivers H04N21/47
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/466 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies services using the results of monitoring in broadcast systems H04H60/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/445 for displaying additional information H04N5/50 takes precedence

Abstract

The present invention relates to a television system (50) and a method for automatically suggesting suitable programs to a viewer from a large number of available programs. The system (50) includes a DTV-agent system (21). Title information and characteristics of programs are made available as EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data, which including at least one Electronic Program Guide Database (22). A learning module (39) records characteristics associated with each program viewed by the user, and forms sets of these characteristics. The frequency of occurrence of each set is also determined. A recommendation module (40) uses a number of tasks to compile a list of viewer recommendations (67). Various tasks are defined, with each task defining a unique combination of a manner of ordering the viewer profile (500), and particular Relevance Filters for filtering the ordered viewer profile. Upon entry of a user request for a list of program recommendations (67), a search is performed of the EPG data for programs with characteristics that best match sets selected by the task(s). The user is notified of the availability such programs, allowing selection of a particular program.

Claims

1. A method of enabling a selection of a program for viewing in a television system, the method comprising the steps of:

recording attributes associated with each program selected by a user in the television system, said attributes comprising first attributes associated with characteristics of said programs and second attributes associated with the user at a time the programs are selected, wherein said first attributes are made available as Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data;

forming sets of said attributes in response to said user selecting at least two of said programs having shared attributes, wherein each of said sets comprises at least two of said attributes; and

upon entry of a user request for a program recommendation, performing a search for programs with attributes that include all the attributes of at least one of said sets, and displaying to said user programs with attributes that include all the attributes of at least one of said sets as program recommendations.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said second attributes include a mood being experienced by said user.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said program recommendations are based on the programs with the greatest number of attributes included in said sets.

4. A method according to claim 1, comprising the further step of:

associating a value with each set, said value representing the number of programs selected by said user including the attributes in said set, wherein said search is performed for programs with attributes that include the attributes of the set with a highest value.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein said program recommendations are further based on the programs with the greatest number of attributes included in said sets.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said second attributes further include information associated with the viewing of programs.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said information associated with the viewing includes one or more of time of day and day of week information.

8. A recommendation system for enabling a selection of a program for viewing in a television system, the recommendation system comprising:

memory means for recording attributes associated with each program selected by a user in the television system, said attributes comprising first attributes associated with characteristics of said programs and second attributes associated with the user at a time the programs are selected, wherein said first attributes are made available as Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data;

processing means for forming sets of said attributes in response to said user selecting at least two of said programs having shared attributes, wherein each of said sets comprises at least two of said attributes;

searching means for performing a search for programs with attributes that include all attributes of at least one of said sets; and

on-screen display means for displaying to said user programs with attributes that include all the attributes of at least one of said sets as program recommendations upon entry of a user request for program recommendations.

9. A recommendation system according to claim 8, wherein said second attributes include a mood being experienced by said user.

10. A recommendation system according to claim 8, wherein said program recommendations are based on the programs with the greatest number of attributes included in said sets.

11. A recommendation system according to claim 8, further comprising:

means for associating a value with each set, said value representing the number of programs selected by said user including the attributes in said set, wherein said search is performed for programs with attributes that include the attributes of the set with a highest value.

12. A recommendations system according to claim 11, wherein said program recommendations are further based on the programs with the greatest number of attributes included in said sets.

13. A recommendation system according to claim 8, wherein said second attributes further include information associated with the viewing of programs.

14. A recommendation system according to claim 13, wherein said information associated with the viewing includes one or more of time of day and day of week information.