System and method for displaying video streams ranked by user-specified criteria

• US 7,272,657 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2001
• Issued: 09/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Digeo Incorporated (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Allen, Paul G., Lee, Michael, Okamoto, James K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cardone; Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mirza; Adnan M.
• Application Number:
  US09/918,301
• Publication Number:
  US 20030023742A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,241 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/230, 709/213, 709/228, 709/229, 725/54, 725/52
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• 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: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104

Abstract

A plurality of video streams are simultaneously displayed on a terminal coupled to a network. The video streams are ranked according to a set of ranking criteria and displayed in accordance with the ranking. Highly ranked video streams may be displayed in prominent positions or emphasized in order to quickly draw the user'"'"'s attention to the video streams.

Claims

1. A method for organizing video windows on a display screen comprising:

receiving a plurality of video streams at a network terminal;

simultaneously displaying the video streams in a plurality of respective video windows within a user interface provided by the network terminal, the user interface being presented upon the display screen;

ranking within the network terminal at least a portion of the video streams according to a set of ranking criteria, wherein said ranking is to determine the relative locations within the user interface of the respective video windows; and

arranging the locations of at least a portion of the plurality of video windows within the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams as determined by the ranking criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a scene change within a first video stream; and

promoting the first video stream to a higher rank thereby changing the location of the video window used to display the first video stream within the user interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream comprises a scene change, and wherein at least a portion of the video streams are ranked, and the associated video windows are arranged within the user interface, according to recency of scene changes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream comprises a scene change, and wherein at least a portion of the video streams are ranked, and the associated video windows are arranged within the user interface, according to frequency of scene changes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the video streams are ranked, and the associated video windows are arranged within the user interface, according to how many network terminals are displaying the respective video streams.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream is promoted to a higher rank in response to the time of day thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream is promoted to a higher rank in response to the day of the week thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream is promoted to a higher rank in response to information contained within a user'"'"'s calendar thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying comprises:

displaying at least a portion of the video windows in a grid format in the user interface.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a video window displayed near the top of the user interface is designated as being associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the bottom of the user interface.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein a video stream displayed near the left side of the user interface is designated as being associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the right side of the user interface.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying comprises:

displaying at least a portion of the video windows in a scrolling ticker format in the user interface.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the ticker format comprises a moving carousel of simultaneously-displayed video windows having a beginning position and an ending position, and wherein a video window displayed near the beginning position is associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the ending position.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying comprises:

visually emphasizing the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank within the user interface.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein emphasizing comprises:

enlarging the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank as displayed within the user interface relative to the other video windows.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the network terminal comprises one of a cable network terminal and a direct satellite broadcast (DBS) network terminal.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the network terminal comprises an interactive television system.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream comprises a broadcast television program.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one video stream comprises live video generated by a webcam.

62. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

rearranging the locations of at least a portion of the video windows within the user interface to reflect a change in rank associated with a first video stream.

64. The method of claim 1, wherein arranging comprises ordering the video windows within the user interface from left to right in order of decreasing rank of the respective video streams.

65. The method of claim 1, wherein arranging comprises ordering the video windows within the user interface from top to bottom in order of decreasing rank of the video streams.

20. A system for organizing video streams on a display screen comprising:

a stream reception component configured to receive a plurality of video streams at a network terminal;

a stream display component configured to simultaneously display the video streams in a plurality of respective video widows within a user interface provided by the network terminal, the user interface being presented upon the display screen; and

a stream ranking component within the network terminal to rank at least a portion of the video streams according to a set of ranking criteria, and wherein the stream display component is further configured to arrange the locations of at least a portion of the plurality of video windows within the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams as determined by the ranking criteria.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream ranking component is configured to detect a scene change within a first video stream and to promote the first video stream to a higher rank thereby changing the location of the video window used to display the first video stream within the user interface.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein at least one video stream comprises a scene change, and wherein the stream ranking component is configured to rank at least a portion of the video streams according to recency of scene changes, and wherein the stream display component is configured to arrange the respective video windows within the user interface according to rank.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein at least one video stream comprises a scene change, and wherein the stream ranking component is configured to rank at least a portion of the video streams according to frequency of scene changes, and wherein the stream display component is configured to arrange the respective video windows within the user interface according to rank.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream ranking component is configured to rank the video streams according to how many network terminals are displaying the respective video streams, and wherein the stream display component is configured to arrange the respective video windows within the user interface according to rank.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream ranking component is configured to promote at least one video stream to a higher rank in response to the time of day thereby changing the location of the respective video window within the user interface.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream ranking component is configured to promote at least one video stream to a higher rank in response to the day of the week thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream ranking component is configured to promote at least one video stream to a higher rank in response to information contained within a user'"'"'s calendar thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream display component is configured to display at least a portion of the video windows in a grid format within the user interface.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein a video window displayed near the top of the user interface is designated as being associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the bottom of the user interface.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein a video window displayed near the left side of the user interface is designated as being associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the right side of the user interface.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream display component is configured to arrange at least a portion of the video windows in a scrolling ticker format within the user interface.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the ticker format comprises a moving carousel of simultaneously-displayed video windows having a beginning position and an ending position, and wherein a video window displayed near the beginning position is associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the ending position.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein the stream display component is configured to visually emphasize a video window associated with the video stream of highest rank within the user interface.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the stream display component is configured to enlarge the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank as displayed on the user interface relative to the other video windows.

35. The system of claim 20, wherein the network terminal comprises one of a cable network terminal and a direct satellite broadcast (DBS) network terminal.

36. The system of claim 20, wherein the network terminal comprises an interactive television system.

37. The system of claim 20, wherein at least one video stream comprises a broadcast television program.

38. The system of claim 20, wherein at least one video stream comprises live video generated by a webcam.

39. A computer program product comprising a machine-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a machine to perform a method for organizing video streams on a display screen, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of video streams on a display screen, the method comprising;

receiving a plurality of video streams on a display screen, the method comprising;

receiving a plurality of video streams at a network terminal;

simultaneously displaying the video streams in a plurality of respective video windows within a user interface provided by the network terminal, the user interface being presented upon the display screen;

ranking within the network terminal at least a portion of the video streams according to a set of ranking criteria, wherein said ranking is to determine the relative locations within the user interface of the respective video windows; and

arranging the locations of at least a portion of the plurality of video windows within the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams as determined by the ranking criteria.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

detecting a scene change within a first video stream; and

promoting the first video stream to a higher rank thereby changing the location of the video window used to display the first video stream within the user interface.

41. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream comprises a scene change, and wherein at least a portion of the video streams are ranked, and the associated video windows are arranged within the user interface, according to recency of scene changes.

42. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream comprises a scene change, and wherein at least a portion of the video streams are ranked, and the associated video windows are arranged within the user interface, according to frequency of scene changes.

43. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the video streams are ranked, and the associated video windows are arranged within the user interface, according to how many network terminals are displaying the respective video streams.

44. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream is promoted to a higher rank in response to the time of day thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

45. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream is promoted to a higher rank in response to the day of the week thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

46. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream is promoted to a higher rank in response to information contained within a user'"'"'s calendar thereby changing the location of the at least one respective video window within the user interface.

47. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein displaying comprises:

displaying at least a portion of the video windows in a grid format in the user interface.

48. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein a video window displayed near the top of the user interface is designated being associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the bottom of the user interface.

49. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein a video window displayed near the left side of the user interface is designated as being associated with a video stream having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the right side of the user interface.

50. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein displaying comprises:

displaying at least a portion of the video windows in a scrolling ticker format in the user interface.

51. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the ticker format comprises a moving carousel of simultaneously-displayed video windows having a beginning position and an ending position, and wherein a video window displayed near the beginning position is designated as having a higher rank than a video window displayed near the ending position.

52. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein displaying comprises:

visually emphasizing the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank within the user interface.

53. The computer program product of claim 52, wherein emphasizing comprises:

enlarging the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank as displayed on the user interface relative to the other video windows.

54. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the network terminal comprises one of a cable network terminal and a direct satellite broadcast (DBS) network terminal.

55. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the network terminal comprises an interactive television system.

56. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream comprises a broadcast television program.

57. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one video stream comprises live video generated by a webcam.

58. A method for organizing video windows displaying streams received from multiple webcams linked by a network, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of video streams at an interactive television system coupled to the network;

simultaneously displaying the video streams in respective video windows within a user interface provided by the interactive television system;

ranking at least a portion of the video streams according to a user-defined set of ranking criteria;

arranging the locations of at least a portion of the displayed video windows in the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams as determined by the ranking criteria;

detecting a change of scene within a first video stream;

promoting the first video stream to a higher rank in response to said detecting of the scene change; and

re-arranging the locations of at least a portion of the displayed video windows in the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams to reflect the promotion in rank of the first video stream.

59. A system for organizing video windows on a display screen, the video windows displaying respective video streams being received from multiple webcams linked by a network, the system comprising:

a stream reception component configured to receive a plurality of video streams at an interactive television system coupled to the network;

a stream display component configured to simultaneously display the video streams within respective video windows in a user interface provided by the interactive television system; and

a stream ranking component configured to rank at least a portion of the video streams according to a user-defined set of ranking criteria;

wherein the stream display component is further configured to visually emphasize within the user interface the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank.

63. The system of claim 59, wherein the stream display component is further configured to visually emphasize the video window associated with the video stream of highest rank by enlarging it in the user interface relative to the other video windows.

60. A system for organizing the display of video windows on a television screen, the system comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of video streams at a set top box;

means for simultaneously displaying the video streams in respective video windows on the television in a user interface provided by the set top box;

means for ranking within the set top box at least a portion of the video streams according to a set of ranking criteria, wherein said ranking is to determine the relative locations of the video windows within the user interface; and

means for arranging the locations of at least a portion of the video windows within the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams as determined by the ranking criteria.

61. A system for organizing the display of video windows depicting video streams received from multiple webcams linked by a network, the system comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of video streams at an interactive television system coupled to the network;

means for simultaneously displaying the video streams in respective video windows within a user interface provided by the interactive television system;

means for ranking within the interactive television system at least a portion of the video streams according to a user-defined set of ranking criteria, wherein said ranking is to determine the relative locations of the video windows within the user interface;

means for arranging the locations of at least a portion of the video windows in the user interface in order of the ranking of the respective video streams as determined by the ranking criteria;

means for detecting a change of scene within a first video stream;

means for promoting the first video stream to a higher rank in response to the scene change being detected; and

means for re-arranging the locations of at least a portion of the video windows in the user interface in order of rank to reflect the promotion in rank of the first video stream.