Transportable identifier and system and method to facilitate access to broadcast data

• US 7,401,121 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2006
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wong, Curtis G., Drucker, Steven M., Mundie, Craig J.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, VIET DUY
• Application Number:
  US11/464,081
• Publication Number:
  US 20070067447A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/217, 709/231, 709/236, 709/238, 709/250, 709/204, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/73 using meta-information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• 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

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed which enable a user to locate target data from a temporal broadcast of data. The system includes a transportable identifier that represents the target data. The identifier further includes metadata that provides sufficient information about the broadcast of the target data such that the target data can be acquired when broadcast. The transportable identifier further may be sent to one or more other users to enable such users to locate the broadcast of the target data. As a result, one or more users may employ identifiers to locate the broadcast of the target data and, in turn, monitor and/or store the target data from the temporal broadcast.

Claims

1. A system for sharing broadcast data, comprising:

a transportable object that represents a broadcast of target data; and

metadata encapsulated within the transportable object which enables a user of the object to locate the broadcast of the target data so as to enable at least one of monitoring or recording of the target data during broadcast, the target data derived by aggregating data collected at a plurality of data collection devices;

a distribution component that facilitates distribution of the transportable object among a plurality of recipients; and

a recognition system that determines identity of an entity based on part of the aggregated data collected by the plurality of collection devices.

2. The system of claim 1, the broadcast of the target data corresponding to a substantially real-time broadcast of data associated with an event or a condition.

3. The system of claim 1, the distribution component comprises at least one of email, instant messaging, text messaging, a telephone call, or video conferencing.

4. The system of claim 1, the distribution component comprises a network connection.

5. The system of claim 1, the distribution component collects data corresponding to the plurality of recipients to determine a preferred method of distribution.

6. The system of claim 1, the broadcast of the target data occurring substantially independently from use of the object to locate the target data.

7. The system of claim 1, the target data representing at least one of audio data, video data, or sensor data.

8. The system of claim 1, the recipients can accept or reject the transportable object.

9. The system of claim 1, the recipients comprising at least one of a personal computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, an application running on a computer, or a component of an entertainment system.

10. A system to facilitate access to a presentation of data, comprising:

a user-specific identification component that stamps portions of broadcast data with identifying data based on at least one of time, an event or condition, and an entity to provide stamped data specific to a user;

an aggregator that aggregates portions of the stamped data and provides aggregated data;

a transportable identifier that includes identifying data and identifies a location associated with a temporal presentation of at least a portion of the aggregated data; and

a recognition system that employs pattern recognition to discern an identity of the entity based in part on the aggregated data.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a distribution component that can interact with a plurality of users to send and receive transportable identifiers.

12. The system of claim 10, the temporal presentation corresponding to a substantially real-time broadcast of data associated with an event or condition.

13. The system of claim 10, the transportable identifier representing at least one of audio data, video data, or sensor data embodied in the temporal presentation.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising an identifier modifying component, the distribution component receives a transportable identifier that contains identifying data specific to a sending user, and the identifier modifying component updates the identifying data in the transportable object with data specific to a receiving user.

15. The system of claim 11, the distribution component interacts with the plurality of users over a network.

16. A method for sharing a temporal representation of target data, comprising:

creating a transportable object that represents the target data, the transportable object including metadata that enables a user to locate the broadcast of the target data;

distributing the transportable object among a plurality of users;

deriving the target data by aggregating data collected at a plurality of data collection devices based in part on the metadata; and

employing pattern recognition to detect an identity of an entity based in part on the aggregated data.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising including user-specific data in the metadata.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving the transportable object from a sending user;

updating the user-specific metadata.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

collecting broadcast data;

recognizing which portions of the aggregated data are associated with an entity;

separating the collected broadcast data associated with the entity from other of the collected broadcast data based on the user-specific metadata; and

aggregating the collected broadcast data that is associated with the entity.

20. The method of claim 16, the collected data represents at least on of audio, video, or sensor data.