Keyword creation method and its apparatus

• US 7,412,648 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2002
• Issued: 08/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yoshida, Kimiyoshi, Takahashi, Yasushi, Fujiwara, Yoshihito
• Primary Examiner(s): RIES, LAURIE ANNE
• Application Number:
  US10/196,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20020184205A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,220 Days
• Field of Search: 707/4, 707/2, 707/6, 707/3, 715/500.1, 715/526, 715/505, 715/273, 715/221, 715/201, 725/9, 725/10
• US Class Current: 715/273
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3322 using system suggestions G06F16/3325 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90324 using system suggestions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/74 of satellite networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/47 for recognising genres
• 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 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• 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 21/4662 characterized by learning algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8405 represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A keyword creation method and its apparatus to simply create keywords in user'"'"'s retrieving a desired item of information from a vast amount of information. The habitual situation characteristics and the degree of typical liking tendency of a user are calculated on the basis of answers on daily items of the user, typical situation dependent keyword(s) of the user in one or more individual typical situations previously prepared is(are) created in accordance with the degree of typical liking tendency of the user and typical situation dependent keyword(s) is(are) revised in accordance with the habitual situation characteristics of the user, so that keyword(s) according to the actual situation of the user can be created.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a user interface for enabling a user to input data which is used to create user preference information,

wherein the user preference information is generated by a three-axis attribute classification space, such that attribute points plotted on the classification space form clusters;

a user'"'"'s preference database for storing said created user preference information;

a processor for determining one or more programs which may be of interest to the user by use of said user'"'"'s preference database and program guide information; and

a display processor for generating a display signal representing a screen which includes a list of said determined programs;

wherein a liking attribute ascribability data array being a numerical array and indicating the degrees of the liking attribute of a user to be ascribed to respective adjacent clusters are calculated,

wherein said user interface enables said user to select one program from said displayed list for viewing,

wherein each axis of said three-axis attribute classification space represents a directionality of the user, and

wherein values indicating individual directionalities on the three-axis attribute classification space are established by an answer analysis processing module based on the input data.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a decoder for decoding compressed video and audio signals which represent said selected program.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a program guide receiver for receiving program guide information and a program guide database for storing received program guide information.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tuner for receiving a television signal and wherein said user'"'"'s preference database stores tuning history data of said tuner.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the clusters are updated.

6. A method comprising the steps of:

enabling a user to input data which is used to create user preference information by use of a user interface,

wherein the user preference information is generated by a three-axis attribute classification space, such that attribute points plotted on the classification space form clusters;

storing said created user preference information in a user'"'"'s preference database;

determining one or more programs which may be of interest to the user by use of said user'"'"'s preference database and program guide information; and

generating a display signal representing a screen which includes a list of said determined programs;

calculating a liking attribute ascribability data array being a numerical array and indicating the degrees of the liking attribute of a user to be ascribed to respective adjacent clusters;

wherein said user interface enables said user to select one program from said displayed list for viewing,

wherein each axis of said three-axis attribute classification space represents a directionality of the user, and

wherein values indicating individual directionalities on the three-axis attribute classification space are established by an answer analysis processing module based on the input data.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of decoding compressed video and audio signals which represent said selected program.

8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of receiving program guide information and storing received program guide information.

9. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of receiving a television signal by use of a tuner and wherein tuning history data of said tuner is stored in said user'"'"'s preference database.

10. The method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:

updating the clusters.