System and method for synchronizing streaming content with enhancing content using pre-announced triggers
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a client device, streamed content;
receiving, by the client device, a stream of enhancing content that corresponds to the streamed content, the stream of enhancing content including;
one or more announcements that describe an IP address and port on which corresponding triggers will be sent for a particular enhancement, transmission-related information, and information pertaining to the content of the stream of enhancing content;
one or more triggers that notify a client to perform a particular action, each trigger being formatted as a string containing a key or numerical identifier, trigger data, and a checksum value; and
one or more data files that are either an interactive content file or contain packages containing the interactive content files;
displaying, by the client device, the streamed content without the enhancing content if it is determined that the enhancing content does not include each file needed for proper display of the enhancing content with the streamed content;
receiving, by the client device, the announcement on a monitored address containing information specifying how and when to execute the receiving of upcoming enhancing content, the announcement being sent at a time prior to the enhancing content being sent, the enhancing content associated with the streamed content;
passing, by the client device, each announcement through one or more filters to determine whether each announcement is either a match against a list of programs in which a user is interested or is a match against other types of predefined rules of acceptance; and
retaining, by the client device, the announcements of interest and discarding remaining announcements.
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Abstract
A client-server architecture synchronizes streaming content with enhancing content via pre-announced triggers. The architecture includes server-based components to generate announcements containing information specifying how and when to receive upcoming triggers that will be transmitted at a later time. The server transmits the announcements to a general broadcast or multicast IP address. Client-based components monitor the IP address to receive and filter the announcements. Selected announcements are stored in a guide database in correlation with the streaming content programs to indicate that the programs are interactive. When a user tunes to an interactive program, the client opens a container HTML page that contains controls to receive the streaming content program and to extract the announcements from the guide database. The latter control monitors the IP address at the times specified in the selected announcements to receive the triggers corresponding to the interactive program. The server delivers the triggers at times synchronized to the streaming content. When triggers arrive, the client control processes the triggers to coordinate presentation of the enhancing content with the streaming content program. The triggers may further be used to carry items that fill a ticker being displayed with the program.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving, by a client device, streamed content; receiving, by the client device, a stream of enhancing content that corresponds to the streamed content, the stream of enhancing content including; one or more announcements that describe an IP address and port on which corresponding triggers will be sent for a particular enhancement, transmission-related information, and information pertaining to the content of the stream of enhancing content; one or more triggers that notify a client to perform a particular action, each trigger being formatted as a string containing a key or numerical identifier, trigger data, and a checksum value; and one or more data files that are either an interactive content file or contain packages containing the interactive content files; displaying, by the client device, the streamed content without the enhancing content if it is determined that the enhancing content does not include each file needed for proper display of the enhancing content with the streamed content; receiving, by the client device, the announcement on a monitored address containing information specifying how and when to execute the receiving of upcoming enhancing content, the announcement being sent at a time prior to the enhancing content being sent, the enhancing content associated with the streamed content; passing, by the client device, each announcement through one or more filters to determine whether each announcement is either a match against a list of programs in which a user is interested or is a match against other types of predefined rules of acceptance; and retaining, by the client device, the announcements of interest and discarding remaining announcements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer-readable storage system having computer-executable instructions being executed by one or more processors to:
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determine, by a client device, if streamed enhancing content includes each file needed for proper display of enhancing content with streamed content, the streamed enhancing content including; one or more announcements that describe an IP address and port on which corresponding triggers will be sent for a particular enhancement, transmission-related information, and information pertaining to the content of the stream of enhancing content; one or more triggers that notify a client to perform a particular action, each trigger being formatted as a string containing a key or numerical identifier, trigger data, and a checksum value; and one or more data fifes that are either an interactive content file or contain packages containing the interactive content files; displaying, by the client device, the streamed content without the enhancing content if it is determined that the enhancing content does not include each file needed for proper display of the enhancing content; displaying, by the client device, the enhancing content with the streamed content if it is determined that the enhancing content does include each file needed for proper display of the enhancing content; and receiving, by the client device on a monitored address, the announcement containing information specifying how and when to receive upcoming enhancing content, the announcement being sent at a time prior to sending the enhancing content, the enhancing content associated with the streamed content, passing, by the client device, each announcement through one or more filters to determine whether each announcement is either a match against a list of programs in which a user is interested or is a match against other types of predefined rules of acceptance; and retaining, by the client device, the announcements of interest and discarding remaining announcements. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system, comprising:
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at least one content server to stream content; a client to determine if streamed enhancing content cached on the client includes each file needed for proper display of the enhancing content with the streamed content, and coordinate presentation of the enhancing content with the streamed content based on the client determination, the streamed enhancing content including; one or more announcements that describe an IP address and port on which corresponding triggers will be sent for a particular enhancement, transmission-related information, and information pertaining to the content of the stream of enhancing content; one or more triggers that notify a client to perform a particular action, each trigger being formatted as a string containing a key or numerical identifier, trigger data, and a checksum value; and one or more data files that are either an interactive content file or contain packages containing the interactive content files; wherein the client is to display the enhancing content as a ticker and wherein the client is further to; pass each announcement through one or more filters to determine whether each announcement is either a match against a list of programs in which a user is interested or is a match against other types of predefined rules of acceptance; and retain the announcements of interest and discard remaining announcements. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification