Method and system for reconfiguring a selection system based on layers of categories descriptive of recordable events

• US 7,765,479 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2007
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Westerhoff, David Allen, Seto, Lynda Kitlyn, Goodwin, Mark D.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CAO H
• Application Number:
  US11/876,181
• Publication Number:
  US 20080066012A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,009 Days
• Field of Search: 714/700, 714/704, 714716-717, 714/734, 714/851, 714763-765, 714/719, 725/39, 725/104
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape

Abstract

A method and system for selection of recordable events from among a set of recordable events, based on categories and sub-categories, that cumulatively describe a substantial portion of the entire set of recordable events. After receiving a first set of categories, and first sets of sub-categories corresponding to the first set of categories, at a device, the device is configured to use the first set of categories and the first set of sub-categories, to guide a user in selecting a series of recordable events to experience and/or record. Thereafter, the device receives a second set of categories and respective second sets of sub-categories that correspond to the categories of the second set of categories, and the device responsively configures itself to use the second set of categories and the second sets of sub-categories, to guide a user in selecting a series of recordable events to experience and/or record.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor;

a user interface operable as a selection system;

a communication interface operable to receive (i) a first set of categories, wherein the first set of categories includes multiple categories, (ii) a first set of sub-categories, wherein the first set of sub-categories includes one or more sub-categories for each category of the first set of categories, (iii) a second set of categories, wherein the second set of categories includes multiple categories, and (iv) a second set of sub-categories, wherein the second set of sub-categories includes one or more sub-categories for each category of the second set of categories; and

data storage containing computer-readable program instructions executable by the processor, wherein the computer-readable program instructions include instructions that cause the processor to (i) configure the selection system to function in a first mode in which the selection system uses the first set of categories and the first set of sub-categories to guide user selection of recordable events, and (ii) configure the selection system to function in a second mode in which the selection system uses the second set of categories instead of the first set of categories and the second set of sub-categories instead of the first set of sub- categories to guide the user selection of recordable events,

wherein the second set of categories includes a category not included within the first set of categories, and

wherein the second set of sub-categories includes a sub-category not included within the first set of sub-categories.

2. The system of claim 1,

wherein the first set of categories is a default set of categories and the first set of sub-categories is a default set of sub-categories, and

wherein the communication interface is operable to receive a signal that causes the processor to execute program instruction to revert back to using the first set of categories and the first set of sub-categories to guide the user selection of recordable events instead of the second set of categories and the second set of sub-categories.

3. The system of claim 1,

wherein the program instructions comprise instructions executable by the processor to reconfigure the selection system to function in the first mode instead of the second mode.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the second set of categories and the second set of sub-categories are received at the communications interface as extensible markup language (XML) data.

5. The system of claim 1,

wherein the user interface is further operable to:

(i) display a message to prompt a user to indicate whether the user approves of configuring the selection system to function in the second mode, and (ii) receive a signal that indicates whether the user approves of configuring the selection system to function in the second mode, and

wherein the program instructions to configure the selection system to function in the second mode are executable in response to receipt of the signal at the user interface.

6. The system of claim 1,

wherein the first set of categories, the first set of sub-categories, the second set of categories, and the second set of sub-categories are stored in the data storage.

7. The system of claim 1,

wherein the user interface displays a given category of the first set of categories as a pictorial icon, and

wherein the user interface displays another given category of the first set of categories as a group of words.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of sub-categories is associated with one or more sub-sub-categories.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of sub-categories is associated with a plurality of recordable events.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first set of sub-categories is further associated with a plurality of series of recordable events.

11. A method comprising:

storing in data storage a first set of recordable event categories;

storing in the data storage a first set of sub-categories for a given category of the first set of recordable event categories;

receiving at a communication interface a communication for creating a second set of sub-categories for the given category; and

in response to receiving the communication, executing computer-readable program instructions at a processor so as to create the second set of sub-categories for the given category, and storing the second set of sub-categories in the data storage,

wherein the communication comprises one or more new sub-categories, and

wherein creating the second set of sub-categories includes substituting one or more sub-categories of the first set of sub-categories with the one or more new sub-categories.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

prior to storing the first set of recordable event categories in the data storage, at the communication interface, receiving the first set of categories from a remote server; and

prior to storing the first set of sub-categories in the data storage, at the communication interface, receiving the first set of sub-categories from the remote server.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

prior to receiving the communication, at a user interface, displaying the first set of recordable event categories, receiving a selection of the given category and responsively displaying the first set of sub-categories.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

after creating the second set of sub-categories for the given category, receiving a selection of the given category and responsively displaying the second set of sub-categories.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

reverting back to the first set of sub-categories after a given period of time has passed.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

reverting back to the first set of sub-categories at a given time on a given day.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a user selection that indicates a sub-category selected from the second set of sub-categories;

displaying a list of recordable events associated with the sub-category selected from the second set of sub-categories; and

receiving a user selection that indicates a recordable event selected from the list of recordable events and responsively scheduling recordation of the recordable event selected from the list of recordable events.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

prior to receiving the communication for creating the second set of sub-categories, sending from the communication interface to a remote server a request for the second set of sub-categories.