Methods and systems for generating electronic program guides
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a processor;
memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and
a recommendation engine, stored in the memory and executed on the processor, configured to;
receive data associated with and describing media content that is to be broadcast, the data associated with the media content being updated as additional information pertaining to the media content becomes available, the data associated with the media content including part of a content folder that contains metadata that describes the media content and one or more attributes associated with the media content that defines an individual associated with the media content;
receive data that defines user media content preferences;
provide, into individual content folders, one or more user content preference files that describe how well a particular piece of media content matches with the user media content preferences;
process the received data to calculate a score for individual pieces of media content that is to be broadcast; and
make recommendations to one or more users based upon the calculated scores for the individual pieces of media content.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various embodiments provide ways to collect, organize, and process metadata associated with particular instances of media content. Metadata can be collected from a variety of metadata providers and organized in individual content folders that can be provided to various client devices. The client devices can process the content folders to provide an electronic program guide for its users. Methods and systems can also make use of user-specific data to evaluate various media content and then make recommendations as to which content a user would most likely wish to experience. Such user-specific data can comprise one or more user preference files that contain information associated with individual users, and one or more significance files that hold values, for individual users, that can be used to determine the significance of any matches found between the user preference files and media content.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a processor; memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and a recommendation engine, stored in the memory and executed on the processor, configured to; receive data associated with and describing media content that is to be broadcast, the data associated with the media content being updated as additional information pertaining to the media content becomes available, the data associated with the media content including part of a content folder that contains metadata that describes the media content and one or more attributes associated with the media content that defines an individual associated with the media content; receive data that defines user media content preferences; provide, into individual content folders, one or more user content preference files that describe how well a particular piece of media content matches with the user media content preferences; process the received data to calculate a score for individual pieces of media content that is to be broadcast; and make recommendations to one or more users based upon the calculated scores for the individual pieces of media content. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method comprising:
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receiving descriptive data associated with media content that is to be broadcast to a client device; receiving data that defines user preferences that pertain to media content that is to be broadcast, the data that defines the user preferences comprising (1) at least one user preference file, the user preference file including a hierarchical, tag-based file that contains data that defines the user preferences, and (2) at least one significance file, the significance file including a hierarchical, tag-based file that contains data that defines a relative importance of a corresponding attribute for which a match can be determined between the media content and the user preferences, the user preference file being based at least in part on a user viewing log created by monitoring media content watched by the user, and the user preference file including one or more tag-encapsulated attributes that are associated with the media content and attribute values that define the user preferences, the attribute values including character strings that define individuals associated with the media content and character strings that define contexts that pertain to the individuals associated with the media content; processing the received data to calculate a score for individual pieces of media content that are to be broadcast; and based upon one or more calculated scores, making media content recommendations to one or more users of the client device. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A system comprising:
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a processor; memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and a recommendation engine, stored in the memory and executed on the processor, that is configured to; process an XML content description file containing data associated with and describing media content that is to be broadcast to a client device; process one or more XML user preference files containing data that defines user preferences for one or more users; and process one or more XML significance files that define(s), for individual users, significance values that are used to calculate, along with the data in the XML user preference file(s), scores for individual pieces of media content that is to be broadcast, the recommendation engine further being configured to generate one or more reports that describe how the scores were calculated; calculate, for each program or movie that is to be broadcast and each user, a score based upon the data contained in the XML content description file, the XML user preference file and the XML significance file, and make recommendations to one or more of the users based upon the calculated scores for the individual pieces of media content; and calculate a relative score for each piece of media content, the relative score reflecting the media content'"'"'s score relative to scores for other media content, the relative score being computed based on each media content'"'"'s score and a high score attained for the individual pieces of media content. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification