Multiple item user preference information data structure and method for providing multi-media information

• US 7,945,927 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2006
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Yoon, Kyoung Ro, Jun, Sung Bae
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelley; Christopher
• Assistant Examiner(s): FLYNN, RANDY A
• Application Number:
  US11/399,544
• Publication Number:
  US 20060179455A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,867 Days
• Field of Search: 725/37, 725/44, 725/46
• US Class Current: 725/46
• 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 21/4532 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 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

A user preference information data structure which is capable of classifying and setting user'"'"'s preference information regarding multi-media contents with multiple items to thereby provide users with user'"'"'s request-based whole or partial multi-media information, and a method for providing multi-media information by using the user preference information data structure. The multiple item user preference information data structure for multi-media contents comprising: single item user preference information for single items related to the multi-media information; and multiple items user preference information for multiple items formed by combining the single items.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a computer performing instructions, tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium, for processing multimedia data, the method comprising:

generating a user preference description defining a hierarchical structure to describe preferences for filtering and searching of multimedia content based on a content description identifying directors or actors for multimedia streams identified by their titles, the hierarchical structure including first and second preference elements, the first preference element explicitly identifying a single content description component and the second preference element explicitly identifying a specific combination of a plurality of content description components, wherein each of at least two content description components in the specific combination specifies a corresponding director or actor without reference to any of the titles, and wherein the user preference description specifies a first preference value for the first preference element and a second preference value for the second preference element, the first preference value characterizing user preference for the single description component and the second preference value providing a single value characterizing user preference for the specific combination of the plurality of content description components, wherein the second preference value is set using explicit user input or a user'"'"'s access pattern to multimedia content; and

using the user preference description to filter or search for preferred content in the multimedia streams.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content description components identified by the second preference element includes the single content description component identified by the first preference element.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second preference value is independent from the first preference value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein using the preference description to filter or search for the multimedia content includes using the first and second preference values as relative weights of the first and second preference elements for searching or filtering of the multimedia content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second preference values is selected from a range including negative and positive values, the negative values indicating non-preference and the positive values indicating preference.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the user preference description in a non-volatile memory.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a portable non-volatile memory.

8. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium, for processing multimedia data, the computer program comprising instructions to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations, comprising:

generating a user preference description defining a hierarchical structure to describe preferences for filtering and searching of multimedia content based on a content description identifying directors or actors for multimedia streams identified by their titles, the hierarchical structure including first and second preference elements, the first preference element explicitly identifying a single content description component and the second preference element explicitly identifying a specific combination of a plurality of content description components, wherein each of at least two content description components in the specified combination specifies a corresponding director or actor without reference to any of the titles, and wherein the user preference description specifies a first preference value for the first preference element and a second preference value for the second preference element, the first preference value characterizing user preference for the single description component and the second preference value providing a single value characterizing user preference for the specific combination of the plurality of content description components, wherein the second preference value is set using explicit user input or a user'"'"'s access pattern to multimedia content; and

using the user preference description to filter or search for preferred content in the multimedia streams.

9. The product of claim 8, wherein the plurality of content description components identified by the second preference element includes the single content description component identified by the first preference element.

10. The product of claim 9, wherein the second preference value is independent from the first preference value.

11. The product of claim 8, wherein using the preference description to filter or search for the multimedia content includes using the first and second preference values as relative weights of the first and second preference elements for searching or filtering of the multimedia content.

12. The product of claim 8, wherein each of the first and second preference values is selected from a range including negative and positive values, the negative values indicating non-preference and the positive values indicating preference.

13. The product of claim 8, the computer program further comprising instructions to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

storing the user preference description in a non-volatile memory.

14. The product of claim 13, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a portable non-volatile memory.

15. A system for processing multimedia data, the system comprising:

a data storage device storing a user preference description defining a hierarchical structure to describe preferences for filtering and searching of multimedia content based on a content description identifying directors or actors for multimedia streams identified by their titles, the hierarchical structure including first and second preference elements, the first preference element explicitly identifying a single content description component and the second preference element explicitly identifying a specific combination of a plurality of content description components, wherein each of at least two content description components in the specified combination specifies a corresponding director or actor without reference to any of the titles, and wherein the user preference description specifies a first preference value for the first preference element and a second preference value for the second preference element, the first preference value characterizing user preference for the single description component and the second preference value providing a single value characterizing user preference for the specific combination of the plurality of content description components, wherein the second preference value is set using explicit user input or a user'"'"'s access pattern to multimedia content; and

data processing apparatus configured to perform operations comprising;

generating the user preference description stored at the data storage device; and

using the user preference description to filter or search for preferred content in the multimedia streams.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of content description components identified by the second preference element includes the single content description component identified by the first preference element.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second preference value is independent from the first preference value.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein using the preference description to filter or search for the multimedia content includes using the first and second preference values as relative weights of the first and second preference elements for searching or filtering of the multimedia content.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein each of the first and second preference values is selected from a range including negative and positive values, the negative values indicating non-preference and the positive values indicating preference.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the data storage device stores the user preference description in a non-volatile memory.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the non-volatile memory includes a portable non-volatile memory.