Internet-based submission of cable network content

• US 8,108,894 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2003
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Richard J. Bies
• Original Assignee: Richard J. Bies
• Inventors: Bies, Richard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pendleton, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): EKPO, NNENNA NGOZI
• Application Number:
  US10/523,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20050235310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,098 Days
• Field of Search: 725/32, 725 34- 35, 725/42, 725/46, 725/112, 725/60, 705/14.1, 705/14.54, 705/14.55, 705/14.58
• US Class Current: 725/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2407 Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A cable network content delivery system providing advertising information via a cable network and an advertising content interface are described. An advertiser submits advertising content over an internet which is then adapted for a cable network. A data gateway stores the advertising information. The system processes a user command received via the cable network, including an advertising information search command, and provides advertising information retrieved via the cable network.

Claims

1. A television network content delivery system configured to provide advertising information via a digital broadcast channel of a television network which is a cable network or a satellite network, said television network content delivery system comprising:

a data gateway configured to store the advertising information, the advertising information being adapted by a cable content generator for transmission over the digital broadcast channel of the television network based on content information received from an advertiser over an internet;

an advertising information retriever configured to;

process a user search received via the digital broadcast channel of the television network,

determine whether the received user search includes a designation of a geographic location,

retrieve the advertising information from said data gateway for a local area of the user based on the user search unless the user search is determined to include the designation of the geographic location, the local area of the user comprising at least one of a state of the user, a zip code of the user, and a city of the user, and

retrieve the advertising information from said data gateway for a designated geographic location if the received user search includes the designation of the geographic location; and

an advertising information provider configured to transmit, based on the user search, advertising information retrieved by said advertising information retriever via the digital broadcast channel of the television network,

wherein the user search is an advertiser search command that comprises at least a category of advertising.

2. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein:

the user search is transmitted by a user via a set-top box or a television to the digital broadcast channel of the television network,

based on the category of advertising, the advertising information retriever searches advertising information listings stored in the data gateway and selects the advertising listings that match the designated category and other criteria,

and

the set-top box or the television is connected to the television network via at least one of a cable wire, an antenna receiving a television broadcast frequency, a satellite dish or other wireless connection.

3. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein the advertising information includes at least one of an advertiser listing, a text message, a survey questionnaire, a picture, an audio clip, and a video clip.

4. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein the television network content delivery system is implemented as at least two data processors comprising a cable headend server and a master server.

5. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein the advertiser search command includes an advertising information temporal selection, and the method further comprises:

selecting the advertising information designated by the advertiser for a designated time period.

6. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein the category of advertising is one of a field of business endeavor of the advertiser, type of organization of the advertiser, and type of product advertised by the advertiser.

7. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, further comprising a delivery status interface configured to generate a report provided to the advertiser about delivery of the advertising information over the digital broadcast channel of the television network, the report indicating the number of times the advertising information was viewed.

8. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein the advertising information retriever is further configured to process another user search including one of a response to a survey questionnaire transmitted to the user as the advertising information and an order for a selected product via the same digital broadcast channel.

19. The television network content delivery system of claim 1, wherein the user search is provided to the television network via the satellite network and wherein the advertising content is provided as an overlay on a television channel being viewed by the user.

9. An advertising content interface configured to provide advertising information adapted for transmission over a digital broadcast channel of a television network by a television network headend, said advertising content interface comprising:

an interface unit configured to receive content information from an advertiser via an internet in an internet format;

a cable content generator configured to process the content information received by said advertiser interface, and convert the processed content information into a cable network format or a satellite network format that is retrieved by a retriever as an overlay over any of cable network or satellite network channels as requested by the retriever; and

a data gateway configured to store the advertising information generated by said cable content generator and to respond to an information demand from a cable network by providing the advertising information to the cable network headend for transmission over the cable network,

the advertising information is retrieved by the retriever for a local area of a user based on a user search unless the user search includes a designation of a geographic location, and

the local area of the user comprises at least one of a state of the user, a zip code of the user, and a city of the user

wherein the information demand is transmitted to the data gateway via the same digital broadcast channel as the advertising information is provided to the cable network headend.

10. The advertising content interface of claim 9, wherein the data gateway provides the advertising information to the cable network headend for transmission over the cable network responsive to the information demand, the information demand being a transmission of a user command over the cable network by a user.

11. The advertising content interface of claim 9, wherein the content information includes at least one of a geographic parameter and a temporal parameter, such that the cable network transmits the advertising information corresponding to the content information only within, respectively, a geographical area and a time period.

12. The advertising content interface of claim 9, wherein the advertising information includes at least one of an advertiser listing, a text message, a survey questionnaire, a picture, an audio clip, and a video clip.

13. The advertising content interface of claim 9, further comprising a business mediator, configured to validate an order from the advertiser, the order requesting transmission of the content information to be transmitted.

14. The advertising content interface of claim 9, further comprising a delivery status interface configured to generate a report provided to the advertiser about delivery of the advertising information over the cable network, the report including the number of times the advertising information was viewed.

20. The advertising content interface of claim 9, wherein the cable content generator generates the advertising information adapted for transmission over the satellite network.

15. A method of receiving content information and to provide advertising information over a cable network or a satellite network, said method comprising:

receiving content information from an advertiser via an internet;

processing the content information received and generating advertising information adapted for transmission over the cable network;

storing the generated advertising information;

receiving via the digital broadcast channel of the television network which comprises a the cable network or the satellite network an advertising search;

determining whether the received advertising search includes a designation of a geographic location;

retrieving the stored advertising information for a local area of a user based on the advertising search unless the advertising search is determined to include the designation of the geographic location;

the local area of the user comprising at least one of a state of the user, a zip code of the user, and a city of the user,

retrieving the stored advertising information for a designated geographic location if the advertising search includes the designation of the geographic location; and

providing the retrieved advertising information via the digital broadcast channel of the television network,

wherein the advertising search is an advertiser search command that comprises at least a category of advertising.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the advertising information includes at least one of an advertiser listing, a text message, a survey questionnaire, a picture, an audio clip, and a video clip.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the advertising search includes at least one of the designation of the geographic location and an advertising information temporal selection, and the method further comprises:

selecting, respectively, the advertising information designated by the advertiser for a designated geographic location and the advertising information designated by the advertiser for a designated time period.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising processing a user search including at least one of a response to a survey questionnaire transmitted as the advertising information and an order for a selected item based on the advertising information via the same digital broadcast channel.