Methods and apparatus for presenting substitute content in an audio/video stream using text data

• US 8,156,520 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2008
• Issued: 04/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Casagrande, Steven M., Kummer, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US12/130,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20090300699A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,411 Days
• Field of Search: 725/34, 725/35, 725/102, 725/134, 725/135, 725/137, 348/468, 348/715, 348/718
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording

Abstract

Various embodiments of apparatus and/or methods are described for skipping, filtering and/or replacing content from an audio/video stream using text data associated with the audio/video stream. The text data is processed using location information that references a segment of the text data of the first audio/video stream to identify a location within the first audio/video stream. The location within the first audio/video stream is utilized to identify portions of the audio/video stream that are to be skipped during presentation. The portions of the audio/video stream that are to be skipped are filtered from the audio/video stream, and some of the skipped portions of the audio/video stream are replaced with substitute content. The filtered video stream, including the substitute content, is outputted for presentation to a user.

Claims

1. A method for presenting a recorded audio/video stream, the method comprising:

recording a first audio/video stream including at least one segment of a show and at least one interstitial of the show;

recording supplemental data associated with the first audio/video stream, the supplemental data including closed captioning data associated with the first audio/video stream;

receiving autonomous location information separately from the first audio/video stream, the autonomous location information referencing the closed captioning data, the autonomous location information including a plurality of data segments, each comprising a displayable text string included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider;

processing the closed captioning data recorded to locate a first video location corresponding with the presentation of a first of the plurality of data segments located in the closed captioning data recorded;

determining that the first of the plurality of data segments is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

processing the closed captioning data recorded again to locate a second video location corresponding with the presentation of a second of the plurality of data segments in the closed captioning data recorded;

identifying the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the second video location and the autonomous location information;

identifying substitute content based on the second video location and the autonomous location information to present in association with the at least one segment of the show; and

outputting a second audio/video stream for presentation on a display device, the second audio/video stream including the at least one segment of the show and the substitute content.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sorting the closed captioning data according to a presentation order of the closed captioning data; and

storing the sorted closed captioning data in a data file separate from the first audio/video stream.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting a second audio/video stream further comprises:

replacing the at least one interstitial with the substitute content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting a second audio/video stream further comprises:

outputting the substitute content before the at least one segment of the show in the second audio/video stream.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the location information further comprises:

receiving a displayable text string of bytes contained in the closed captioning data that is associated with the second video location;

receiving a beginning offset, associated with the displayable text string of bytes, that is relative to the second video location, the beginning offset identifying a beginning location of the at least one segment; and

receiving an ending offset, associated with the displayable text string of bytes, that is relative to the second video location, the ending offset identifying an ending location of the at least one segment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein outputting the second audio/video stream further comprises:

outputting the at least one segment of the first audio/video stream between the beginning location and the ending location; and

presenting the substitute content after presenting a video frame associated with the ending location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayable text string is unique within the at least one segment of the show.

8. A receiving device comprising:

a communication interface that receives a first audio/video stream including at least one segment of a show and at least one interstitial of the show, and that further receives supplemental data associated with the first audio/video stream, the supplemental data including closed captioning data associated with the first audio/video stream;

a storage unit that stores the first audio/video stream and the supplemental data;

control logic that;

receives autonomous location information separately from the first audio/video stream, the autonomous location information that references the closed captioning data, the autonomous location information including a plurality of data segments, each comprising a displayable text string included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider;

processes the closed captioning data recorded to locate a first video location corresponding with the presentation of a first of the plurality of data segments located in the closed captioning data recorded;

determines that the first of the plurality of data segments is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

processes the closed captioning data recorded again to locate a second video location corresponding with the presentation of a second of the plurality of data segments in the closed captioning data recorded;

identifies the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the second video location and the autonomous location information;

identifies substitute content based on the second video location and the autonomous location information to present in association with the at least one segment of the show; and

an audio/video interface that outputs a second audio/video stream for presentation on a display device, the second audio/video stream including the at least one segment of the show and the substitute content.

9. The receiving device of claim 8, wherein the control logic sorts the closed captioning data according to a presentation order of the closed captioning data and stores the sorted closed captioning data in a data file separate from the first audio/video stream.

10. The receiving device of claim 8, wherein the audio/video interface replaces the at least one interstitial with the substitute content when outputting the second audio/video stream.

11. The receiving device of claim 8, wherein the audio/video interface outputs the substitute content before the at least one segment of the show in the second audio/video stream.

12. The receiving device of claim 8, wherein the location information received by the control logic includes:

a displayable text string of bytes contained in the closed captioning data that is associated with the second video location;

a beginning offset, associated with the displayable text string of bytes, that is relative to the second video location, the beginning offset identifying a beginning location of the at least one segment; and

an ending offset, associated with the displayable text string of bytes, that is relative to the second video location, the ending offset identifying an ending location of the at least one segment.

13. The receiving device of claim 12, wherein the audio/video interface outputs the second audio/video stream including the at least one segment of the first audio/video stream between the beginning location and the ending location and the substitute content after a video frame that is associated with the ending location.

14. The receiving device of claim 8, wherein the displayable text string is unique within the at least one segment of the show.

15. A method for presenting a recorded audio/video stream, the method comprising:

recording a first audio/video stream including at least one segment of a show and at least one interstitial of the show;

recording closed captioning data associated with the first audio/video stream;

receiving location information separately from the first audio/video stream, the location information including a plurality of data segments, each comprising a displayable text string included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider a first of the plurality of data segments associated with a first video location within the first audio/video stream, a second of the plurality of data segments associated with a second video location within the first audio/video stream, beginning and ending offsets, associated with the second of the plurality of data segments that are relative to the second video location, the beginning and ending offsets identifying beginning and ending locations of the at least one segment;

sorting the closed captioning data according to a presentation order;

processing the sorted closed captioning data recorded to identify the first video location within the first audio/video stream based on first of the plurality of data segments;

determining that the first of the plurality of data segments is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

processing the closed captioning data recorded again to locate a second video location corresponding with the presentation of the second of the plurality of data segments in the closed captioning data recorded;

identifying the beginning location and the ending location of the at least one segment in the first audio/video stream based on the second video location, the beginning offset and the ending offset;

identifying substitute content based on the second video location, the beginning offset and the ending offset;

replacing the at least one interstitial of the first audio/video stream with the substitute content to generate a second audio/video stream; and

outputting the second audio/video stream for presentation on a display device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein identifying the substitute content further comprises identifying the substitute content based on demographics of the user.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein identifying the substitute content further comprises identifying the substitute content based on viewing characteristics of the user.

18. A receiving device comprising:

a communication interface that receives a first audio/video stream including at least one segment of a show and at least one interstitial of the show, and that further receives supplemental data, the supplemental data including closed captioning data associated with the first audio/video stream;

a storage unit that stores the first audio/video stream and the supplemental data;

control logic that;

sorts the closed captioning data according to a presentation order;

receives location information separately from the first audio/video stream, the location information including a plurality of data segments, each comprising a displayable text string contained in the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider, a first of the plurality of the data segments associated with a first video location within the first audio/video stream, a second of the plurality of the data segments associated with a second video location within the first audio/video stream, beginning and ending offsets, associated with the second of the plurality of data segments, that are relative to the second video location, the beginning and ending offsets identifying beginning and ending locations of the at least one segment;

processes the sorted closed captioning data recorded to identify the first video location within the first audio/video stream based on the first of the plurality of data segments;

determines that the first of the plurality of the data segments is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

processes the closed captioning data recorded again to locate a second video location corresponding with the presentation of a second of the plurality of data segments in the closed captioning data recorded;

identifies the beginning location and the ending location of the at least one segment within the first audio/video stream based on the second video location, the beginning offset and the ending offset;

identifies substitute content based on the second video location, the beginning offset and the ending offset; and

replaces the at least one interstitial of the first audio/video stream with the substitute content to generate a second audio/video stream; and

an audio/video interface that outputs the second audio/video stream for presentation on a display device.

19. The receiving device of claim 18, wherein the control logic identifies the substitute content based on demographics of the user.

20. The receiving device of claim 18, wherein the control logic identifies the substitute content based on viewing characteristics of the user.