Dynamic multimedia presentations

• US 8,214,518 B1
• Filed: 06/09/2008
• Issued: 07/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Bertz, Lyle T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): Najee-Ullah, Tariq
• Application Number:
  US12/135,716
• Time in Patent Office: 1,485 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate

Abstract

A method, system, and medium are provided for using a synchronized and distributed SMIL document to provide a dynamic multimedia presentation while maintaining client anonymity. An embodiment of the invention includes receiving a client request for a multimedia presentation. Client-specific information is removed from the client request and a SMIL document is generated for facilitating provision of the multimedia presentation. The SMIL document is synchronized across a plurality of network elements, and is configured to provide an interactive experience to a user.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon, that when executed by one or more computing devices, performs a method of providing a dynamic multimedia presentation while maintaining client anonymity, the method comprising:

a content delivery network, providing access to a multimedia presentation;

a rich media service gateway, receiving a request from a client for said presentation, wherein the request comprises client-specific information and removing said client-specific information from the request;

a media referral gateway, generating the dynamic multimedia presentation, wherein the dynamic multimedia presentation comprises a distributed Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) document having one or more client-executable elements and one or more server-executable elements; and

the rich media service gateway, creating a copy of said SMIL document for sending to the client, creating a stripped document by removing the one or more server-executable elements from said copy such that only client-executable elements remain, and communicating the stripped document to the client.

2. The media of claim 1, further comprising providing primary multimedia content in response to a first user request communicated according to a first client-executable element in said stripped document, wherein said multimedia content is provided by a media server.

3. The media of claim 2, further comprising providing at least one first instance of companion content in response to a second user request communicated according to a second client-executable element in said stripped document, wherein said companion content comprises content other than the primary multimedia content.

4. The media of claim 3, wherein said companion content comprises an impression having an input region associated therewith such that a user can interact with the companion content by providing input to the input region.

5. The media of claim 4, wherein said companion content comprises content originating from a server different from the server that provides the primary multimedia content.

6. The media of claim 5, further comprising reporting an instance of user input received by way of the input region to the server from which the companion content originates.

7. The media of claim 4, further comprising dynamically updating the multimedia presentation in response to user input received by way of the input region.

8. The media of claim 7, wherein dynamically updating the multimedia presentation comprises replacing one or more elements in the SMIL document such that the client is able to retrieve at least one second instance of companion content.

9. The media of claim 8, wherein said at least one second instance of companion content comprises content that is targeted to the user based on one or more attributes associated with the user, wherein said attributes are identified based on actions taken by the user while the multimedia presentation is being provided.

10. A system for providing a synchronized multimedia presentation with interstitial targeted companion media by using a distributed dynamically updateable Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) document, the system comprising:

a media service gateway having a processor coupled to a memory operable to anonymize a plurality of communications between a client and a content distribution network, wherein at least one of said communications comprises a first client request for a multimedia presentation and wherein the first client request is anonymized by removing client-specific information from the first client request to create an anonymized request;

a media referral gateway having a processor coupled to a memory operable to create and distribute two or more copies of the dynamically updateable SMIL document having one or more client-executable elements and one or more server-executable elements in response to the anonymized request received from the media service gateway, wherein at least one of said copies of the SMIL document is provided to the client and another at least one of said copies of the SMIL document is a stripped document provided to the client, wherein the stripped document is created by removing the one or more server-executable elements from said copy such that only client-executable elements remain; and

a media content server having a processor coupled to a memory operable to provide multimedia content to the client in response to a second client request for content, wherein the second client request is communicated to the media content server as a result of execution of the at least one copy of the SMIL document at the client.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the media service gateway comprises a reporting component for tracking instances of user input associated with the multimedia presentation.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the reporting component is configured to communicate information corresponding to instances of user input to one or more entities remote from the media services gateway.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the media referral gateway comprises an insertion component for inserting companion content into the dynamic multimedia presentation.

14. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon, that when executed by one or more computing devices, performs a method of providing a dynamic multimedia presentation while maintaining client anonymity, the method comprising:

providing a multimedia presentation to a client, wherein the multimedia presentation comprises a distributed Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) document having one or more client-executable elements and one or more server-executable elements capable of facilitating the communication of input from the client to at least one media service gateway associated with a first network;

creating a copy of said SMIL document for sending to the client;

creating a stripped document by removing the one or more server-executable elements from said copy such that only client-executable elements remain;

communicating the stripped document to the client;

receiving client input by way of the SMIL document;

removing data that identifies the client from the client input to create an anonymous input;

communicating targeting information corresponding to the anonymous input to a second network;

receiving a presentation update based on the communicated information; and

providing the presentation update to the client, such that the multimedia presentation is dynamically updated during execution at the client.

17. The media of claim 14, wherein the the SMIL document includes a link to an instance of companion content.

18. The media of claim 14, further comprising reporting the anonymous input to an analytical component residing on a media referral gateway, wherein the analytical component tags the anonymous input with one or more analytics to create targeting information corresponding to the anonymous input.

19. The media of claim 18, wherein said one or more analytics comprise observations regarding at user trends corresponding to the anonymous input such that said targeting information facilitates the provision of companion content that is targeted to the user, wherein the targeted companion content comprises content determined to enrich the user'"'"'s experience.

20. The media of claim 14, wherein the second network comprises one or more advertisement servers.

15. The media of 14, wherein the SMIL document is distributed between one or more servers.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein the one or more servers each execute at least one element included within the SMIL document in a synchronized manner to provide a dynamic multimedia experience to a client.