Apparatus and methods for resolving recording conflicts of a digital video recorder

• US 8,244,106 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2009
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Kummer, David A
• Primary Examiner(s): Chevalier, Robert
• Application Number:
  US12/360,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20100158477A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• Field of Search: 386/291, 386/292, 386/293, 386/295, 386/299
• US Class Current: 386/291
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4227 Providing Remote input by a user located remotely from the client device, e.g. at work
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440236 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures, audio is converted into text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4583 Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programs in the same time slot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6181 involving transmission via a mobile phone network arrangements for providing broadcast or conference services to substation in data switching networks in combination with wireless systems H04L12/189; wireless uplink channel access H04W74/004
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6187 involving transmission via a telephone network, e.g. POTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording

Abstract

Apparatus and methods are provided which facilitate the resolution of recording conflicts of a digital video recorder (DVR). A DVR identifies a recording conflict between a first recording timer associated with a first television program and a second recording timer associated with a second television program. A communication is initiated to a communication device associated with a user of the digital video recorder to inform the user of the recording conflict. Responsive to the communication, the user provides information to the DVR via the communication device requesting to resolve the recording conflict. The DVR utilizes the provided information to modify one or more of the conflicted recording timers to resolve the conflict.

Claims

1. A method for resolving a recording conflict, the method comprising:

identifying a recording conflict of a digital video recorder between a first recording timer associated with a first television program and a second recording timer associated with a second television program;

identifying a conflict identification code that identifies the recording conflict, wherein the conflict identification code is associated with a message including information regarding the recording conflict;

initiating transmission of a first message including the conflict identification code to a communication device associated with a user of the digital video recorder, wherein the communication device is configured to determine the message associated with the conflict identification code and present the determined message to a user;

receiving a second message from the communication device responsive to the first message, the second message including user input requesting to resolve the recording conflict; and

modifying the one of the first recording timer and the second recording timer based on the user input responsive to the second message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying at least three options for resolving the recording conflict; and

identifying a conflict identification code associated with each of the three options,

wherein initiating transmission of the first message further comprises transmitting the conflict code associated with each of the three options in the first message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message comprises a short message service (SMS) message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message comprises an e-mail message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second message is addressed to an e-mail address associated with the digital video recorder.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile telephone.

7. A method for resolving a recording conflict, the method comprising:

identifying a recording conflict at a digital video recorder between a first recording timer associated with a first television program and a second recording timer associated with a second television program;

identifying at least three options for automatically resolving the recording conflict;

generating a textual explanation regarding the recording conflict and the at least three options for resolving the recording conflict;

initiating a phone call to a communication device associated with a user of the digital video recorder;

converting the textual explanation into an audible representation;

transmitting the audible representation to the communication device during the phone call;

receiving user input from the communication device selecting one of the options for resolving the recording conflict; and

modifying one of the first recording timer and the second recording time at the digital video recorder based on the user input.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the user input further comprises:

receiving a dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal from the communication device; and

processing the DTMF signal to identify the selected one of the options.

9. The Method of claim 7, wherein receiving the user input further comprises:

receiving a short message service (SMS) message at the digital video recorder from the communication device that indicates the user input.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the user input further comprises:

receiving voice data from the communication device, the voice data corresponding with the user input;

recognizing content of the voice data; and

identifying the one of the options based on the recognized content of the voice data.

11. A digital video recorder comprising:

a television tuner that receives and tunes video signals from a programming source;

a storage medium communicatively coupled to the television tuner that stores at least a portion of the video signals received by the television tuner;

a network interface that communicates with a communication network; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the television tuner, the storage medium and the network interface operable to;

identify a recording conflict between a first recording timer associated with a first television program and a second recording timer associated with a second television program;

identify a conflict identification code that identifies the recording conflict, wherein the conflict identification code is associated with a message including information regarding the recording conflict;

initiate transmission of the conflict identification code from the network interface to a communication device through the communication network, wherein the communication device is configured to identify a first message based upon the conflict identification code and to present the first message to a user;

receive a second message from the communication device responsive to the first message, the second message including user input requesting to resolve the recording conflict; and

coordinate storage of at least one of the first television program and the second television program onto the storage medium responsive to the user input.

12. The digital video recorder of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operable to identify at least three options for resolving the recording conflict, wherein the conflict identification code is associated with the at least three options.

13. The digital video recorder of claim 11, wherein the transmission is a short message service (SMS) message.

14. The digital video recorder of claim 11, wherein the transmission comprises an e-mail message.

15. The digital video recorder of claim 14, wherein an e-mail address is associated with the digital video recorder and the second message is addressed to the e-mail address.

16. The digital video recorder of claim 11, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile telephone.

17. A mobile telephone comprising:

a display;

a wireless transceiver that communicates with a mobile communication network to receive a first message from a digital video recorder, the first message including information regarding a recording conflict between a first recording timer associated with a first television program and a second recording timer associated with a second television program;

a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and communicatively coupled to the display that parses the first message to identify at least one conflict identification code identifying the recording conflict, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a message including a plurality of options to present to a user for resolving the recording conflict based upon the at least one conflict identification code and to output the options for presentation by the display; and

an input device communicatively coupled to the processor that receives user input selecting one of the options for resolving the recording conflict;

the processor generating a second message based on the user input and initiating transmission of the second message from the wireless transceiver to the digital video recorder.

18. The mobile telephone of claim 17, wherein the wireless transceiver receives the first message in a plurality of short message service (SMS) messages, and wherein the processor parses the SMS messages to identify the options for display to the user.