DVR with enhanced functionality

• US 8,312,490 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2001
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yap, Adrian, Ficco, Michael, Davis, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar, Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): Raman, Usha
• Application Number:
  US09/837,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20010033736A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,227 Days
• Field of Search: 725/58, 725/142, 386/40, 386/92, 386/83, 386/68, 386/124
• US Class Current: 725/58
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/455 said record carriers being in one device and being used as primary and secondary/backup media, e.g. HDD-DVD combo device, or as source and target media, e.g. PC and portable player
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6505 storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• 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 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• 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 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• 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 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• 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 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 : End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• 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 21/47217 : for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 : Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• 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 5/4448 : for frame-grabbing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 : Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 : Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 : between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 : on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 : on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/783 : Adaptations for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 : on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 : using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17345 : Control of the passage of the selected programme

Abstract

A personal video on-demand system and method which permits a user to receive available content using a single tuner and perform one of a plurality of operations on the available content. These operations include recording two or more signals, where one or both may be simultaneously viewed, recording one or more signals and playing back one or more signals, playing back two or more signals, watching one or more signals while recording one or more other signals, viewing two or more signals live, or viewing at least one signal live, while viewing one or more signals in a playback mode. These operations also include selecting an even based on actor, actress, director, etc., alerting a user to an attempt to record a duplicate program, displaying a status of a program from the available content the user is watching, playing paused programming or converting paused programming to recorded programming during a channel change, allowing a user to record an entire program after viewing the program for a period of time, permitting a user to capture a snippet of the available content, permitting a user to rewind recording in an increment for playback of a portion of the available content, enabling a user to jump back from a live broadcast to a last paused video segment.

Claims

1. A method of processing available content including broadcast programming and recorded programming, comprising:

activating an automatic preference to erase any recording of a program identified as a duplicate;

tuning to a broadcast program using one or more tuners;

receiving a command to pause the tuned program;

temporarily storing the tuned program to a portion of storage dedicated for pausing upon receiving the pause command;

receiving a user command to record the paused program;

tracking a list of previously recorded programs for duplicates upon receiving the user command to record the paused program; and

selectively terminating and erasing the recording of a paused program when the paused program is identified as a duplicate based on the activated automatic preference, and completing the recording of the paused program when the paused program is identified as a non-duplicate by moving the paused program from the portion of storage dedicated for pausing to a portion of storage dedicated for recorded programs.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting from the available content based on actor, actress, director, program title, key word, key phrase, tag information, synopsis, release date, critical review, related program, or sequel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting from the available content is achieved by a user browsing through information related to the available content stored on at least one storage medium.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a status along with a program a user is currently viewing.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the status includes at least one of:

a current delay, a status indicator, an available record time, a storage medium capacity, and an out-of-space alert.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the current delay allows a user to see a delay between the program the user is currently viewing and a live feed of the program.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising permitting a user to rewind the available content in an increment for playback of a portion of the available content.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a personalized database from the available content.

9. An apparatus for processing available content including broadcast programming and recorded programming, comprising:

one or more tuners for receiving a broadcast program;

a storage medium, and

a control unit, wherein the control unit is controllable to;

activate an automatic preference to erase any recording of a program identified as a duplicate;

receive a command to pause the tuned program;

temporarily store the tuned program to a portion of the storage medium dedicated for pausing upon receiving the pause command;

receive a user command to record the paused program;

track a list of previously recorded programs for duplicates upon receiving the user command to record the paused program;

selectively terminate and erase the recording of a paused program when the paused program is identified as a duplicate based on the activated automatic preference, and completing the recording of the paused program when the paused program is identified as a non-duplicate by moving the paused program from the portion of the storage medium dedicated for pausing to a portion of the storage medium dedicated for recorded programs.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control unit selects from the available content based on actor, actress, director, program title, key word, key phrase, tag information, synopsis, release date, critical review, related program, or sequel.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control unit selects from the available content by browsing through information related to the available content stored on at least one storage medium.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control unit displays a status along with a program a user is currently viewing.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the status includes at least one of:

a current delay, a status indicator, an available record time, a storage medium capacity, and an out-of-space alert.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the current delay allows the user to see a delay between the record operation and a live feed of the program.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control unit further rewinds the available content in an increment for playback of a portion of the available content.