Client-side multimedia content targeting system

• US 8,453,180 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2006
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TiVo Solutions Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TiVo Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Barton, James M., Look, Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): Hirl, Joseph P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RABOVIANSKI, JIVKA A
• Application Number:
  US11/474,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20060248558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,532 Days
• Field of Search: 725/46, 725/58, 725/32, 725/35, 725/40, 725/9
• US Class Current: 725/58
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2097 maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/82 Solving problems relating to consistency ensuring consistency in mirrored systems G06F11/2064
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• 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 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport 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 21/4532 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 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/466 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies services using the results of monitoring in broadcast systems H04H60/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4662 characterized by learning algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 : Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 : for recommending content, e.g. movies
• 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 21/4755 : for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 : Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/91 : Television signal processing therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/025 : Systems for the transmission of digital non-picture data, e.g. of text during the active part of a television frame transmission of digital non-picture data during the vertical blanking interval only H04N7/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 : the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/162 : Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17327 : with deferred transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

A client-side multimedia content targeting system schedules the recording, storing, and deleting of multimedia content on a client system storage device. The invention accepts as input a prioritized list of program viewing preferences which is compared with a database of program guide objects that indicate when programs of interest are actually broadcast. The viewer may request that certain content be captured, which results in the highest possible priority for those content. The viewer may also explicitly express preferences using appurtenances provided through the viewer interface. Preferences may additionally be inferred from viewing patterns. The viewer'"'"'s client system locally retains the viewer'"'"'s preferences and other personal information that the viewer has entered and is sent targeting information relating to program guide objects by a server. Using the viewer'"'"'s preferences and personal information, the client system creates a viewer profile, which is used with the targeting information by the client system to record content that is within the viewer profile. The invention'"'"'s client-based form of targeting can be applied to almost any multimedia situation, including, but not limited to: TV shows, movies, advertisements, product and service offerings, music, radio, audio, etc.

Claims

1. A method for targeting multimedia content to a viewer using a recording device, comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a recording device, metadata describing programs;

receiving, at the recording device, from a server across a network, correlation data describing groups of related programs, each group identifying at least;

a first program watched by viewers at other recording devices, and one or more second programs that were also watched by the viewers who watched the first program, or in which the viewers who watched the first program indicated an interest;

comparing, by the recording device, the correlation data received from the server with a subset of the metadata, the subset of the metadata describing programs that the viewer has previously viewed or in which the viewer has previously expressed an interest;

based on the comparing, the recording device selecting a particular second program of the .ro rams described in the metadata that was identified b a particular group of the groups of related programs in the correlation data received from the server, based on the recording device determining that a particular first program in the particular group was previously viewed by the viewer or that the viewer previously indicated an interest in the particular first program;

responsive to selecting the particular second program, recording the particular second program on the recording device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises comparing said correlation data with titles of the programs that the viewer previously viewed or in which the viewer has previously expressed an interest.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device tuning to a specific channel at a specified time to record the particular second program.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device recording the particular second program onto at least one storage device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the correlation data is based on anonymous data collected from the other recording devices.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, at the recording device, the correlation data as one or more tables correlating each particular first program of said groups with each second program of said groups that is associated with the particular first program; and

identifying the particular second program based on the one or more tables.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to collect viewing objects from the other recording devices and generate the groups in the correlation data based thereon, each viewing object of the viewing objects specifying a particular recording device of the other recording devices and a particular program watched at the particular recording device, or in which a particular viewer at the particular recording device expressed an interest.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the particular second program having been selected based on the comparison with the correlation data received from the server, the recording device storing a recording of the particular second program in association with data indicating that the recording of the particular second program is a fuzzy recording;

based on the data indicating that the particular second program is a fuzzy program, the recording device automatically deleting the recording of the particular second program in favor of storing a recording of a third program that the viewer explicitly schedules, without the viewer having watched the particular second program.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a plurality of programs to record at the recording device, including the particular second program, based on the comparing and preference data for the viewer.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to the recording device selecting the particular second program, the recording device presenting a recommendation to the viewer to schedule the recording of the particular second program.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the recording device sending to the server, across the network, data indicating one or more programs watched at the recording device, or in which the viewer has indicated an interest.

12. An apparatus for targeting multimedia content to a viewer using a recording device, comprising:

a processor;

a logic for receiving, at a recording device, metadata describing programs;

a logic for receiving, at the recording device from a server across a network, correlation data describing groups of related programs, each group identifying at least;

a first program watched by viewers at other recording devices, and one or more second programs that were also watched by the viewers who watched the first program, or in which the viewers who watched the first program indicated an interest;

a logic for comparing, by the recording device, the correlation data received from the server with a subset of the metadata, the subset of the metadata describing programs that the viewer has previously viewed or in which the viewer has previously expressed an interest;

a logic for based on the comparing, the recording device selecting a particular second program, of the programs described in the metadata that was identified by a particular group of the groups of related programs in the correlation data received from the server, based on the recording device determining that a particular first program in the particular group was previously viewed by the viewer or that the viewer previously indicated an interest in the particular first program;

a logic for responsive to selecting the particular second program, recording the particular second program on the recording device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the comparing comprises comparing said correlation data with titles of the programs that the viewer previously viewed or in which the viewer has previously expressed an interest.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device tuning to a specific channel at a specified time to record the particular second program.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device recording the particular second program onto at least one storage device.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the correlation data is based on anonymous data collected from the other recording devices.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

a logic for storing, at the recording device, the correlation data as one or more tables correlating each particular first program of said groups with each second program of said groups that is associated with the particular first program; and

a logic for identifying the particular second program based on the one or more tables.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the server is configured to collect viewing objects from the other recording devices and generate the groups in the correlation data based thereon, each viewing object of the viewing objects specifying a particular recording device of the other recording devices and a particular program watched at the particular recording device, or in which a particular viewer at the particular recording device expressed an interest.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

logic for responsive to the particular second program having been selected based on the comparison with the correlation data received from the server, the recording device storing a recording of the particular second program in association with data indicating that the recording of the particular second program is a fuzzy recording;

logic for, based on the data indicating that the particular second program is a fuzzy program, the recording device automatically deleting the recording of the particular second program in favor of storing a recording of a third program that the viewer explicitly schedules, without the viewer having watched the particular second program.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising logic for identifying a plurality of programs to record at the recording device, including the particular second program, based on the comparing and preference data for the viewer.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising logic for, responsive to the recording device selecting the particular second program, the recording device presenting a recommendation to the viewer to schedule the recording of the particular second program.

22. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising logic for the recording device sending to the server, across the network, data indicating one or more programs watched at the recording device, or in which the viewer has indicated an interest.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium, storing instructions for targeting multimedia content to a viewer using a recording device, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause performance of:

receiving, at a recording device, metadata describing programs;

receiving, at the recording device, from a server across a network, correlation data describing groups of related programs, each group identifying at least;

a first program watched by viewers at other recording devices, and one or more second programs that were also watched by the viewers who watched the first program, or in which the viewers who watched the first program indicated an interest;

comparing, by the recording device, the correlation data received from the server with a subset of the metadata, the subset of the metadata describing programs that the viewer has previously viewed or in which the viewer has previously expressed an interest;

based on the comparing, the recording device selecting, a particular second program of the .ro rams described in the metadata that was identified b a particular group of the groups of related programs in the correlation data received from the server, based on the recording device determining that a particular first program in the particular group was previously viewed by the viewer or that the viewer previously indicated an interest in the particular first program;

responsive to selecting the particular second program, recording the particular second program on the recording device.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the comparing comprises comparing said correlation data with titles of the programs that the viewer previously viewed or in which the viewer has previously expressed an interest.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device tuning to a specific channel at a specified time to record the particular second program.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23,

wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device recording the particular second program onto at least one storage device.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the correlation data is based on anonymous data collected from the other recording devices.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the method steps further comprise:

storing, at the recording device, the correlation data as one or more tables correlating each particular first program of said groups with each second program of said groups that is associated with the particular first program; and

identifying the particular second program based on the one or more tables.

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the server is configured to collect viewing objects from the other recording devices and generate the groups in the correlation data based thereon, each viewing object of the viewing objects specifying a particular recording device of the other recording devices and a particular program watched at the particular recording device, or in which a particular viewer at the particular recording device expressed an interest.

30. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computing devices, further cause:

responsive to the particular second program having been selected based on the comparison with the correlation data received from the server, the recording device storing a recording of the particular second program in association with data indicating that the recording of the particular second program is a fuzzy recording;

based on the data indicating that the particular second program is a fuzzy program, the recording device automatically deleting the recording of the particular second program in favor of storing a recording of a third program that the viewer explicitly schedules, without the viewer having watched the particular second program.

31. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computing devices, further cause:

identifying a plurality of programs to record at the recording device, including the particular second program, based on the comparing and preference data for the viewer.

32. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computing devices, further cause:

responsive to the recording device selecting the particular second program, the recording device presenting a recommendation to the viewer to schedule the recording of the particular second program.

33. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computing devices, further cause:

the recording device sending to the server, across the network, data indicating one or more programs watched at the recording device, or in which the viewer has indicated an interest.