Method and apparatus for improving performance and user experience of a mobile broadcast receiver

• US 8,490,124 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2009
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Michael, Matthew, Veerepalli, Sivaramakrishna, Patel, Shimman, Li, Tao
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar, Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hicks, Charles N
• Application Number:
  US12/474,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20090298418A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,510 Days
• Field of Search: 725/9, 725/14, 725/34, 725/35, 725/46
• US Class Current: 725/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/08 among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/28 Arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/30 characterised by the use of a return channel, e.g. for collecting users' opinions, for returning broadcast space/time information or for requesting data
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/33 via the broadcast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/37 via a different channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/40 characterised in that additional data relating to the broadcast data are available via a different channel than the broadcast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/64 for providing detail information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/414 Specialised client platforms, e.g. receiver in car or embedded in a mobile appliance
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• 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 21/436 Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4384 involving operations to reduce the access time, e.g. fast-tuning for reducing channel switching latency
• 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 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4858 : for modifying screen layout parameters, e.g. fonts, size of the windows
• 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 7/17327 : with deferred transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

Various techniques for receiving broadcast at a mobile broadcast receiver are described. In an aspect, the broadcast receiver provides user notification and/or automatically launches an application based on user preferences. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver improves channel switching time by predicting future channel selection based on real-time monitoring of user inputs. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver supports drag-and-drop user interface. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver provides additional information associated with a selected broadcast stream. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver processes a broadcast stream and sends output data to an external device for further processing and/or display. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver simultaneously displays live content and stored content. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver simultaneously receives multiple broadcast streams for displayed on one or more display units. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver collects user statistics and sends the statistics to a network entity.

Claims

1. A method of receiving broadcast information, comprising:

storing, at a mobile broadcast receiver, user preferences for broadcast contents;

monitoring incoming broadcast content at the mobile broadcast receiver; and

automatically launching an application, by the mobile broadcast receiver, based on the incoming broadcast content and the user preferences for broadcast contents, and updating the user preferences by incrementing a count for the broadcast contents.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user selections for different broadcast contents over a period of time; and

determining the user preferences for broadcast contents based on the user selections.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user inputs identifying the user preferences for broadcast contents.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically launching an application comprises providing user notification or automatically launching an application only during designated times.

5. A mobile broadcast receiver, comprising:

a memory configured to store user preferences for broadcast contents; and

at least one processor configured;

to monitor incoming broadcast content and

to automatically launch an application, by the mobile broadcast receiver, based on the incoming broadcast content and the user preferences for broadcast contents, and updating the user preferences by incrementing a count for the broadcast contents.

6. The mobile broadcast receiver of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive user selections for different broadcast contents over a period of time, and

determine the user preferences for broadcast contents based on the user selections.

7. The mobile broadcast receiver of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive user inputs identifying the user preferences for broadcast contents.

8. An apparatus for receiving broadcast information, comprising:

means for storing, at a mobile broadcast receiver, user preferences for broadcast contents;

means for monitoring incoming broadcast content at the mobile broadcast receiver; and

means for automatically launching an application, by the mobile broadcast receiver, based on the incoming broadcast content and the user preferences for broadcast contents, and updating the user preferences by incrementing a count for the broadcast contents.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

means for receiving user selections for different broadcast contents over a period of time; and

means for determining the user preferences for broadcast contents based on the user selections.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

means for receiving user inputs identifying the user preferences for broadcast contents.

11. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

code for causing a mobile broadcast receiver to store user preferences for broadcast contents;

code for causing the mobile broadcast receiver to monitor incoming broadcast content at the mobile broadcast receiver; and

code for causing the mobile broadcast receiver to automatically launch an application based on the incoming broadcast content and the user preferences for broadcast contents, and updating the user preferences by incrementing a count for the broadcast contents.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

code for causing the mobile broadcast receiver to receive user selections for different broadcast contents over a period of time; and

code for causing the mobile broadcast receiver to determine the user preferences for broadcast contents based on the user selections.

13. A method of receiving broadcast information, comprising:

predicting a channel based on user input;

demodulating and decoding the predicted channel at a mobile broadcast receiver prior to user selection of the channel; and

providing content from the predicted channel if selected.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the predicting a channel based on user input comprises:

receiving user input highlighting a channel, and

selecting either the highlighted channel as the predicted channel or a channel ahead of the highlighted channel as the predicted channel.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the predicting a channel based on user input comprises:

determining user preferences based on user inputs over a period of time, and

selecting a channel having content matching the user preferences as the predicted channel.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the providing content comprises:

displaying a broadcast stream on a mobile broadcast receiver;

receiving user selection of the broadcast stream; and

retrieving, by the mobile broadcast receiver, additional information associated with the broadcast stream in response to the user selection.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the additional information retrieved in response to the user selection corresponds to one of:

additional information that is sent inband as part of the broadcast stream, and wherein the step of retrieving the additional information comprises retrieving the additional information from the broadcast stream; and

additional information that is retrieved out of band in response to the user selecting a link that is sent inband as part of the broadcast stream, wherein the additional information retrieved out of band is then presented in either a same window as the broadcast stream or in another window.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

storing the additional information at the mobile broadcast receiver prior to the user selection of the broadcast stream.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the retrieving the additional information comprises downloading the additional information in response to receiving the user selection of the broadcast stream.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the additional information comprises information for a product presented by the broadcast stream, promotional information for the product, program information for the broadcast stream, or a combination thereof.

21. An apparatus for a mobile broadcast receiver, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

predict a channel based on user input,

demodulate and decode the predicted channel prior to user selection of the channel, and

provide content from the predicted channel if selected.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive user input highlighting a channel, and

select either the highlighted channel as the predicted channel or a channel ahead of the highlighted channel as the predicted channel.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine user preferences based on user inputs over a period of time, and

select a channel having content matching the user preferences as the predicted channel.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

provide a broadcast stream for display,

receive user selection of the broadcast stream, and

retrieve, by the mobile broadcast receiver, additional information associated with the broadcast stream in response to the user selection.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the additional information is sent inband in the broadcast stream, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to retrieve the additional information from the broadcast stream.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the at least one processor is configured to download the additional information in response to receiving the user selection of the broadcast stream.

27. A method of receiving broadcast information, comprising:

processing a first broadcast stream at a mobile broadcast receiver to obtain live content from the first broadcast stream;

retrieving stored broadcast content from memory at the mobile broadcast receiver; and

displaying the live content and the stored broadcast content simultaneously, wherein at least one of the live content and stored content is displayed at an external display device.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

processing a second broadcast stream at the mobile broadcast receiver; and

storing content from the second broadcast stream in the memory for use later to display with live content.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving user selection to display the stored content with the live content, and

wherein the stored content is retrieved and displayed in response to the user selection.

30. An apparatus for a mobile broadcast receiver, comprising:

a memory to store content for display when selected; and

at least one processor configured to;

process a first broadcast stream to obtain live content from the first broadcast stream,

retrieve stored broadcast content from the memory, and

provide the live content and the stored broadcast content for simultaneous display, wherein at least one of the live content and stored content is displayed at an external display device.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is configured to process a second broadcast stream, and

wherein the memory is configured to store content from the second broadcast stream for use later to display with live content.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive user selection to display the stored content with the live content, and

retrieve the stored content in response to the user selection.