Displaying advertising in an electronic program guide

• US 8,490,134 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2009
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cumnor Technologies, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Cumnor Technologies, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Gerba, George, Nichols, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Saltarelli, Dominic D
• Application Number:
  US12/580,048
• Publication Number:
  US 20110093897A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,370 Days
• Field of Search: 725/42, 725/44, 725/47, 715/716, 345/684
• US Class Current: 725/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• 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 21/47214 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 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program

Abstract

Moving program cells with advertisement cells on a displayed electronic guide using different scrolling schemes is provided. An advertisement cell may be moved based on the movement of program cells during a first time interval. The advertisement cell may be kept stationary during a second time interval in which the program cells scroll and subsequently moved upon expiration of the second time interval.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

moving, on a display device in an electronic device, a plurality of program cells of an electronic guide in a first direction in accordance with a first scrolling scheme;

displaying, on the display device, at least a portion of the plurality of program cells;

displaying, on the display device, an advertisement cell within the portion of the plurality of program cells;

moving, on the display device, the advertisement cell based on the movement of the plurality of program cells during a first time portion;

keeping the advertisement cell stationary during a second time portion in which the plurality of program cells scroll, the second time portion based upon a first number of the plurality of program cells which will move past the advertisement cell while the advertisement cell is kept stationary; and

moving, on the display device, the advertisement cell in concurrence with the scrolling of the plurality of program cells upon expiration of the second time portion.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the electronic device, the first number of the plurality of program cells from a remote location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the remote location includes a head end of a cable system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the electronic device, a scrolling scheme parameter from a central station, the scrolling scheme parameter defining the first number of the plurality of program cells,

wherein the second time portion is based upon the scrolling scheme parameter and the first number of the plurality of program cells that will move past the advertisement cell while the advertisement cell is kept stationary.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first direction comprises a vertical scrolling direction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular cell of the plurality of program cells of the electronic guide includes a program choice available for viewing at a particular start time.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular cell of the plurality of program cells of the electronic guide includes a program choice available for viewing on demand.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of the advertisement cell; and

marking a program choice associated with the advertisement cell for future viewing.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

replacing an advertisement associated with the advertisement cell after scrolling through a particular number of the plurality of program cells has occurred.

10. A method comprising:

arranging, on a display device in an electronic device, schedule data into a grid containing a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns according to a listing of a plurality of channels and a plurality of start times, a particular start time of the plurality of start times being for a particular program that is broadcast via a particular channel of the plurality of channels, a particular cell of the grid containing a name of the particular program;

inserting advertisement data into a particular row of the plurality of rows of the grid;

moving, on the display device, a plurality of cells of the grid in a first direction in accordance with a first scrolling scheme;

displaying, on the display device, at least a portion of the plurality of cells;

displaying, on the display device, the advertisement data within the portion of the plurality of cells;

moving, on the display device, the advertisement data in concurrence with the scrolling of the plurality of cells during a first time portion;

keeping the advertisement data stationary during a second time portion in which the plurality of cells scrolls, the second time portion based upon a first number of the plurality of cells which will move past the advertisement data while the advertisement data is kept stationary; and

moving, on the display device, the advertisement data in concurrence with the scrolling of the plurality of cells upon expiration of the second time portion.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the advertisement data remains in the particular row while the plurality of cells are scrolled.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the advertisement data is arranged into a plurality of advertisement cells.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of advertisement cells contains an advertisement related to the particular program.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the advertisement includes at least one of text, graphics, or animations.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the particular row is a predetermined row.

16. A navigation unit comprising:

circuitry configured to move, on a display device, a plurality of program cells of an electronic guide in a first direction in accordance with a first scrolling scheme;

circuitry configured to display, on the display device, at least a portion of the plurality of program cells and to display, on the display device, an advertisement cell within the portion of the plurality of program cells;

the circuitry further configured to move, on the display device, the advertisement cell based on the movement of the plurality of program cells during a first time portion;

circuitry configured to keep the advertisement cell stationary during a second time portion in which the plurality of program cells scroll, the second time portion based upon a first number of the plurality of program cells which will move past the advertisement cell while the advertisement cell is kept stationary, and

the circuitry further configured to move, on the display device, the advertisement cell in concurrence with the scrolling of the plurality of program cells upon expiration of the second time portion.

17. The navigation unit of claim 16, wherein the navigation unit is a set-top box.

18. The navigation unit of claim 16, further comprising:

circuitry configured to receive a scrolling scheme parameter from a central station, the scrolling scheme parameter defining the first number of the plurality of program cells; and

wherein the second time portion is based upon the scrolling scheme parameter and the first number of the plurality of program cells that will move past the advertisement cell while the advertisement cell is kept stationary.

19. The navigation unit of claim 16, wherein the advertisement cell is larger than a particular program cell of the plurality of program cells.

20. The navigation unit of claim 16, wherein a particular cell of the plurality of program cells of the electronic guide includes a program choice available for viewing on demand.

21. The navigation unit of claim 16, further comprising:

circuitry configured to receive a selection of the advertisement cell; and

circuitry configured to mark a program choice associated with the advertisement cell for future viewing.

22. The navigation unit of claim 16, further comprising:

circuitry configured to replace an advertisement associated with the advertisement cell after scrolling through a particular number of the plurality of program cells has occurred.

23. A computer-readable storage medium with stored instructions executable by a computer, the instructions comprising:

instructions to move, on a display device coupled to the computer, a plurality of program cells of an electronic guide in a first direction in accordance with a first scrolling scheme;

instructions to display, on the display device, at least a portion of the plurality of program cells;

instructions to display, on the display device, an advertisement cell within the portion of the plurality of program cells;

instructions to move, on the display device, the advertisement cell based on the movement of the plurality of program cells during a first time portion;

instructions to keep the advertisement cell stationary during a second time portion in which the plurality of program cells scroll, the second time portion based upon a first number of the plurality of program cells which will move past the advertisement cell while the advertisement cell is kept stationary; and

instructions to move, on the display device, the advertisement cell in concurrence with the scrolling of the plurality of program cells upon expiration of the second time portion.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer is a set-top box.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to receive a scrolling scheme parameter from a central station, the scrolling scheme parameter defining the first number of the plurality of program cells; and

wherein the second time portion is based upon the scrolling scheme parameter and the first number of the plurality of program cells that will move past the advertisement cell while the advertisement cell is kept stationary.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the advertisement cell is larger than a particular program cell of the plurality of program cells.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein a particular cell of the plurality of program cells of the electronic guide includes a program choice available for viewing on demand.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to receive a selection of the advertisement cell; and

instructions to mark a program choice associated with the advertisement cell for future viewing.

29. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to replace an advertisement associated with the advertisement cell after scrolling through a particular number of the plurality of program cells has occurred.