System and method for providing recording and playback of digital media content
First Claim
1. A method of time-shifting broadcast content comprising the steps of:
- storing one or more segments of broadcast content in memory;
analyzing live broadcast reception quality to identify when live broadcast reception quality does not meet minimum quality levels; and
replaying said one or more stored segments of broadcast content until live broadcast reception quality meets minimum standards;
wherein the storing step further comprisesbuffering said one or more segments of broadcast content in a memory buffer;
monitoring the quality metrics of said one or more stored segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer, the quality metrics comprising at least one of the number of mutes in said one or more segments of broadcast content, the number of no signal indications generated during the storing of said one or more segments of broadcast content, the length of time for each mute, the length of time for each no signal indication, and a combination of two or more of the metrics;
writing said one or more stored segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer to another memory when the quality metrics meet selected signal quality criteria; and
rewriting said one or more stored segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer with other segments of broadcast content when the quality metrics fail to meet the selected signal quality criteria.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for time-shifting a live broadcast, and facilitating the purchase of live or time-shifted broadcast content. The device records broadcast content being listened to by user, which gives the user the option to replay content. The device and method also provides a preview service that allows the user to experience fresh media content on a regular basis, even where a live signal is not available. The broadcast source broadcasts new content on a regular basis to avoid providing users with stale content. The user identifies content using the device and data is stored that corresponds to the identified content. The broadcast source or a third-party content provider uses the corresponding data to provide the identified content to the user. In addition to audio content, the device also provides and facilitates the acquisition of video, graphics, text or any other media content.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method of time-shifting broadcast content comprising the steps of:
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storing one or more segments of broadcast content in memory; analyzing live broadcast reception quality to identify when live broadcast reception quality does not meet minimum quality levels; and replaying said one or more stored segments of broadcast content until live broadcast reception quality meets minimum standards; wherein the storing step further comprises buffering said one or more segments of broadcast content in a memory buffer; monitoring the quality metrics of said one or more stored segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer, the quality metrics comprising at least one of the number of mutes in said one or more segments of broadcast content, the number of no signal indications generated during the storing of said one or more segments of broadcast content, the length of time for each mute, the length of time for each no signal indication, and a combination of two or more of the metrics; writing said one or more stored segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer to another memory when the quality metrics meet selected signal quality criteria; and rewriting said one or more stored segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer with other segments of broadcast content when the quality metrics fail to meet the selected signal quality criteria. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of time-shifting broadcast content comprising the steps of:
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storing one or more segments of broadcast content in memory; analyzing live broadcast reception quality to identify when live broadcast reception quality does not meet minimum quality levels; and replaying said one or more stored segments of broadcast content until live broadcast reception quality meets minimum standards; wherein the storing step further comprises buffering said one or more segments of broadcast content in a memory buffer; monitoring the quality metrics of said one or more segments of broadcast content in the memory buffer, the quality metrics comprising at least one of the number of mutes in said one or more segments of broadcast content, the number of no signal indications generated during the storing of said one or more segments of broadcast content, the length of time for each mute, the length of time for each no signal indication, and a combination of two or more of the metrics; interrupting the buffering to the memory buffer when the quality metrics meet a selected dead air criteria; and resuming the buffering to the memory buffer when the monitoring indicates that the quality metrics do not meet the selected dead air criteria. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. A device for playing stored content comprising:
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a memory for storing one or more segments of broadcast content; and a microprocessor that analyzes the quality of the live broadcast signal reception to identify when said reception quality does not meet minimum standards, the microprocessor initiating the playback of the stored broadcast content when the reception quality does not meet minimum standards, wherein the microprocessor is configured to monitor quality metrics of said one or more segments of broadcast content, the quality metrics comprising at least one of the number of mutes in said one or more segments of broadcast content, the number of no signal indications generated during the storing of said one or more segments of broadcast content, the length of time for each mute, the length of time for each no signal indication, and a combination of two or more of the metrics. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of time-shifting broadcast content comprising the steps of
storing one or more segments of broadcast content in memory; -
monitoring at least one quality metric of said one or more segments of broadcast content and performing at least one of a plurality of operations comprising editing said one or more stored segments of broadcast content to shorten the duration of silent segments therein resulting from at least one of a mute or signal outage, and rewriting editing said one or more stored segments of broadcast content when said one or more segments of broadcast content fail to meet a selected signal quality metric; analyzing live broadcast reception quality to identify when live broadcast reception quality does not meet minimum quality levels; and replaying said one or more stored segments of broadcast content until live broadcast reception quality meets minimum standards.
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Specification