Integrated searching system for interactive media guide

• US 8,516,525 B1
• Filed: 10/20/2000
• Issued: 08/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jerding, Dean F., Rodriguez, Arturo A., Banker, Robert O.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHANG, ANNAN Q
• Application Number:
  US09/693,790
• Time in Patent Office: 4,687 Days
• Field of Search: 725 37- 61, 709217-232
• US Class Current: 725/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• 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 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The invention may be viewed as a system for providing media services to a user via an interactive media services client device coupled to a programmable media services server device. A method of the preferred embodiment of the invention includes receiving user input, searching media information stored in memory, and providing the user with a search result that is related to user input.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a user to search for media programs, the method comprising:

enabling a user to record a first set of media programs in a first storage device associated with a digital personal video recorder (PVR);

storing media information corresponding to the recorded first set of media programs in the first storage device, the media information including information related to at least a title and media type for each media program;

receiving media information corresponding to a second set of media programs that are currently being broadcast;

receiving media information corresponding to a third set of media programs that are to be broadcast in the future;

storing the media information corresponding to the second and third sets of media programs in a second storage device;

providing to the user a search option to search for media programs;

responsive to the user activating the search option, enabling the user to enter a search term;

responsive to the user entering a search term, searching the first and second storage devices for media information having a high level of correlation with the search term; and

providing a list of media programs corresponding to the media information having a high level of correlation with the search term.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, responsive to the user activating the search option, further enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on a range of start times of the media programs, and wherein searching the first and second storage devices further comprises searching for media information corresponding to media programs having a start time within the range of start times.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on a range of start times comprises enabling the user to select a time period from a plurality of time periods.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the user-selected time period is selected from time periods specified by dates.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the dates are a dates.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the dates are relative dates.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the relative dates correspond to at least one of “

Today Only”

, “

Today and Tomorrow”

, and “

Next 7 Days”

.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the media information in the second storage device includes information indicating that a particular media program is a purchasable program, providing, with the list of media programs, an indication that the particular media program is a purchasable program.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the particular media program is a video-on-demand program.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the particular media program is a pay-per-view program.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing, with the list of media programs, an indication that the media programs stored in the first storage device are programs recorded by the digital PVR.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein, responsive to the user activating the search option, further enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on video quality.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the search criterion based on video quality includes a criterion based on whether or not the media program includes high-definition video signals.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the PVR is a random-access PVR.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the PVR is a digital PVR.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first storage device is a digital storage device.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the first storage device is a non-volatile storage device.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the first storage device is a random-access storage device.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the first storage device is different than the second storage device.

12. The method of claim, further comprising:

when the media information in the second storage device includes information indicating that a particular media program is available via a subscription service, providing, with the list of media programs, an indication that the particular media program is available via the subscription service.

21. An interactive media services system comprising:

memory for storing media information, the media information including information related to a title, start time, and media type for each of a plurality of media programs;

a software program stored in the memory, the software program comprising a plurality of executable functions;

a processor configured to execute the software program, wherein executing the software program includes;

enabling a user to record in the memory a first set of media programs associated with a personal video recorder (PVR);

storing media information corresponding to the first set of recorded media programs in the memory;

receiving media information corresponding to a second set of media programs that are currently being broadcast or are to be broadcast in the future;

storing the media information corresponding to the second set of media programs in the memory;

providing to the user a search option to search for media programs;

responsive to the user activating the search option, enabling the user to enter a search term;

responsive to the user entering a search term, searching the memory for media information, corresponding to the first set of media programs and the second set of media programs, having a high level of correlation with the search term; and

providing a list of media programs corresponding to the media information having a high level of correlation with the search term.

22. The interactive media services system of claim 21, wherein, responsive to the user activating the search option, further enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on a range of start times of the media programs, and wherein searching the memory further comprises searching for media information corresponding to media programs having a start time within the range of start times.

23. The interactive media services system of claim 22, wherein enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on a range of start times comprises enabling the user to select a time period from a plurality of time periods.

24. The interactive media services system of claim 23, wherein the user-selected time period is selected from time periods specified by dates.

25. The interactive media services system of claim 24, wherein the dates are absolute dates.

26. The interactive media services system of claim 24, wherein the dates are relative dates.

27. The interactive media services system of claim 26, wherein the relative dates correspond to at least one of “

Today Only”

, “

Today and Tomorrow”

, and “

Next 7 Days”

.

28. The interactive media services system of claim 21, wherein, when the media information corresponding to the media programs that are currently being broadcast or are to be broadcast in the future includes information indicating that a particular media program is a purchasable program, executing the software program further comprises providing, with the list of media programs, an indication that the particular media program is a purchasable program.

29. The interactive media services system of claim 28, wherein the particular media program is a video-on-demand program.

30. The interactive media services system of claim 28, wherein the particular media program is a pay-per-view program.

31. The interactive media services system of claim 28, further comprising:

providing, with the list of media programs, an indication that the media programs stored in the storage device are programs recorded by the PVR.

32. The interactive media services system of claim 21, further comprising:

when the media information in memory includes information indicating that a particular media program is available via a subscription service, providing, with the list of media programs, an indication that the particular media program is available via the subscription service.

33. The interactive media services system of claim 21, wherein providing the list of media programs comprises providing the list on a television.

34. The interactive media services system of claim 21, wherein, responsive to the user activating the search option, further enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on video quality.

35. The interactive media services system of claim 34, wherein the search criterion based on video quality is a criterion based on whether or not the media program includes high-definition video signals.

36. A set-top terminal (STT) comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a plurality of media programs and a plurality of media information, each one of the plurality of media information corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of media programs;

a storage device in communication with a personal video recorder (PVR);

memory storing program code thereon;

a processor configured by the program code to;

record one of the plurality of media programs on the PVR;

store a first one of the plurality of media information on the storage device, the first one of the plurality of media information describing the recorded one of the plurality of media programs;

store a second one of the plurality of media information on the storage device, the second one of the plurality of media information describing media programs that are currently being broadcast or are to be broadcast in the future;

provide a search option to enable the user to enter a search term;

responsive to the search term, search the first and second ones of the plurality of media information to find media information having a high level of correlation with the search term; and

provide a list of media programs which correspond to the media information having a high level of correlation with the search term.

37. The STT of claim 36, wherein the PVR is embodied within the STT.

38. The STT of claim 36, wherein the PVR is external to the STT.

39. The STT of claim 36, wherein, responsive to the user activating the search option, the processor is further configured to enable the user to enter a search criterion based on a range of start times of the media programs, and to search for media information corresponding to media programs having a start time within the range of start times.

40. The STT of claim 39, wherein the processor enabling the user to enter a search criterion based on a range of start times comprises enabling the user to select a time period from a plurality of time periods.

41. The STT of claim 40, wherein the user-selected time period is selected from time periods specified by dates.

42. The STT of claim 41, wherein the dates are absolute dates.

43. The STT of claim 41, wherein the dates are relative dates.

44. The STT of claim 41, wherein the dates are relative dates correspond to at least one of “

Today Only”

, “

Today and Tomorrow”

, and “

Next 7 Days”

.

45. The STT of claim 36, wherein, when the media information corresponding to the second set of media programs includes information indicating that a particular media program is a purchasable program, the processor is configured to provide, with the list of media programs, an indication that the particular media program is a purchasable program.

46. The STT of claim 45, wherein the purchasable program is a video-on-demand program.

47. The STT of claim 45, wherein the purchasable program is a pay-per-view program.

48. The STT of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to provide, with the list of media programs, an indication that the media programs corresponding to the first set of media programs are programs recorded by the PVR.

49. The STT of claim 36, wherein, when the media information in the second storage device includes information indicating that a particular media program is available via a subscription service, the processor is further configured to provide, with the list of media programs, an indication that the particular media program is available via the subscription service.

50. The STT of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured to display the list of media programs on a television.

51. The STT of claim 36, wherein, responsive to the user activating the search option, the processor is further configured to enable the user to enter a search criterion based on video quality.

52. The STT of claim 51, wherein the search criterion based on video quality is a criterion based on whether or not the media program includes high-definition video signals.