Index of locally recorded content

• US 8,533,210 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2011
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shahraray, Behzad, Gibbon, David, Begeja, Lee, Liu, Zhu, Cox, Richard, Renger, Bernard S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perveen, Rehana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Waldron, Scott A
• Application Number:
  US13/308,933
• Publication Number:
  US 20120173536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 649 Days
• Field of Search: 707/756
• US Class Current: 707/756
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/743 a collection of video files or sequences
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• 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 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/914 Video
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/916 Audio

Abstract

A method includes generating index data from media events that include video content, the event index data being generated by a server, generating locator code data for the event index data, the locator code data being generated by the server, providing the generated event index data and the locator code data from the server to a memory device for storage, searching the generated event index data to identify a segment of the media events in response to receiving a search request, determining segment locator code data from the locator code data based on the identified segment, and transmitting over a network to the end user media device the segment locator code data that corresponds to the identified at least one segment to enable the end user media device to extract an image from a recorded media event for generating an index display using the extracted image.

Claims

1. A server device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the instructions, performs operations comprising;

directing a set-top box to record a first plurality of media programs for storage at the set-top box responsive to receiving recording requests from the set-top box;

extracting index data from a second plurality of media programs stored at a provider network, wherein the index data comprises searchable data associated with video frames of the second plurality of media programs;

receiving a search request from the set-top box to perform a search of the index data;

searching the index data according to the search request to generate search results, wherein the searching is constrained to a portion of the second plurality of media programs that correspond to the first plurality of media programs that are stored at the set-top box, wherein the search results comprise index display data and locator code data, wherein the index display data identifies a plurality of segments of the second plurality of media programs and provides an order of presentation of the plurality of segments, wherein the locator code data identifies a plurality of locations of the plurality of segments in the second plurality of media programs, and wherein the order of presentation of the plurality of segments is based on relevance of each of the plurality of segments according to matches of search criteria in the search request;

comparing first content from the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box with second content from the second plurality of media programs stored at the provider network for the plurality of segments identified by the searching to determine a plurality of time shifts between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments;

correcting the index display data and the locator code data for the plurality of segments according to the plurality of time shifts, wherein the correcting of the locator code data synchronizes the locator code data to the plurality of segments of the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box; and

transmitting the corrected index display data and the corrected locator code data to the set-top box, wherein the set-top box generates an index page for user selection and presentation of the plurality of segments identified by the searching from the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box according to the corrected index display data and the corrected locator code data, wherein the index page comprises a pictorial index created at the set-top box based on command information transmitted by the server device, and wherein the pictorial index comprises thumbnail images generated by extracting video frames associated with the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box.

2. The server device of claim 1, wherein the comparing further comprises comparing two segments of the plurality of segments from each of the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box and the second plurality of media programs stored at the provider network to determine the plurality of times shifts.

3. The server device of claim 1, wherein the comparing further comprises determining a time warp between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments and wherein the correcting of the index display data and the locator code data is further according to the time warp.

4. The server device of claim 1, wherein the comparing further comprises comparing first audio from the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box with second audio from the second plurality of media programs stored at the provider network and audio matching to determine the plurality of times shifts between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments.

5. The server device of claim 4, wherein the set-top box receives the first plurality of media programs at a first bandwidth and wherein the locator code data is transmitted to the set-top box at a second bandwidth that is lower than a first bandwidth.

6. A method comprising:

extracting, by a server device comprising a processor, index data from a first plurality of media programs stored at a provider network, wherein the index data comprises searchable data associated with video frames of the first plurality of media programs;

directing, by the server device, a set-top box to record a second plurality of media programs for storage at the set-top box responsive to receiving recording requests from the set-top box;

searching, by the server device, the index data according to a search request to generate search results, wherein the searching is constrained to a portion of the first plurality of media programs that correspond to the second plurality of media programs that are stored at the set-top box, wherein the search results comprise index display data and locator code data, wherein the index display data identifies a plurality of segments of the first plurality of media programs and provides an order of presentation of the plurality of segments, wherein the locator code data identifies a plurality of locations of the plurality of segments in the first plurality of media programs, and wherein the order of presentation of the plurality of segments is based on relevance of each of the plurality of segments according to matches of search criteria in the search request;

comparing, by the server device, first content from the second plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box with second content from the first plurality of media programs stored at the provider network for the plurality of segments identified by the searching to determine a plurality of time shifts between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments;

correcting, by the server device, the index display data and the locator code data for the plurality of segments according to the plurality of time shifts, wherein the correcting of the locator code data synchronizes the locator code data to the plurality of segments of the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box; and

transmitting, by the server device, the corrected index display data and the corrected locator code data to the set-top box, wherein the set-top box generates an index page for user selection and presentation of the plurality of segments identified by the searching from the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box according to the corrected index display data and the corrected locator code data, wherein the index page comprises a pictorial index created at the set-top box based on command information transmitted by the server device, and wherein the pictorial index comprises thumbnail images generated by extracting video frames associated with the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the comparing further comprises comparing two segments of the plurality of segments from each of the first plurality of media programs stored at the provider network and the second plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box to determine the plurality of times shifts.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the comparing further comprises determining a time warp between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments and wherein the correcting of the index display data and the locator code data is further according to the time warp.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of segments comprises one of video content, audio content, or image content.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the index data comprises one of text information associated with the first plurality of media programs and pictorial information associated with the first plurality of media programs.

11. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor performs operations, comprising:

extracting, by a server device comprising a processor, index data from a first plurality of media programs stored at a provider network, wherein the index data comprises searchable data associated with video frames of the first plurality of media programs;

directing, by the server device, a set-top box to record a second plurality of media programs for storage at the set-top box responsive to receiving recording requests from the set-top box;

searching, by the server device, the index data according to a search request to generate search results, wherein the searching is constrained to a portion of the first plurality of media programs that correspond to the second plurality of media programs that are stored at the set-top box, wherein the search results comprise index display data and locator code data, wherein the index display data identifies a plurality of segments of the first plurality of media programs and provides an order of presentation of the plurality of segments, wherein the locator code data identifies a plurality of locations of the plurality of segments in the first plurality of media programs, and wherein the order of presentation of the plurality of segments is based on relevance of each of the plurality of segments according to matches of search criteria in the search request;

comparing, by the server device, first content from the second plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box with second content from the first plurality of media programs stored at the provider network for the plurality of segments identified by the searching to determine a plurality of time shifts between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments;

correcting, by the server device, the index display data and the locator code data for the plurality of segments according to the plurality of time shifts, wherein the correcting of the locator code data synchronizes the locator code data to the plurality of segments of the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box; and

transmitting, by the server device, the corrected index display data and the corrected locator code data to the set-top box, wherein the set-top box generates an index page for user selection and presentation of the plurality of segments identified by the searching from the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box according to the corrected index display data and the corrected locator code data, wherein the index page comprises a pictorial index created at the set-top box based on command information transmitted by the server device, and wherein the pictorial index comprises thumbnail images generated by extracting video frames associated with the first plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the comparing further comprises comparing first audio from the first plurality of media programs stored at the provider network with second audio from the second plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box and audio matching to determine the plurality of times shifts between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the extracting further comprises identifying that media programs of the first plurality of media programs correspond to one of video content, audio content, or image content.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the comparing further comprises comparing two segments of the plurality of segments from each of the first plurality of media programs stored at the provider network and the second plurality of media programs stored at the set-top box to determine the plurality of times shifts.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the comparing further comprises determining a time warp between the first plurality of media programs and the second plurality of media programs for the plurality of segments and wherein the correcting of the index display data and the locator code data is further according to the time warp.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the locator code data is transmitted over an internet protocol television access network and transmitted along with an electronic program guide.