Methods and apparatus for broadcasting data
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving a digital broadcast signal including a transport stream comprising a plurality of elementary streams and a plurality of multimedia descriptors, each multimedia descriptor identifying characteristics associated with at least one of the plurality of multimedia streams, the characteristics including elementary stream identification and category, and each multimedia descriptor preceding the multimedia stream with which it is associated wherein each descriptor describes the elementary stream with which it is associated and comprises one or more key words embedded within the digital broadcast signal;
identifying one or more elementary streams associated with one or more multimedia descriptors that match a set of preprogrammed interest category parameters;
caching the entirety of the one or more identified elementary streams responsive to the one or more identified elementary streams matching the set of preprogrammed interest category parameters; and
automatically generating a customized information page operable to simultaneously include the preprogrammed interest category parameters and a list comprising a plurality of cached elementary streams sorted based upon the preprogrammed interest category parameters into which the plurality of cached elementary streams belong, the cached elementary streams being available for retrieval by a user and a selected cached elementary stream being operable to be displayed simultaneously with the list of cached elementary streams sorted by preprogrammed interest category parameter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A broadband data broadcast system that allows rich multimedia content to be delivered to a plurality of subscribers is disclosed. The broadband data broadcast system operates by multiplexing a plurality of rich multimedia digital information streams together at a centralized data broadcast center. The data broadcast center then broadcasts the multiplexed digital information stream on a broadcast medium such as satellite broadcasts, radio frequency broadcasts, or digital television broadcasts. A large number of receiver systems receive the broadcast signal and demodulate the broadcast signal to retrieve the multiplexed digital stream. The receiver system extracts a subset of digital information streams that the particular receiver system'"'"'s owner has designated are of interest. The receiver system caches the interesting digital information stream for later access. The receiver system outputs the interesting digital information streams to a client system upon demand. The receiver system may also stream an incoming digital information stream to a client as the stream is received.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving a digital broadcast signal including a transport stream comprising a plurality of elementary streams and a plurality of multimedia descriptors, each multimedia descriptor identifying characteristics associated with at least one of the plurality of multimedia streams, the characteristics including elementary stream identification and category, and each multimedia descriptor preceding the multimedia stream with which it is associated wherein each descriptor describes the elementary stream with which it is associated and comprises one or more key words embedded within the digital broadcast signal; identifying one or more elementary streams associated with one or more multimedia descriptors that match a set of preprogrammed interest category parameters; caching the entirety of the one or more identified elementary streams responsive to the one or more identified elementary streams matching the set of preprogrammed interest category parameters; and automatically generating a customized information page operable to simultaneously include the preprogrammed interest category parameters and a list comprising a plurality of cached elementary streams sorted based upon the preprogrammed interest category parameters into which the plurality of cached elementary streams belong, the cached elementary streams being available for retrieval by a user and a selected cached elementary stream being operable to be displayed simultaneously with the list of cached elementary streams sorted by preprogrammed interest category parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 32)
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9. A method for distributing data, comprising:
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multiplexing a plurality of multimedia streams received from a plurality of data sources; modulating the multiplexed streams into a digital signal comprising a transport stream; broadcasting the modulated digital signal; a shared multimedia receiver receiving the broadcasted signal; the shared multimedia receiver demodulating the broadcasted signal; the shared multimedia receiver providing the demodulated broadcast signal to a first receiving system and a second receiving system over a local area network; demultiplexing at least a portion of the plurality of multimedia streams to identify multimedia descriptor information included in the broadcasted signal, the multimedia descriptor information comprising a category description; caching a first demultiplexed stream within the first receiving system, the first demultiplexed stream containing data within the multimedia descriptor information that match a first set of preprogrammed interest parameters; caching a second demultiplexed stream within the second receiving system, the second demultiplexed stream containing data within the multimedia descriptor information that match a second set of preprogrammed interest parameters; and automatically generating a customized information page within each receiving system including on the customized information page the one or more cached multimedia streams for retrieval by a user. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A system comprising:
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a front-end receiver to obtain a digital broadcast signal comprising a plurality of multimedia streams comprising a plurality of transport streams and a plurality of multimedia descriptors, each of the plurality of multimedia descriptors being associated with at least one of the plurality of transport streams, and each of the plurality of multimedia descriptors preceding the multimedia stream with which it is associated, wherein each descriptor describing the multimedia stream with which it is associated comprises one or more key words embedded within the digital broadcast signal describing a category associated with content included within an associated stream; a cache store operable to receive a multimedia stream identified as associated with one or more multimedia descriptors that match a set of preprogrammed interest parameters and operable to cache the entirety of the identified multimedia stream; and a processor operable execute a page-building component to automatically generate a customized information page including the cached multimedia stream for retrieval by a user. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system comprising:
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a front-end receiver to obtain a digital broadcast signal comprising a plurality of multimedia streams; a caching component to identify, for each of a plurality of client systems, a multimedia stream that matches a set of preprogrammed interest parameters for a particular client system to one or more multimedia descriptors embedded within the multimedia stream comprising a category associated with content included in the multimedia stream and to cache each identified multimedia stream and a live multimedia stream that matches the set of preprogrammed interest parameters for a particular client system for a plurality of client systems, the caching component to compare the set of preprogrammed interest parameters to the plurality of multimedia descriptors preceding the multimedia stream, wherein the multimedia descriptors comprise one or more key words embedded within the digital broadcast system; and a page-building component to automatically generate a first customized information page for each client system comprising an identified cached multimedia stream and an identified live multimedia for retrieval by a respective user, and wherein the one or more identified previously-cached multimedia streams and one or more identified live multimedia streams-are organized on the first customized information page by topic; wherein the page-building component is to receive a user query from a particular client system; and wherein the caching component is to identify any live or previously-cached multimedia streams that satisfy the user query; and
wherein the page-building component is further to dynamically generate a second customized information page including any live and previously cached multimedia streams in response to the user query. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification