Virtual channels

• US 8,799,952 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2007
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gossweiler, Richard Carl III, Blackburn, John, Brown, David A., Gupta, Neha, Patel, Manish Gordhan, Sahami, Mehran, Taylor, Thomas H., Zigmond, Daniel John
• Primary Examiner(s): Goodarzi, Nasser
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, AN V
• Application Number:
  US11/739,557
• Publication Number:
  US 20080270446A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,660 Days
• Field of Search: 725 38- 40, 725/42, 725/87, 725/35, 725/46, 725/50, 725/37, 725/41, 725/58, 725/110, 725/112, 725/44, 725/43, 725/45, 715/721, 707/3, 707/102
• US Class Current: 725/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23109 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2408 Monitoring of the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. client requests monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• 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 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• 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 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416

Abstract

A method and system for providing listings of multimedia events and for allowing a user to create virtual channels from the listings is described. The user can specify a headend or zip code and enter a search query to find multimedia events that are of interest to the user. In response, the system provides a list of multimedia events as the results of the user'"'"'s search query. If the user so desires, the user can create a virtual channel based on the search results, according to certain embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a computer system including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of;

responsive to a search query for time-bounded multimedia events;

a set of search results including a set of time-bounded multimedia events relevant to the search query, wherein

a time-bounded multimedia event, in the set of time-bounded multimedia events, is a broadcasting event associated with a broadcast time including;

a start time and an end time; and

information identifying a start time and an end time of a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events

a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the set of time-bounded multimedia events included in the search results;

(i) formatting for display information representing the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events as a plurality of rows on a grid having a first axis and a second axis, wherein;

the first axis corresponds to units of time;

one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a virtual channel at positions in the row corresponding to respective scheduled broadcast times of the time-bounded multimedia events in the virtual channel; and

the virtual channel comprises the plurality of the time-bounded multimedia events selected by a user;

(ii) enabling the user to fill a first time slot in the virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events without requiring modification to the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a representation of a numeric count of the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the time-bounded multimedia events include one of:

television shows, radio shows, video shows, sporting events, motion pictures, and events referenced by metadata site summaries, and events referenced by multimedia messaging services.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of search results includes:

a first set of results that satisfy search terms of the search query, and

a second set of results related to the first set of results.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of results is based on content similarity when compared to content associated with the first set of results.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of results is obtained in accordance with a user profile of the user.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of results is obtained in accordance with a group profile of a group of which the user is a member.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing one or more operations on the virtual channel, wherein the one or more operations is one of;

a delete operation, an add operation, and a re-arrange operation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

arranging a list of virtual channels in accordance with any one of;

arranging alphabetically, arranging based on a user-specified order, arranging based on genre, and arranging based on relevance to the search query.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

formatting for display information associated with the set of search results as objects displayed on a two-dimensional display bar, wherein a first axis of the display bar is associated with units of time and a second axis of the display bar is associated with numbers of search results for different times, and wherein multiple search results that are associated with a respective time are displayed as stacked objects at the respective time.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs that are executable by a computing device so as to perform a process, the one or more programs of the computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which when executed cause the computing device to perform the operation of:

responsive to a search query for time-bounded multimedia events;

obtaining a set of search results including a set of time-bounded multimedia events relevant to the search query, wherein

a time-bounded multimedia event, in the set of time-bounded multimedia events, is a broadcasting event associated with a broadcast time including;

a start time and an end time; and

the set of search results also information identifying a start time and an end time of a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events; and

responsive to a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the set of time-bounded multimedia events included in the search results;

(i) formatting for display information representing the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events as a plurality of rows on a grid having a first axis and a second axis, wherein;

the first axis corresponds to units of time;

one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a virtual channel at positions in the row corresponding to respective scheduled broadcast times of the time-bounded multimedia events in the virtual channel; and

the virtual channel comprises the plurality of the time-bounded multimedia events selected by a user;

(ii) enabling the user to fill a first time slot in the virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events without requiring modification to the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a representation of a numeric count of the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the time-bounded multimedia events include one of:

television shows, radio shows, video shows, sporting events, motion pictures, and events referenced by metadata site summaries, and events referenced by multimedia messaging services.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display information associated with the set of search results as objects displayed on a two-dimensional display bar, wherein a first axis of the display bar is associated with units of time and a second axis of the display bar is associated with numbers of search results for different times, and wherein multiple search results that are associated with a respective time are displayed as stacked objects at the respective time.

13. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors; and

one or more programs stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including;

responsive to a search query for time-bounded multimedia events;

obtaining a set of search results including a set of time-bounded multimedia events relevant to the search query, wherein

a time-bounded multimedia event, in the set of time-bounded multimedia events, is a broadcasting event associated with a broadcast time including;

a start time and an end time; and

the set of search results also includes information identifying a start time and an end time of a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events; and

responsive a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the set of time-bounded multimedia events included in the search results;

(i) formatting for display information representing the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events as a plurality of rows on a grid having a first axis and a second axis, wherein;

the first axis corresponds to units of time;

one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a virtual channel at positions in the row corresponding to respective scheduled broadcast times of the time-bounded multimedia events in the virtual channel; and

the virtual channel comprises the plurality of the time-bounded multimedia events selected by a user;

(ii) enabling the user to fill a first time slot in the virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events without requiring modification to the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a representation of a numeric count of the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one time-bounded multimedia event in the set of search results includes content created by the user.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a broadcast channel.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the time-bounded multimedia events include one of:

television shows, radio shows, video shows, sporting events, motion pictures, and events referenced by metadata site summaries, and events referenced by multimedia messaging services.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display in the row corresponding to the virtual channel;

a first set of results that satisfy search terms in the search query, and

a second set of results that are related to the first set of results.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display information associated with the set of search results as objects displayed on a two-dimensional display bar, wherein a first axis of the display bar is associated with units of time and a second axis of the display bar is associated with numbers of search results for different times, and wherein multiple search results that are associated with a respective time are displayed as stacked objects at the respective time.