System and method for capturing parameters and recording events in portable devices with digital television receiver

• US 8,850,463 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adriana Keiko Kawai, Alexandre Crivellaro, Andre Ricardo Dias, Atila Leao Flores Xavier, Bruno De Andre Mazzoco, Daniel Tost, Eduardo Seiti De Oliveira, Felipe De Melo Xavier, Gustavo Cincoetti, Leonardo Gomes Franco, Lucas Rogerio De Freitas, Marcio Franco Quelhas Alves, Nickolas Seibel Butti, Patricia D.E. Freitas, Paulo Vicente Dutra Da Silva Santos Valente, Rodrigo Geraldi Carraro
• Original Assignee: Adriana Keiko Kawai, Alexandre Crivellaro, Andre Ricardo Dias, Atila Leao Flores Xavier, Bruno De Andre Mazzoco, Daniel Tost, Eduardo Seiti De Oliveira, Felipe De Melo Xavier, Gustavo Cincoetti, Leonardo Gomes Franco, Lucas Rogerio De Freitas, Marcio Franco Quelhas Alves, Nickolas Seibel Butti, Patricia D.E. Freitas
• Inventors: Flores Xavier, tila Leo, Da Silva Santos Valente, Paulo Vicente Dutra, Gomes Franco, Leonardo, Ricardo Dias, Andr, Crivellaro, Alexandre, Quelhas Alves, Mrcio Franco, De Freitas, Lucas Rogrio, Tost, Daniel, De Oliveira, Eduardo Seiti, Cincoetti, Gustavo, De Melo Xavier, Felipe, De Andr Mazzoco, Bruno, De Freitas, Patricia, Geraldi Carraro, Rodrigo, Keiko Kawai, Adriana, Seibel Butti, Nickolas
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN BA, HOANG VU A
• Application Number:
  US12/981,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20120174144A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,370 Days
• Field of Search: 725/9, 725/14, 725/39, 725/62, 709/206, 455/2.01, 455/3.06, 455/466
• US Class Current: 725/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/44 for identifying broadcast stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

A system and method for capturing and recording parameters of events on portable devices with a digital television receiver, a method for remote configuration of service parameters for capturing and recording events on portable devices, as well as a portable device and server. More specifically, a system and method for capturing audience data, the method for remote configuration of audience data capture service, especially adapted for digital TV services on portable devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, and personal digital assistants, among others, that helps in remotely setting up the service. Another aspect of the present architecture is the fact that it is completely based on software, using only resources that are already present in portable devices with an embedded service.

Claims

1. A system for capturing parameters and recording events on a portable device with a digital television receiver, the system comprising:

a manager that manages and processes the logic of receiving, transmitting and validating events generated by a service and received within the portable device, analyzing an event arrival, requesting data on all components to enable the assembly of the message to be sent, checking if the event is valid and initializing or ending all other components within the service for capturing events;

a database which includes an event queue to be sent to a server;

an interface for configuration of service parameters, in which all the preference parameters for both the end user and the service are configured;

a SIM card interface to obtain user information on a SIM card (ICCID) and inserting the same in the event to be sent to the server;

an interface of the portable device, through which it is obtained the location information of a user at the time for the event computed in the service;

an interface TV circuit of the portable device to collect information about the intensity of TV signal, the physical and logical channels at the time of collection of event information, as well as access to electronic program guide (EPG) or search for channels;

an SMS interface of the portable device in a port defined by the server, to send the events encapsulated in an SMS message to the server and receiving events for the configuration service for capturing parameters and registering events;

a queue to store the events received in a queue ordered by event date;

a formatter to format events to be saved in the queue to be sent by SMS channel, the events being encapsulated in accordance with the protocol DTVAM-DS;

an interface for application of SMS and MMS embedded in the portable device to receive and process commands from the server on a particular port, these commands being passed to the manager that processes and executes the commands remotely;

an event processor for TV application, in which events are generated and forwarded to the manager that processes and validates whether an event is suitable for registration or for disposal;

a manager in the server to receive the information records and events captured by the portable device and performs the management of the activity of remote configuration of service for capturing parameters and recording events in the portable device;

a radio channel interface through which the server exchange SMS messages with the portable device;

an SMS interface embedded into the server that validates the integrity of data and forwards the same to the manager;

a relational database capable of managing all event data captured by the manager and saved in the same, and

a Web Server to process the data of the database, such information and records of events being captured processed and consolidated by the manager to obtain desired audience data,

wherein, as events are sent to the server and the server confirms that the data arrived intact, these data are excluded from the database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each and every event is always validated by the service previously stored in the database.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sending of events occurs when the number of bytes in which event information is packaged is near, but not greater than 140 bytes or a timing timeout limit.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the timeout limit is set to 10 minutes.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface of the portable device is used to obtain the phone country code (MCC) of the mobile network code (MNC) and the network identifier (Cell ID), in which the user was registered at the time of collection of the event, providing the user'"'"'s location and the region at the time of collection.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the TV circuit interface provides the following information:

the user answered “

YES”

in an activation message of the system;

the user answered “

NEVER”

in the activation message of the system;

the user activated the system through an invitation message for activation;

the user activated a menu system;

the TV is turned off;

the TV is turned on;

a channel is changed or a search of channels is initiated;

the TV is tuned;

the TV is not tuned;

the TV signal is lost;

the TV signal is recovered;

Results of searching channels is displayed;

the electronic program guide (EPG) is accessed;

the electronic program guide (EPG) is exited;

remote configuration is recognized;

an incoming call is initiated, and

an incoming call is terminated.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the server sends an SMS class 0 message with a port previously defined, and the interface SMS of the Portable device that receives the SMS message, checks the class and port, if it is class 0 and the port is predefined in the system, then the information is passed to the manager so that the parameters for capturing audience data are configured.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the configuration parameters of data capture audience comprises:

changing a value to show an activation message;

changing state of activation of the service for capturing audience data;

changing timeout to detect events in a specific category;

changing SMS address of the server; and

changing the value of accumulation period of system events.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the queue sends to the database the current queue of events to be stored in file serving for redundancy in case of failures.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface of application of SMS and MMS is responsible for processing the invitation SMS messages coming from the server, and showing a special interface to the user when reading the invitation.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein special menus are added to a reading panel so that the user can accept direct from the manager for applying the service of capturing audience data without entering the TV application.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface for TV application can also periodically show pop-ups inviting users to participate in the service for capturing audience data.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein a specific menu is provided so that the user can interact when he wants, and that enables or disables the service for data capture.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein such data collected through the TV application are encapsulated within SMS messages sent, and these SMS messages sent to specific ports, determined by the server, with the restriction that those ports are not already specified by standard SMS protocol.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein these messages are sent as Class 2 SMS, are not concatenated, and do not require confirmation of arrival at the server.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein these SMS messages using the bytes of data available on SMS for sending coded in 8 bits and are sent in binary form.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein these SMS messages are not sent in text form.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein once an event ends, another is attached to the end of the SMS message to maximize data space in the SMS message.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein if an event does not fit the end of the SMS message so that it has to be broken, the whole event then moves to the next SMS message, and the current SMS message is sent with a surplus in the data field.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein in the event of network failure, the events are stored on disk, until the portable device is registered on a network again, all events are sent to the server.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the SMS message from the server configuration to the portable device comprises one or a plurality of commands at a time, and all are processed at once when they reach the portable device.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the SMS message coming from the server is a class 0 SMS, unique, addressing 16-bit port and is not concatenated, and ports are configured as a client, as in SMS message for sending, class 2.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein in the case of sending an SMS class 0 message to the portable device, the interface SMS embedded onto the server validates the information generated by the manager and following protocol package DTVAM-DS.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the manager is able to cross all the databases of events, process requests for graphics and still refer to the Web Server that needs to provide these data in an organized way in the final reports.

25. A method for capturing parameters and registering events on a portable device with a digital television receiver, the method comprising:

initializing a service of capturing parameters and register events on the portable device;

providing a user'"'"'s information in a SIM card (ICCID) and inserting the same in the event to be sent to a server, allowing the server to later compare the ICCID with a detailed record of the user;

obtaining location information of the user in a time for the event computed in the service;

collecting information about the intensity of TV signal, physical and logical channels at the time of the event collection and information access to electronic program guide (EPG) or searching for channels;

storing the collected events in a queue ordered by event date;

formatting the events to be saved in the queue for sending by encapsulating the events in accordance with the protocol DTVAM-DS;

repeating the collecting information, storing the collected events, and formatting the events until the maximum size of 140 bytes of an SMS is reached or exceed a timeout of 10 minutes; and

sending events encapsulated in an SMS class 2 message to the server transparent to the user'"'"'s portable device,

wherein, as events are sent to the server and the server confirms that data arrived intact, these data are excluded from a database.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein each and every event is always validated by the service previously stored in the database.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein sending of events occurs when the number of bytes in which event information is packaged is near, but not greater than 140 bytes or the timeout.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the timeout is set to 10 minutes.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the collecting information is used to obtain the phone country code (MCC) of the mobile network code (MNC) and the network identifier (Cell ID), in which the user was registered at the time of collection of the event, providing the user'"'"'s location and the region at the time of collection.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the collecting information provides the following information:

the user answered “

YES”

in an activation message;

the user answered “

NEVER”

in the activation message;

the user activated an invitation message for activation;

the user activated a menu;

a TV is turned off;

the TV is turned on;

a channel is changed or a search of channels is initiated;

the TV is tuned;

the TV is not tuned;

the TV signal is lost;

the TV signal is recovered;

results of searching channels is displayed;

the electronic program guide (EPG) is accessed;

the electronic program guide (EPG) is exited;

remote configuration is recognized;

an incoming call is initiated, and

an incoming call is terminated.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the collected event data is encapsulated within SMS messages sent in accordance with protocol DTVAM-DS, and the SMS messages are sent on specific ports, determined by the server, with the restriction that those ports are not already specified by standard SMS protocol.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein the SMS message is sent as Class 2 SMS, is not concatenated, and does not require confirmation of arrival at the server.

33. The method of claim 25, wherein the SMS message uses the bytes of data available for sending the SMS message encoded in 8 bits and is sent in binary form.

34. The method of claim 25, wherein the SMS, message is not sent in text form.

35. The method of claim 25, wherein once an event ends, another is attached to the end to maximize data space in the SMS message.

36. The method of claim 25, wherein if an event does not fit the end of the SMS message so that it has to be broken, the whole event then moves to a next message, and a current message is sent with a surplus in the data field.

37. The method of claim 25, wherein in the event of network failure, the events are stored on disk, so that the portable device is registered on a network again, all events are sent to the server.

38. The method of claim 25, wherein the crossing of the database is facilitated, processing requests for graphics and still referring to the Server that need to provide the data in an organized manner for final reports.

39. A portable device with a digital television receiver, the portable device comprising:

a manager that manages and processes the logic of receiving, transmitting and validating events generated by a service and received within the portable device, analyzing the arrival of data, requesting data on all components to enable the assembly of the message to be sent, checking if an event is valid and initializing or ending all other components within the service for capturing events;

a database which includes an event queue to be sent to a server;

an interface to configure service parameters, in which all the preference parameters for both a user and the service parameters are configured;

a SIM card interface to obtain user information on a SIM card (ICCID) and inserting the same in the event to be sent to the server;

an interface of the portable device, through which it is obtained the location information of the user at the time for the event computed in the service;

an interface TV circuit of the portable device to collect information about the intensity of TV signal, the physical and logical channels at the time of collection of event information, as well as access to electronic program guide (EPG) or search for channels;

an SMS interface of the portable device in a port defined by the server, to send the events encapsulated in an SMS message to the server and receiving events for the configuration service for capturing parameters and registering events;

a queue to store the events received in a queue ordered by event date;

a formatter to format events to be saved in the queue to be sent by SMS channel, the events being encapsulated in accordance with the protocol DTVAM-DS;

an interface for application of SMS and MMS embedded in the portable device to receive and process commands from the server on a particular port, these commands being passed to the manager that processes and executes the commands remotely;

an interface for TV application, in which events are generated and forwarded to the manager that processes and validates whether an event is suitable for registration or for disposal;

a manager in the server to receive information records and events captured by the portable device and performs the management of the activity of remote configuration of service for capturing parameters and recording events in the portable device;

a radio channel interface through which the server exchanges SMS messages with the portable device;

an SMS interface in the server that validates the integrity of data and forwards the same to the manager;

a relational database capable of managing all event data captured by the manager and saved in the same, and

a Web Server to process the data of the relational database, such data and records of events being captured processed and consolidated by the manager to obtain desired audience data,

wherein, as events are sent to the server and the server confirms that the data arrived intact, these data are excluded from the relational database.

40. The portable device of claim 39, wherein each and every event is always validated by the service previously stored in the relational database.

41. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the sending of events occurs when the number of bytes in which event information is packaged is near, but is not greater than 140 bytes or a timeout limit.

42. The portable device of claim 41, wherein the timeout limit is set to 10 minutes.

43. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the interface of the portable device through which it is obtained the location information of the user is used to obtain the phone country code (MCC) of the mobile network code (MNC) and the network identifier (Cell ID), in which the user was registered at the time of collection of an event, providing the user'"'"'s location and the region at the time of collection.

44. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the TV circuit interface provides the following information:

the user answered “

YES”

in an activation message;

the user answered “

NEVER”

in the activation message;

the user activated the device through an invitation message for activation;

the user activated via a menu system;

a TV is turned off;

the TV is turned on;

a channel is changed or a search of channels is initiated;

the TV is tuned;

the TV is not tuned;

the TV signal is lost;

the TV signal is recovered;

results of searching channels are displayed;

the electronic program guide (EPG) is accessed;

the electronic program guide (EPG) is exited;

remote configuration is recognized;

an incoming call is initiated, and

an incoming call is terminated.

45. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the SMS interface receives the SMS message, checks the class and port, if it is class 0 and the port is predefined in the system, then the information that is passed to the manager so that the parameters for capturing audience data are configured.

46. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the configuration parameters of data capture audience includes:

changing a value to show an activation message;

changing state of activation of the service for capturing audience data;

changing timeout to detect events in a specific category;

changing SMS address of the server; and

changing the value of accumulation period of system events.

47. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the queue sends to the relational database the current queue of events to be stored in file serving for redundancy in case of failures.

48. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the interface of application of SMS and MMS is responsible for processing the invitation SMS messages coming from the server, showing a special interface to the user when reading the invitation.

49. The portable device of claim 39, wherein special menus are added to a reading panel so that the user can accept direct from the manager to apply the service of capturing audience data without entering the TV application.

50. The portable device of claim 39, wherein the interface for TV application can also periodically show pop-ups inviting users to participate in the service for capturing audience data.

51. The portable device of claim 39, wherein a specific menu is provided so that the user can interact when he wants, and that enables or disables the service for data capture.

52. The portable device of claim 39, wherein such data collected through the TV application are encapsulated within SMS messages sent, and these SMS messages sent to specific ports, determined by the server, with the restriction that those ports are not already specified by standard SMS protocol.

53. A server comprising:

a manager that receives the information of records and events captured by a portable device and performs the management of the activity of remote configuration of service of capturing parameters and register of events in the portable device;

an interface radio channel through which the server exchanges SMS messages with the portable device;

an SMS interface embedded into the server that validates the integrity of data and forwards the same to the manager;

a database capable of managing all event data captured by the manager and saved in the same, and

a Web Server to process the data of the database, and such information and records of events captured processed and consolidated by the manager to obtain desired audience data,

wherein, as events are sent to the server and the server confirms that the data arrived intact, these validated data are excluded from the database, and

the manager is able to cross the database of events, process requests for graphics and still refer to the Web Server to provide data in an organized way in the final reports.

54. The server of claim 53, wherein in the case of sending an SMS class 0 message to the portable device, the SMS interface embedded in the server validates the information generated by the manager and packages it in accordance with the protocol DTVAM-DS.