Program guide navigation tools for media content access systems and methods

• US 8,935,728 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2013
• Issued: 01/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Stallings, Heath, Roberts, Brian, Relyea, Don
• Primary Examiner(s): MENGESHA, MULUGETA A
• Application Number:
  US13/950,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20130312035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• Field of Search: 725 39- 40, 725/43, 725/45, 725/52
• US Class Current: 725/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4221 Dedicated function buttons, e.g. for the control of an EPG, subtitles, aspect ratio, picture-in-picture or teletext
• 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 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• 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 21/47 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 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time

Abstract

An exemplary system includes a media content processing subsystem configured to provide a program guide graphical user interface (“GUI”) to a display for presentation to a user, the program guide GUI including a portion of a program guide. The media content processing subsystem is further configured to provide at least one navigation tool to the display for presentation in the program guide GUI, the navigation tool including a plurality of selectable options for navigating the program guide. The media content processing subsystem is further configured to detect a user selection of one of the selectable options and initiate a navigation to a location in the program guide based on the selected option. In certain embodiments, the navigation tool includes at least one of a time-based navigation tool and a channel navigation tool.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a media content processing subsystem configured to provide a program guide graphical user interface to a display for presentation to a user, the program guide graphical user interface displaying a portion of a program guide;

wherein said media content processing subsystem is further configured to provide at least one navigation tool overlaid on a portion of the program guide graphical user interface, the at least one navigation tool including a plurality of selectable options configured to change a focus of a selector to a new location in the program guide, said media content processing subsystem being configured to detect an event indicating a selected option from the plurality of selectable options and initiating a navigation to the new location in the underlying program guide based on the selected option;

wherein the program guide includes a plurality of content channels and a plurality of content channel groupings; and

wherein the plurality of selectable options includes a plurality of content channel grouping options where each of the content channel grouping options are associated with a pre-selected content channel included in the grouping of content channels, and where the navigation to the new location in the underlying program guide for when the plurality of content channel grouping option is selected includes said media content processing subsystem changing the focus of the selector in response to receiving a first selected option and a second selected option, where the first selected option is associated with a selected category and the second selected option is associated with a selected channel in the selected category.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the program guide further includes a plurality of time slots forming a matrix of cells with the plurality of content channels, and a plurality of media content instances associated with at least a subset of the cells, where changing the focus of the selector includes changing the focus of the selector from one of the cells to another cell in the program guide in response to receiving the second selected option.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one navigation tool includes at least one channel navigation tool.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of selectable options includes a plurality of individual content channel options.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the individual content channel options is associated with an individual content channel included in the program guide.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one navigation tool includes a time-based navigation tool, the selectable options being associated with time slots included in the program guide.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one navigation tool includes a calendar navigation tool, and the selection options include a plurality of selectable calendar day options.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the selectable calendar day options are associated with time slots in the program guide.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the media content processing subsystem is communicatively coupled to a media content provider, said media content processing subsystem being configured to receive data representative of the program guide from the media content provider.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user input device configured to provide a user input signal to the media content processing subsystem, said user input device including a plurality of arrow buttons enabling the user to navigate the selectable options.

11. A method comprising:

providing a program guide graphical user interface to a display for presentation to a user, the program guide graphical user interface including a portion of a program guide, the program guide including a plurality of content channels and a plurality of time slots forming a matrix of cells, and a plurality of media content instances associated with the cells;

detecting an occurrence of a predetermined event;

providing, in response to the predetermined event, an overlaid navigation tool on the program guide graphical user interface, the navigation tool including a plurality of selectable options configured to jump a selector to a new location in the program guide, the plurality of selectable options including a plurality of content channel grouping options and where each of the content channel grouping options is associated with a pre-selected content channel included in a grouping of content channels included in the program guide;

detecting a user selection of one of the selectable options; and

initiating a jump to the new location in the underlying program guide based on a first selected option and a second selected option, where when a content channel grouping option is selected the first selected option is associated with a selected category and the second selected option is associated with a selected channel in the selected category.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising updating the program guide graphical user interface to include another portion of the program guide, a first portion including the new location, in response to receiving the second selected option.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the navigation tool includes a time-based navigation tool, the selectable options being associated with the time slots included in the program guide.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of selectable options includes a plurality of individual content channel options.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the navigation tool includes a calendar navigation tool, the selection options including a plurality of selectable calendar day options.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising enabling the user to navigate the selectable options utilizing one or more arrow buttons of a user input device.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving data representative of the program guide from a media content provider.

18. A system comprising:

a media content processing subsystem configured to provide a program guide to a user, the program guide including a plurality of content channels, where said media content processing subsystem is further configured to;

present a plurality of selectable options overlaid on top of the program guide including a plurality of content channel grouping options where each of the content channel grouping options is associated with a pre-selected content channel included in a grouping of content channels included in the program guide,

change a focus of a selector to a new location in the program guide,

detect a user selection of one of the selectable options, and

navigate to the new location in the underlying program guide based on the user selection and when the user selection is a content channel grouping then the user selection includes changing the focus of the selector from one group of content channels to another group of content channels in response to receiving a first selected option and a second selected option, where the first selected option is associated with a selected category and the second selected option is associated with a selected channel in the selected category.

19. The system of claim 18, where the plurality of selectable options includes at least one presentation option.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the media content processing subsystem is further configured to:

display the program guide graphical user interface on a first subset area of the display device in response to the selection of the at least one presentation option; and

display the media content instance on a second subset area of the display device concurrently with the program guide graphical user interface;

where the first and second subset areas of the display device occupy adjacent portions of the display device.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the media content processing subsystem is further configured to:

provide the program guide graphical user interface to the display device in a substantially full-screen format;

receive a selection of the at least one presentation option, the presentation option being a picture-in-picture option;

provide the graphical user interface to a first subset area of the display device; and

provide a media content instance to a second subset area of the display device.