Receiving apparatus and method, information distribution method, filtering and storing program, and recording medium

• US 9,031,878 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2009
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kitazato, Naohisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustin, Evens J
• Application Number:
  US12/648,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20100100557A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,961 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/51, 705/57, 455/456.3, 725/91, 725/33, 348/723
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/76 Wired systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• 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 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• 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 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• 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 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• 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: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

It is possible for the content distribution side to control the conditions of target viewers for distributions without depending on the functions specific to a receiver. Content which is broadcast, a content profile, and a program are received. In an initial step of the program, prestored viewer profile information is read. All the content profiles and the contents are downloaded temporarily. Next, the profile information is read, and then a process of matching the profile information with the viewer profile information is performed. When it is determined that they do not match, a matching process for the next content profile is performed. If, on the other hand, they match, at the next step, the content is stored. The viewer reproduces the stored content at an appropriate time.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of receiving content, comprising:

inputting profile information using a receiver device the receiver device including a storage device;

receiving by the receiver device, and stored in the storage device, content profiles available to the receiver, a filtering and storing program and a Universal Resource Locator (URL) for the content, wherein the content is not received;

activating the filtering and storing program and executing the filtering and storing program on a computer of the receiving device;

reading the profile information stored in the storage device of the receiving device;

temporarily downloading all content profiles into a cache area;

matching the read profile information with the content profile by the computer to determine a matched URL;

adjusting the content profile by the computer so that an appropriate number of target users from the matched read profile information is achieved, the appropriate number being based on an approximate total number of target users matching the adjusted content profile such that the strictness of the profile is used to limit the total number of target users based on cost;

retrieving by the receiver device only the associated content based on the URL of the matched read profile information; and

storing only the content that matched in the storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtering and storing program is a script file, which is a Broadcast Markup Language (BML) document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the filter and storing program is broadcasted by a broadcaster.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprises reading next content profile when a match does not occur.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein storing is storing in a directory in a storage device.

6. An apparatus for receiving content, comprising:

a receiver device to receive content profiles available to the receiver device, a filtering and storing program, and a Universal Resource Locator (URL) for the content, the receiver device also to store a profile information, wherein the content is not received;

a computing device to activate the filtering and storing program and read the profile information stored in the receiver device, wherein all content profiles are temporarily downloaded into a cache area of the receiver device;

wherein the read profile information are matched with the content profile to determine a matched URL, and

wherein the computing device adjusts the content profiles so that an appropriate number of target users from the matched read profile information is achieved, the appropriate number being based on an approximate total number of target users matching the adjusted content profile such that the strictness of the profile is used to limit the total number of target users based on cost to determine a desired matched URL and only the content that matched is retrieved based on the URL of the matched read profile information and stored in a storage device.