Method and system for providing information from a program guide

• US 9,083,932 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2010
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Concert Technology Corporation
• Original Assignee: Eloy Technology, LLC (Concert Technology Corporation)
• Inventors: Svendsen, Hugh, Curtis, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheleheda, James R
• Application Number:
  US12/731,771
• Publication Number:
  US 20120117595A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,937 Days
• Field of Search: 725/10, 725/41, 725/46, 725/78
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• 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 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43622 Interfacing an external recording device
• 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 21/458 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 21/4583 Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programs in the same time slot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• 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 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• 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 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 : Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 : on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 : involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

A method for displaying data from a program guide. Based on program metadata from a program guide, a display is caused to be presented on a display device that identifies a current status of a first media controller and a second media controller. The current status includes data identifying a first program currently being provided by the first media controller and a second program currently being provided by a second media controller.

Claims

1. A method for displaying data from a program guide, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a first media controller, program metadata from a first program guide, wherein the program guide is generated by the first media controller and stored on the first media controller and contains program metadata identifying a first plurality of programs available via the first media controller pursuant to a first subscription with a first content provider and a second plurality of programs available via a second media controller pursuant to a second subscription with a second content provider, wherein the first media controller receives program metadata only from the first subscription with the first content provider and the second media controller receives program metadata only from the second subscription with the second content provider and at least some of the second plurality of programs comprise programs that differ from the first plurality of programs, the program metadata including data identifying a first program currently being provided by the first media controller and a second program currently being provided by the second media controller, the second program comprising one of the at least some of the second plurality of programs;

obtaining, by the second media controller, program metadata from a second program guide, wherein the second program guide is generated by the second media controller and stored on the second media controller and contains program metadata identifying the first plurality of programs available via the first media controller pursuant to the first subscription with the first content provider and the second plurality of programs available via the second media controller pursuant to the second subscription with the second content provider, wherein the second media controller receives program metadata only from the second subscription with the second content provider and the first media controller receives program metadata only from the first subscription with the first content provider and at least some of the first plurality of programs comprise programs that differ from the second plurality of programs, the program metadata including data identifying the first program currently being provided by the first media controller and the second program currently being provided by the second media controller, the first program comprising one of the at least some of the first plurality of programs; and

based on the program metadata, causing a display to be presented on a display device, the display identifying a current status of the first media controller and the second media controller, the current status comprising data identifying the first program currently being provided by the first media controller and the second program currently being provided by the second media controller.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a program stream of the second program from the second media controller; and

causing the display to present the first program on a first area of the display, while concurrently causing the display to present the program stream of the second program in a second area of the display, wherein the display further identifies the program stream of the second program as being associated with the second media controller.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining a program stream of a third program from a third media controller; and

causing the display to present the third program on a third area of the display, while concurrently causing the display to present the first program on the first area of the display, and the program stream of the second program in the second area of the display, wherein the display further identifies the program stream of the third program as being associated with the third media controller.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving a request from the second media controller to provide a second program stream of the first program currently being provided by the first media controller, and in response, sending the second program stream of the first program to the second media controller.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second program stream of the first program is encoded differently from the first program currently being provided by the first media controller.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining, from the program metadata, at least one first viewer currently in proximity to the first media controller, and at least one second viewer currently in proximity to the second media controller; and

causing the display to present first information identifying the at least one first viewer in association with the first program, and second information identifying the at least one second viewer in association with the second program.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, from the program metadata, at least one first viewer currently in proximity to the first media controller, and at least one second viewer currently in proximity to the second media controller; and

causing the display to present first information identifying the at least one first viewer in association with the first program, and second information identifying the at least one second viewer in association with the second program.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the program guide further comprises program metadata identifying, for a plurality of previously provided programs, viewer information identifying which of a plurality of viewers viewed the plurality of previously provided programs, and further comprising:

causing the display to present information identifying the plurality of viewers; and

for each of the plurality of viewers causing the display to present information identifying the respective previously provided program viewed by the each of the plurality of viewers, and an indication of a location where the each of the plurality of viewers viewed the respective previously provided program.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein for at least one of the plurality of viewers, the information identifies that the at least one of the plurality of viewers viewed a first of the plurality of previously provided programs in proximity to the first media controller, and the at least one of the plurality of viewers viewed a second of the plurality of previously provided programs in proximity to the second media controller.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising causing the display to identify a program recommendation for at least one of the plurality of viewers, wherein the program recommendation is based on program metadata identifying a plurality of programs previously viewed by the at least one of the plurality of viewers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the display identifies that the second program is currently being recorded by the second media controller.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the program guide further comprises program metadata identifying, for a plurality of previously provided programs, viewer information identifying which of a plurality of viewers viewed the plurality of previously provided programs;

and

wherein the method further comprises causing the display to present information identifying a plurality of channels, and, for each of the plurality of channels, causing the display to present information identifying at least one of the plurality of previously provided programs available at an identified time, wherein for the at least one of the plurality of previously provided programs the information identifies a plurality of viewers that were identified as being in proximity to a media controller that was presenting the at least one of the plurality of previously provided programs.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising causing the display to present information identifying that at least one first viewer of the plurality of viewers was in proximity to the first media controller, and at least one second viewer of the plurality of viewers was in proximity to the second media controller.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the display further identifies a first status background depiction for the first media controller that is different from a second status background depiction for the second media controller, and wherein the information identifying the respective previously provided program viewed by the each of the plurality of viewers includes an information background depiction corresponding to a status background depiction of the corresponding media controller on which the respective previously provided program was viewed.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the display to present a first image identifying a first type of device of the first media controller, and a second image identifying a second type of device of the second media controller.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first type of device is different from the second type of device.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the display to present first textual information identifying the first program and second textual information identifying the second program.

18. A system comprising:

a first media controller comprising;

a first network interface adapted to interface with a network; and

a first control system coupled to the first network interface, the first control system including a first processor and adapted to;

obtain, by the first media controller, program metadata from a first program guide, wherein the first program guide is generated and stored on the first media controller and contains program metadata identifying a first plurality of programs available via the first media controller pursuant to a first subscription with a first content provider and a second plurality of programs available via a second media controller pursuant to a second subscription with a second content provider, wherein the first media controller receives program metadata only from the first subscription with the first content provider and the second media controller receives program metadata only from the second subscription with the second content provider and at least some of the second plurality of programs are different from any of the first plurality of programs, the program metadata including data operative to identify a first program being provided by the first media controller and a second program being provided by the second media controller, the second program comprising one of the at least some of the second plurality of programs; and

based on the program metadata, cause a first display to be presented on a first display device, the first display identifying a current status of the first media controller and the second media controller, the current status comprising data identifying the first program being provided by the first media controller and the second program being provided by the second media controller; and

the second media controller comprising;

a second network interface adapted to interface with a network; and

a second control system coupled to the second network interface, the second control system including a second processor and adapted to;

obtain, by the second media controller, program metadata from a second program guide, wherein the second program guide is generated and stored on the second media controller and contains program metadata identifying the first plurality of programs available via the first media controller pursuant to the first subscription with the first content provider and the second plurality of programs available via the second media controller pursuant to the second subscription with the second content provider, wherein the first media controller receives program metadata only from the first subscription with the first content provider and the second media controller receives program metadata only from the second subscription with the second content provider and at least some of the second plurality of programs are different from any of the first plurality of programs, the program metadata including data operative to identify a first program being provided by the first media controller and a second program being provided by the second media controller, the second program comprising one of the at least some of the second plurality of programs; and

based on the program metadata, cause a second display to be presented on a second display device, the second display identifying a current status of the media controller and the second media controller, the current status comprising data identifying the first program being provided by the first media controller and the second program being provided by the second media controller.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first control system is further adapted to:

obtain a program stream of the second program from the second media controller; and

cause the first display to present the first program in real-time on a first area of the first display, while concurrently causing the first display to present the program stream of the second program in a second area of the first display, wherein the first display further identifies the program stream of the second program as being associated with the second media controller.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the first control system is further adapted to:

determine, from the program metadata, at least one first viewer currently in proximity to the first media controller, and at least one second viewer currently in proximity to the second media controller; and

cause the first display to present first information identifying the at least one first viewer in association with the first program, and second information identifying the at least one second viewer in association with the second program.

21. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for displaying data from a program guide, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a first media controller, program metadata from a program guide, wherein the program guide is generated and stored on the first media controller and contains program metadata identifying a first plurality of programs available via the first media controller pursuant to a first subscription with a first content provider and a second plurality of programs available via a second media controller pursuant to a second subscription with a second content provider, wherein the first media controller receives program metadata only from the first subscription with the first content provider and the second media controller receives program metadata only from the second subscription with the second content provider and at least some of the second plurality of programs are different from any of the first plurality of programs, the program metadata including data identifying a first program currently being provided by the first media controller and a second program currently being provided by the second media controller, the second program comprising one of the at least some of the second plurality of programs;

obtaining, by the second media controller, program metadata from a second program guide, wherein the second program guide is generated by the second media controller and stored on the second media controller and contains program metadata identifying the first plurality of programs available via the first media controller pursuant to the first subscription with the first content provider and the second plurality of programs available via the second media controller pursuant to the second subscription with the second content provider, wherein the second media controller receives program metadata only from the second subscription with the second content provider and the first media controller receives program metadata only from the first subscription with the first content provider and at least some of the first plurality of programs comprise programs that differ from the second plurality of programs, the program metadata including data identifying the first program currently being provided by the first media controller and the second program currently being provided by the second media controller, the first program comprising one of the at least some of the first plurality of programs; and

based on the program metadata, causing a first display to be presented on a display device, the first display identifying a current status of the first media controller and the second media controller, the current status comprising data identifying the first program currently being provided by the first media controller and the second program currently being provided by the second media controller.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, the method further comprising:

obtaining a program stream of the second program from the second media controller; and

causing the first display to present the first program in real-time on a first area of the first display, while concurrently causing the first display to present the program stream of the second program in a second area of the first display, wherein the first display further identifies the program stream of the second program as being associated with the second media controller.