System for remotely controlling client recording and storage behavior

• US 9,083,941 B2
• Filed: 11/27/2012
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: TiVo Solutions Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TiVo Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Westbrook, Paul, Look, Howard, Young, James, Lacy, Stephen, Davison, Timothy, Barton, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lonsberry, Hunter B
• Application Number:
  US13/686,806
• Publication Number:
  US 20130084058A1
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 725/39, 725/58, 725/97, 725/112, 386/86
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2181 comprising remotely distributed storage units, e.g. when movies are replicated over a plurality of video servers distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2407 Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14
• 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 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• 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 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• 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 21/4622 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 21/466 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies services using the results of monitoring in broadcast systems H04H60/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• 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 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• 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 5/91 : Television signal processing therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/025 : Systems for the transmission of digital non-picture data, e.g. of text during the active part of a television frame transmission of digital non-picture data during the vertical blanking interval only H04N7/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/162 : Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing

Abstract

A system for remotely controlling client recording and storage behavior schedules the recording, storing, and deleting of multimedia content on a client system storage device. The viewer may request that certain content be captured. Capture requests also allow the service to determine content to be recorded by the client system in the same manner that a viewer requests that certain content are recorded but are more powerful than what a viewer can request. Recording requests for a capture request can preempt viewer requests or be entered at the same or lower priority as a viewer request. Capture requests can adjust all aspects of a recording request and affect the capture request itself. Client system operational functionality are also manipulated by the service using capture requests.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a capture request from a server on a client system, the capture request instructing the client system to record a first multimedia content from a first source of one or more sources across a network;

receiving a recording request from a local user on the client system, the recording request instructing the client system to record a second multimedia content from a second source of the one or more sources across the network;

autonomously scheduling, by the client system, capture request recordings and recording request recordings for recording multimedia content from the one or more sources across the network on at least one storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the capture request and the recording request each instruct the client system of a different URL to record requested multimedia content from.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia content is video or data content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the capture request and the recording request each specify a different recording quality setting for recording.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the server targets specific client systems to receive a particular capture request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the capture request specifies a content priority attribute indicating a priority for storing the second multimedia content relative to other media content.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the client system storing capture request recordings in a different storage space than recording request recordings.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a subsystem, implemented at least partially in hardware, on a client system that receives a capture request from a server, the capture request instructing the client system to record a first multimedia content from a first source of one or more sources across a network;

a subsystem, implemented at least partially in hardware, on the client system that receives a recording request from a local user on the client system, the recording request instructing the client system to record a second multimedia content from a second source of the one or more sources across the network;

a subsystem, implemented at least partially in hardware, on the client system that autonomously schedules capture request recordings and recording request recordings for recording multimedia content from one or more sources across the network on at least one storage device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the capture request and the recording request each instruct the client system of a different URL to record requested multimedia content from.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the multimedia content is video or data content.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the capture request and the recording request each specify a different recording quality setting for recording.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the server is configured to targets specific client systems to receive a particular capture request.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the capture request specifies a content priority attribute indicating a priority for storing the second multimedia content relative to other media content.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the client system stores capture request recordings in a different storage space than recording request recordings.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

receiving a capture request from a server on a client system, the capture request instructing the client system to record a first multimedia content from a first source of one or more sources across a network;

receiving a recording request from a local user on the client system, the recording request instructing the client system to record a second multimedia content from a second source of the one or more sources across the network;

autonomously scheduling, by the client system, capture request recordings and recording request recordings for recording multimedia content from one or more sources across the network on at least one storage device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the capture request and the recording request each instruct the client system of a different URL to record requested multimedia content from.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the multimedia content is video or data content.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the capture request and the recording request each specify a different recording quality setting for recording.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the server targets specific client systems to receive a particular capture request.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the capture request specifies a content priority attribute indicating a priority for storing the second multimedia content relative to other media content.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising the client system storing capture request recordings in a different storage space than recording request recordings.