Searching electronic program guide data

• US 9,179,195 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2004
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zhigu Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Sloo, David Hendler, Danker, Daniel, Rao, Pradhan S, Nyako, George K
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Ricky
• Application Number:
  US11/012,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20060130098A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,975 Days
• Field of Search: 725 37- 61
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• 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

Abstract

Searching electronic program guide (EPG) data is described. The EPG data may be compartmentalized into channel metadata that describes characteristics of one or more channels and content metadata that describes characteristics of one or more content items. In a implementation, a method includes searching channel metadata and content metadata. A result of the searching is formed for output in conjunction with an electronic program guide (EPG).

Claims

1. A method implemented by one or more processors executing instructions stored in one or more memories, the method comprising:

displaying, at a client device, an electronic program guide (EPG) that comprises schedule and channel information for a plurality of content items, said EPG including a search window that is concurrently displayed with the schedule and channel information, the search window for receiving entry of a plurality of alphabetic characters from a user to update the concurrently displayed schedule and channel information in response to entry of each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters;

receiving alphabetic search input from the user describing a channel of interest by entry of the plurality of alphabetic characters into the search window;

communicating a search request including the alphabetic search input over a network to a head end to direct the head end to search channel metadata based upon the alphabetic search input to determine a relevant channel by searching channel metadata that describes channel characteristics of channels that are accessible to the user via the EPG, and also direct the head end to search content metadata that describes content characteristics of particular content items, wherein the channel metadata describing the channel characteristics including channel call signs, channel owners, and channel titles is stored at the head end separately from the content metadata describing the content characteristics, wherein as a result of directing the head end to search channel metadata, searching by the head end further comprises determining other channels which are also owned by an owner of the relevant channel that satisfies the search input;

receiving a result of the searching from the head end;

outputting the results of the searching in conjunction with the EPG, the results comprising a redisplay of the EPG to present a list displayed in the EPG including a representation of the relevant channel that satisfies the search input and representations of one or more channel identifiers determined to be relevant to the alphabetic search input, the one or more channel identifiers including the other channels which are also owned by the owner of the relevant channel that satisfies the search input, along with one or more names of one or more content items that are determined to be relevant to the alphabetic search input;

receiving a highlight input from the user describing a selected channel representation displayed in the EPG without highlighting an associated content item;

receiving a new alphabetic search input into the search window while the selected channel representation is highlighted;

interpreting from the highlight input that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than the associated content item; and

communicating the search request over the network to the head end for searching only the channel metadata and not the content metadata based on the received search input for one or more channels that satisfy the search input.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein:

the one or more channel identifiers are listed as separate search result items on separate lines in the list from the one or more names of the one or more content items listed as separate search results on separate lines in the list from the channel identifiers,

the one or more content items listed in the list are not available for viewing on channels corresponding to the one or more channel identifiers listed in the list; and

the one or more channel identifiers and the one or more names of the one or more content items are presented in the list in a descending order based on how closely the one or more channel identifiers and the one or more names of the one or more content items resemble the alphabetic search input.

3. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the interpreting, automatically scrolling to a channel in the EPG that matches the new alphabetic search input.

4. A method as described in claim 1, wherein:

the alphabetic search input is a call sign of a channel entered in the search window, and

the outputting the result causes a channel lineup of the EPG to automatically scroll for highlighting the representation of the relevant channel and having the entered call sign.

5. A method as described in claim 1, wherein:

the alphabetic search input corresponds to at least a portion of a call sign of the channel, and

the outputting result includes a channel call sign and channel number displayed as a search result in the list displayed in the EPG independent of any content item displayed as a search result in the list displayed in the EPG.

6. A method as described in claim 1, wherein one or more of the other commonly owned channels output as the result do not have names or call signs that correspond to the received alphabetic search input.

7. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the channel characteristics further comprise channel genres.

8. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the content metadata describes the content characteristics of a plurality of content items, the content characteristics selected from the group consisting of:

content title;

detailed content description;

genre;

plot;

rating;

closed captioning support; and

detailed channel description.

9. One or more computer readable memory devices comprising computer executable instructions, implemented at least in part by a computer, that direct the computer to perform the method as described in claim 1.

10. A method implemented by one or more processors executing instructions stored in one or more memories, the method comprising:

providing, by a head end including one or more of the processors, electronic program guide (EPG) information to a client device for displaying of an EPG by the client device, wherein the EPG comprises schedule and channel information for a plurality of content items, and the EPG further displays a search window concurrently with the schedule and channel information, the search window for receiving entry of a plurality of alphabetic characters from a user to update the concurrently displayed schedule and channel information in response to entry of each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters;

receiving, from the client device, a search request including an alphabetic search input comprising the plurality of alphabetic characters, entered via the search window displayed with the EPG for locating a channel of interest to a user;

searching, by the head end, EPG data for at least one channel that corresponds to the alphabetic search input, the EPG data including channel metadata that describes channel characteristics of channels accessible to the user via the EPG, the channel characteristics including channel call signs, channel genres, and channel titles, the head end also searching content metadata in the EPG data, the content metadata describing content characteristics of content items accessible to the user via the EPG, wherein the channel metadata describing the channel characteristics including the channel call signs, the channel genres, and the channel titles is stored at the head end separately from the content metadata describing the content characteristics, wherein the searching further comprises determining other channels which are also owned by an owner of the at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search input;

ordering results based in part on the similarity between the content metadata and the channel metadata and the alphabetic search input, and in part based on schedule data, the results including one or more channel identifiers and names of one or more content items that are determined to correspond to the alphabetic search input entered into the search window;

outputting, in conjunction with the EPG, a representation of the at least one channel that satisfies the search request, and representations of the other channels which are also owned by the owner of the at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search input, wherein one or more of the other channels do not have names or call signs that correspond to the received alphabetic search input;

receiving, from the client device, a highlight input describing a selected channel representation displayed in the EPG without highlighting an associated content item representation;

receiving, from the client device, while the selected channel representation is highlighted, alphabetic text as a new search input;

interpreting from the highlight input that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than an associated content item;

in response to the interpreting, searching the channel metadata and not the content metadata based on the new search input for one or more channels that satisfy the new search input; and

displaying the one or more channels that satisfy the new search input.

11. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the channel characteristics further comprise channel owners that are searched as the channel metadata.

12. A method as described in claim 10, wherein:

the alphabetic search input corresponds to at least a portion of a call sign of a particular channel, and

the results include a corresponding channel call sign and channel number displayed as a search result in the EPG independent of any content item displayed as a search result.

13. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the alphabetic search input corresponds to at least a portion of a descriptive name of a particular channel, and results include the descriptive name of the particular channel.

14. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the outputting occurs upon entry of a first alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters into the search window, the method further comprising:

outputting a narrowed result of the searching upon entry of a second alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters into the search window that is concurrently displayed along with the schedule and channel information in the EPG.

15. A method as described in claim 14, wherein:

the result of the searching that is output upon entry of the first alphabetic character into the search window includes at least one search result with a first alphabetic character that is different from the first alphabetic character received from the user; and

the narrowed result of the searching that is output upon entry of the second alphabetic character into the search window includes at least one search result with a second alphabetic character that is different from the second alphabetic character received from the user.

16. A method as described in claim 10, wherein:

the providing the EPG includes providing an EPG configured to;

display a plurality of channel representations and a plurality of corresponding content item representations, wherein individual ones of the plurality of channel representations include a call sign or title of a represented channel; and

provide functionality for selecting a channel representation of the plurality of channel representations by highlighting only the channel representation of the plurality of channel representations displayed in the EPG without highlighting an associated content item representation; and

the EPG further configured to automatically scroll to a channel in the EPG that matches the alphabetic search input provided by the user while the channel representation of the plurality of channel representations is selected and highlighted as a result of the interpreting from the selection and highlighting of only the channel representation that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than a content item.

17. One or more computer readable memory devices comprising computer executable instructions, implemented at least in part by a computer, that direct the computer to perform the method as described in claim 10.

18. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the representations of the other channels are displayed with the representation of the at least one channel that satisfies the search request to promote brands of channels that are of interest to the user.

19. A method implemented by one or more processors executing instructions stored in one or more memories, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more of the processors, an alphabetic search request that includes a plurality of alphabetic characters from a user via an electronic program guide (EPG) by entry of the plurality of alphabetic characters into a search window that is concurrently displayed in the EPG along with schedule and channel information for a plurality of content items, the search window for receiving entry of the plurality of alphabetic characters from the user to update the concurrently displayed schedule and channel information in response to entry of each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters;

searching electronic program guide data including channel metadata and content metadata as a result of the receiving the alphabetic search request from the user to locate at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search request, the channel metadata and the content metadata stored separately on a head end in communication with the client device that receives the alphabetic search request from the user;

determining other channels which are also owned by an owner of the at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search request;

outputting, in conjunction with the EPG as a result of the alphabetic search request, a representation of the at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search request and representations of the other channels which are also owned by the owner of the at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search request, wherein one or more of the other channels do not have names or call signs that correspond to the alphabetic search request;

receiving, by the one or more of the processors, a highlight input describing a selected channel representation displayed in the EPG without highlighting an associated content item representation;

receiving, by the one or more of the processors, while the selected channel representation is highlighted, alphabetic text as a new search input;

interpreting from the highlight input that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than an associated content item;

in response to the interpreting, searching the channel metadata and not the content metadata based on the new search input for one or more channels that satisfy the new search input; and

displaying the one or more channels that satisfy the new search input.

20. A method as described in claim 19, wherein the representations of the other channels are displayed with the representation of the at least one channel that satisfies the alphabetic search request to promote brands of channels that are of interest to the user.

21. A method as described in claim 19, wherein the receiving, the searching, and the outputting are performed at a client.

22. One or more computer readable memory devices comprising computer executable instructions, implemented at least in part by a computer, that direct the computer to perform the method as described in claim 19.

23. A method as described in claim 19, wherein:

the alphabetic search request is a call sign of a channel entered in the search window, and

the outputting causes a channel lineup of the EPG to automatically scroll for highlighting the representation of the channel determined to be relevant and having the entered call sign.

24. A method implemented by one or more processors executing instructions stored in one or more memories, the method comprising:

displaying an electronic program guide (EPG) output having a plurality of channel representations, a plurality of corresponding content representations and a concurrently displayed search window, wherein individual ones of the channel representations of the plurality of channel representations includes a call sign or title of a represented channel, the search window for receiving entry of a plurality of alphabetic characters from a user to update the concurrently displayed plurality of channel representations and corresponding content representations in response to entry of each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters;

selecting a selected channel representation of the plurality of channel representations by highlighting only the selected channel representation displayed in the EPG without highlighting an associated content item representation;

entering alphabetic text by a user as a search input into the search window while only the selected channel representation is selected and highlighted;

interpreting from the selection and highlighting of only the selected channel representation that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than a content item;

based at least in part on the interpreting, searching channel metadata stored in a computer at a head end separately from content metadata stored in the computer at the head end, the channel metadata describing channel characteristics for the selected channel representation including channel call signs, channel genres, and channel titles, the channel metadata including a genre and a detailed description of the selected channel representation; and

updating the EPG for display of at least one channel representation having channel metadata which corresponds to the received search input entered by the user via the search window by automatically scrolling to a channel representation in the EPG that matches the search input received as a result of the interpreting from the selection and highlighting of only the selected channel representation that the user wishes to search for the particular channel rather than the content item.

25. A method as described in claim 24, wherein the updating is performed without configuring the electronic program guide for display of a new page without the pluralities of representations.

26. A method as described in claim 24, wherein:

the entered alphabetic text is a channel call sign, and the updating is performed by scrolling a display of the electronic program guide such that the at least one channel representation displayed corresponds to the channel call sign entered via the search window.

27. One or more computer readable memory devices comprising computer executable instructions, implemented at least in part by a computer, that direct the computer to perform the method as described in claim 24.

28. One or more computer readable memory devices comprising computer executable instructions, implemented at least in part by a computer, that direct the computer to output an electronic program guide (EPG) having a concurrent display of:

a plurality of representations of content items;

a plurality of channel representations of broadcast channels that provide content items for viewing;

a search window for locating at least one said broadcast channel that corresponds to a search request received from a user, the search window for receiving entry of a plurality of alphabetic characters from the user to update the concurrently displayed plurality of representations of content items and plurality of channel representations in response to entry of each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters;

the EPG being configured to;

enable the user to select a selected channel representation of the broadcast channel by highlighting only the selected channel representation displayed in the EPG without highlighting an associated content item, and enter alphabetic text as a search input into the search window while only the selected channel representation of the broadcast channel is selected and highlighted;

interpret from the selection and highlighting of only the selected channel representation that the search input is entered for searching for a particular broadcast channel rather than a content item;

search channel metadata stored at a head end separately from content metadata stored at the head end, the channel metadata describing channel characteristics including at least a channel owner, the search being based on the search input, and the searching being for one or more broadcast channels that satisfy the search input based on the interpretation from the selection and highlighting of only the selected channel representation that the search input is for searching for the particular broadcast channel rather than content item; and

automatically scroll to a channel in the EPG that matches the received search input as a result of the interpretation from the selection and highlighting of only the selected channel representation that the search input is for searching for the particular broadcast channel rather than the content item.

29. One or more computer readable memory devices as described in claim 28, wherein the electronic program guide is configured for output in a 10′

experience.

30. One or more computer readable memory devices as described in claim 28, wherein the electronic program guide is configured for output by a wireless phone.

31. One or more computer readable memory devices as described in claim 28, wherein the plurality of representations of content items are provided by the content metadata stored in the head end in communication with a client device that displays the EPG, and the plurality of representations of the broadcast channels are provided by the channel metadata stored in the head end in communication with the client device, wherein the content metadata is stored separately at the head end from the channel metadata.

32. One or more computer readable memory devices comprising computer executable instructions, implemented at least in part by a computer, that direct the computer to carry out steps comprising:

receiving, from a client device, an alphabetic input that includes a plurality of alphabetic characters entered into a search window that is concurrently displayed with schedule information in an electronic program guide (EPG), the alphabetic search input describing one or more identifying characteristics of a channel, the client device displaying the EPG in accordance with EPG data received from the computer, the EPG data including channel metadata and content metadata, wherein the channel metadata, which describes channel characteristics including channel call signs, channel genres, and channel titles, is stored by the computer separately at a head end from the content metadata stored by the computer at the head end in communication with the client device, the content metadata describing content characteristics including at least content titles, the search window to update the concurrently displayed schedule information in response to entry of each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters;

searching the channel metadata for at least one channel that meets the identifying characteristics, wherein the channel metadata describes a plurality of characteristics of particular channels, and searching the content metadata for at least one content item that corresponds to the alphabetic search input, wherein the content metadata describes a plurality of characteristics of particular content items; and

outputting a result of the searching, via the EPG, that includes a plurality of channel titles or call signs and a plurality of names of content items determined to correspond to the alphabetic search input entered into the search window;

providing the result to the client device for displaying the plurality of channel titles or call signs and the plurality of names of the content items in a list provided in the EPG, wherein the channel titles or call signs and names of the content items are displayed in the list in a descending order based on how closely the channel titles or call signs and the names of the content items resemble the alphabetic search input;

navigating to a selected one of the plurality of channel titles or call signs and the plurality of names of the content items in a list;

displaying the EPG with a plurality of channel representations, a plurality of corresponding content item representations and the search window simultaneously, wherein each of the channel representations includes a call sign, title or number of a represented channel;

selecting one of the channel representations by highlighting only the selected channel representation displayed in the EPG without highlighting a displayed associated content item representation;

entering alphabetic text by the user as new alphabetic search input into the search window while the channel representation is selected and highlighted and the displayed associated content item representations is not selected;

interpreting from the selection and highlighting of only the channel representation and not the displayed associated content item representation that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than a content item;

in response to interpreting that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than a content item, searching only the channel metadata and not the content metadata based on the received new search input for one or more channels that satisfy the new search input ; and

automatically scrolling to a channel in the EPG that matches the received new search input as a result of the interpreting from the selection and highlighting of only the channel representation that that user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than a content item.

33. One or more computer readable memory devices as described in claim 32, wherein the outputting the result of the searching occurs upon entry of a first alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters into the search window, and further comprising outputting a narrowed result of the searching upon entry of a second alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters into the search window that is concurrently displayed along with the schedule information in the EPG.

34. One or more computer readable memory devices as described in claim 32, wherein:

the result of the search references the at least one channel separately from any content item; and

the result is output in conjunction with the EPG.

35. A computer comprising:

a processor; and

memory configured to maintain;

electronic program guide data having;

channel metadata that describes characteristics of a plurality of broadcast channels that provide content items for viewing;

content metadata that describes characteristics of a plurality of content items, the content metadata stored separately from the channel metadata; and

schedule data that describes when one or more said content items are available via a corresponding said broadcast channel; and

one or more modules that are executable on the processor to perform operations that include;

receiving a highlight input describing a selected channel representation displayed in the electronic program guide without highlighting an associated content item representation;

receiving, while the selected channel representation is highlighted, a plurality of alphabetic characters as an alphabetic search request describing a broadcast channel of interest to a user, wherein the plurality of alphabetic characters are input by a mobile phone text entry system;

interpreting from the highlight input that the user wishes to search for a particular channel rather than an associated content item;

searching the channel metadata as a result of receiving each alphabetic character of the plurality of alphabetic characters of the alphabetic search request to locate at least one said broadcast channel having a characteristic that conforms to the alphabetic search request entered by the user;

determining other channels which are also owned by an owner of the at least one broadcast channel having the characteristic that conforms to the alphabetic search request entered by the user;

forming a result of the alphabetic search request that references the at least one broadcast channel; and

outputting, in conjunction with the EPG as a result of the alphabetic search request, representations of the other channels which are also owned by the owner of the at least one broadcast channel having the characteristic that conforms to the alphabetic search request, wherein one or more of the other channels output as the result do not have names or call signs that correspond to the received alphabetic characters.

36. A computer as described in claim 35, further comprising a network transmitter configured to transmit the electronic program guide data to a client for output at the client.

37. A computer as described in claim 35, further comprising a network receiver configured to receive the electronic program guide data from over a network.

38. A computer as described in claim 35, wherein the characteristics described by the content metadata are selected from the group consisting of:

content title;

detailed content description;

genre;

plot;

rating;

closed captioning support; and

detailed channel description.

39. A computer as described in claim 35, wherein the characteristics described by the channel metadata that are searched in response to the alphabetic search request comprise:

channel call signs;

channel titles; and

channel genres.

40. A computer as described in claim 35, wherein at least one said content item is a television program.

41. A computer as described in claim 35, wherein the one or more modules are further executable to output the result of the search request to a client device for display at the client device in response to receiving the search request from the client device.

42. A computer as described in claim 35, wherein the searching is performed in response to a request formed through interaction by a user with the EPG using a remote control.

43. A computer as described in claim 35, wherein:

the channel metadata is stored on the head end separately from the content metadata stored on the head end, the channel metadata describing the characteristics of the plurality of broadcast channels including channel call signs, channel genres, and channel titles, the content metadata describing the characteristics of the plurality of content items including at least content titles.