Meta channel media system control and advertisement technology

• US 9,258,577 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2015
• Issued: 02/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PurpleComm Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PurpleComm Incorporated
• Inventors: Chang, Jack H., Sheu, William H., Tuan, Sherman
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Ricky
• Application Number:
  US14/665,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20150195598A1
• Time in Patent Office: 323 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 36
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• 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 21/4622 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 21/4755 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 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Media system control technology, in which an advertisement on a selected content channel being experienced by a user using a media system is detected, advertisement preferences of the user are accessed from electronic storage, and secondary content is selected based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user. The secondary content is substituted for the advertisement on the selected content channel, and the media system is controlled to output the secondary content instead of the advertisement.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a monitoring server;

a meta-channel server; and

a meta-channel base station,

wherein the monitoring server is configured to detect an advertisement on a channel being experienced by a user and send, to the meta-channel server, a first signal indicating the detected advertisement on the channel being experienced by the user,

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to receive, from the monitoring server, the first signal indicating the detected advertisement on the channel being experienced by the user, access advertisement preferences of the user, identify secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user, and send, to the meta-channel base station, a first control command based on the identified secondary content;

wherein the meta-channel base station is configured to receive, from the meta-channel server, the first control command and forward, to at least one component of a media system associated with the user, at least one second control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content;

wherein the monitoring server is configured to, after detecting the advertisement, monitor for completion of the detected advertisement, detect completion of the detected advertisement as a result of the monitoring, and, based on detection of the completion of the detected advertisement, send, to the meta-channel server, a second signal indicating advertisement completion;

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to receive, from the monitoring server, the second signal indicating advertisement completion, access, from a user profile, advertisement return preferences, determine that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system, and, based on the determination that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system, send, to the meta-channel base station, a third control command that indicates the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences, and

wherein the meta-channel base station is configured to receive, from the meta-channel server, the third control command and forward, to at least one component of the media system associated with the user, at least one fourth control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to implement the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring server is configured to detect the advertisement on the channel being experienced by the user by detecting the advertisement based on an increase in volume correlating to a start of the advertisement.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring server is configured to detect completion of the detected advertisement as a result of the monitoring by detecting the completion of the detected advertisement based on a decrease in volume as non-advertising content resumes.

4. The system of claim 1:

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to access advertisement preferences of the user by accessing advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers local advertisements; and

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to identify secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user by identifying a local advertisement for the user based on the advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers local advertisements.

5. The system of claim 1:

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to access advertisement preferences of the user by accessing advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers advertisements related to a specific geographic region; and

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to identify secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user by identifying an advertisement that is related to the specific geographic region preferred by the user based on the advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers advertisements related to the specific geographic region.

6. The system of claim 1:

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to access advertisement preferences of the user by accessing advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers non-advertising content; and

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to identify secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user by identifying, from a channel priority list, a highest-priority channel that is not currently presenting advertising content based on the advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers non-advertising content.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the meta-channel base station is configured to forward, to at least one component of the media system associated with the user, at least one second control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content by forwarding, to a remote control of the media system associated with the user, a second control command that causes the remote control of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the meta-channel base station is configured to forward, to at least one component of the media system associated with the user, at least one second control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content by forwarding, to a remote control of the media system associated with the user, a second control command that causes the remote control to change an input source of the media system to an Internet digital media adapter and forwarding, to the Internet digital media adapter, an additional control command that causes the Internet digital media adapter to begin streaming, over a network, the identified secondary content.

9. The system of claim 1:

wherein the meta-channel base station is configured to determine that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system by determining that the advertisement return preferences result in a change of input source for the media system; and

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to send, to the meta-channel base station, the third control command that indicates the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences by sending, to the meta-channel base station, a third control command that indicates the change of input source for the media system.

10. The system of claim 1:

wherein the meta-channel base station is configured to determine that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system by determining that the advertisement return preferences indicate that the user prefers to return to a prior content channel immediately upon completion of detected advertisements; and

wherein the meta-channel server is configured to send, to the meta-channel base station, the third control command that indicates the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences by sending, to the meta-channel base station, a third control command that tunes to the prior content channel.

11. A method comprising:

detecting, by a monitoring server, an advertisement on a channel being experienced by a user;

sending, by the monitoring server and to the meta-channel server, a first signal indicating the detected advertisement on the channel being experienced by the user;

receiving, by a meta-channel server and from the monitoring server, the first signal indicating the detected advertisement on the channel being experienced by the user;

accessing, by the meta-channel server, advertisement preferences of the user;

identifying, by the meta-channel server, secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user;

sending, by the meta-channel server and to the meta-channel base station, a first control command based on the identified secondary content;

receiving, by a meta-channel base station and from the meta-channel server, the first control command;

forwarding, by the meta-channel base station and to at least one component of a media system associated with the user, at least one second control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content;

after detecting the advertisement, monitoring, by the monitoring server, for completion of the detected advertisement;

detecting, by the monitoring server, completion of the detected advertisement as a result of the monitoring;

based on detection of the completion of the detected advertisement, sending, by the monitoring server and to the meta-channel server, a second signal indicating advertisement completion;

receiving, by the meta-channel server and from the monitoring server, the second signal indicating advertisement completion;

accessing, by the meta-channel server and from a user profile, advertisement return preferences;

determining, by the meta-channel server, that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system;

based on the determination that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system, sending, by the meta-channel server and to the meta-channel base station, a third control command that indicates the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences;

receiving, from the meta-channel server, the third control command; and

forward, by the meta-channel base station and to at least one component of the media system associated with the user, at least one fourth control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to implement the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting the advertisement on the channel being experienced by the user comprises detecting the advertisement based on an increase in volume correlating to a start of the advertisement.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting completion of the detected advertisement as a result of the monitoring comprises detecting the completion of the detected advertisement based on a decrease in volume as non-advertising content resumes.

14. The method of claim 11:

wherein accessing advertisement preferences of the user comprises accessing advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers local advertisements; and

wherein identifying secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user comprises identifying a local advertisement for the user based on the advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers local advertisements.

15. The method of claim 11:

wherein accessing advertisement preferences of the user comprises accessing advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers advertisements related to a specific geographic region; and

wherein identifying secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user comprises identifying an advertisement that is related to the specific geographic region preferred by the user based on the advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers advertisements related to the specific geographic region.

16. The method of claim 11:

wherein accessing advertisement preferences of the user comprises accessing advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers non-advertising content; and

wherein identifying secondary content for the detected advertisement based on the accessed advertisement preferences of the user comprises identifying, from a channel priority list, a highest-priority channel that is not currently presenting advertising content based on the advertisement preferences that indicate that the user prefers non-advertising content.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein forwarding, to at least one component of the media system associated with the user, at least one second control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content comprises forwarding, to a remote control of the media system associated with the user, a second control command that causes the remote control of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein forwarding, to at least one component of the media system associated with the user, at least one second control command that causes the at least one component of the media system to control the media system to output the identified secondary content comprises forwarding, to a remote control of the media system associated with the user, a second control command that causes the remote control to change an input source of the media system to an Internet digital media adapter and forwarding, to the Internet digital media adapter, an additional control command that causes the Internet digital media adapter to begin streaming, over a network, the identified secondary content.

19. The method of claim 11:

wherein determining that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system comprises determining that the advertisement return preferences result in a change of input source for the media system; and

wherein sending, to the meta-channel base station, the third control command that indicates the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences comprises sending, to the meta-channel base station, a third control command that indicates the change of input source for the media system.

20. The method of claim 11:

wherein determining that the advertisement return preferences result in a change to the media system comprises determining that the advertisement return preferences indicate that the user prefers to return to a prior content channel immediately upon completion of detected advertisements; and

wherein sending, to the meta-channel base station, the third control command that indicates the change to the media system needed for the advertisement return preferences comprises sending, to the meta-channel base station, a third control command that tunes to the prior content channel.