Personalized content

• US 9,414,103 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2014
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Weigand, Gilbert G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Parra, Omar S
• Application Number:
  US14/523,158
• Publication Number:
  US 20150150037A1
• Time in Patent Office: 655 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23116 involving data replication, e.g. over plural servers synchronization of replicated data G06F11/1658; error detection or correction by means of data replication G06F11/2053; replication in distributed file systems G06F16/10; replication in distributed file systems G06F16/27; replication or mirroring of data in data networks H04L67/1095
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• 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 21/2668 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 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• 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 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• 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 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6168 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 : IP
• 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 21/6587 : Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A media switch enables a terminal to access content by receiving a content request from a terminal for a first piece of content to be distributed over a cable system, identifying a personal channel within resources available in the cable system to distribute the first piece of content to the terminal, transmitting access information to the terminal to enable the terminal to access the first piece of content through the personal channel, and interfacing with a cable headend to provide the first piece of content on the personal channel.

Claims

1. A method of enabling a terminal to access content requested by the terminal, the method comprising the following operations performed by one or more processors:

receiving, from a terminal, a request for distribution of a piece of content from a media switch;

reserving a personal cable channel over which to distribute the piece of content, for exclusive use by the terminal for a period of time corresponding to the length of the piece of content;

transmitting, from the media switch to the terminal, reusable access information associated with the personal cable channel to enable the terminal to access the piece of content from a cable headend;

transmitting, from the media switch to the cable headend, the piece of content for transmission to the terminal as a video or audio feed on the identified personal cable channel;

detecting a pause command from the terminal;

determining that the pause command will cause a conflict with a subsequent transmission on the personal cable channel; and

rescheduling the subsequent transmission to a second cable channel that differs from the personal cable channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reusable access information identifies a baseband frequency and a channel pairing.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting is performed by multiplexing the channel on the baseband frequency.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the request for distribution is formed by detecting at least one of:

a user selection of a program from an automated programming guide, a user selection of a piece of on-demand content, and a user selecting a new channel.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein

the request for distribution is formed by automatically determining a next preferred channel of a list of preferred channels in order of preference without user intervention, and

the piece of content corresponds to a program of the next preferred channel.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

accessing, subsequent to receiving the request for distribution, the piece of content from an on-demand switch.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and the processor, operative with the program, is configured to;

receive, from a terminal, a request for distribution of a piece of content from a media switch;

reserve a personal cable channel over which to distribute the piece of content, for exclusive use by the terminal for a period of time corresponding to the length of the piece of content;

transmit, from the media switch to the terminal, reusable access information associated with the personal cable channel to enable the terminal to access the piece of content from a cable headend;

transmit, from the media switch to the cable headend, the piece of content for transmission to the terminal as a video or audio feed on the identified personal cable channel;

detect a pause command from the terminal;

determine that the pause command will cause a conflict with a subsequent transmission on the personal cable channel; and

reschedule the subsequent transmission to a second cable channel that differs from the personal cable channel.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the reusable access information identifies a baseband frequency and a channel pairing.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the transmitting is performed by multiplexing the channel on the baseband frequency.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the request for distribution is formed by detecting at least one of:

a user selection of a program from an automated programming guide, a user selection of a piece of on-demand content, and a user selecting a new channel.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein

the request for distribution is formed by automatically determining a next preferred channel of a list of preferred channels in order of preference without user intervention, and

the piece of content corresponds to a program of the next preferred channel.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

access, subsequent to receiving the request for distribution, the piece of content from an on-demand switch.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a terminal, a request for distribution of a piece of content from a media switch;

reserving a personal cable channel over which to distribute the piece of content, for exclusive use by the terminal for a period of time corresponding to the length of the piece of content;

transmitting, from the media switch to the terminal, reusable access information associated with the personal cable channel to enable the terminal to access the piece of content from a cable headend;

transmitting, from the media switch to the cable headend, the piece of content for transmission to the terminal as a video or audio feed on the identified personal cable channel;

detecting a pause command from the terminal;

determining that the pause command will cause a conflict with a subsequent transmission on the personal cable channel; and

rescheduling the subsequent transmission to a second cable channel that differs from the personal cable channel.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein the reusable access information identifies a baseband frequency and a channel pairing.

15. The medium of claim 13, wherein the request for distribution is formed by detecting at least one of:

a user selection of a program from an automated programming guide, a user selection of a piece of on-demand content, and a user selecting a new channel.

16. The medium of claim 13, wherein

the request for distribution is formed by automatically determining a next preferred channel of a list of preferred channels in order of preference without user intervention, and

the piece of content corresponds to a program of the next preferred channel.

17. The medium of claim 13, the operations further comprising:

accessing, subsequent to receiving the request for distribution, the piece of content from an on-demand switch.