Frequency content sort

• US 9,621,946 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2011
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Kennedy, John T.
• Primary Examiner(s): AL HASHEMI, SANA A
• Application Number:
  US13/215,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20130054579A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,058 Days
• Field of Search: 707640, 707725, 707728, 707736, 707713, 707802
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• 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 21/432 Content retrieval operation from a local storage medium, e.g. hard-disk details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• 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 21/44204 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 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33

Abstract

A receiver accumulates characteristic information by tracking content being presented. When the receiver determines to present a menu of recorded content, the receiver analyzes the accumulated information to rank the recorded content based on a frequency of the characteristics and sorts the menu based at least one the analysis. The receiver may present an instance of content when it is selected. In some implementations, the instances of content are recorded as part of recording multiple instances of content received via at least one broadcast wherein the multiple instances of content are all included in a same frequency band of the broadcast and are all encoded utilizing a same code word. In one or more implementations, the menu may include content information for one or more of the instances of content in the menu, such as the number of related instances of content also stored by the content receiver.

Claims

1. A method for displaying stored content information, comprising:

based on instructions received from a content provider, recording, by a content receiver, a plurality of instances of content received via a single tuner of the content receiver, wherein;

the plurality of instances of content are received by the tuner via a single transponder stream and multiple instances of content of the plurality of instances of content are recorded during a same time period on different television channels; and

each instance of content of the plurality of instances of content is a television program;

after recording the plurality of instances of content in accordance with the instructions received from the content provider, accumulating, by the content receiver, presented content characteristic information by tracking at least one characteristic of content being presented by the content receiver;

determining, by the content receiver, to present a recorded content menu listing the plurality of instances of recorded content that were recorded based on the instructions received from the content provider;

after recording the plurality of instances of content, analyzing, by the content receiver, the accumulated content characteristic information that was accumulated by the content receiver to rank the plurality of instances of recorded content that were recorded by the content receiver, based on a frequency of the at least one characteristic, wherein the at least one characteristic is selected from the group consisting of;

a particular television program series and a particular content category;

after recording the plurality of instances of content and analyzing the accumulated content characteristic information, sorting, by the content receiver, the plurality of instances of recorded content for presentation in the recorded content menu based at least on the analysis of the accumulated content characteristic information to rank the plurality of instances of recorded content based on the frequency of the at least one characteristic; and

transmitting, by the content receiver to a display device, sorted indications of the sorted plurality of instances of recorded content in the recorded content menu.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple instances of content are encoded utilizing a same code word.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded content menu includes a plurality of menu pages and the inclusion of a particular instance of recorded content of the plurality of instances of recorded content on a particular page of the plurality of menu pages is based at least on the rank of the particular instance of recorded content.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a particular instance of recorded content of the plurality of instances of recorded content when the particular instance of recorded content is selected from the recorded content menu.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded content menu includes content information for at least one of the plurality of instances of recorded content.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the content information includes information regarding a number of instances of content stored by the content receiver that are related to the at least one of the plurality of instances of content.

2. A content receiver, comprising:

at least one communication component that outputs content for presentation; and

at least one processing unit, communicably coupled to the at least one communication component, that;

based on instructions received from a content provider, records a plurality of instances of content to at least one non-transitory storage medium, wherein;

the plurality of instances of content received via a single tuner of the content receiver;

the plurality of instances of content are received by the tuner via a single transponder stream and multiple instances of content of the plurality of instances of content are recorded during a same time period on different television channels; and

each instance of content of the plurality of instances of content is a television program; and

accumulates, after recording the plurality of instances of content, presented content characteristic information in the at least one non-transitory storage medium by tracking at least one characteristic of the content being presented by the at least one communication component;

wherein the at least one processing unit;

determines to present a recorded content menu listing the plurality of instances of recorded content stored in the non-transitory storage medium,

analyzes, after recording the plurality of instances of content, the accumulated content characteristic information to rank the plurality of instances of recorded content based on a frequency of the at least one characteristic, wherein the at least one characteristic is selected from the group consisting of;

a particular television program series and a particular content category,

sorts, after recording the plurality of instances of content and analyzing the accumulated content characteristic information, the plurality of instances of recorded content for presentation in the recorded content menu based at least on the analysis of the accumulated content characteristic information to rank the plurality of instances of recorded content based on the frequency of the at least one characteristic; and

transmits, to a display device via the at least one communication component, sorted indications of the sorted plurality of instances of recorded content in the recorded content menu.

8. The content receiver of claim 2, wherein the recorded content menu includes a plurality of menu pages and the at least one processing unit includes of a particular instance of recorded content of the plurality of instances of recorded content on a particular page of the plurality of menu pages based at least on the rank of the particular instance of recorded content.

9. The content receiver of claim 2, wherein the at least one processing unit presents a particular instance of recorded content of the plurality of instances of recorded content via the at least one communication component when the particular instance of recorded content is selected from the recorded content menu.

10. The content receiver of claim 2, wherein the recorded content menu includes content information for at least one of the plurality of instances of recorded content.

11. The content receiver of claim 2, wherein the multiple instances of content are encoded utilizing a same code word.

16. The content receiver of claim 10, wherein the content information includes information regarding a number of instances of content stored in the non-transitory storage medium that are related to the at least one of the plurality of instances of content.

3. A computer program product, comprising:

a first set of instructions, stored in at least one non-transitory storage medium, executable by the at least one processing unit of a content receiver to record a plurality of instances of content at the content receiver based on instructions received from a content provider, wherein;

the plurality of instances of content received via a single tuner of the content receiver;

the plurality of instances of content are received by the tuner via a single transponder stream and multiple instances of content of the plurality of instances of content are recorded during a same time period on different television channels; and

each instance of content of the plurality of instances of content is a television program;

a second set of instructions, stored in the at least one non-transitory storage medium, executable by the at least one processing unit of the content receiver to accumulate presented content characteristic information by tracking at least one characteristic of content being output for presentation by the content receiver, such accumulation occurring after recording the plurality of instances of content in accordance with the instructions received from the content provider;

a third set of instructions, stored in the at least one non-transitory storage medium, executable by the at least one processing unit of the content receiver to determine to output for presentation a recorded content menu listing the plurality of instances of recorded content that were recorded by the content receiver and are stored by the content receiver;

a fourth set of instructions, stored in the at least one non-transitory storage medium, executable by the at least one processing unit of the content receiver to analyze the accumulated content characteristic information to rank the plurality of instances of recorded content based on a frequency of the at least one characteristic, such analysis occurring after recording the plurality of instances of content, wherein the at least one characteristic is selected from the group consisting of;

a particular television program series and a particular content category;

a fifth set of instructions, stored in the at least one non-transitory storage medium, executable by the at least one processing unit of the content receiver to sort the plurality of instances of recorded content of presentation in the recorded content menu based at least on the analysis of the accumulated content characteristic information to rank the plurality of instances of recorded content based on the frequency of the at least one characteristic, such sorting occurring after recording the plurality of instances of content and analyzing the accumulated content characteristic information; and

a sixth set of instructions, stored in the at least one non-transitory storage medium, executable by the at least one processing of the content receiver to transmit, to a display device, sorted indications of the sorted plurality of instances of recorded content in the recorded content menu.

12. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the recorded content menu includes content information for at least one of the plurality of instances of recorded content wherein the content information includes information regarding a number of instances of content stored by the at least one content receiver that are related to the at least one of the plurality of instances of content.

13. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the multiple instances of content are encoded utilizing a same code word.

14. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the recorded content menu includes a plurality of menu pages and the inclusion of a particular instance of recorded content of the plurality of instances of recorded content on a particular page of the plurality of menu pages is based at least on the rank of the particular instance of recorded content.