Method and apparatus for acquiring program information

• US 9,886,434 B2
• Filed: 01/03/2008
• Issued: 02/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Stone, Christopher, Leary, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Chae, Kyu
• Application Number:
  US11/969,036
• Publication Number:
  US 20090178100A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,687 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• 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 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• 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

Abstract

A process receives content from a recording device. The content is provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device. Further, the process receives, from the recording device, transmission data corresponding to the recorded content. The transmission data indicates one or more transmission identifiers that identify the transmission. In addition, the process sends the transmission data to a server. Finally, the process receives, from the server, program data that is descriptive of the content.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a peripheral user device, recorded content from a recording device of a user, the recorded content being previously provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device;

receiving, by the peripheral user device from the recording device, transmission data indicative of the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device, wherein the transmission data comprises one or more transmission identifiers that identify and are specific to the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device;

sending, by the peripheral user device to a server, a request for program data associated with the recorded content, wherein the request comprises the transmission data that is indicative of the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device; and

responsive to the request, receiving, by the peripheral user device, the program data descriptive of the recorded content, wherein the program data identifies a title of the recorded content, wherein the program data is identified using the one or more transmission identifiers that identify and are specific to the previous transmission of the recorded content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded content comprises video content or audio content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording device is a set top box.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the program data in conjunction with the recorded content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a program identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a virtual channel map identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a source identifier.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a source name.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a time stamp.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the program data comprises a description of the recorded content.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission data is not directly assigned to the recorded content by a content owner/originator and not acquired from a third-party application.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers are not related to another transmission from the distribution system to another recording device.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a client computer causes the client computer to:

receive, by the client computer, recorded content from a recording device of a user, the recorded content being previously provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device;

receive, by the client computer from the recording device, transmission data indicative of the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device, wherein the transmission data comprises one or more transmission identifiers that identify and are specific to the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device;

send, by the client computer to a server, a request for program data associated with the recorded content, wherein the request comprises the transmission data that is indicative of the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device; and

responsive to the request, receive, by the client computer, the program data descriptive of the recorded content, wherein the program data identifies a title of the recorded content, wherein the program data is identified using the one or more transmission identifiers that identify and are specific to the previous transmission of the recorded content.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the program data comprises a description of the recorded content.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a program identifier.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a virtual channel map identifier.

17. A peripheral user device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, to;

receiving, by the peripheral user device, recorded content from a recording device of a user, the recorded content being previously provided through a transmission from a distribution system to the recording device and recorded by the recording device on a storage medium associated with the recording device;

receiving, by the peripheral user device from the recording device, transmission data indicative of the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device, wherein the transmission data comprises one or more transmission identifiers that identify and are specific to the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device;

sending, by the peripheral user device to a server, a request for program data associated with the recorded content, wherein the request comprises the transmission data that is indicative of the previous transmission of the recorded content from the distribution system to the recording device; and

responsive to the request, receiving, by the peripheral user device, the program data descriptive of the recorded content, wherein the program data identifies a title of the recorded content, wherein the program data is identified using the one or more transmission identifiers that identify and are specific to the previous transmission of the recorded content.

18. The peripheral user device of claim 17, wherein the recorded content comprises video content or audio content.

19. The peripheral user device of claim 17, the processor further to display the program data in conjunction with the recorded content.

20. The peripheral user device of claim 17, wherein the one or more transmission identifiers comprise a program identifier.