Price driven multimedia content reception

• US 9,888,274 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2016
• Issued: 02/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Edge2020 LLC
• Original Assignee: Edge2020 LLC
• Inventors: Hirsch, Ronald, Gates, Tell Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): Lonsberry, Hunter B
• Application Number:
  US15/133,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20160316242A1
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26225 involving billing parameters, e.g. priority for subscribers of premium services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42623 involving specific decryption arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4408 involving video stream encryption, e.g. re-encrypting a decrypted video stream for redistribution in a home network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6106 specially adapted to the downstream path of the transmission network

Abstract

An apparatus can include an external interface, a user interface, and an assembly engine. The external interface can receive, from a gateway device, a subscriber content price for multimedia content, the subscriber content price being based on a lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content via at least one transport provider servicing the customer premises equipment, and receive the multimedia content within the lead-time. The user interface can schedule, based on the subscriber content price, electronic delivery of the multimedia content to the customer premises equipment within the lead-time. The assembly engine can retrieve the multimedia content from a storage device and output the multimedia content to a display device.

Claims

1. A customer premises equipment, comprising:

an external interface to receive, from a gateway device, a subscriber content price for multimedia content, the subscriber content price being based on a subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content via at least one transport provider servicing the customer premises equipment and on a time/date the multimedia content is scheduled to be viewed with the customer premises equipment, and receive the multimedia content within the lead-time to at least one of reduce peak distribution infrastructure bandwidth requirements and eliminate susceptibility to momentary glitches in the electronic delivery of the multimedia content;

a user interface to schedule, based on the subscriber content price, electronic delivery of the multimedia content to the customer premises equipment within the subscriber scheduled lead-time; and

an assembly engine to retrieve the multimedia content from a storage device and output the multimedia content to a display device.

2. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transport provider is comprised of at least one of an over-the-air provider, a cable provider, a satellite provider, an Internet provider, and a cellular provider.

3. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface receives the multimedia content via at least one distribution gateway.

4. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface receives the multimedia content via at least one of broadcast, unicast, multicast, torrent, peer-to-peer, and mesh architectures.

5. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface further receives a list of multimedia content that is comprised of at least one of 1) multimedia content comprised of at least one of subscriber selected multimedia content and recommended multimedia content, 2) multimedia content that at least one of meets subscriber cost constraints and does not meet the subscriber cost constraints, and 3) multimedia content that at least one of has been downloaded to the customer premise equipment and has not been downloaded to the customer premise equipment.

6. The customer premises equipment according to claim 5, wherein the user interface further displays the list of multimedia content including a factor respectively showing a likelihood that individual multimedia content from the list of multimedia content best matches preferred subscriber content.

7. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the customer premises equipment is at least partially implemented with a carrier supplied customer premise equipment, a digital video recorder, a set top box, a video extender, a smart television, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, and implemented with a software app.

8. The customer premise equipment according to claim 1, wherein user interface further presents an impact of modifying subscriber selected controls comprising at least one of selecting multimedia content for viewing, selecting a time/date for viewing of the multimedia content, selecting a maximum price for a billing period, selecting an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, selecting the subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, selecting a multimedia content delayed viewing period, selecting a multimedia content resolution, and selecting targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types.

9. The customer premise equipment according to claim 1, wherein the user interface is further comprised of a subscriber selected control comprising at least one of a maximum price for a billing period, an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, the subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, a multimedia content delayed viewing period, a multimedia content resolution, grouping of multimedia content, and targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types.

10. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface further receives, from the gateway device, an updated subscriber content price for the multimedia content, the updated subscriber content price being based on modifying at least one of a time/date the multimedia content is scheduled to be viewed, the subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, a maximum price for a billing period, an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, a multimedia content resolution, and targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types to be inserted into the multimedia content;

and the user interface further displays the updated subscriber content price.

11. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the customer premises equipment is at least partially implemented in at least one of a local computing, distributed computing, mobile computing, and cloud-computing architecture.

12. The customer premise equipment according to claim 1, further comprising an assembly engine to assemble the multimedia content and insert advertisements into the multimedia content, the multimedia content being received asynchronously with the external interface via at least one transport provider.

13. The customer premise equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface further receives, via a broadcast device, unencrypted multimedia content and the customer premise equipment further encrypts the multimedia content, via a unique encryption key associated with the customer premises equipment and particular multimedia content and stores the encrypted multimedia content, and, in response to a subscriber request to play the multimedia content, the customer premise equipment further requests and receives a unique decryption key, with the external interface, to decrypt and allow play of the multimedia content.

14. The customer premise equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface further receives and stores the multimedia content encrypted with a unique key associated with the customer premise equipment and particular multimedia content and, in response to a subscriber request to play the multimedia content, transmits a request and receives the unique key to decrypt and allow play the multimedia content.

15. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface further receives decryption information and unique re-encryption information associated with the customer premises equipment to allow the customer premises equipment to decrypt and uniquely re-encrypt the multimedia content prior to storing the multimedia content and receives, in response to a subscriber request to play the multimedia content, a unique decryption key to decrypt and allow play the multimedia content.

16. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the user interface further presents the subscriber content price based on at least one of a content provider price and a content delivery price to electronically deliver the multimedia content via the at least one transport provider servicing the customer premises equipment.

17. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the user interface further presents a reduced subscriber content price based on an advertising subsidy associated with a subscriber selected amount of advertising to be viewed with the multimedia content, the advertising subsidy being based on at least one of a value of a cluster of subscribers to an advertiser and a value of an individual subscriber to the advertiser.

18. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the customer premises equipment receives a subscriber request to skip an advertisement associated with the multimedia content and at least one of updates a price of the multimedia content based on the subscriber request and inserts at least one equivalent valued replacement advertisement in the multimedia content based on the subscriber request and the user interface further displays the updated price of the multimedia content if the subscriber selects to skip the advertisement.

19. The customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the external interface further transmits, to the gateway device, subscriber interaction with the customer premises equipment comprising at least one of multimedia content selection, a selection of the subscriber content price, viewing of the subscriber content price, selection of the subscriber scheduled lead-time of the multimedia content, time/date of the initiation and time/date of the completion of viewing the multimedia content, and customer premises equipment interactions comprising at least one of pause/resume, fast forward/rewind, and adskip.

20. A method, comprising:

receiving, with an external interface and from a gateway device, a subscriber content price for multimedia content, the subscriber content price being based on a subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content via at least one transport provider servicing the customer premises equipment and on a time/date the multimedia content is scheduled to be viewed with the customer premises equipment;

scheduling, with a user interface and based on the subscriber content price, electronic delivery of the multimedia content to the customer premises equipment within the subscriber scheduled lead-time;

receiving, with the external interface, the multimedia content within the subscriber scheduled lead-time to at least one of reduce peak distribution infrastructure bandwidth requirements and eliminate susceptibility to momentary glitches in the electronic delivery of the multimedia content;

retrieving, with an assembly engine, the multimedia content from a storage device; and

outputting, with the assembly engine, the multimedia content to a display device.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the at least one transport provider is comprised of at least one of an over-the-air provider, a cable provider, a satellite provider, an Internet provider, and a cellular provider.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising receiving, with the external interface, the multimedia content via at least one distribution gateway.

23. The method according to claim 20, further comprising receiving, with the external interface, the multimedia content via at least one of broadcast, unicast, multicast, torrent, peer-to-peer, and mesh architectures.

24. The method according to claim 20, further comprising receiving, with the external interface, a list of multimedia content that is comprised of at least one of 1) multimedia content comprised of at least one of subscriber selected multimedia content and recommended multimedia content, 2) multimedia content that at least one of meets subscriber cost constraints and does not meet the subscriber cost constraints, and 3) multimedia content that at least one of has been downloaded to the customer premise equipment and has not been downloaded to the customer premise equipment.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising displaying, with the user interface, the list of multimedia content including a factor respectively showing a likelihood that individual multimedia content from the list of multimedia content best matches preferred subscriber content.

26. The method according to claim 20, wherein the customer premises equipment is at least partially implemented with a carrier supplied customer premise equipment, a digital video recorder, a set top box, a video extender, a smart television, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, and implemented with a software app.

27. The method according to claim 20, further comprising presenting, with the user interface, an impact of modifying subscriber selected controls comprising at least one of selecting multimedia content for viewing, selecting a different time/date for viewing of the multimedia content, selecting a maximum price for a billing period, selecting an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, selecting the subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, selecting a multimedia content delayed viewing period, selecting a multimedia content resolution, and selecting targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types.

28. The method according to claim 20, further comprising displaying, with the user interface, a subscriber selected control comprising at least one of a maximum price for a billing period, an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, the subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, a multimedia content delayed viewing period, a multimedia content resolution, grouping of multimedia content, and targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types.

29. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, with the external interface from the gateway device, an updated subscriber content price for the multimedia content based on modifying at least one of the time/date the multimedia content is scheduled to be viewed, the subscriber scheduled lead-time of electronic delivery of the multimedia content, a not-to-exceed price for a billing period, an allowed amount of advertising to be inserted in the multimedia content, a multimedia content resolution, and targeted, non-targeted, and subscriber requested advertising types to be inserted into the multimedia content; and

displaying, with the user interface, the updated subscriber content price for the multimedia based on the modification.

30. The method according to claim 20, wherein the customer premises equipment is at least partially implemented in at least one of a local computing, distributed computing, mobile computing, and cloud-computing architecture.

31. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, with the external interface, the multimedia content asynchronously the external interface via at least one transport provider;

assembling, with an assembly engine, the multimedia content; and

inserting, with the assembly engine, advertisements into the multimedia content.

32. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, with the external interface via a broadcast device, unencrypted multimedia content;

encrypting, with the customer premise equipment, the multimedia content via a unique encryption key associated with the customer premises equipment and particular multimedia content;

storing, with the customer premises equipment, the encrypted multimedia content; and

in response to a subscriber request to play the multimedia content, requesting and receiving, with the external interface of the customer premise equipment, a unique decryption key to decrypt and allow play of the multimedia content.

33. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving and storing, with the external interface, the multimedia content encrypted with a unique key associated with the customer premise equipment and particular multimedia content; and

in response to a subscriber request to play the multimedia content, transmitting a request for and receiving the unique key to decrypt and allow play of the multimedia content.

34. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, with the external interface, decryption information and unique re-encryption information associated with the customer premises equipment;

decrypting and uniquely re-encrypt, with the customer premises equipment, the multimedia content prior to storing the multimedia content; and

in response to a subscriber request to play the multimedia content, receiving, with the customer premises equipment, a unique decryption key to decrypt and allow play of the multimedia content.

35. The method according to claim 20, further comprising presenting, with the user interface, the subscriber content price based on at least one of a content provider price and a content delivery price to electronically deliver the multimedia content via the at least one transport provider servicing the customer premises equipment.

36. The method according to claim 20, further comprising presenting, with the user interface, a reduced subscriber content price based on an advertising subsidy associated with a subscriber selected amount of advertising to be viewed with the multimedia content, the advertising subsidy being based on at least one of a value of a cluster of subscribers to an advertiser and a value of an individual subscriber to the advertiser.

37. The method according to claim 20, further comprising;

receiving, with the customer premises equipment, a subscriber request to skip an advertisement associated with the multimedia content;

at least one of updating, with the customer premises equipment, a price of the multimedia content based on the subscriber request;

inserting, with the customer premises equipment, at least one equivalent valued replacement advertisement in the multimedia content based on the subscriber request; and

if the subscriber selects to skip the advertisement, displaying, with the user interface, the updated price of the multimedia content.

38. The method according to claim 20, further comprising transmitting, with the external interface to the gateway device, subscriber interaction with the customer premises equipment comprising at least one of multimedia content selection, a selection of the subscriber content price, viewing of the subscriber content price, selection of the subscriber scheduled lead-time of the multimedia content, time/date of the initiation and time/date of the completion of viewing the multimedia content, and customer premises equipment interactions comprising at least one of pause/resume, fast forward/rewind, and adskip.