Determining alternatives when a recording conflict occurs

• US 9,948,978 B2
• Filed: 01/02/2014
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: DeLuca, Lisa Seacat, Price, Dana L., Smith-Eigenbrode, Shelbee D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Taylor, Joshua D
• Application Number:
  US14/146,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20150189370A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,566 Days
• 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 21/4583 Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programs in the same time slot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting

Abstract

A method includes receiving a recording request from a user. The method also includes determining a recording conflict based on the recording request, wherein the recording conflict includes a plurality of programs. The method additionally includes generating a plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict, wherein the plurality of options are based on determining available re-broadcasts of the plurality of programs. The method further includes presenting the plurality of options to the user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

presenting, by a computing device, a user with selectable options to;

rank a plurality of options that resolve a recording conflict according to shortest delay from a first time slot to a later time slot;

rank the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict according to user-defined program priorities;

rank the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict according to user-defined user priorities;

determine the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on a user calendar; and

determine the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on a user-indicated tolerance for partial recordings;

receiving, by the computing device, a user selected configuration assigning a higher priority to a first user and a lower priority to a second user;

identifying, by the computing device, a plurality of programs as being associated with the first user or the second user;

receiving, by the computer device, a user indication that one or more of the plurality of programs are high priority programs;

receiving, by the computer device, a user selection to rank a plurality of options that resolve a recording conflict based on a shortest amount of delay for the one or more high priority programs;

receiving, by the computer device, a recording request from a user to record a program from a sole media source;

determining, by the computer device, the recording conflict based on the recording request, wherein the recording conflict includes the plurality of programs;

searching, by the computer device, only scheduling data from the sole media source for the plurality of options to resolve the recording conflict using one or more selected from the group consisting of;

a program name, an episode number, a unique identifier, and original broadcast data;

generating, by the computer device, the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict, wherein the plurality of options are based on;

determining available re-broadcasts of the plurality of programs from only the sole media source, and a user calendar containing user status data, and the plurality of options include respective options for delaying recording each one of the plurality of programs;

ranking, by the computer device, the plurality of options based on the shortest amount of delay to record one or more of the plurality of programs associated with the higher priority first user to generate a list of the plurality of ranked options;

presenting, by the computer device, the plurality of ranked options to the user through an interface, wherein the presenting includes displaying an amount of delay associated with each one of the respective plurality of ranked options for delaying recording each one of the plurality of programs;

receiving, by the computer device, a selection of one of the plurality of ranked options by the user via the interface; and

storing, by the computer device, the data defining a recording schedule that includes a recording of each of the plurality of programs based on the received selection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the computer device, a user selected time period that limits an extent of a search for the re-broadcasts, wherein the generating the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict is based on determining available re-broadcasts of the plurality of programs within the selected time period.

3. A computer program product for resolving recording conflicts, the computer program product comprising a computer usable hardware storage device having program code embodied in the storage device, the program code readable/executable by a computing device to:

present a user with selectable options to;

rank a plurality of options that resolve a recording conflict according to shortest delay from a first time slot to a later time slot;

rank the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict according to user-defined program priorities;

rank the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict according to user-defined user priorities;

determine the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on a user calendar; and

determine the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on a user-indicated tolerance for partial recordings;

receive a user selection of the option to rank a plurality of options that resolve a recording conflict according to shortest delay from a first time slot to a later time slot for the one or more high priority programs;

receive a user selected configuration assigning a higher priority to a first user and a lower priority to a second user;

identify a plurality of programs as being associated with the first user or the second user;

receive a user indication that one or more of the plurality of programs are high priority programs;

receive a recording request from the user to record a program from a sole media source;

determine the recording conflict based on the recording request, wherein the recording conflict includes the plurality of programs;

search only scheduling data from the sole media source for the plurality of options to resolve the recording conflict using one or more selected from the group consisting of;

a program name, an episode number, a unique identifier, and original broadcast data;

generate, based on the search, the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on the user selection of the selectable options; and

present the plurality of options to the user,

wherein;

the determining, the generating, and the presenting are performed automatically after the receiving the recording request;

the plurality of options includes a first set of respective options for delaying recording each one of the plurality of programs and a second set of respective options for canceling recording each one of the plurality of programs; and

the presenting comprises displaying an amount of delay associated with each said one of the respective options for delaying recording each one of the plurality of programs;

rank the plurality of options based on the shortest amount of delay to record one or more of the plurality of programs associated with the higher priority first user to generate a list of the plurality of ranked options;

present the plurality of ranked options to the user through an interface, wherein the presenting includes displaying an amount of delay associated with each one of the respective plurality of ranked options for delaying recording each one of the plurality of programs;

receive a selection of one of the plurality of ranked options by the user via the interface; and

store the data defining a recording schedule that includes a recording of each of the plurality of programs based on the received selection;

further determine at least one of the plurality of options creates an additional recording conflict with at least one additional program;

further generate a new plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict and the additional recording conflict; and

display an amount of delay associated with each said one of the respective new plurality of options for delaying recording each one of the plurality of programs.

4. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the program code is further readable/executable by the computing device to receive a user selected time period that limits an extent of a search for the re-broadcasts, wherein the generating the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict is based on determining available re-broadcasts of the plurality of programs within the selected time period.

5. A system, comprising:

a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium;

program instructions to present a user with selectable options to;

rank a plurality of options that resolve a recording conflict according to shortest delay from a first time slot to a later time slot;

rank the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict according to user-defined program priorities;

rank the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict according to user-defined user priorities;

determine the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on a user calendar; and

determine the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict based on a user-indicated tolerance for partial recordings;

program instructions to receive a user selected configuration assigning a higher priority to a first user and a lower priority to a second user;

program instructions to identify a plurality programs as being associated with the first user or the second user;

program instructions to receive a user indication that one or more of the plurality of programs are high priority programs;

program instructions to automatically determine a recording conflict based on a recording request, wherein the recording conflict includes the plurality of programs;

program instructions to search only scheduling data from the sole media source for a plurality of options to resolve the recording conflict using one or more selected from the group consisting of;

a program name, an episode number, a unique identifier, and original broadcast data;

program instructions to automatically generate, based on the search and a user calendar containing user status data, the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict, wherein the plurality of options are based on re-broadcasts of each of the plurality of scheduled programs from the sole media source;

program instructions to rank the plurality of options based on a shortest amount of delay to record one or more programs associated with the higher priority first user to generate a list of a plurality of ranked options;

program instructions to automatically present the plurality of ranked options to a user as selectable options in an interface;

program instructions to automatically simultaneously present, in a single interface, an amount of delay associated with each of the plurality of ranked options, and the time and day of each of the plurality of ranked options;

program instructions to receive a selection of one of the plurality of ranked options by the user via the interface; and

program instructions to store data defining a recording schedule that includes a recording of each of the plurality of programs based on the received selection,

wherein the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

program instructions to retrieve the user status data from the user calendar via a network interface.

7. The system of claim 5, further comprising program instructions to receive a user selected time period that limits an extent of a search for the re-broadcasts, wherein the program instructions to automatically generate the plurality of options that resolve the recording conflict is based on determining available re-broadcasts of the plurality of programs within the selected time period.