Media content device, system and method

• US 9,967,157 B1
• Filed: 02/10/2016
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Next Issue Media
• Inventors: Barraclough, Keith, Irvine, David, Larson, Melanie, Guenther, Morgan P., Johnson, Gerri
• Primary Examiner(s): Gelagay, Shewaye
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fields, Courtney
• Application Number:
  US15/040,898
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Media content is provided using metric-apportioning. In accordance with one or more embodiments, remote-user interface circuits are authenticated and remote access is provided to different sets of media content via the interface. For each authenticated interface and a time-based period during which the interface accesses the media content, time-stamped usage data that characterizes use of the media content at the interface is communicated therewith. A usage metric characterizing usage of the media content is apportioned based upon the time-stamped usage data and stored weighting factor data for the media content.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first circuit-based module configured and arranged to communicate a plurality of different sets of media content to a plurality of remote-user interface circuits based upon user-interaction with the first circuit-based module via the respective remote-user interface circuits, each set of media content corresponding to an article from a periodical that traverses several pages in an order for reading the article and having a weighting factor assigned thereto with the weighting factor being associated with a value metric that is particular to magazine content from a periodical, and wherein at least one article, corresponding to one of the plurality of different sets of media content, is out of an order set by the periodical; and

a second circuit-based module configured and arranged with the first circuit-based module to access usage data indicating access to the sets of media content at each remote-user interface circuit, and configured and arranged to, for each of the remote users, apportion a usage metric characterizing usage of each of the sets of media content based upon the accessed usage data and the weighting factor assigned to each set of media content depending on magazine content.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second circuit-based module is configured and arranged to characterize time periods during which remote users access the different sets of the media content via the remote-user interface circuits, and to apportion the usage metric based on, for each set of media content accessed by a user, the weighting factor and the time period during which the set of media content is accessed.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second circuit-based module is configured and arranged to characterize the time periods by characterizing periods during which users access media content stored at the respective remote-user interface circuits.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the usage data is time-stamped usage data that characterizes time periods during which remote users non-linearly access portions of periodical-based media content at the remote-user interface circuits, by providing time-based data indicative of time periods during which each user non-linearly accesses the respective portions of periodical-based media content.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuit-based module is configured and arranged to, for each user at one of the remote-user interface circuits, non-linearly communicate the different sets of media content based upon historical access to previous versions of the media content by the user.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first circuit-based module is configured and arranged to non-linearly communicate the different sets of media content, for each user accessing the media content via one of the remote-user interface circuits, based upon authentication criteria associated with the user and authentication criteria for the user communicated from the remote-user interface circuit.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each set of weighting factor data is associated with a type of content in the accessed media content, with at least two different sets of media content being assigned different weighting factors.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each set of weighting factor data is associated with a type of content, prior to the content being non-linearly communicated to the remote-user interface circuits.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuit-based module is configured and arranged to communicate the sets of media content to respective users at the remote-user interface circuits based upon, for each one of the users, historical access to previous versions of the media content by the user.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuit-based module is configured and arranged to communicate the sets of media content to respective users at the remote-user interface circuits by non-linearly delivering portions of periodical-based media content to each remote-user interface circuit based upon historical access to previous versions of the periodical-based media content by a user associated with the remote-user interface circuit to which each portion of periodical-based media content is delivered.

11. A method comprising:

from a server, communicating a plurality of different sets of media content to a plurality of remote-user interface circuits based upon user-interaction between respective remote-user interface circuits and the server, wherein each set of media content corresponds to an article from a periodical that traverses several pages in an order for reading the article and has a weighting factor assigned thereto with the weighting factor being associated with a value metric that is particular to magazine content from a periodical, and wherein at least one article, corresponding to one of the plurality of different sets of media content, is out of an order set by the periodical; and

based on the user-interaction between respective remote-user interface circuits and the server, accessing usage data indicating access to the sets of media content at each remote-user interface circuit, and for each of the remote users, apportioning a usage metric characterizing usage of each of the sets of media content based upon the accessed usage data and the weighting factor assigned to each set of media content depending on magazine content.