Using broadcast television as a portal for video on demand solicitation

• US 20040172662A1
• Filed: 02/28/2003
• Published: 09/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Barrett, Peter T., Danker, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 7,516,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/135
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for using broadcast television systems as an implicit portal for solicitation of video on demand programs. A viewing device is monitored for the occurrence of a specific event, such as a channel change or the detection of a trigger mechanism programmed into a content program. When the event is detected, a user is prompted to notify the user of the availability of video on demand content related to the channel or program the user is watching. If the user indicates that he is interested in such content, available video on demand programs are presented to the user for selection. Means are also provided to prevent redundant and other unwanted prompts from appearing on the user'"'"'s display.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting an event associated with a broadcast network;

receiving event information;

providing a notification that one or more content programs that are related to the event are available;

receiving a request for information on available content related to the event; and

displaying information on available content related to the event.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the receiving event information further comprises the step of confirming if the one or more content programs that related to the event are available; and

the process is terminated without providing a prompt or displaying any information if the availability of one or more content programs that are related to the event cannot be confirmed.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of confirming if the one or more content programs that are related to the event are available further comprises:

transmitting a request to a content server; and

receiving a reply transmission indicating whether or not the one or more content programs related to the event are available.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of confirming if the one or more content programs that are related to the event are available further comprises submitting an out-of-band request for an index file from a content server that contains information about available content.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the receiving event information further comprises receiving the event information from a content server associated with the broadcast network.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the event associated with the broadcast channel further comprises an occurrence of a trigger embedded in broadcast content; and

the event information further comprises content data included in the trigger.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the event associated with the broadcast channel further comprises a switch from a first broadcast channel to a second broadcast channel; and

the event information further comprises content data associated with the second broadcast channel.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of providing a notification that one or more content programs that are related to the event are available further comprises displaying a prompt user interface that includes the notification and means for receiving a user response indicating whether or not the user is interested in receiving more information about the one or more content programs.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the content programs are on-demand content programs.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of displaying information on available content related to the event further comprises displaying a list of one or more selectable list items, each selectable list item being associated with an available content program that is related to the event.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the event information further comprises:

determining if the event is a unique event or a repeating event;

if the event is a unique event, completing the steps as described; and

if the event is a repeating event, terminating the process without displaying the information if the event has previously occurred during a specified time period, or completing the steps as described if the event has not previously occurred during the specified time period.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the event information further comprises:

determining if the event has previously occurred and caused the information on available content to be displayed;

determining if the information on available content should be displayed again if the event has previously occurred and caused the information on available content to be displayed; and

terminating the process without displaying the information on available content if it is determined that the information on available content should not be displayed.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the event previously occurring further comprises the event previously occurring during a specified time period.

14. A client device associated with a content broadcasting system, comprising:

a processor;

memory;

a monitor module configured to monitor the client device for events associated with the content broadcast system and detect occurrences of such events;

a control module configured to receive event information associated with detected events;

a user interface module configured to;

provide a user prompt informing a user that one or more content programs associated with the event are available;

receive a response to the user prompt; and

display program information regarding the one or more content programs associated with the event if the response to the user prompt is a request to display the program information.

15. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the user interface module is further configured to display the user prompt and the program information on a display device connected to the client device.

16. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the user interface module is further configured to display the user prompt and the program information on a display device integrated with the client device.

17. The client device as recited in claim 14, further comprising non-volatile memory that stores the monitor module, the control module and the user interface module.

18. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the events associated with the content broadcasting system include triggers embedded in content.

19. The client device as recited in claim 18, wherein the monitor module is further configured to determine if a trigger is associated with a unique event or with a repeating event.

20. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the events associated with the content broadcasting system include changes from a first channel to a second channel.

21. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the monitor module is further configured to determine if a detected event has previously occurred; and

the user interface module is further configured to provide the user prompt, receive a response to the user prompt and display program information only if the detected event has not previously occurred.

22. The client device as recited in claim 21, further comprising a history file that stores occurrences of events, and wherein the monitor module is further configured to reference the history module to determine if a detected event has previously occurred.

23. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

the monitor module is further configured to determine if a detected event has previously occurred during a specified time period; and

the user interface module is further configured to provide the user prompt, receive a response to the user prompt and display program information only if the detected event has not previously occurred during the specified time period.

24. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the control module is further configured to confirm availability of content programs associated with the event and forego providing the user prompt, receiving a response to the user prompt and displaying program information if the availability cannot be confirmed.

25. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein:

at least one event further comprises a trigger embedded in the content; and

the event information further comprises data included in the embedded trigger.

26. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the receiving event information further comprises requesting and receiving a content index file from a content server in the content broadcasting system, the content index file containing the event information.

27. The client device as recited in claim 26, wherein the content index file request is an out-of-band request.

28. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the user interface module is further configured to:

provide a “

yes”

response button and a “

no”

response button with the user prompt; and

receive a response to the user prompt by identifying an actuation of the “

yes”

response button or the “

no”

response button.

29. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the user interface module is further configured to display program information in a list of one or more selectable items.

30. The client device as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more content programs associated with the events are video-on-demand content programs.

31. One or more computer-readable media containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the following steps:

monitoring for one or more conditions in a client device that is configured to receive multiple channels of a content broadcasting system to detect an occurrence of the one or more conditions;

when a condition is detected, providing a user-selectable option to receive program information about one or more content programs related to a currently accessed content program;

receiving a response to the user-selectable option; and

displaying the program information if the response to the user-selectable option is an indication to display the program information.

32. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, wherein the one or more conditions further comprises tuning to a particular channel.

33. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, wherein the one or more conditions further comprises a content-embedded trigger.

34. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, wherein the user-selectable option further comprises a notice that content programs related to the currently viewed content program are available.

35. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, further comprises additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the following step:

confirming the presence of the program information; and

wherein the user-selectable option and the program information are only displayed if the presence of the program information has been confirmed.

36. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 35, wherein the confirming step further comprises:

transmitting a confirmation request to a content server of the content broadcasting system; and

receiving a server response to the confirmation request confirming that the program information is present.

37. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 35, wherein the confirming step further comprises:

submitting a confirmation request during a scheduled communication period; and

receiving an out-of-band index file that confirms the presence of the program information.

38. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, wherein the one or more content programs related to the currently accessed content program are video on demand content programs.

39. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, wherein the one or more content programs related to the currently accessed content program are content programs that have a viewing fee associated with them.

40. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the following steps:

when a condition is detected, determining if the condition is a repeat condition; and

if the condition is a repeat condition, aborting the process without displaying the user-selectable option of the program information.

41. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 40, wherein the determining if the condition is a repeat condition further comprises:

referencing a history file that contains previously detected conditions; and

determining that the condition is a repeat condition if the condition is contained in the history file.

42. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 40, wherein:

the condition is a trigger embedded in content; and

the determining if the condition is a repeat condition further comprises identifying data in the trigger that indicates that the trigger is a unique condition, which indicates that the condition is not a repeat condition.

43. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 31, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, performs the step of recording the detection of the condition in a history file.

44. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 43, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, performs the step of recording a time that the condition was detected in the history file.