System and method for controlling a digital video recorder on a cable network

• US 20060115058A1
• Filed: 12/01/2004
• Published: 06/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Inc. (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Gould, Kenneth, Alexander, Paul, Williams, Christopher P., Christman, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,486,869 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/90.10
• 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 21/4334 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 21/44227 Monitoring of local network, e.g. connection or bandwidth variations; Detecting new devices in the local network configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; monitoring connectivity in data switched networks H04L43/0811
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

A system and method for controlling a digital video recorder on a cable network. Signaling associated with the answering or initiation of a digital telephone call by a digital telephone subscriber is used to issue commands to a digital video recorder (DVR). A signal is generated by an MTA when the telephone is enters an “off-hook” state and sent to the DVR to initiate recording of a program being viewed by the called party. When the phone goes “on-hook”, the called party resumes watching the program from exactly where it was interrupted. The MTA may be connected directly to the VTD/DVR and the telephone state is determined by the DVR from information provided by the MTA. Alternatively, a soft switch monitors signaling from the MTA indicative of the state of the called telephone. A telephone state message comprising the telephone state information is then sent over an out-of-band channel/path to a DVR client within the VTD. The DVR client uses the telephone state information to control a DVR.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a digital video recorder (DVR) in response to a telephone state transition comprising:

detecting a telephone state transition;

sending the telephone state transition to the DVR; and

issuing a command to the DVR responsive the telephone state transition.

2. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 1, wherein the telephone state transition comprises a change of the telephone state from an on-hook state to an off-hook state.

3. The method for controlling a DRV in response to a telephone state transition of claim 1, wherein the telephone state transition comprises a change of the telephone state from an off-hook state to an on-hook state.

4. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 1, wherein sending the telephone state transition to the DVR comprises:

creating a message comprising data indicative of the telephone state transition; and

sending the message via an out-of-band channel to a video termination device (VTD) in which the DVR resides.

5. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 4,

wherein detecting the telephone state transition comprises detecting the telephone state transition at a media terminal adapter (MTA) connected to a telephone;

and

wherein the method further comprises at boot-up of the MTA, receiving a configuration file comprising a fully qualified domain name of the VTD; and

wherein addressing the message to the VTD comprises addressing the message to the VTD using the fully qualified domain name of the VTD.

6. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 4, wherein the out-of-band channel is an RF-channel.

7. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 4, wherein the VTD is DOCSIS-compliant and the out-of-band channel is a DOCSIS channel.

8. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 1, wherein issuing the command to the DVR responsive to the telephone state transition comprises issuing a “

PAUSE”

command if the telephone state transition information is a change from an “

on-hook”

state to an “

off-hook”

state.

9. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 1, wherein issuing the command to the DVR responsive the telephone state transition comprises issuing a “

PLAY”

command if the telephone state transition information is a change from an “

off-hook”

state to an “

on-hook”

state.

10. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 4, wherein the VTD comprises a set top box.

11. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 4, wherein the VTD comprises a cable-ready video display device.

12. A system for controlling a digital video recorder (DVR) in response to a telephone state transition in a cable network comprising:

a telephone connected to the cable network via a media terminal adapter (MTA), wherein the MTA is adapted to;

detect a telephone state transition; and

send a telephone state message comprising data indicative of the telephone state transition to the DVR via an out-of-band channel; and

wherein the DVR is adapted to;

obtain the data indicative of the telephone state transition from the telephone state message;

generate a DVR command from the telephone state transition, and

issue the DVR command to the DVR, thereby controlling the DVR in response to the telephone state transition.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the telephone state transition comprises a change of the telephone from an on-hook state to an off-hook state.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the DVR command comprises a PAUSE command.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the telephone state transition comprises a change of the telephone from an off-hook state to an on-hook state.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the DVR command comprises a PLAY command.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the telephone state message further comprises the address of a video termination device (VTD) in which the DVR resides.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the MTA is associated with a subscriber and the MTA is further adapted to receive a configuration file comprising a list of fully qualified domain names of VTDs associated with the subscriber, and wherein the address of the VTD is the fully qualified domain name of the VTD.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the out-of-band channel is an RF-channel.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the VTD is DOCSIS-compliant and the out-of-band channel is a DOCSIS channel.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the VTD comprises a set top box.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the VTD comprises a cable-ready video display device.

23. A method for controlling a digital video recorder (DVR) of a subscriber in response to a telephone state transition comprising:

receiving an invitation message from a soft switch, wherein the invitation message comprises data indicative of a telephone state transition;

forwarding the invitation message to video termination device (VTD) servers;

determining at a VTD server whether to process the invitation message;

if the invitation message is processed, then;

creating a telephone state message comprising the data indicative of the telephone state transition;

addressing the telephone state message to a VTD in which the DVR resides; and

sending the telephone state message via an out-of-band channel to the VTD.

24. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23, wherein the invitation message further comprises a user value and wherein forwarding the invitation message to the VTD servers comprises:

determining the user value in the invitation message; and

forwarding the invitation message to the VTD servers registered to the user value.

25. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23,

wherein the invitation message further comprises identifying information of the subscriber, and

wherein determining at the VTD server whether to process the invitation message comprises:

receiving from a central datastore a first tuple, wherein the first tuple comprises a subscriber telephone number and an assigned VTD MAC address;

receiving from the VTD a second tuple comprising a read VTD MAC address and a VTD IP address;

determining whether the assigned VTD MAC address matches the read VTD MAC address;

if the assigned VTD MAC address matches the read VTD MAC address, creating a third tuple comprising the subscriber telephone number and the VTD IP address;

determining whether the identifying information of the subscriber matches the subscriber telephone number of the third tuple;

if the identifying information of the called party matches the subscriber telephone number of the third tuple, then processing the invitation request.

26. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 25, wherein the third tuple comprises the subscriber telephone number, the read VTD MAC address, and the VTD IP address

27. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 25 wherein the invitation message is forwarded by a proxy server and the method further comprises:

if the called party is registered with the VTD server, then sending the proxy server an “

OK”

response message comprising an acknowledgement of the invitation message.

28. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 27 further comprising:

sending from the proxy server a cancellation message to the VTD servers from which the “

OK”

response is not received.

29. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23 further comprising:

receiving the telephone state message at a DVR client associated within the VTD;

determining if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD;

if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD, obtaining the telephone state transition from the telephone state message;

generating a DVR command from the telephone state transition, and

issuing the DVR command to the DVR, thereby controlling the DVR in response to the telephone state transition

30. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 29, wherein the telephone state message further comprises a destination IP address, and wherein determining if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD comprises determining if the destination IP address matches the IP address of the VTD.

31. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 29, wherein the telephone state message further comprises a destination MAC address and wherein determining if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD comprises determining if the destination MAC address matches the MAC address of the VTD.

32. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 29, wherein the telephone state message further comprises a destination IP address and a destination MAC address, and wherein determining if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD comprises determining if the destination MAC address and destination IP address match the IP and MAC address of the VTD.

33. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 29 further comprising:

if the telephone state message is not intended for the VTD, sending an error message from the VTD to the VTD server.

34. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23, wherein the out-of-band channel comprises an RF channel.

35. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23, wherein the out-of-band channel comprises a DOCSIS-compliant channel.

36. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23, wherein the VTD comprises a set top box.

37. The method for controlling a DVR in response to a telephone state transition of claim 23, wherein the VTD comprises a cable-ready video display device.

38. A system for controlling a digital video recorder (DVR) in response to a telephone state transition in a cable network comprising:

a headend adapted to provide video services to subscribers of the cable network, wherein the headend comprises a video termination device (VTD) server;

a regional data center comprising a soft switch and a proxy server, wherein the regional data center is adapted to provide digital services to a subscriber of the cable network and the proxy server is adapted to;

receive an invitation message from the soft switch, wherein the invitation message comprises an active telephone number of the subscriber and data indicative of a telephone state transition of a telephone using the active telephone number; and

forward the invitation message to the VTD server; and

the VTD server adapted to;

parse the invitation message to obtain data indicative of a telephone state transition and the active telephone number of the subscriber;

create a telephone state message comprising the data indicative of a telephone state transition;

address the telephone state message to a VTD in which the DVR resides and associated with the active telephone number; and

send the telephone state message via an out-of-band channel to the VTD to control the operation of the DVR.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein a telephone state transition comprises a change of a telephone from an on-hook state to an off-hook state.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein a telephone state transition comprises a change of a telephone from an off-hook state to an on-hook state.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the out-of-band channel is an RF-channel.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein the VTD is DOCSIS-compliant and the out-of-band channel is a DOCSIS channel.

43. The system of claim 38, wherein the system further comprises a central datastore comprising a first tuple comprising a subscriber telephone number and an assigned VTD MAC address and wherein the VTD server is further adapted to:

received from the central datastore the first tuple;

receive from the VTD a second tuple comprising a read VTD MAC address and a VTD IP address;

determine whether the assigned VTD MAC address matches the read VTD MAC address;

if the assigned VTD MAC address matches the read VTD MAC address, create a third tuple comprising the subscriber telephone number and the VTD IP address;

determine whether the active telephone number matches the subscriber telephone number of the third tuple;

if the active telephone number matches the subscriber telephone number of the third tuple, then address the telephone state message to the VTD IP address.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the third tuple further comprises the read VTD MAC address.

45. The system of claim 38, wherein the VTD comprises a DVR client adapted to:

receive the telephone state message;

determine if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD; and

if the telephone state message is intended for the VTD;

obtain the data indicative of the telephone state transition from the telephone state message;

generate a DVR command from the telephone state transition; and

issue the DVR command to the DVR, thereby controlling the DVR in response to the telephone state transition

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the DVR client is further adapted to:

if the telephone state message is not intended for the VTD, send an error message to the VTD server.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein a telephone state transition comprises a change of a telephone from an on-hook state to an off-hook state, and wherein the DVR command comprises a PAUSE command.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein a telephone state transition comprises a telephone state transition comprises a change of a telephone from an off-hook state to an on-hook state and wherein the DVR command comprises a PLAY command.

49. The system of claim 38, wherein the VTD comprises a set top box.

50. The system of claim 38, wherein the VTD comprises a cable-ready video display device.

51. A system for controlling a digital video recorder (DVR) in response to a telephone state transition comprising:

a telephone;

a DVR responsive to infrared commands; and

an infrared signaling monitoring connected to the telephone, wherein the infrared signaling monitor is adapted to;

detect a telephone state transition from an on-hook state to an off-hook state;

send an infrared PAUSE command to the DVR;

detect a telephone state transition from an off-hook state to an on-hook state; and

send an infrared PLAY command to the DVR.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the telephone and infrared signaling monitor are standalone devices.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein the telephone is a wired telephone.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein the telephone is a cordless telephone.

55. A method for controlling a digital video recorder (DVR) in response to a telephone state transition comprising:

detecting a telephone state transition from an on-hook state to an off-hook state;

sending an infrared PAUSE command to the DVR;

detecting a telephone state transition from an off-hook state to an on-hook state; and

sending an infrared PLAY command to the DVR.

56. The method for controlling a DVR of claim 55, wherein the telephone and infrared signaling monitor are standalone devices.

57. The method for controlling a DVR of claim 55, wherein the telephone is a wired telephone.

58. The method for controlling a DVR of claim 55, wherein the telephone is a cordless telephone.