Index of locally recorded content

• US 20080124055A1
• Filed: 11/02/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Shahraray, Behzad, Liu, Zhu, Renger, Bernard S., Gibbon, David, Begeja, Lee, Cox, Richard V.
• Granted Patent: US 8,090,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/743 a collection of video files or sequences
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• 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 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/914 Video
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/916 Audio

Abstract

A method to index locally recorded content at a media device includes extracting, at a remote service provider, event index data from an event being locally recorded at a media device and associating the event index data with locator code data of the event. The method further includes storing, at the remote service provider, the extracted event index data and the associated locator code data; searching the extracted event index data for a plurality of segments associated with the event, the search being associated with a search request; determining index display data for a presentation of the plurality of segments based on the search request; and transmitting, to the media device, the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments, and the index display data.

Claims

1. An interface of a media device comprising:

a search request prompt to locate a segment of locally recorded content on the media device; and

an index display to present a segment index selected from a group including textual information associated with the segment and pictorial information associated with the segment, wherein the segment index is extracted from the locally recorded content based on locator code data sent by a remote service provider in response to a search request.

2. The interface of claim 1 wherein the locator code data is selected from a group including:

a start time of the segment, an end time of the segment, an access point of the segment, a broadcast channel of the segment, a recording code associated with the segment, any information useful in recording the segment, and any other information useful in determining access to the segment, wherein the index display includes a presentation format of the segment index.

3. The interface of claim 1 further comprising a selection feature to view the segment from the locally recorded content.

4. A system comprising:

an index extraction service to extract event index data from an event being locally recorded at a media device and to associate the event index data with locator code data of the event;

a storage device to record the extracted event index data and the associated locator code data;

an index association service to search the extracted event index data for a plurality of segments associated with the event, the search being associated with a search request, the index association service further to determine index display data for a presentation of the plurality of segments in response to the search request; and

a transmitter to send, to the media device, the index display data and the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments to extract an image to present in an index.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the index display data for the presentation of the plurality of segments includes a presentation format of the plurality of segments in a display through the media device,

wherein the locator code data is selected from a group including:

a start time of the segment, an end time of the segment, an access point of the segment, a broadcast channel of the segment, a recording code associated with the segment, any information useful in recording the segment, and any other information useful in determining access to the segment.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments is transmitted to the media device with the event.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments is transmitted to the media device separately from the event.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the locator code data is transmitted on a bandwidth that is lower than a bandwidth of the event.

9. The system of claim 4 wherein the event is selected from a group including video content, audio content, and image content.

10. The system of claim 4 wherein the event index data is selected from a group including text information associated with the event and pictorial information associated with the event.

11. The system of claim 4 wherein the index extraction service synchronizes the locator code data to the locally recorded event.

12. A method comprising:

extracting event index data from event being locally recorded at a media device and to associate the event index data with locator code data of the event;

storing the extracted event index data and the associated locator code data;

searching the extracted event index data for a plurality of segments associated with the event, the search being associated with a search request;

determining index display data for a presentation of the plurality of segments based on the search request; and

transmitting, to the media device, the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments to extract an image to present from an index, and the index display data.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining further includes recognizing that the index display data for the presentation of the plurality of segments includes a presentation order of the plurality of segments in a display through the media device.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising transmitting the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments to the media device separately from the event.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein extracting further includes identifying that the event is selected from a group including video content, audio content, and image content.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein extracting further includes identifying that the locator code data associated with the plurality of segments exclusively includes the locator code data of the locally recorded event.

17. The method of claim 12 further comprising synchronizing the locator code data to the locally recorded event.

18. The method of claim 12 further comprising extracting segment text and segment images from the locally recorded event to create a segment index page at the media device, the segment index page created in a manner that does not involve retransmission of content.

19. A media device system comprising:

a database to locally record content from a service provider;

a receiver to receive, from the service provider, the content, locator code data of a segment of the locally recorded content, and index display data, wherein the locator code data and the index display data are received in response to a search request initiated at a media device, wherein the locator code data is associated with event index data, wherein the event index data represents the segment of the event locally recorded, the event index data being extracted from the event locally recorded, wherein the index display data represents a presentation format of the segment based on the search request; and

a processor to process the locator code data and the index display data and to convert the locator code data and the index display data to an index having the segment associated with the search request.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the index is selected from a group including an image thumbnail associated with the segment and including text associated with the segment.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein the event is selected from a group including video content, audio content, and image content.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein the event index data is selected from a group including text information associated with the event and including pictorial information associated with the event,

wherein the locator code data is selected from a group including:

a start time of the segment, an end time of the segment, an access point of the segment, a broadcast channel of the segment, a recording code associated with the segment, any information useful in recording the segment, and any other information useful in determining access to the segment.

23. A method comprising:

locally recording an event from a remote service provider;

receiving from the remote service provider, content, locator code data of a segment of the locally recorded content, and index display data, wherein the locator code data and the index display data are received in response to a search request initiated at a media device, wherein the locator code data is associated with event index data, wherein the event index data represents the segment of the event locally recorded, the event index data being extracted from the event locally recorded, wherein the index display data represents a presentation format of the segment based on the search request;

processing the locator code data and the index display data; and

converting the locator code data and the index display data to an index having the segment associated with the search request.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising offering for selection the segment to view the locally recorded event associated therewith.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein receiving further includes identifying that the content is selected from a group including video content, audio content, and image content.