System and method for delivering personalized advertising data

• US 20080271068A1
• Filed: 04/25/2007
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Li, Zhi, Liu, Yali, Ou, Canhui
• Granted Patent: US 7,814,521 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23614 Multiplexing of additional data and video streams arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information H04H20/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 Unicasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

A method is disclosed for distributing advertising data in an internet protocol television (IPTV) system, the method including dividing a plurality of end user devices in the IPTV system into K advertising groups; multicasting J advertising data multicast groups to end user devices in J advertising groups having a percentile ranking above or equal to a predetermined percentile ranking; and unicasting advertising data channels for actively viewed IPTV channels being viewed by other end users.

Claims

1. A method for distributing advertising video data in a television (TV) system, the method comprising:

dividing a plurality of end user devices in the TV system into K advertising groups based on end user profile data for the plurality of end user devices;

determining a percentile ranking for end user device profiles among a plurality of end user device profiles;

multicasting J advertising video data multicast groups from the server to a plurality of end user devices in J advertising groups having a percentile ranking above or equal to a predetermined percentile ranking; and

unicasting from the server, advertising video data channels for actively viewed television channels to a fourth integer, I of end users having a percentile ranking below a predetermined percentile ranking.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the TV system is an internet protocol (IP) TV system, wherein the advertising video data channels are only unicast and multicast for actively viewed IPTV channels, the method further comprising sending an integer, N IPTV channels to a IPTV server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined percentile ranking, 1, J, and M are selected based on IPTV system available bandwidth between the IPTV server and the end user devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined percentile ranking is substantially 80%.

5. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

sending channel assignment data to the end user devices indicating internet protocol addresses for IPTV channels and advertising data for the IPTV channels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertising data in the J multicast groups are inserted into one of the N IPTV channels at an end user devices in the J advertising groups at the end user device and wherein the advertising data in the unicast groups are inserted into one of the N IPTV channels at the end user devices in the I advertising groups at an end user device.

7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

IF K is less than a first integer, M,

replicating each of N IPTV channels for each of the K advertising groups;

inserting into each replicated IPTV channel in each advertising group, advertising data selected for the advertising group; and

sending the N times K IPTV channels to an IPTV server close to the end user devices.

8. A system for distributing advertising data in an internet protocol television (IPTV) system, the system comprising:

a computer readable memory;

a processor in data communication with the memory; and

a computer program embedded in the memory, the compute program further comprising instructions to divide a plurality of end user devices in the IP system into K advertising groups based on end user profile data for the plurality of end user devices;

instructions to, IF K is greater than or equal to M, send N IP channels to an IPTV server close to the end user devices;

determine a percentile ranking for end user device profiles among a plurality of end user device profiles;

multicast J advertising data multicast groups to end user devices in J advertising groups having a percentile ranking above or equal to a predetermined percentile ranking; and

instructions to unicast advertising video data channels for active IP channels being viewed to a fourth integer, I end users having a percentile ranking below a predetermined percentile ranking.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined percentile ranking, I, J, and M are selected based on IPTV system available bandwidth between the IPTV server and the end user devices.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined percentile ranking is substantially 80%.

11. The system of claim 8, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to send channel assignment data to the end user devices indicating internet protocol addresses for IPTV channels and advertising data for the IPTV channels.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the advertising data in the J multicast groups are inserted into one of the N IPTV channels at an end user devices in the J advertising groups at the end user device and wherein the advertising data in the unicast groups are inserted into one of the N IPTV channels at the end user devices in the I advertising groups at an end user device.

13. A computer readable medium containing a computer program, useful for distributing advertising data in an internet protocol television (IPTV) system, the computer program comprising:

instructions to divide a plurality of end user devices in the IPTV system into K advertising groups based on end user profile data for the plurality of end user devices;

instructions to, IF K is greater than or equal to M,

send N IPTV channels to an IPTV server close to the end user devices;

determine a percentile ranking for end user device profiles among a plurality of end user device profiles;

multicast J advertising data multicast groups to end user devices in J advertising groups having a percentile ranking above or equal to a predetermined percentile ranking; and

unicast advertising data channels for IPTV channels being viewed by end users to a fourth integer, I end users having a percentile ranking below a predetermined percentile ranking.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein the predetermined percentile ranking, I, J, and M are selected based on IPTV system available bandwidth between the IPTV server and the end user devices.

15. The medium of claim 13, wherein the predetermined percentile ranking is substantially 80%.

16. The medium of claim 13, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to send channel assignment data to the end user devices indicating internet protocol addresses for IPTV channels and advertising data for the IPTV channels.

17. The medium of claim 13, wherein the advertising data in the J multicast groups are inserted into one of the N IPTV channels at an end user devices in the J advertising groups at the end user device and wherein the advertising data in the unicast groups are inserted into one of the N IPTV channels at the end user devices in the I advertising groups at an end user device.

18. A data structure embedded in a computer readable medium, the data structure comprising:

a first field for containing data indicative of a predetermined percentile ranking for determining, based on a percentile ranking for profile data for an end user device, whether an end user will receive advertising data selected from the group consisting of an advertising data multicast and an advertising data unicast.

19. The data structure of claim 18, further comprising:

a second field for containing data indicative of available bandwidth between an IPTV server and the end user device for determining the predetermined percentile ranking.

20. The data structure of claim 18, further comprising:

a third field for containing data indicative of channel assignments for advertising data unicast groups for end user devices in a percentile ranking below the predetermined percentile.

21. The data structure of claim 18, further comprising:

a fourth field for containing data indicative of channel assignments for advertising data multicast groups for end user devices in a percentile ranking above or equal to the predetermined percentile.

22. The data structure of claim 18, further comprising:

a fifth field for containing data indicative of channel assignments for IPTV channels when a number, N of IPTV channels are replicated in a second number, K of advertising groups.

23. A method for receiving advertising data in an IP television system, the method comprising:

receiving at an IP television end user device from an IP television server, a channel assignment for an IPTV channel containing advertising data targeted to an IPTV subscriber associated with the end user device;

accepting a channel request at the end user device from the IPTV subscriber; and

joining a first IP address identified in the channel assignment to receive data for the requested IP television channel from the IP television system, wherein the requested IP television channel has multiple versions, each version including the same video content data and different advertising video data than each other version.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first IP address further comprises an address selected from the group consisting of a unicast address and a multicast address, the method further comprising:

joining a second IP address identified in the channel assignment to receive advertising data targeted to the IPTV subscriber; and

inserting the advertising data into the requested IPTV channel data.

25. A system for receiving advertising data in an IPTV system, the system comprising:

a computer readable memory;

a processor in data communication with the computer readable memory, the processor further comprising,

a first interface for receiving at an IPTV end user device from an IPTV server, a channel assignment for an IPTV channel containing advertising data targeted to an IPTV subscriber associated with the end user device;

a second interface for accepting a channel request at the end user device from the IPTV subscriber; and

a third interface for joining a first IP address identified in the channel assignment to receive data for the requested IPTV channel from the IPTV system.

26. The system of claim 25, the processor further comprising:

a fourth interface for joining a second IP address identified in the channel assignment to receive advertising data targeted to the IPTV subscriber; and

a fifth interface for inserting the advertising data in to requested IPTV channel data.

27. A computer readable medium, containing a computer program useful for receiving advertising data in an IPTV system, the computer program comprising:

instructions receive at an IPTV end user device from an IPTV server, a channel assignment for an IPTV channel containing advertising data targeted to an IPTV subscriber associated with the end user device;

instructions to accept a channel request at the end user device from the IPTV subscriber; and

instructions to join a first IP address identified in the channel assignment to receive data for the requested IPTV channel from the IPTV system.