CONFLICT NOTIFICATION WITH ALTERNATE PROGRAM LIST

• US 20150319494A1
• Filed: 05/05/2014
• Published: 11/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Dhanabalan, Sankar Ram, Mani, Prabhakar, Padi, Anil Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 9,641,893 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4583 Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programs in the same time slot
• 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 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• 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

Abstract

A device receives a recording schedule for programs to record at a future time and causes, based on the recording schedule, at least some of the programs to be recorded in the device memory to create recorded content. The device detects use of the device, by a user, to initiate obtaining content that creates a conflict with the recording schedule. The device identifies alternate content, from the recorded content, that is related to the content that creates the conflict with the recording schedule. The device presents, to the user, a notification of the conflict. The notification includes a list of at least some of the alternate content from the recorded content such that the user can select alternate recorded content from the notification menu without disrupting the recording schedule.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a device, a recording schedule for programs to record at a future time;

causing, by the device and based on the recording schedule, at least some of the programs to be recorded to create recorded content;

detecting, by the device, use of the device, by a user, to initiate obtaining content that creates a conflict with the recording schedule;

identifying, by the device, alternate content from the recorded content, wherein the alternate content is related to the content that creates the conflict with the recording schedule; and

presenting, by the device and to the user, a notification of the conflict, wherein the notification includes a list of at least some of the alternate content from the recorded content.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the device and from the user, a selection from the list; and

providing, by the device, particular recorded content, corresponding to the selection from the list, while maintaining the recording schedule.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the notification of the conflict further comprises:

ranking items in the list of at least some of the alternate content.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the use of the device to initiate obtaining content that creates a conflict with the recording schedule includes tuning to a program that requires use of a tuner of the device;

and

wherein ranking items in the list of at least some of the alternate content further comprises;

identifying features of the program,

identifying features of particular items of the recorded content, and

determining a best match based on the features of the program and the features of the particular items.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

monitoring, by the device, whether the recorded content has been watched, wherein determining a best match is further based on whether the alternate content has been watched.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the use of the device that creates a conflict with the recording schedule includes one or more of:

proving instructions for tuning to a channel, wherein the tuning, in combination with the recording schedule, requires more tuners than are available to the device during a period of time;

or

viewing the channel, wherein continuing the viewing, in combination with the recording schedule, would require more tuners than are available to the device during the period of time.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the device comprises at least one of a digital video recorder (DVR), a set-top box (STB), or a home media server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the use of the device that creates a conflict with the recording schedule includes:

receiving, from a mobile device, a request for a mobile live stream, wherein servicing, by the device, the request for the mobile live stream would exceed a capacity of the device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises least one of a smart phone, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded content includes one of:

content delivered over-the-top, or

content stored locally on the device.

11. A device, comprising:

a memory configured to store a plurality of instructions;

a processing unit configured to;

receive a recording schedule for programs to record at a future time;

cause, based on the recording schedule, at least some of the programs to be recorded in the memory to create recorded content;

detect use of the device, by a user, to initiate obtaining content that creates a conflict with the recording schedule;

identify, based on the monitoring, alternate content from the recorded content, wherein the alternate content is related to the content that creates the conflict with the recording schedule; and

present, to the user, a notification of the conflict, wherein the notification includes a list of at least some of the alternate content from the recorded content.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

receive, from the user, a selection from the list; and

provide particular recorded content, corresponding to the selection from the list, while maintaining the recording schedule.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein, when presenting the notification of the conflict, the processing unit is further configured to:

identify features of a program intended to be watched by the user,

identify features of items of the recorded content, and

rank, based on the features of the program and the features of the particular items, the items in the list.

14. The device of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

monitor whether the recorded content has been watched by the particular user, and

rank, based on the monitoring, the items in the list.

15. The device of claim 11, wherein the use of the device to initiate obtaining content that creates a conflict with the recording schedule includes one or more of:

tuning to a channel, wherein the tuning in combination with the recording schedule requires more tuners than are available to the device during a period of time;

or

viewing the channel, wherein continuing the viewing, in combination with the recording schedule, would require more tuners than are available to the device during the period of time.

16. The device of claim 11, wherein the device comprises at least one of a digital video recorder (DVR), a set-top box (STB), or a home media server.

17. The device of claim 11, wherein the recorded content includes one of:

content delivered over-the-top, or

content stored locally on the memory of the device.

18. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a device, multiple requests, up to a limit of a transcoding capacity of the device, to provide transcoded content streams;

transcoding, by the device and based on the multiple requests, content for each of the received multiple requests;

receiving, by the device, another request, from a user, for additional content that requires transcoding and that exceeds the transcoding capacity of the device;

identifying, by the device, a conflict, based on the request and the transcoding activity,

identify, by the device, alternate content that can be provided, by the device and to the user, without transcoding;

presenting, by the device and to the user, a notification of the conflict, wherein the notification includes a list of at least some of the alternate content.

19. The method claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, from the user, a selection from the list; and

providing particular content, corresponding to the selection from the list, while maintaining the transcoding content for each of the received multiple requests.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

monitoring whether the alternate content has been previously presented to the user.