Delivery of navigation data for playback of audio and video content

• US 6,889,383 B1
• Filed: 10/23/2000
• Issued: 05/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Clearplay Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Clearplay Incorporated
• Inventors: Jarman, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, NGOC K
• Application Number:
  US09/695,102
• Time in Patent Office: 1,653 Days
• Field of Search: 725/46, 725/47, 725/50, 725/52, 725/53, 725/58, 725/30, 725/28, 725114-115, 725131-134, 725138-142, 725144-145, 725151-153, 725/25, 725/27, 725/31, 386/46, 386/52, 386/125, 386/5, 386/6, 386/35
• US Class Current: 725/28
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4318 by altering the content in the rendering process, e.g. blanking, blurring or masking an image region image enhancement or restoration in general G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4396 by muting the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention a filtering process is based on the output side of a multimedia decoder. A navigator, located at a server system, monitors the current play position of multimedia content at a consumer system and compares that position with navigation objects. Each navigation object defines a start position, a stop position, and a filtering action to perform on the portion of the multimedia content that begins at the start position and ends at the stop position. When the current play position falls within the portion of multimedia content defined by a particular navigation object, the navigator sends the filtering action to the consumer system for processing. Filtering actions include skipping, muting, reframing, etc., the portion of multimedia content defined by a navigation object. Alternatively, the navigator may be located at a consumer system and the server system may provide access to the navigation objects (e.g. download) so that the consumer system monitors and filters the multimedia content based on the received navigation objects. A variety of systems may be used to implement the present invention, such as computer systems (consumer and server), television systems, and audio systems.

Claims

1. In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, the method comprising the server system performing the acts of:

creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;

receiving a request for one or more navigation objects from the consumer system, the request identifying the multimedia content to be played at the consumer system;

in response to the request, retrieving one or more navigation objects from the object store;

sending the one or more navigation objects to the consumer system for processing, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action for each portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions of each navigation object, resulting in the exclusion of each portion of the multimedia content defined by the one or more navigation objects;

sending a representation of the one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled; and

disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned by the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the position codes are time codes.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the filtering action specified in at least one of the one or more navigation objects is either skipping or reframing the portion of the multimedia content defined by the at least one navigation object.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the multimedia content includes one or more channels of audio content, and wherein the filtering action specified in at least one of the one or more navigation objects is muting at least one channel of the audio content for the portion of the audio content defined by the at least one navigation object.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein access to the server system is governed by a fee agreement, the method further comprising the act of receiving a fee from a user at the consumer system, the fee entitling the user to access the server system for either (i) a specific period of time, or (ii) a specific number of times.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality navigation objects are based at least in part on the age appropriateness of the portions of the multimedia content defined by the plurality of navigation objects, age appropriateness being determined according to either industry or community standards.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the act of downloading a consumer system multimedia navigator from the server system, the navigator activating the filtering actions of the one or more navigation objects at the consumer system.

8. In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, the method comprising the server system performing the acts of:

creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;

as the consumer system decodes the multimedia content, continuously querying the consumer system for a position code, the position code indicating a position relative to other positions within the multimedia content;

continuously monitoring the position code and comparing it with each navigation object to determine whether the position corresponding to the position code is within one of the navigation objects;

determining the position code is within a navigation object;

sending to the consumer system, the filtering action assigned to the navigation object, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action, resulting in the exclusion of the portion of the multimedia content defined by the navigation object;

sending a representation of one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying the at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled; and

disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned to the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.

9. A method as recited in claim 8 further comprising the server system performing the acts of:

determining the position code is after the navigation object; and

sending a command to the consumer system instructing the consumer system to end activation of the filtering action assigned to the navigation object.

10. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the position codes are time codes.

11. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the filtering action assigned to the navigation object is either skipping or reframing the portion of the multimedia content defined by the navigation object.

12. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the multimedia content includes one or more channels of audio content, and wherein the filtering action specified in the navigation object is muting at least one channel of the audio content for the portion of the audio content defined by the navigation object.

13. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein access to the server system is governed by a fee agreement, the method further comprising the act of receiving a fee from a user at the consumer system, the fee entitling the user to access the server system for either (i) a specific period of time, or (ii) a specific number of times.

14. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the plurality navigation objects are based at least in part on the age appropriateness of the portions of the multimedia content defined by the plurality of navigation objects, age appropriateness being determined according to either industry or community standards.

15. A method as recited in claim 8 further comprising the act of downloading a consumer system multimedia navigator from the server system, the navigator activating at the consumer system, the filtering action of the navigation object.

16. In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a computer program product for implementing a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, comprising:

a computer readable medium for carrying machine-executable instructions for implementing the method; and

wherein said method is comprised of machine-executable instructions for performing the acts of;

creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;

receiving a request for one or more navigation objects from the consumer system, the request identifying the multimedia content to be played at the consumer system;

in response to the request, retrieving one or more navigation objects from the object store;

sending the one or more navigation objects to the consumer system for processing, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action for each portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions of each navigation object, thereby excluding each portion of the multimedia content defined by the one or more navigation objects;

sending a representation of one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying the at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled; and

disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned to the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.

17. A computer program product as recited in claim 16 wherein the position codes are time codes.

18. A computer program product as recited in claim 16 wherein the filtering action specified in at least one of the one or more navigation objects is either skipping or reframing the portion of the multimedia content defined by the at least one navigation object.

19. A computer program product as recited in claim 16 wherein the multimedia content includes one or more channels of audio content and the filtering action assigned to the at least one navigation object is muting, the method comprised further of machine-executable instructions for performing the act of muting at least one channel of the audio content for the portion of the audio content defined by the at least one navigation object.

20. In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a computer program product for implementing a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, the method comprising the server system performing the acts of:

a computer readable medium for carrying machine-executable instructions for implementing the method; and

wherein said method is comprised of machine-executable instructions for performing the acts of;

creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;

as the consumer system decodes the multimedia content, continuously querying the consumer system for a position code, the position code indicating a position relative to other positions within the multimedia content;

continuously monitoring the position code and comparing it with each navigation object to determine whether the position corresponding to the position code is within one of the navigation objects;

determining the position code is within a navigation object;

sending to the consumer system, the filtering action assigned to the navigation object, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action;

sending a representation of one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;

receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying the at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled; and

disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned to the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.

21. A computer program product as recited in claim 20 wherein the position codes are time codes.

22. A computer program product as recited in claim 20 wherein the filtering action assigned to the navigation object is either skipping or reframing the portion of the multimedia content defined by the navigation object.

23. A computer program product as recited in claim 20 wherein the multimedia content includes one or more channels of audio content and the filtering action assigned to the navigation object is muting, the method comprised further of machine-executable instructions for performing the act of muting at least one channel of the audio content for the portion of the audio content defined by the navigation object.