Electronic program guide with hyperlinks to target resources

• US 7,665,109 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2003
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Matthews, Joseph H. III, Robarts, James O., Byrne, David S., Lawler, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN BA, HOANG VU A
• Application Number:
  US10/620,254
• Publication Number:
  US 20040139465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,408 Days
• Field of Search: 348/473, 348/563, 725/51, 725/53, 725/46, 725/60, 725/61, 725/109, 715/760
• US Class Current: 725/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• 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 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• 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 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• 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 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An electronic programming guide (EPG) resides in a user interface unit memory and is executable on the processor of the user interface unit to organize programming information that is descriptive of the programs supplied over an interactive entertainment system. The EPG supports a user interface (UI) which visually correlates programs titles to scheduled viewing times. A hyperlink browser also resides in memory and is executable on the processor. One or more hyperlinks, which reference target resources containing interactive content related to the video programs, are integrated as part of the EPG UI. When a viewer activates a hyperlink within the EPG, the user interface unit launches the browser to activate the target resource specified by the hyperlink. The instruction might cause the visual display unit to tune to the program or channel represented by the particular label, or to initiate procedures to record the program when it begins playing, or to jump to a related target resource, such as a Web site.

Claims

1. A user interface unit comprising:

a processor;

an electronic programming guide (EPG) executing on the processor to;

organize programming information, including correlating Internet universal resource locators (URLs) with particular programs in the EPG, the URLs identifying target resources that contain supplemental information related to the particular programs; and

enable a user of the user interface to enter additional URLs identifying target resources that contain supplemental information related to the particular program, wherein the user associates the user entered additional URLs identifying target resources with a particular program or channel in the EPG, wherein the associated additional URLs are prioritized and displayed within an EPG Field associated with the particular program within the EPG, wherein prioritizing the associated additional URLs comprises monitoring the user'"'"'s usage pattern of the associated additional URLs; and

the processor being programmed to search the EPG and identify the particular programs having correlated URLs as interactive programs.

2. A user interface unit as recited in claim 1, further comprising a visual display, the processor being programmed to compile a list of the interactive programs and present the list of interactive programs on the visual display.

3. A tangible computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions configured for:

designating data fields in an electronic programming guide (EPG) to hold programming information;

dedicating one of the data fields as a supplemental content field;

entering a plurality target specifications into the supplemental content field to correlate supplemental content with a program, the target specification identifying a location for the supplemental content, wherein the entering a target specification into the supplemental content field comprises receiving the target specification from a viewer accessing an EPG user interface (UI) supported by the EPG, wherein the plurality of target specifications is prioritized and displayed within a supplemental content field associated with the program within the EPG, wherein prioritizing the plurality of target specifications comprises monitoring the viewer'"'"'s usage pattern of the target specification;

associating, by the viewer, the target specification identifying a location for the supplemental content with a particular program or channel in the EPG;

compiling a list of interactive programs, wherein each interactive program in the list is a program having an associated target specification; and

presenting the list of interactive programs through the EPG user interface (UI) supported by the EPG.

4. A tangible computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions as recited in claim 3, wherein the compiling comprises searching the EPG for interactive programs.

5. A tangible computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions as recited in claim 3, wherein the target specification is selected from the group comprising:

a memory pointer;

a hyperlink; and

a universal resource locator (URL).

6. In a system having an electronic programming guide (EPG), a method comprising:

correlating user entered hyperlinks with corresponding programming information in the EPG, wherein the user enters the hyperlinks through an EPG user interface (UI) supported by the EPG and associates the hyperlink with a particular program or channel in the EPG, wherein the entered hyperlinks are displayed within an EPG Field associated with the particular program or channel within the EPG, wherein prioritizing the entered hyperlinks comprises monitoring the user'"'"'s usage pattern of the hyperlinks; and

searching the EPG to identify interactive programs within the programming information that have correlated hyperlinks.