Active requesting of information for psuedo-live performance

• US 8,037,152 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2001
• Issued: 10/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Crandall, Evan Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Shingles; Kristie D
• Application Number:
  US09/775,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20020029291A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,900 Days
• Field of Search: 709/208, 709/246, 709/201, 709/202, 709/212, 709/213, 709/217, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/13 Arrangements for device control affected by the broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4363 Adapting the video stream to a specific local network, e.g. a Bluetooth® network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17327 with deferred transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

Mass amounts of information, such as entire libraries of songs or movies, for example, may be stored locally near end-users, and this information may be accessed and reproduced in response to commands received from a transmitting station via a network. When a radio or television station desires to transmit a song or movie, for example, the radio or television station can, rather than transmitting the entire song or movie, merely transmit a command for reproducing the song or movie. An end-user'"'"'s performance reproduction device, such as an enhanced radio or a television set, then accesses and reproduces the locally stored song or movie. Since the radio or television station need not transmit the entire performance, network traffic can be significantly reduced. The performance reproduction device may actively request information from the radio or television station when fresh or additional information is needed.

Claims

1. A method for receiving video performance content over a network for generating a pseudo-live performance, the method comprising:

detecting a need for the video performance content by determining whether stored video performance content is out-of-date, wherein the stored video performance content is determined to be out-of-date based on a video performance content class of the stored video performance content;

selecting a process for obtaining the video performance content from at least one of a plurality of performance transmitters based on a range of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that can receive a broadcasting signal from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters;

executing via a processor the process for obtaining the video performance content from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters; and

generating the pseudo-live performance by mixing content corresponding to a portion of the video performance content with other content,

wherein generating the pseudo-live performance by mixing content further comprises providing a translation of at least a portion of the pseudo-live performance in a different language, and wherein determining whether stored video performance content is out-of-date further comprises;

transmitting a query to determine a time of a latest update of the stored video performance content;

receiving the time of the latest update of the stored video performance content in response to the transmitting of the query;

accessing a time-stamp of the stored video performance content;

determining whether the time-stamp of the stored video performance content matches the time of the latest update of the stored video performance content the time-stamp associated with a time the stored video performance content was stored.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing a profile, wherein the profile indicates one or more of;

a type of content desired by an end-user;

a schedule of an end-user; and

scheduled times at which content is transmitted by the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a performance transmitter is capable of receiving and responding to a content request, wherein the determining further comprises at least one of:

transmitting a query signal to the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters;

passively receiving a signal from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters; and

accessing a profile.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a content request; and

transmitting the content request to the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters via the network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the process comprises determining an appropriate time to receive content from a performance transmitter.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the pseudo-live performance comprises:

retrieving the other content;

decoding at least one command of the other content; and

performing at least one task instructed by the commands.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one command includes at least one of:

a programming command that executes a software program, a housekeeping command that performs at least one of loading, deleting, changing and overlaying stored content, and a performance command that reproduces stored content from a specified location of a storage device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the video performance content includes multimedia video performance content.

9. A pseudo-live video performance generator, comprising a controller with a processor that:

detects a need for video performance content by determining that stored video performance content is out-of-date, wherein the stored video performance content is determined to be out-of-date based on a video performance content class of the stored video performance content;

selects a process for obtaining the video performance content from at least one of a plurality of performance transmitters based on a range of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that can receive a broadcasting signal from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters;

executes the process for obtaining the video performance content from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters; and

generates the pseudo-live performance by mixing content corresponding to a portion of the video performance content with other content,

wherein when the controller generates the pseudo-live performance by mixing content, actions of the control comprise providing a translation of at least a portion of the pseudo-live performance in a different language, and

wherein when the controller determines that stored video performance content is out-of-date, actions of the controller comprise;

accessing a time of a latest update of the stored video performance content,

accessing a time-stamp of the stored video performance content, and

determining whether the time-stamp of the stored video performance content matches the time of a latest update of the stored video performance content the time-stamp associated with a time the stored video performance content was stored.

10. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 9, further comprising:

accessing a profile, wherein the profile indicates at least one of;

a type of content desired by an end-user;

a schedule of an end-user; and

scheduled times at which content is transmitted the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters.

11. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 9, wherein the controller performs at least one of:

transmitting a query signal to the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters;

passively receiving a signal from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters; and

accessing a profile.

12. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 9, further comprising:

a request generator that generates a content request, wherein the controller transmits the content request to the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters via the network.

13. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 9, wherein the controller determines an appropriate time to receive content from the at least one of the plurality of performance transmitters.

14. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 9, wherein the controller:

retrieves the other content;

decodes a command of the other content; and

performs a task instructed by the command.

15. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 14, wherein the command includes at least one of:

a programming command that executes a software program, a housekeeping command that performs at least one of loading, deleting, changing and overlaying stored content, and a performance command that reproduces stored content from a specified location of a storage device.

16. The pseudo-live performance generator of claim 9, wherein the video performance content includes multimedia video performance content.