Systems and methods for determining attributes of media items accessed via a personal media broadcaster

• US 8,060,609 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2008
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sling Media LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sling Media Incorporated (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Jacob, Ruben Thomas, Rao, Padmanabha, Shirali, Amey Mangesh, Venkatesan, Thiygarajan, Banger, Shashidhar, Iyer, Satish
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan; Wing
• Assistant Examiner(s): MIAH, RAZU A
• Application Number:
  US12/334,959
• Publication Number:
  US 20090177758A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,065 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/219, 709/228, 725/46, 705/14
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/70 of video data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7844 using original textual content or text extracted from visual content or transcript of audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0253 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image
• 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 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream

Abstract

Systems, devices and methods are described for determining attributes identifying media items from other media items. A first video sequence of a first media item is received from a media source, the video sequence including one or more images having first banner information embedded therein. The attributes of the first media item are determined based on at least the first banner information extracted from the first video sequence. The determined attributes of the first media item can then be stored or otherwise processed as desired.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining attributes identifying media items from other media items, the method comprising:

receiving a first video sequence of a first media item from a media source;

receiving a second video sequence of a second media item subsequent to receiving the first video sequence of the first media item, the second video sequence including one or more images having a banner image embedded therein, wherein the banner image is a portion of the one or more images that visually presents identifying information about the second media item;

detecting a transition from the first video sequence to the second video sequence;

in response to detecting the transition, extracting the identifying information from the banner image embedded in the one or more images of the received second video sequence; and

determining attributes of the second media item based at least on the identifying information extracted from the second video sequence; and

identifying the second media item received in the second video sequence based on at least the attributes determined from the identifying information extracted from the banner image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracting comprises:

capturing the one or more images having the banner image embedded therein; and

generating text data representing the identifying information visually presented in the captured one or more images by using automatic character recognition.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the extracting further comprises filtering the text data to extract the identifying information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises determining the attributes of the second media item by:

generating first candidate attributes based on the identifying information extracted from the banner image;

generating second candidate attributes based on information other than the identifying information extracted from the banner image; and

determining the attributes of the first media item based on the first candidate attributes and the second candidates attributes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the attributes of the second media item further comprises generating a confidence score based on matching of the first candidate attributes with the second candidate attributes, the confidence score representing likelihood that the determined attributes of the second media item are accurate.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the information other than the identifying information includes data for an electronic program guide, closed caption data, and XDS (extended Data Services) data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the transition from the first video sequence to the second video sequence comprises detecting a user command associated with a channel change in the media source, detecting changes in XDS (extended Data Services) data received from the media source, detecting changes in an image received from the media source, or comparing first text data extracted from the first banner information with second text data extracted from the second banner information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising learning a structure of the identifying information and a location of the banner image within the one or more images of the received second video sequence.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the attributes and at least a portion of the second media item via a network to a media management server responsive to a user input selecting the second media item.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracting comprises receiving a portion of the image including the identifying information.

11. An apparatus for sending a media item to a client device via a network, comprising:

an input interface configured to receive the media item from a media source;

a signal processor module coupled to the input interface and configured to construct a datastream suitable for transmission over the network that includes the media item, the datastream including images in a first resolution;

an attribute extractor module configured to extract first attribute data from the media item, the first attribute data representing data for identifying the first media item from other media items, wherein the attribute extractor module is configured to extract the first attribute data from an image of a banner embedded within at least one image of the received media item, wherein the banner visually presents the first attribute data;

a transition detect module coupled to the input interface and configured to detect a transition in the media item received from the media source; and

a network interface configured to transmit the media stream and the first attribute data of the media item to the client device over the network.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first attribute data comprises at least one of data from an electronic program guide, closed caption data, and XDS (extended Data Services) data.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the attribute data is transmitted over the network in a first channel having lower priority than a second channel via which the datastream is transmitted.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a transition detect module coupled to the input interface for detecting transition in the media item received from the media source.

15. A method of selecting and storing media items received from a personal media broadcaster via a network, comprising:

receiving a first video sequence of a first media item from the personal media broadcaster;

receiving a second video sequence of a second media item subsequent to the first video sequence of the first media item;

receiving first attribute data associated with the second media item from the personal media broadcaster, the first attribute data representing data for identifying the second media item from other media items;

buffering the first attribute data and at least a portion of the datastream of the second media item on a temporary basis; and

determining attributes of the second media item using the stored first attribute data responsive to detecting a transition from the first video sequence to the second video sequence in response to receiving user input selecting the second media item.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising sending the attributes of the second media item and a portion of the data stream selected by the user to a media management server via the network for sharing with other users.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first attribute data comprises banner information embedded in an image in the second video sequence.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving via the network text data generated from the banner information using a character recognition server responsive to sending a portion of the image including the banner to the character recognition server via the network.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first attribute data is received via a first channel, and the first and second video sequences are received via a second channel having a higher priority than the first channel.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving second attribute data associated with the second media item from the personal media broadcaster, the second attribute data representing data for identifying the second media item that is disparate from the first attribute data.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second attribute data comprises data for an electronic program guide, closed caption data, and XDS (extended Data Services) data.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein detecting the transition from the first media item to the second media item comprises at least one of detecting a user command associated with a channel change received at the client device, detecting changes in XDS (extended Data Services) data received from the personal media broadcaster, detecting changes in an image received from the personal media broadcaster, or comparing a first text extracted from the first attribute data of the first media item with a second text extracted from the first attribute data of the second media item.

23. The method of claim 15 further comprising validating the first attribute data against second attribute data.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the second attribute data comprises at least one of electronic program guide data, closed caption data, and XDS (extended Data Services) data.