Content selection based on signaling from customer premises equipment in a broadcast network

• US 8,108,895 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2006
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Invidi Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: Invidi Technologies Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Bruce J., Boulet, Daniel A., Wilson, Daniel C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Batista, Marcos
• Application Number:
  US11/331,835
• Publication Number:
  US 20070022032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,210 Days
• Field of Search: 725 1- 9, 725 32- 36, 705400-418, 705/14.4, 705/14.41
• US Class Current: 725/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/103 Transmitter-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/18 Arrangements for synchronising broadcast or distribution via plural systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/22 Arrangements for broadcast of identical information via plural broadcast systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/26 Arrangements for switching distribution systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/31 using in-band signals, e.g. subsonic or cue signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/33 by plural channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/30 characterised by the use of a return channel, e.g. for collecting users' opinions, for returning broadcast space/time information or for requesting data
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/70 : characterised in that receivers can be addressed
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/80 : characterised in that motion picture association of America [MPAA] ratings are used
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/06 : Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/13 : Arrangements for device control affected by the broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/16 : on playing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/17 : on recording information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 : Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/32 : Arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations, e.g. malfunction or breakdown of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 : Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 : for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/375 : Commercial
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/40 : for identifying broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 : for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 : for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 : for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/47 : for recognising genres
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 : of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/63 : for services of sales data processing systems or methods specially adapted for electronic commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 : for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/82 : the transmission system being the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/97 : using uplink of the CATV systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 : Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/18 : Delegation of network management function, e.g. customer network management [CNM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 : Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 : wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2221 : being a cable television head-end CATV in broadcast systems H04H20/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 : involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 : Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2407 : Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 : Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 : Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 : Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 : Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 : being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/262 : Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 : the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 : involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26225 : involving billing parameters, e.g. priority for subscribers of premium services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26233 : involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 : Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 : involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 : Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 : Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 : for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 : with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented for insertion of assets into a stream of content (e.g., audio and/or video programming). Such assets may be targeted to network users separate from the surrounding content and deliveries thereof confirmed. Among other things, these systems and methods enable a new advertising paradigm based on guaranteed delivery of targeted commercial impressions. In this regard, the systems and methods generally provide assets with broadcast network programming (e.g., via actual insertion and/or switching to an asset channel) based on actual audience observations. For example, asset providers may wish to target assets for delivery according to specific audience classifications (e.g., gender, income level, locale, age, etc.). Programming providers, such as television programmers and radio programmers (e.g., standard tower broadcast radio and satellite radio), may receive information from broadcast network users and insert the assets into available bandwidth based on that information.

Claims

1. A method for use in delivering assets to users of a broadcast network, said broadcast network primarily involving synchronized distribution of broadcast content to multiple users, said method comprising:

receiving, at a network platform, a plurality of inputs from a plurality of user equipment devices of a plurality of broadcast network users, said inputs being free from any contemporaneous acts by said users to trigger said inputs, wherein said inputs define a collection of assets that are suitable for delivery to the plurality of user equipment devices as targeted assets to be displayed at an asset delivery opportunity associated with real time broadcast programming, said collection of assets being potentially larger than practical for transmission to said plurality of user equipment devices;

aggregating the plurality of inputs from the plurality of user equipment devices to form an aggregate of the inputs;

selecting a subset of assets from the collection of assets for transmission to all plurality of user equipment devices, wherein the subset of assets is smaller than the collection of assets, and wherein the subset of assets is selected based on the aggregate of the inputs from the plurality of user equipment devices and targeting criteria specified by one or more asset providers; and

transmitting the subset of assets to all of the plurality of user equipment devices.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting a set of asset options, and the targeting criteria to said user equipment devices of said plurality of broadcast network users and receiving said plurality of inputs in response thereto, wherein said plurality of inputs are associated with ones of the set of asset options.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting comprises identifying assets selected by user equipment devices of a large number of users.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting comprises selecting said subset of assets based at least in part on revenues associated with dissemination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting comprises taking into account the identity of said asset providers in identifying the subset of assets.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting the subset of assets comprises providing the subset of assets correspondent to a single time-slot.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said subset of assets is transmitted in synchronization with said time-slot.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving reports from said user equipment devices of said plurality of users regarding delivery of said subset of assets.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a revenue value associated with delivery of said subset of assets based on said reports.

10. A system that delivers content to users of a broadcast network, said broadcast network primarily involving synchronized distribution of the content to multiple users, said system comprising:

an operations center that transmits content to user equipment devices of said users; and

a content selection processor, associated with said operations center, that;

receives a plurality of processor originated inputs from said user equipment devices, said inputs being free from any contemporaneous acts by said users to trigger said inputs, wherein said inputs define a collection of assets that are suitable for delivery to said user equipment devices as targeted assets to be displayed at an asset delivery opportunity associated with programming, said collection of assets being potentially larger than practical for transmission to said user equipment devices;

aggregates the plurality of inputs to form an aggregate of the inputs;

selects a subset of assets from said collection of assets, wherein said subset of assets is smaller than said collection of assets, and wherein said subset of assets is selected based on said aggregate of the inputs and targeting criteria specified by one or more asset providers; and

identifies said subset of assets for transmission to all of said user equipment devices.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a content synchronizer that, when directed by the content selection processor, transmits the subset of assets over said broadcast network.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said content synchronizer is operative to insert the subset of assets into a stream of programming, a transmission band switching to an asset transmission band, or a combination thereof.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the user equipment devices of said users includes customer premises equipment.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said customer premise equipment generates said inputs and provides said inputs to the content selection processor.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the content selection processor and the content synchronizer are resident on each said customer premise equipment and wherein each said customer premise equipment includes a storage element that stores the subset of assets for retrieval by the content selection processor.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein said customer premises equipment is operative to distinguish between different users of the customer premises equipment in connection with generating said inputs.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein said customer premises equipment is operative to detect a presence or lack thereof of a user and selectively generate an input based thereon.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein said customer premises equipment is operative for associating said customer premises equipment with multiple users in connection with generating an input.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein the user equipment devices of said users generate reports that indicate delivery of assets within the subset of assets.

20. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a traffic and billing module that calculates a value for the delivery of each asset based on the reports.

21. The system of claim 10, wherein said subset of assets is targeted to said users based on an audience classification involving age, gender, income, level, locale, a personal interest or a combination thereof.

22. A method for use in connection with delivering

selected content to users of a broadcast network, the broadcast network primarily involving synchronized distribution of broadcast content to multiple users, the method comprising the steps of:

generating information corresponding to a collection of available assets and targeting criteria associated with said available assets;

identifying the information for broadcasting over a broadcast network, wherein the information is receivable by a plurality of user equipment devices (UEDs) via the broadcast network;

receiving response signals transmitted via the broadcast network, the response signals originating from the plurality of UEDs, said response signals being free from any contemporaneous acts by said users to trigger said response signals, each of the response signals indicating suitability of one or more of the available assets for delivery at a corresponding UED based on the targeting criteria associated with said available assets;

aggregating the response signals from the plurality of UEDs to from an aggregate of the response signals; and

selecting a subset of the collection of assets based on the aggregate of the response signals and targeting criteria of one or more asset providers for transmission to all of said plurality of UEDs in connection with a given asset delivery opportunity.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

inserting at least a portion of the subset of the collection of assets into a content stream of the broadcast network.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

broadcasting the content stream over the broadcast network.