System and method of voting via an interactive television system

• US 8,286,870 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2011
• Issued: 10/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Howcroft, Jerald Robert, Piatt, Kathy Goode
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAIL, ALLYSON NEEL
• Application Number:
  US13/328,625
• Publication Number:
  US 20120124609A1
• Time in Patent Office: 305 Days
• Field of Search: 235/386, 463/1, 700/91
• US Class Current: 235/386
• 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 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8545 for generating interactive applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method includes receiving a first voting selection from a first user logged in at a set-top box device, the first voting selection associated with video content that is received at the set-top box device. The first voting selection is added to a tally of votes when a voting status of the set-top box device indicates no previous voting selection has been received from the first user. A second voting selection associated with the video content is received from a second user logged in at the set-top box device. The second voting selection is added to the tally of votes when no previous voting selection has been received from the second user. A third voting selection received from the first user is not added to the tally of votes when the voting status indicates that the first voting selection has been received from the first user.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a server of an internet protocol television network, a first voting selection from a first user logged in at a set-top box device, the first voting selection associated with video content that is received at the set-top box device via the internet protocol television network;

adding the first voting selection to a tally of votes related to the video content when a voting status of the set-top box device indicates that no previous voting selection has been received from the first user;

receiving, at the server of the internet protocol television network, a second voting selection from a second user logged in at the set-top box device, the second voting selection associated with the video content that is received at the set-top box device via the internet protocol television network;

adding the second voting selection to the tally of votes related to the video content when the voting status of the set-top box device indicates that no previous voting selection has been received from the second user;

receiving, at the server of the internet protocol television network, a third voting selection from the first user logged in at the set-top box device, the third voting selection associated with the video content that is received at the set-top box device via the internet protocol television network; and

not adding the third voting selection to the tally of votes related to the video content when the voting status of the set-top box device indicates that the first voting selection has been received from the first user.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the server of the internet protocol television network, a fourth voting selection from a third user logged in at the set-top box device, the fourth voting selection associated with the video content that is received at the set-top box device via the internet protocol television network; and

not adding the fourth voting selection to the tally of votes related to the video content when the voting status of the set-top box device indicates that the third user is prohibited from voting, the third user is prohibited from voting related to the video content, or any combination thereof.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising sending data associated with a voting interface from the server to the set top box device to receive at least one voting selection, the voting interface including a ballot interface.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, further comprising sending a payment interface from the server to the set-top box device to receive payment information when payment information is required to accept the one or more voting selections.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising comparing the payment information to information stored at a billing server of the internet protocol television network, wherein the voting interface is sent to the set-top box device in response to determining that the payment information matches the stored information.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a message to the set-top box device from the server in response to receiving the third voting selection, when the voting status of the set-top box device indicates that the first voting selection has been received from the first user, wherein the message indicates that the first voting selection associated with the video content has been previously received from the first user.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising sending a confirmation to the set-top box device from the server in response to receiving the first voting selection, when the voting status of the set-top box device indicates that no previous voting selection has been received from the first user, wherein the confirmation indicates that the first voting selection has been received.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive data related to a voting interface at a set-top box device from a server of an internet protocol television network;

send the voting interface from the set-top box device to a display device to receive user input from a remote control device associated with the set-top box device; and

send the user input from the set top box device to the server to cast a vote associated with video content that is received at the set top box device via the internet protocol television network, wherein the server sends a confirmation to one or more devices associated with the set-top box device, the confirmation indicating that the vote was received by the server.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cease sending the voting interface from the set-top box device to the display device when the user input is not received within a predetermined period of time.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to receive data associated with a payment interface at the set-top box device from the server.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the voting interface includes at least one user selectable voting option associated with the video content.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the video content is received from a multicast server of the internet protocol television network.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the user input is received via a key press of a key of the remote control device.

14. A server, comprising:

a processor;

a memory device comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a voting selection from a set-top box device, the voting selection associated with video content received at the set-top box device via an internet protocol television network;

add the voting selection to a tally of votes related to the video content when a voting status of the set-top box device indicates that a previous vote has not been received from the set-top box device and that the set-top box device is not prohibited from voting;

change the voting status of the set-top box device to indicate that a vote has been received from the set-top box device after adding the voting selection to the tally of votes; and

send a confirmation to one or more devices associated with the set-top box device, the confirmation indicating that the vote was received.

15. The server of claim 14, wherein the devices include a computing device, a voice-over internet protocol phone, or any combination thereof.

16. The server of claim 14, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to send a payment interface from the server to the set-top box device to receive payment information.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to compare the payment information to information stored at a billing server of the internet protocol television network, wherein a voting interface is sent to the set-top box device in response to determining that the payment information matches the stored information.

18. The server of claim 16, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to remove information identifying at least one of a set-top box device identifier and a user identifier from each voting selection before adding the voting selection to the tally of votes.

19. The server of claim 14, wherein the operational instructions are further executable by the processor to:

not add the voting selection to the tally of votes associated with the video content when the voting status of the set-top box device indicates that the previous vote was received from the set-top box device; and

send a message to the set-top box device from the server, the message indicating that the previous vote associated with the video content was received from the set-top box device.

20. The server of claim 14, wherein the tally of votes includes at least one of a highest vote recipient and a range of voting recipients and their associated votes.