System and method for transmitting and displaying targeted information

• US 8,413,183 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2006
• Issued: 04/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kunkel, Gerard K., Piette, Scott A., Perham, Douglas A. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Srivastava, Vivek
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bantamoi, Anthony
• Application Number:
  US11/508,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20060288363A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,414 Days
• Field of Search: 725 34- 36, 725 86-104, 375/240, 715716-725
• US Class Current: 725/36
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23617 by inserting additional data into a data carousel, e.g. inserting software modules into a DVB carousel arrangements for broadcast or for distribution of identical information repeatedly in broadcast distribution systems H04H20/16
• 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 21/2668 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 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4349 by extracting from data carousels, e.g. extraction of software modules from a DVB carousel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; 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 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• 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 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/162 Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system and method for transmitting and displaying information in a television distribution system (10), or the like, transmits information that is targeted to a viewer matching particular demographic data.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting information in a broadcast distribution system, comprising:

receiving, at a headend of a broadcast distribution system, video programs from remote video program sources;

receiving, separately at the headend, multiple advertisements including a default advertisement and a plurality of targeted advertisements;

inserting a first indicia at the beginning of the default advertisement to identify the plurality of targeted advertisements imminently being transmitted for enabling subscriber terminals to tune to at least one of the plurality of targeted advertisements and a second indicia at the end of each of the plurality of targeted advertisements, the default advertisement and the at least one of the plurality of targeted advertisements each containing a same amount of digitally encoded data;

multiplexing the multiple advertisements and video programs together by inserting the multiple advertisements at predetermined locations in a digital information stream along with the video programs, the multiple advertisements in the digital information stream each including a demographic code identifying a demographic associated with each of the multiple advertisements;

transmitting the digital information stream toward each of a plurality of subscriber terminals;

receiving the digital information stream at a subscriber terminal having a demographic code stored therein for identifying a demographic for the subscriber associated with the subscriber terminal;

examining, by the subscriber terminal, the code associated with each of the multiple advertisements to determine when a demographic code stored at the subscriber terminal for identifying the demographic for the subscriber associated with the subscriber terminal correlates to the code of a targeted advertisement in the received digital information stream;

identifying at least one of the plurality of targeted advertisements having a demographic code correlating to the demographic code for the subscriber;

interrupting a presentation of a video program provided by the received digital information stream at a point in the presentation of the video program by using the first indicia to tune the subscriber terminal to the identified at least one targeted advertisement having the demographic code matching the demographic code stored at the subscriber terminal;

before interrupting the presentation of the video program and switching to the at least one targeted advertisement, adjusting the digital information stream such that a decoder buffer is known to be at a particular state prior to switching to the at least one targeted advertisement;

returning to the presentation of the video program when the second indicia is detected at the end of the identified at least one targeted advertisement, the second indicia providing the subscriber terminal information for tuning back to the point the presentation of the video program was interrupted; and

at the end of the at least one targeted advertisement and before returning to the presentation of the video program, adjusting the digital information stream such that the decoder buffer is at the known particular state prior to receiving the digital information stream upon returning to the presentation of the video program.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital information stream is a video information stream adapted for transmission via a cable television distribution system to the subscriber terminals comprising set top converter boxes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular state of the decoder buffer is such that a seamless transition from the advertisement to a next portion of the information stream is provided.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each advertisement comprises digitally encoded data, and each advertisement contains the same amount of digitally encoded data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital information stream is associated with a plurality of channels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the examining the code associated with each of the multiple advertisements further comprises comparing the code associated with each of the multiple advertisements with demographic codes in user demographic databases in the plurality of subscriber terminals to determine which of the multiple advertisements is displayed to a particular user.

7. A system, comprising:

a headend for transmitting a digital information stream, the head end receiving video programs from remote video program sources, separately receiving multiple advertisements including a default advertisement and a plurality of targeted advertisements, inserting a first indicia at the beginning of the default advertisement to identify the plurality of targeted advertisements imminently being transmitted for enabling subscriber terminals to tune to at least one of the plurality of targeted advertisements and a second indicia at the end of each of the plurality of targeted advertisements and multiplexing the multiple advertisements and video programs together by inserting the multiple advertisements at predetermined locations in the digital information stream along with the video programs, the multiple advertisements in the digital information stream each including a demographic code identifying a demographic associated with each of the multiple advertisements, the default advertisement and the plurality of targeted advertisements each containing a same amount of digitally encoded data;

a distribution network, coupled to the head end, for transmitting the digital information stream to each of a plurality of subscriber terminals; and

a set top terminal to process the digital information stream received over the distribution network, the set top terminal including;

a receiver to receive the digital information stream from the distribution network,

a user demographic database that contains a demographic code stored therein for identifying a demographic for the subscriber associated with the set top terminal; and

a processor coupled to the receiver and the user demographic database, wherein the processor is programmed to examine the code associated with each of the multiple advertisements to determine when the demographic code stored in said database correlates to the code of a targeted advertisement in the received digital information stream, to identify at least one of the plurality of targeted advertisements having the demographic code correlating to the demographic code for the subscriber, to interrupt a presentation of a video program provided by the received digital information stream at a point in the presentation of the video program by using the first indicia to tune to the identified at least one targeted advertisement having the demographic code matching the demographic code stored at the user demographic database and to return to the presentation of the video program when the second indicia is detected at the end of the identified at least one targeted advertisement, the second indicia providing information for tuning back to the point the presentation of the video program was interrupted,

wherein before interrupting the presentation of the video program and switching to the identified at least one targeted advertisement, adjusting the received digital information stream such that a decoder buffer is known to be at a particular state prior to switching to the identified at least one targeted advertisement, and

wherein at the end of the identified at least one targeted advertisement and before returning to the presentation of the video program, adjusting the digital information stream such that the decoder buffer is at the known particular state prior to receiving the digital information stream upon returning to the presentation of the video program.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the particular state of the decoder buffer is such that a seamless transition from the advertisement to a next portion of the digital information stream is provided.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein each advertisement of the multiple advertisements comprises digitally encoded data, and each advertisement of the multiple advertisements contain the same amount of digitally encoded data.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the headend simultaneously transmits the digital information stream in different channels across the distribution network.