Multimedia mobile personalization system

• US 8,689,265 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2005
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TiVo Solutions Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TiVo Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Lockett, David, Feder, Adam, Klar, Michael F., Barton, James, Goodman, Andrew M., Platt, David C., Beach, Brian, Brown, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEN, CAI Y
• Application Number:
  US11/105,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20050246738A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,276 Days
• Field of Search: 725/9, 725/11, 725/13, 725/16, 725/25, 725 28-356, 455/3.01, 455/3.06, 709201-207, 709212-216, 709217-219, 713182-184
• US Class Current: 725/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42206 characterized by hardware details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/441 Acquiring end-user identification , e.g. using personal code sent by the remote control or by inserting a card
• 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 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8547 involving timestamps for synchronizing content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/7605 on discs or drums H04N5/781, H04N5/805, H04N5/83, H04N5/85 take precedence

Abstract

A multimedia mobile personalization system provides a remote control that detects a user'"'"'s electronic tag, e.g. an RFID tag. The remote control notifies a multimedia device of the user'"'"'s identity. The multimedia devices tailors it operations to the user'"'"'s preferences stored locally. Multimedia content such as broadcast or recorded television programs, music play lists, and the like could be sorted, displayed, or restricted, depending on the user identifier.

Claims

1. A method for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

receiving, at a server, a user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a digital video recorder (DVR) service provider, the user being a subscriber of the DVR service provider, the DVR service provider retrieves the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a first set-top box comprising a DVR associated with the user;

recording, by the server, multimedia content based on the received user'"'"'s viewing preferences;

allowing, by the server, a second set-top box associated with the user to access the recorded multimedia content on the server, the second set-top box plays the multimedia content;

sending, by the server, a viewing preference update to the DVR service provider, the viewing reference update indicating that a multimedia content recorded by the server was viewed at the second set-top box.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the DVR service provider deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from at least one storage device after sending the user'"'"'s viewing preferences to the server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording step records the multimedia content for a specified amount of time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting, by the server, the user'"'"'s viewing preferences after a specified amount of time has passed and/or an event has occurred.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording step records multimedia content for a plurality of users.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein a multimedia content recorded by the first set-top box that is indicated as viewed in the viewing preference update is deleted from the first set-top box.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the server, a list of multimedia content stored local to the server to the DVR service provider;

receiving, by the server, a sub-list of multimedia content of the list of multimedia content from the DVR service provider, the sub-list indicating multimedia content of interest to the user based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, wherein the server makes locally stored multimedia content in the sub-list of multimedia content available to the second set-top box.

5. An apparatus for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

a user preference receiving subsystem, on a server, that receives a user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a digital video recorder (DVR) service provider, the user being a subscriber of the DVR service provider, the DVR service provider retrieves the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a first set-top box comprising a DVR associated with the user;

a content recording subsystem, on the server, that records multimedia content on the server based on the received user'"'"'s viewing preferences;

a content access subsystem, on the server, that allows a second set-top box associated with the user to access the recorded multimedia content on the server, the second set-top box plays the multimedia content;

a user preference update subsystem, on the server, that sends a viewing preference update to the DVR service provider, the viewing preference update indicating that a multimedia content recorded by the server was viewed at the second set-top box.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the DVR service provider deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from at least one storage device after sending the user'"'"'s viewing preferences to the server.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the content recording subsystem records the multimedia content for a specified amount of time.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

a user preference deleting subsystem, at the server, that deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences after a specified amount of time has passed and/or an event has occurred.

14. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the content recording subsystem records multimedia content for a plurality of users.

23. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein a multimedia content recorded by the first set-top box that is indicated as viewed in the viewing preference update is deleted from the first set-top box.

26. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

a stored content subsystem, on the server, that sends a list of multimedia content stored local to the server to the DVR service provider;

a multimedia content sub-list subsystem, on the server, that receives a sub-list of multimedia content of the list of multimedia content from the DVR service provider, the sub-list indicating multimedia content of interest to the user based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, wherein the server makes locally stored multimedia content in the sub-list of multimedia content available to the second set-top box.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for a multimedia mobile personalization system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving, at a server, a user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a digital video recorder (DVR) service provider, the user being a subscriber of the DVR service provider, the DVR service provider retrieves the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from a first set-top box comprising a DVR associated with the user;

recording, by the server, multimedia content based on the received user'"'"'s viewing preferences;

allowing, by the server, a second set-top box associated with the user to access the recorded multimedia content on the server, the second set-top box plays the multimedia content;

sending, by the server, a viewing preference update to the DVR service provider, the viewing reference update indicating that a multimedia content recorded by the server was viewed at the second set-top box.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the DVR service provider deletes the user'"'"'s viewing preferences from at least one storage device after sending the user'"'"'s viewing preferences to the server.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the recording step records the multimedia content for a specified amount of time.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

deleting, by the server, the user'"'"'s viewing preferences after a specified amount of time has passed and/or an event has occurred.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the recording step records multimedia content for a plurality of users.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein a multimedia content recorded by the first set-top box that is indicated as viewed in the viewing preference update is deleted from the first set-top box.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

sending, by the server, a list of multimedia content stored local to the server to the DVR service provider;

receiving, by the server, a sub-list of multimedia content of the list of multimedia content from the DVR service provider, the sub-list indicating multimedia content of interest to the user based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, wherein the server makes locally stored multimedia content in the sub-list of multimedia content available to the second set-top box.

16. A method for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

receiving, at a server, a list of multimedia content to record for a user from a digital video recorder (DVR) service provider, the DVR service provider deriving the list of multimedia content to record from the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, the user being a subscriber of the DVR service provider;

recording, by the server, at least one multimedia content listed in the list of multimedia content to record;

allowing, by the server, a set-top box associated with the user to access the recorded multimedia content on the server, the set-top box plays the multimedia content;

sending, by the server, a viewing preference update to the DVR service provider, the viewing reference update indicating that a multimedia content recorded by the server was viewed at the second set-top box.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the recording step records multimedia content for a plurality of users.

28. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

sending, by the server, a list of multimedia content stored local to the server to the DVR service provider;

receiving, by the server, a sub-list of multimedia content of the list of multimedia content from the DVR service provider, the sub-list indicating multimedia content of interest to the user based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, wherein the server makes locally stored multimedia content in the sub-list of multimedia content available to the second set-top box.

18. An apparatus for a multimedia mobile personalization system, comprising:

a user preference receiving subsystem, on a server, that receives a list of multimedia content to record for a user from a digital video recorder (DVR) service provider, the DVR service provider deriving the list of multimedia content to record from the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, the user being a subscriber of the DVR service provider;

a content recording subsystem, on the server, that records at least one multimedia content listed in the list of multimedia content to record;

a content access subsystem, on the server, that allows a set-top box associated with the user to access the recorded multimedia content on the server, the set-top box plays the multimedia content;

a user preference update subsystem, on the server, that sends a viewing preference update to the DVR service provider, the viewing preference update indicating that a multimedia content recorded by the server was viewed at the second set-top box.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the content recording subsystem records multimedia content for a plurality of users.

29. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a stored content subsystem, on the server, that sends a list of multimedia content stored local to the server to the DVR service provider;

a multimedia content sub-list subsystem, on the server, that receives a sub-list of multimedia content of the list of multimedia content from the DVR service provider, the sub-list indicating multimedia content of interest to the user based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, wherein the server makes locally stored multimedia content in the sub-list of multimedia content available to the second set-top box.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for a multimedia mobile personalization system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving, at a server, a list of multimedia content to record for a user from a digital video recorder (DVR) service provider, the DVR service provider deriving the list of multimedia content to record from the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, the user being a subscriber of the DVR service provider;

recording, by the server, at least one multimedia content listed in the list of multimedia content to record;

allowing, by the server, a set-top box associated with the user to access the recorded multimedia content on the server, the set-top box plays the multimedia content;

sending, by the server, a viewing preference update to the DVR service provider, the viewing reference update indicating that a multimedia content recorded by the server was viewed at the second set-top box.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the recording step records multimedia content for a plurality of users.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, further comprising:

sending, by the server, a list of multimedia content stored local to the server to the DVR service provider;

receiving, by the server, a sub-list of multimedia content of the list of multimedia content from the DVR service provider, the sub-list indicating multimedia content of interest to the user based on the user'"'"'s viewing preferences, wherein the server makes locally stored multimedia content in the sub-list of multimedia content available to the second set-top box.