Contextually aware aggregation of cross-platform media programming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016255379-A1
Application number	US-201514634583-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 27, 2015
Priority date	Feb 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Contextual data, which may describe user activity, preferences and/or a device status, is aggregated from a number of devices and/or resources. Program information is aggregated from several resources including an on-demand resource and other resources, such as a broadcast resource. Configurations disclosed herein utilize the contextual data to select content items to be added to a cross-platform programming playlist, which is configured to invoke viewing sessions from on-demand resources as well as other devices, such as a digital video recorder (DVR). Configurations disclosed herein also utilize the contextual data to determine if the selected content items are to be recorded by a device or accessed from an on-demand resource. In some configurations, recorded content items are deleted from storage depending on the availability of alternate resources sharing the recorded content items and/or other contextual information. Techniques disclosed herein also manage content items to mitigate conflicts with tuners and other devices.

First claim

1 . A computer, comprising:
a processor; and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the processor, the computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the processor, cause the computer to
obtain contextual data identifying a first content item;
receive program information from a plurality of on-demand resources and one or more broadcast resources, wherein the program information includes a plurality of content items shared by the plurality of on-demand resources and the one or more broadcast resources;
determine when activity of a tuner indicates a conflict based, at least in part, on the program information;
cause the selection of an additional content item from the plurality of content items based on, at least in part, the contextual data and a relationship between the additional content item and the first content item, wherein the selection of the additional content item comprises a selection of the additional content item provided by at least one on-demand resource of the on-demand resources when the activity of the tuner indicates the conflict; and
cause the generation of a playlist containing the first content item and the additional content item provided by the at least one on-demand resource, the playlist comprising a control for providing access to video data stored by a server computer associated with the at least one on-demand resource of the plurality of on-demand resources.

2 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the contextual data includes a consumption preference or a status of a device, and wherein the computer-readable storage medium has further computer-executable instructions stored thereon that cause the computer to:
determine when video data associated with the additional content item is to be recorded to a digital video recorder or a storage device of a server, based at least in part, on the contextual data; and cause the digital video recorder to record the video data associated with the additional content item when it is determined that the video data is to be recorded, or obtaining a link providing access to the video data from the server computer associated with the at least one on-demand resource.

3 . (canceled)

4 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the contextual data indicates an account status associated with an individual on-demand resource of the plurality of on-demand services, and wherein the selection of the additional content item from the plurality of content items is based, at least in part, on the account status.

5 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the contextual data includes a rate structure associated with an individual on-demand resource of the plurality of on-demand services, and wherein the selection of the additional content item from the plurality of content items is based, at least in part, on the rate structure.

6 . (canceled)

7 . A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:
receiving contextual data identifying a consumption preference, a status of a device or a selection of a first content item; receiving program information from a plurality of resources including an on-demand resource and a broadcast resource, wherein the program information includes a plurality of content items; causing a selection of an additional content item from the plurality of content items of the program information based, at least in part, on a relationship between the additional content item and the first content item; causing the generation of a playlist containing the first content item and the additional content item; determining when video data associated with the additional content item is to be recorded to a digital video recorder based, at least in part, on the contextual data; and causing the digital video recorder to record the video data associated with the additional content item from the broadcast resource when it is determined that the video data is to be recorded, or obtaining a link providing access to the video data from the on-demand resource when activity of a tuner indicates a conflict.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining when stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder based, at least in part, on the contextual data; and when it is determined that the stored video data is to be deleted from the digital video recorder,
determining when the on-demand resource shares one or more content items associated with the stored video data, and
when it is determined that the on-demand resource shares the one or more content items associated with the stored video data,
causing the digital video recorder to delete at least a portion of the stored video data associated with an individual content item, and
obtaining a second link configured to providing access streaming video data associated with the individual content item from the on-demand resource.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the status of the device indicates that the device has exceeded a storage capacity.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the contextual data indicates a status change with respect to a user profile associated with the on-demand resource.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the playlist contains a link for the first content item to be accessed from an on-demand resource, wherein the method further comprises integrating a link to access the recorded video data into the playlist replacing the link for the first content item to be accessed from an on-demand resource.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , the method further comprising integrating the second link into the playlist replacing a link associated with the individual content item.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein selecting the additional content item from the plurality of content items of the program information is further based, at least in part, on the contextual data.

14 . (canceled)

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the contextual data indicates a rate associated with services provided by the on-demand resource, and wherein it is determined that the video data is to be recorded when the rate meets a threshold defined by the consumption preference.

16 . A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
receive contextual data identifying a first content item; receive program information that includes a plurality of content items shared by the plurality of on-demand resources and the plurality of broadcast resources; cause a selection of an additional content item from the plurality of content items based on, at least in part, the contextual data and a relationship between the additional content item and the first content item; determine when activity of a tuner indicates a conflict; cause a selection of at least one on-demand resource from the plurality of on-demand resources for providing the additional content item when the activity of the tuner indicates the conflict; and cause the generation of a playlist containing the first content item and the additional content item, the playlist comprising a control for providing access to video data stored by a server computer associated with at the least one on-demand resource.

17 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the contextual data indicates a quality of video data an individual on-demand resource of the plu

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Langan Thomas A
• Healey Cory J
• Hao Ying
• Chauvin Joseph
• Fang Nicholas J
• Rathee Nitin
• Mishra Shailendra
• Speicher Ashley C
• Walther Dan E

Classifications

• H04N21/858 Primary

  Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot · CPC title

• H04N21/4583

  Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programmes in the same time slot · CPC title

• H04N21/25891

  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 title

• H04N21/23109

  by placing content in organized collections, e.g. EPG data repository (details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739) · CPC title

• H04N21/84

  Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors {(systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73)} · CPC title