Client-side multimedia content targeting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9215400-B2
Application number	US-201313867913-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2013
Priority date	Oct 20, 1999
Publication date	Dec 15, 2015
Grant date	Dec 15, 2015

Abstract

A client-side multimedia content targeting system schedules the recording, storing, and deleting of multimedia content on a client system storage device. The system accepts as input a prioritized list of program viewing preferences which is compared with a database of program guide objects that indicate when programs of interest are actually broadcast. The viewer's client system locally retains the viewer's preferences and other personal information that the viewer has entered and is sent targeting information relating to program guide objects by a server. Using the viewer's preferences and personal information, the client system creates a viewer profile, which is used with the targeting information by the client system to record content that is within the viewer profile. The described client-based form of targeting can be applied to almost any multimedia situation, including, but not limited to: TV shows, movies, advertisements, product and service offerings, music, radio, audio, etc.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
accessing, by a recording device, metadata describing programs;
accessing, by the recording device, correlation data comprising groups of related programs, each group identifying at least: a first program played or scheduled for recording by one or more other recording devices, and one or more second programs that were also played or scheduled for recording by the one or more other recording devices;
comparing, by the recording device, the correlation data with a subset of the metadata describing programs, the subset describing programs that were previously played or scheduled for recording by the recording device;
based on the comparing, the recording device selecting a particular second program, of the programs described in the metadata, that was identified by a particular group of the groups of related programs in the correlation data, based on the recording device determining that a particular first program in the particular group was previously played or scheduled for recording by the recording device;
responsive to selecting the particular second program, the recording device causing recording the particular second program;
wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparing comprises comparing said correlation data with titles of the programs that were previously played or scheduled for recording by the recording device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to the recording device selecting the particular second program, the recording device displaying a recommendation to schedule the recording of the particular second program;
responsive to input received in response to displaying the recommendation, the recording device scheduling the recording of the particular second program;
recording the particular second program by the recording device tuning to a specific channel at a specified time to record the particular second program, in accordance to the scheduling.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device recording the particular second program onto at least one storage device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the recording device, the correlation data from a server over a network;
wherein the server is configured to collect viewing objects from the other recording devices and generate the groups in the correlation data based thereon, each viewing object of the viewing objects specifying a particular recording device of the other recording devices and a particular program played or scheduled for recording by the particular recording device;
storing, at the recording device, the correlation data as one or more tables correlating each first program of each group with each of the one or more second programs that the group associates with the first program; and
identifying the particular second program based on the one or more tables.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to the particular second program having been selected based on the comparison with the correlation data, the recording device storing a recording of the particular second program in association with data indicating that the recording of the particular second program is a fuzzy recording;
based on the data indicating that the particular second program is a fuzzy program, the recording device automatically deleting the recording of the particular second program in favor of storing a recording of a third program that was recorded by the recording device in response to viewer input specifically requesting the recording of the third program, without the recording device having played the particular second program.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to selecting the particular second program, the recording device scheduling the recording of the particular second program;
wherein the first program is a program that was played by the one or more other recording devices, the one or more second programs were also played by the one or more other recording devices, the programs described by the subset were scheduled for recording by the recording device, and the particular first program was scheduled for recording by the recording device.

8. An apparatus for targeting multimedia content to a viewer using a recording device, comprising:
a processor;
a logic for accessing, by a recording device, metadata describing programs;
a logic for accessing, by the recording device, correlation data comprising groups of related programs, each group identifying at least: a first program played or scheduled for recording by one or more other recording devices, and one or more second programs that were also played or scheduled for recording by the one or more other recording devices;
a logic for comparing, by the recording device, the correlation data with a subset of the metadata describing programs, the subset describing programs that were previously played or scheduled for recording by the recording device;
a logic for based on the comparing, the recording device selecting a particular second program, of the programs described in the metadata, that was identified by a particular group of the groups of related programs in the correlation data, based on the recording device determining that a particular first program in the particular group was previously played or scheduled for recording by the recording device;
a logic for responsive to selecting the particular second program, the recording device causing recording the particular second program.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the comparing comprises comparing said correlation data with titles of the programs that were previously played or scheduled for recording by the recording device.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:
a logic for, responsive to the recording device selecting the particular second program, the recording device displaying a recommendation to schedule the recording of the particular second program;
a logic for, responsive to input received in response to displaying the recommendation, the recording device scheduling the recording of the particular second program;
a logic for recording the particular second program by the recording device tuning to a specific channel at a specified time to record the particular second program, in accordance to the scheduling.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein recording the particular second program comprises the recording device recording the particular second program onto at least one storage device.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:
a logic for receiving, at the recording device, the correlation data from a server over a network;
wherein the server is configured to collect viewing objects from the other recording devices and generate the groups in the correlation data based thereon, each viewing object of the viewing objects specifying a particular recording device of the other recording devices and a particular program played or scheduled for recording by the particular recording device;
a logic for storing, at the recording device, the correlation data as one or more tables correlating each first program of each group with each of the one or more second programs that the group associates with the first program; and
a logic for identifying the particular second program based on the one or more tables.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:
a logic for, responsive to the particular second program having been selected based on the comparison with the corr

Assignees

• Tivo Inc

Inventors

• Barton James M
• Look Howard D

Classifications

• H04N21/435

  Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream · CPC title

• H04N21/4331

  Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback · CPC title

• H04N21/6582

  Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number (arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38) · CPC title

• H04N21/4662

  characterized by learning algorithms · CPC title

• G06F11/2094

  Redundant storage or storage space (G06F11/2056 takes precedence) · CPC title