Methods and systems for content control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9363540-B2
Application number	US-201213349318-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2012
Priority date	Jan 12, 2012
Publication date	Jun 7, 2016
Grant date	Jun 7, 2016

Abstract

Methods and system for providing content based on an embedded signal are disclosed. A method can comprise generating a placement signal based on an event, repeatedly embedding the placement signal into a data stream, and transmitting the data stream comprising the repeatedly embedded placement signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by at least one computing device, a data transmission;
detecting, by the at least one computing device, an event, wherein the event has a time duration;
generating, by the at least one computing device, a placement signal in response to detecting the event, wherein the placement signal comprises an instruction to cause a user device to modify the data transmission based on the event; and
repeatedly embedding at a predetermined time interval, by the at least one computing device, the placement signal into a portion of the data transmission defined by the time duration of the event, wherein the time duration associated with the events is substantially equal to a time slot, and wherein the predetermined time interval is adjusted based upon the time duration associated with the event.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the placement signal comprises the time duration associated with the event.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the event comprises an available advertising time slot.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the event comprises an alternate content time slot.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time interval is dynamically adjusted.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the placement signal comprises a sparse data track.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the placement signal in response to detecting the event comprises,
sending, in response to detecting the event, a message to a placement opportunity server comprising control information of the event; and
receiving the placement signal based upon the control information from the placement opportunity server.

8. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, a data transmission, wherein a placement signal has been repeatedly embedded into a portion of the data transmission, and
wherein the placement signal comprises an instruction to cause the computing device to modify the data transmission based on an event,
wherein the event has a time duration,
wherein the placement signal has been repeatedly embedded at a predetermined time interval into the portion of the data transmission defined by the time duration of the event, and
wherein the predetermined time interval is adjusted based upon the time duration associated with the event;

processing, by the computing device, the placement signal to select a source of content; and
receiving, by the at least one computing device, the content from the selected source, wherein the content has a particular time duration substantially equal to a time slot.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the data transmission is a fragmented data stream.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the event comprises an available advertising time slot.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the event comprises an alternate content time slot.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the placement signal comprises a sparse data track.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising
receiving content from a first channel of the data transmission;
receiving a command to change to a second channel of the data transmission, wherein the change occurs during the event; and
receiving content from the second channel, wherein the content provided is determined based on the placement signal.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined time interval is dynamically adjusted.

15. The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving the placement signal for the data transmission in an independent transmission separate from the data transmission.

16. A system comprising:
a memory for storing at least a portion of a fragmented data transmission; and
a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to,
receive the fragmented data transmission from the memory,
wherein a placement signal has been repeatedly embedded at a predetermined time interval into a portion of the fragmented data transmission,
wherein the placement signal comprises an instruction to cause a user device to modify the data transmission based on an event,
wherein the event has a time duration,
wherein the placement signal has been repeatedly embedded into the portion of the fragmented data transmission defined by the time duration of the event, and
wherein the predetermined time interval is adjusted based upon the time duration associated with the event,

process the placement signal to select a source of content, and
receive the content from the selected source, wherein the content has a particular time duration substantially equal to a time duration defined by a time slot.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the event comprises an available advertising time slot.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the event comprises an alternate content time slot.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the process is further configured to:
receive content from a first channel of the data transmission;
receive a command to change to a second channel of the data transmission, wherein the change occurs during the event, and
receive content from the second channel, wherein the content provided is determined based on the placement signal.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the predetermined time interval is dynamically adjusted.

Assignees

• Rosenfeld Eric Scott
• Broome Allen
• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Rosenfeld Eric Scott
• Broome Allen

Classifications

• H04N21/4345

  Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream · CPC title

• H04N21/2668 Primary

  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 title

• H04N21/812

  involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02) · CPC title

• H04N21/222 Primary

  Secondary servers, e.g. proxy server, cable television Head-end {(provisioning of proxy services in data packet switching networks H04L67/56)} · CPC title

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title