Multi-screen video

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9386332-B2
Application number	US-201113310844-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2011
Priority date	Dec 5, 2011
Publication date	Jul 5, 2016
Grant date	Jul 5, 2016

Abstract

One or more network devices receive, from a third-party system, catalog metadata for physical media assets available to order and combine the catalog metadata with catalog entries for digital content to form a unified catalog file. The one or more devices receive, from a user device, a request to view a directory of available video content and send, to the user device, the unified catalog file for presentation to a user. The one or more devices receive, from the user device, a selection of an item in the unified catalog file. The one or more devices provide, to the user device, video content corresponding to the selection when the selection corresponds to one of the catalog entries for digital content and provide, to the third-party system and via a billing gateway, user payment information when the selection corresponds to the catalog metadata for one of the physical media assets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
receiving, from a third-party physical asset distribution system, catalog metadata for physical media assets available to order;
combining the catalog metadata with catalog entries for digital content to form a unified catalog file;
receiving, from a user device associated with a user, login information for the user;
providing, via an application programming interface (API), the login information to the third-party physical asset distribution system for authentication;
generating a session token, when the user is authenticated using the login information;
sending, to the user device, the session token;
receiving, from the user device, a request to view a directory of available video content;
sending, to the user device, the unified catalog file for presentation to the user;
receiving, from the user device, a selection indicating a particular item in the unified catalog file and the session token;
identifying, from the selection, a format of the particular item as corresponding to one of digital content or a physical media asset;
providing, to the user device and based on the identifying the format of the particular item, video content corresponding to the particular item when the format of the particular item corresponds to the digital content;
providing, to the third-party physical asset distribution system via a billing gateway and based on the identifying the format of the particular item, user payment information when the format of the particular item corresponds to the physical media asset; and
receiving, from the third-party physical asset distribution system, one or more identities of locations for obtaining one of the physical media assets after providing the user payment information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, in a memory, an entitlement profile for a user, wherein the entitlement profile indicates associations of particular presentation platforms with particular types of content; and
associating items in the unified catalog file with the entitlement profile to enforce via which presentation platforms, of a group of presentation platforms, the user can view particular content, wherein the group of presentation platforms indicate in the entitlement profile includes a television, a personal computer, and a registered mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the third-party physical asset distribution system, a coupon credit for the user when the selection corresponds to the digital content; or
crediting an account for the user to receive the digital content when the format of the particular item corresponds to the physical media asset.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
verifying entitlement of the user device to receive the video content corresponding to the particular item, when the format of the particular item corresponds to the digital content; and
providing, after the entitlement of the user device is verified, a digital rights management license to the user device for the video content corresponding to the particular item.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing digital content corresponding to the catalog entries for the digital content, wherein providing video content corresponding to the particular item includes providing to the user device a universal resource locator (URL) for the user device to obtain the video content corresponding to the format of the particular item.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, to a billing system, billing processing information for the video content corresponding to the particular item when the format of the particular item corresponds to the digital content.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein combining the catalog metadata with catalog entries for digital content to form a unified catalog file further comprises:
identifying links to additional Internet content associated with the catalog entries for the digital content, and
combining the links to the additional Internet content in the unified catalog file.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the links to the additional Internet content include one or more links to user reviews of the digital content and social network information related to the digital content.

9. A system, comprising:
a video content management system (VCMS) including one or more network devices configured to:
receive catalog metadata for digital content,
receive catalog descriptions for physical media assets available to order from a third-party physical asset distribution system, and
provide a unified catalog file, based on the catalog metadata for the digital content and the catalog descriptions for physical media assets, to a data center;

a profile component including one or more network devices configured to:
receive, from user devices associated with users, login information for the users,
provide via an application programming interface (API), the login information to the third-party physical asset distribution system for authentication,
generate session tokens, when the users are authenticated using the login information, and
send, to the user devices, the session tokens;

the data center including one or more network devices configured to:
receive the catalog metadata and the catalog descriptions from the VCMS,
receive requests from the user devices, associated with the users, to view a catalog of available video content,
provide the catalog metadata for the digital content and the catalog descriptions for physical media assets to the user devices, in response to the requests, for presentation to the users in a unified file,
receive, from the user devices, the session tokens and selections indicating particular items from the catalog metadata for the digital content and the catalog descriptions for the physical media assets, and
identify, from the selections, a format of each of the particular items as corresponding to one of the digital content or the physical media asset; and

a billing system including one or more network devices configured to:
receive, from the data center, indications of the selections from the catalog metadata for the digital content and the catalog descriptions for the physical media assets,
process payment or billing for an account associated with one of the user devices when one of the indications is of the catalog metadata, and
forward, to the third-party physical asset distribution system and via a billing gateway, user payment information when one of the indications of the selections is from the catalog descriptions for the physical media assets,

wherein the data center is further includes one or more network devices configured to receive, from the third-party physical asset distribution system, one or more identities of locations for obtaining one of the physical media assets after forwarding the user payment information.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the VCMS further includes one or more network devices configured to:
store the digital content for distribution to the user devices, and
distribute the digital content to the user devices based on receiving a request from one of the user devices.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the VCMS and the billing system are configured to communicate with the third-party physical asset distribution system via a set of standardized application program interfaces (APIs).

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the user devices include one of a television, a personal computer, and a registered mobile device.

13. The system of claim 9 , whe

Assignees

• Hao Jack Jianxiu
• Jin Zhiying
• Busse Martin A
• Xia Wei
• Gallagher John F
• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Hao Jack Jianxiu
• Jin Zhiying
• Busse Martin A
• Xia Wei
• Gallagher John F

Classifications

• G06F16/783

  using metadata automatically derived from the content · CPC title

• H04N21/2665

  Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite · CPC title

• H04N21/47202

  for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand · CPC title

• H04N21/278

  Content descriptor database or directory service for end-user access {(details of content or meta data based information retrieval of video data in video databases G06F16/739)} · CPC title

• H04N21/2393 Primary

  involving handling client requests (scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60) · CPC title