Creating and using a virtual video asset in a video provisioning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9572995-B2
Application number	US-201113196803-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2011
Priority date	Sep 29, 2010
Publication date	Feb 21, 2017
Grant date	Feb 21, 2017

Abstract

A system may receive, from a content provider, metadata associated with a video asset, where the metadata includes information associated with the video asset and identifies a future time when the video asset will be available for distribution. The system may further process the metadata to create a virtual asset associated with the video asset, where the processed metadata include at least an indication that the metadata is associated with the virtual asset; publish the virtual asset to a store front that allows the user device to select the virtual asset to obtain the virtual asset; and transmit a notification or the video asset, to the user device and at the future time, based on the selection of the virtual asset by the user device, where the notification indicates that the video asset is available to be downloaded.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by a server device and associated with a video provisioning system (VPS) comprising:
receiving, by the server device, an indication that a video asset will become available for distribution, to a set top box and another user device, at a future time, wherein the other user device is a different type of user device than the set top box;
retrieving, from a content provider, metadata associated with the video asset, wherein the metadata includes at least an identifier associated with the video asset; and
storing, by the server device as a virtual asset, a portion of the metadata that includes the identifier, associated with the video asset, to a first store front associated with the VPS and a second store front associated with the VPS,
wherein the first store front is an interactive media guide via which the set top box can access or obtain the virtual asset, and
wherein the second store front is a website or a user interface via which the other user device can access or obtain the virtual asset.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the metadata includes the identifier and one or more of:
an image associated with the video asset,
a description of the video asset,
a review of the video asset,
a date when the video asset becomes available for distribution,
a price associated with the video asset, or
a rating associated with the video asset.

3. The method of claim 1 , where storing the portion of the metadata further includes:
modifying the metadata in manner that associates the metadata with the virtual asset, where the modified metadata includes at least one of:
the identifier that is modified to include an indication that the identifier is associated with the virtual asset, or
a description of the video asset that is modified to include a notification that the video asset is not available for distribution until the future time.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a user device, a request for the virtual asset,
retrieving, in response to the request, a user profile, associated with a user of the user device, where the user profile identifies whether the user device is the set top box or the other user device;
transmitting the metadata to the user device, via the first store front, based on a determination that the user profile identifies the user device as the set top box; and
transmitting the metadata to the user device, via the second store front, based on a determination that the user profile identifies the user device as the other user device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a user device, a request to bookmark the virtual asset,
retrieving, in response to the request, a user profile, associated with a user of the user device, where the user profile includes information associated with the set top box and the other user device;
storing, in the user profile, the metadata as the bookmark; and
storing the information associated with the set top box or the other user device in a list of user devices that have previously bookmarked the virtual asset.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving, at the future time, an indication that the video asset is stored in the VPS,
retrieving the list of user devices that have bookmarked the virtual asset, and
transmitting, to the user devices, a notification that indicates that the video asset is available to be downloaded.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
modifying, in response to the indication that the video asset is stored in the VPS, the metadata in a manner that indicates that the video asset is available.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a user device, a request to perform an electronic transaction associated with the virtual asset,
retrieving, in response to the request, a user profile associated with a user of the user device and a transaction history associated with the user, where the user profile includes information associated with the set top box and the other user device, and where the transaction history identifies a prior electronic transaction associated with the set top box or the other user device;
determining that the virtual asset has not been previously purchased, rented, or subscribed to based on the transaction history;
performing the electronic transaction, associated with the virtual asset, based on the determination that the virtual asset has not been previously purchased, rented, or subscribed to,
storing the information associated with the electronic transaction in the transaction history; and
storing the information, associated with the set top box or the other user device, in a list of user devices that have previously performed an electronic transaction associated with the virtual asset.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving an indication that the video asset is stored in the VPS,
retrieving the list of user devices that have previously performed the electronic transaction associated with the virtual asset, and
sending an instruction that causes the video asset to be automatically transmitted to the set top box or the other user device at the future time.

10. A server device comprising:
a memory to store one or more virtual assets, the one or more virtual assets corresponding to one or more video assets that are not available for distribution, where each of the one or more virtual assets includes metadata associated with a respective different video asset of the one or more video assets; and
one or more processors to:
receive, from a user device among a plurality of different types of user devices associated with a user, a request for a virtual asset, wherein the request includes an identifier associated with one of the one or more video assets,
identify a video asset, of the one or more video assets, that corresponds to the identifier associated with the one of the one or more video assets,
retrieve, from the memory, metadata associated with the identified video asset,
process the retrieved metadata and provide the metadata as a virtual asset,
transmit the virtual asset to the user device in response to the request, and
provide access to the virtual asset to the plurality of different types of user devices associated with the user.

11. The server device of claim 10 , where the one or more processors are further to:
receive, from the user device, a request to bookmark the virtual asset,
store, as the bookmark, all or a portion of the metadata in a user profile associated with the user device, and
store information, associated with the user device, in a list of user devices that have previously bookmarked the virtual asset.

12. The server device of claim 11 , where the one or more processors are further to:
receive, at the future time, an indication that the video asset is available for distribution, and
transmit, to the user devices in the list of user devices, a notification that indicates that the video asset is available to be downloaded, based on the list of user devices that have previously bookmarked the virtual asset.

13. The server device of claim 10 , where, before receiving the request for the virtual asset, the one or more processors are further to:
receive an indication that the video asset will become available for distribution to the user device at the future time,
retrieve, from a content provider, the metadata associated with the video asset; and
store, in the memory, the metadata associated with the video asset.

14. The server device of claim 13 , where, when storing the metadata associated with the

Assignees

• Kalidindi Srirama
• Ahuja Sanjay
• Trimper John
• Arte Laxmi A
• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Kalidindi Srirama
• Ahuja Sanjay
• Trimper John
• Arte Laxmi A

Classifications

• G06Q20/123

  Shopping for digital content · CPC title

• H04N21/482

  End-user interface for programme selection · CPC title

• G06Q20/1235

  with control of digital rights management [DRM] · CPC title

• A61N5/0618 Primary

  Psychological treatment · CPC title

• H04N21/4755

  for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre (retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306) · CPC title