Recorded content repair

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9620171-B2
Application number	US-201314137471-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2013
Priority date	Dec 20, 2013
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A television receiver may detect at least one gap in content within an instance of recorded programming. The television receiver may send to a computer system a request to repair the at least one gap in content within the instance of recorded programming. The television receiver may receive one of content associated with the at least one gap in content, and a notification that indicates unavailability of content associated with the at least one gap in content. The television receiver may edit the instance of recorded programming to include content associated with the at least one gap in content when content associated with the at least one gap in content is received.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a television receiver from a service provider, a transmission corresponding to an instance of television programming;
monitoring, by the television receiver, signal strength or signal quality of the received transmission;
determining that the signal strength or signal quality of the received transmission falls at or below a predetermined threshold value during the instance of television programming;
storing, by the television receiver, the instance of television programming to a storage device, thereby generating an instance of recorded programming;
detecting, by the television receiver, a gap in content within the instance of recorded programming corresponding to the signal strength or signal quality of the received transmission falling at or below the predetermined threshold value during the instance of television programming, wherein detecting includes identifying a start time and an end time of the gap in content;
transmitting, by the television receiver to a remote server associated with the service provider using a terrestrial network connection, a request for additional content to repair the gap in content within the instance of recorded programming, wherein the request includes the start time and the end time of the gap in content;
receiving, by the television receiver using the terrestrial network connection, additional content associated with the gap in content;
editing, by the television receiver, the instance of recorded programming to include the additional content associated with the gap in content, wherein the editing includes inserting the additional content between the start time and the end time of the gap in content;
analyzing, by the television receiver, the instance of television programming to identify an alert or warning that replaces audio, or video, or both audio and video of the television programming;
transmitting, by the television receiver, using a terrestrial network connection and to the remote server associated with the service provider, a request for replacement content to replace the alert or warning in the instance of recorded programming, wherein the request includes the start time and the end time of the alert or warning
receiving, by the television receiver using the terrestrial network connection, replacement content associated with the alert or warning; and
editing, by the television receiver, the instance of recorded programming to insert the replacement content in place of the alert or warning.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an identifier of the instance of recorded programming, and transmitting the identifier with the request for additional content to repair the gap in content within the instance of recorded programming.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the television receiver, input corresponding to authorization to replace alerts or warnings in recorded content with replacement content.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the transmission corresponding to the instance of television programming includes receiving the transmission over a satellite network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the transmission corresponding to the instance of television programming includes receiving the transmission over a terrestrial network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the additional content includes receiving a first portion of the additional content from the service provider and receiving a second portion of the additional content from a remote television receiver.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the instance of recorded programming to identify an alert or warning in the instance of recorded programming includes analyzing audio or metadata embedded within the instance of television programming to identify the alert or warning.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional content associated with the gap in content is of greater duration than the gap in content.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a notification that indicates unavailability of content associated with the gap in content, and
transmitting another request for additional content to repair the gap in content within the instance of recorded programming following passage of a predetermined period of time after receiving the notification.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the television receiver, input corresponding to authorization to share recorded content stored on the storage device with other television receivers for purposes of repairing detected gaps in content by the other television receivers;
receiving, by the television receiver using the terrestrial network connection, a request for a portion of the recorded content; and
transmitting, by the television receiver using the terrestrial network connection, the portion of the recorded content.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the television receiver, a list or report identifying recorded content stored on the storage device; and
transmitting, by the television receiver, the list or report to the remote server associated with the service provider using a terrestrial network connection.

12. A television receiver, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processors and having stored therein processor-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including:
receiving, from a service provider, a transmission corresponding to an instance of television programming;
monitoring signal strength or signal quality of the received transmission;
determining that the signal strength or signal quality of the received transmission falls at or below a predetermined threshold value during the instance of television programming;
storing the instance of television programming to a storage device, thereby generating an instance of recorded programming;
detecting a gap in content within the instance of recorded programming corresponding to the signal strength or signal quality of the received transmission falling at or below the predetermined threshold value during the instance of television programming, wherein detecting includes identifying a start time and an end time of the gap in content;
transmitting, to a remote server associated with the service provider using a terrestrial network connection, a request for additional content to repair the gap in content within the instance of recorded programming, wherein the request includes the start time and the end time of the gap in content;
receiving, using the terrestrial network connection, additional content associated with the gap in content;
editing the instance of recorded programming to include the additional content associated with the gap in content, wherein editing includes inserting the additional content between the start time and the end time of the gap in content;
analyzing the instance of television programming to identify an alert or warning that replaces audio, or video, or both audio and video of the television programming;
transmitting, using a terrestrial network connection and to the remote server associated with the service provider, a request for replacement content to replace the alert or warning in the instance of recorded programming, wherein the request includes the start time and the end time of the alert or warning;
receiving, using the terrestrial network connection, replacement content associated with the alert or warning; and
editing the instance of

Assignees

• Echostar Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Kapa Jr Milton
• Lea Mark Wayne

Classifications

• H04N5/775

  between a recording apparatus and a television receiver · CPC title

• H04N5/765

  Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus · CPC title

• G11B27/034 Primary

  on discs (G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence) · CPC title