Set-top box with interactive portal and system and method for use of same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9716902-B2
Application number	US-201615203515-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2016
Priority date	May 31, 2013
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

A set-top box with an interactive portal and system and method for use of the same are disclosed. In one embodiment of the set-top box, the set-top box is deployed to provide an interactive portal in a hospitality establishment having multiple rooms, such as a hotel. The set-top box is associated with a room and includes a housing that secures a television input, a television output, a processor, a transceiver, and memory therein in an interconnected bus architecture. The set-top box generates a default interactive portal as well as a guest-specific interactive portal, which is generated from a guest configuration profile having information including guest identification, a guest channel preference presentation, and a guest service preference presentation with guest account information. The guest configuration profile may also enable the creation of a local area wireless network with substantially the same behavior as the guest's home wireless network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for configuring a guest experience in a hospitality establishment having a plurality of rooms, the system comprising:
a plurality of set-top boxes respectively disposed in the plurality of rooms, each set-top box programmably assigned to a respective room, each set-top box comprising:
a housing securing a television input, a television output, a processor, a transceiver, and memory therein;
a busing architecture communicatively interconnecting the television input, the television output, the transceiver, the processor, and the memory therebetween;
the television input configured to receive a source signal from an external source, the source signal including a plurality of channels;
the television output configured to forward a tuned signal to a television in the assigned room, the signal being tuned from the source signal at the set-top box; and
the memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
receive a guest configuration profile, the guest configuration profile including guest identification, a guest channel preference presentation, and a guest service preference presentation with guest account information, the guest configuration profile being a guest-specific, guest-customized set-top box generated environment referencing an explicit digital representation of a guest's identity;
in response to receiving the guest configuration profile, temporarily override the default profile and generate a guest interactive portal including a guest indication acknowledgement, the guest channel preference presentation, and the guest service preference presentation;
in response to receiving the guest configuration profile, activate a local area wireless network for a guest device to a network associated with the hospitality establishment;
the local area wireless network having identical behavior to a home wireless network belonging to the guest, the local area wireless network providing identical network configuration and device login credentials as the home wireless network;
in response to receiving a default profile, generate a default interactive portal; and
forward one of the guest interactive portal and the default interactive portal to the television via the television output;

wherein at least one of the plurality of set-top boxes respectively disposed in the plurality of rooms generates a guest interactive portal and at least one of the plurality of set-top boxes respectively disposed in the plurality of rooms generates a default interactive portal;
the guest configuration profile configuring the local area wireless network to be a guest private wireless network that acts as an access point having the same network configuration, SSID, and login credentials for devices, applications, and services as the home wireless network belonging to the guest, thereby creating a home away from home environment for the guest with provisioning for room-specific guest preferred features, including room temperature and television lineup; and
the guest configuration profile requiring no new room configuration, the guest configuration profile accessing needed information and data to provision the guest wireless network from one of a co-located server and a cloud-located server.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein in response to receiving the guest configuration profile, the memory includes processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to activate a local area wireless connection for a guest device to a network associated with the hospitality establishment.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the memory includes processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive a guest configuration profile via a wireless signal received at an antenna associated with the set-top box, the antenna being coupled to the busing architecture.

4. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the wireless signal is selected from the group of wireless protocols consisting of 802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), Bluetooth, and infrared (IR).

5. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the wireless signal is transmitted to the set-top box from a wireless-enabled interactive handheld device.

6. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the wireless signal is transmitted to the set-top box from a remote control paired with the set-top box.

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the memory includes processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive a guest configuration profile via television input.

8. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein the guest configuration profile originates from a hospitality establishment location selected from the front desk and hotel headend.

9. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the guest configuration profile further includes control settings for room amenities.

10. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the guest configuration profile further includes preferences for the lodging establishment experience.

11. A set-top box with an interactive portal for use in a hospitality establishment having a plurality of rooms, the set-top box comprising:
a housing securing a television input, a television output, a processor, a transceiver, and memory therein, the housing configured to be located in an assigned room of the plurality of rooms;
a busing architecture communicatively interconnecting the television input, the television output, the transceiver, the processor, and the memory therebetween;
the television input configured to receive a source signal from an external source, the source signal including a plurality of channels;
the television output configured to forward a tuned signal to a television in the assigned room, the signal being tuned from the source signal at the set-top box;
the memory-processor combination associated with the assigned room; and
the memory accessible to the processor, the memory including processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
receive a guest configuration profile, the guest configuration profile including guest identification, a guest channel preference presentation, and a guest service preference presentation with guest account information, the guest configuration profile being a guest-specific, guest-customized set-top box generated environment referencing an explicit digital representation of a guest's identity;
in response to receiving the guest configuration profile, temporarily override the default profile and generate a guest interactive portal including a guest indication acknowledgement, the guest channel preference presentation, and the guest service preference presentation;
in response to receiving the guest configuration profile, activate a local area wireless network for a guest device to a network associated with the hospitality establishment;
the local area wireless network having identical behavior to a home wireless network belonging to the guest, the local area wireless network providing identical network configuration and device and application login credentials as the home wireless network;
in response to receiving a default profile, generate a default interactive portal;
forward one of the guest interactive portal and the default interactive portal to the television via the television output;

the guest configuration profile configuring the local area wireless network to be a guest private wireless network that acts as an access point having the same network configuration, SSID, and login credentials for devices, applicat

Assignees

• Enseo Inc

Inventors

• Ogle Vanessa
• Miller Thomas R
• Fang William C

Classifications

• H04N21/2143 Primary

  located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum (arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106) · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04N21/8126

  involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts · CPC title

• H04N21/4131

  home appliance, e.g. lighting, air conditioning system, metering devices (home automation data switching networks exchanging configuration information on appliance services H04L12/2807) · CPC title

• H04N21/43615

  Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals (home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805) · CPC title