Patent Application
20070183746
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to the provision of television services over a television network.
2. Background
Television services provided over a television network, such as an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, cable network or satellite network, include various content such as content over multiple channels, Video-on-Demand (VoD), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), data from the Internet, etc., to customers over a broadband connection. The broadband connection typically terminates at a Set Top Box (STB) located at a customer premise. The STB may be coupled to a television set as well as to additional devices, such as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). A DVR is a device that records video to a digital storage medium, such as a hard disk, in digital form, thereby enabling a viewer to record a show at a given time to be played back at another time, pause live TV shows, and skip advertising, among other things. In addition to the multiple content available, IPTV provides various features to a customer's viewing experience, such as an ability to purchase items through a television set, an integration of television viewing and Internet usage, interactive games, etc.
The STB typically operates a set of features that affect the viewer experience. Some typical features include parental control settings that enable a customer (also referred herein as “supervisor”) to restrict the content that may be viewed at a customer location. Often, a customer may have several STBs, each controlling a separate television. Each STB typically has a separate identifier and may be controlled by a separate personal identifier number (PIN).
Recording devices in conjunction with set-top-boxes are often utilized to record content delivered over the television networks. However, the content available over the television networks includes a wide variety, such as content categorized not suitable for certain age groups, VoD, pay-per-view, sexually explicit content, etc. Customers may desire to control the recording of some of such content delivered to the customer devices, such as the STBs. Thus, there is a need for a system and method for controlling the recording of certain television content.
For detailed understanding of the present disclosure, references should be made to the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements have been given like numerals, wherein:
In view of the above, the present disclosure through one or more of its various aspects and/or embodiments is presented to provide one or more advantages, such as those noted below.
The present disclosure provides a system, method and computer programs to control recording of television content. In one aspect, the disclosure provides a computer-readable medium that is accessible to a processor for executing instructions contained in a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions to receive content over a television network for display on a television set corresponding to a customer identifier; instructions to receive an input corresponding to the customer identifier to block a selected content from recording on a recording device; and instructions to block the selected content from recording on the recording device in response to the received input. In another aspect, the computer program further may include instructions to display the selected content on a television set while blocking the same content from the recording device. The computer program further contains instructions to confirm the customer identifier before blocking the selected content from recording on the recording device. The content selected for blocking may be content having a certain rating, a video-on-demand (VOD); a pay-per-view (PPV) program; a content associated with an age group; a content delivered during a certain time period of a day; a specific type of a show; a selected television channel; and content that has an associated monetary amount. Additionally, the input to block the selected content may be received from a remote control associated with a set-top-box (STB), cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), computer via the internet or an Interactive Voice Recognition System. The customer identifier may be a primary account and may have one or more associated sub-accounts or identifiers. The computer program may further include instructions to automatically block the selected content from recording corresponding to one or more of the sub-accounts.
In another aspect, the disclosure provides an apparatus that includes: a first interface that provides content to a television set corresponding to a customer identifier; a second interface that provides the content to a recording device; and a processor that executes instructions contained in a computer program accessible to the processor, wherein the computer program includes: instructions to receive an input corresponding to the customer identifier to block a selected content from recording on a recording device; and instructions to block the recording of the selected content in response to the input. In one aspect, the recording device may be integral to the apparatus.
In another aspect, the apparatus may display the selected content on the television set while blocking the selected content from recording on the recording device. In another aspect the apparatus includes a memory that stores a list of programs that constitutes the selected content and a list of programs available for viewing on the television set. The processor of the apparatus further may unblock the selected content or a portion thereof in response to an input corresponding to the customer identifier. The input may be received from any suitable device, including a remote control associated with the apparatus, cellular telephone, PDA, and computer via the internet.
In yet another aspect, the disclosure provides a computer program that includes instructions to receive television content from a network corresponding to a customer identifier, instructions to record a selected content from the received content in response to a first input corresponding to the customer identifier, and instructions to block at least a portion of the recorded content from displaying on a television set in response to a second input corresponding to the customer identifier. The computer program may further include instruction to unblock at least a portion of the recorded content in response to a third input corresponding to the customer identifier.
In yet another aspect, the disclosure provides a system for providing a television service that includes: a database that stores customer information, including a customer identifier; a server linked to a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE); and a computer-readable medium accessible to the server to execute instructions contained in a computer program embedded in the computer-readable medium, wherein the computer program includes instructions to receive an input from a remote device corresponding to the customer identifier to block a selected content from recording on a recording device associated with the CPE; and instructions to block the selected content from recording on the recording device.
In yet another aspect, a method for controlling television content is provided, which includes: receiving content over a television network for providing the content to a television set corresponding to a customer identifier; receiving an input corresponding to the customer identifier to block recording of a selected content on a recording device; and blocking the recording of the selected content from recording on the recording device.
The backbone 110 is further shown coupled to a number of content providers over the Internet 140. For example, the backbone 110 is shown coupled to an Internet service provider (such as “Yahoo” Application provider) 150 via routers 152 and 154, and link 153; and a financial content provider 156 that may provide a financial service, such as customer investment portfolio information and/or enable a customer to order products and services from one or more vendors via the STB 132, via routers 158 and 160, and link 159. Similarly, the backbone 110 may be coupled to or have access to any other partner content provider (generally designated by numeral 145), such as an interactive service that enables a customer to play games against other players via a television, and a gaming service that enables a customer to bet online and settle accounts.
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The customer information stored in the STBs and/or database 184 may include settings related to operations of one or more STBs at a customer location. These settings may include PINs, serial numbers of STBs or other identifier, content recording capabilities, parental control of content available to viewers at a TV set, DVR or suitable recording device, blocked channels or content, a list of favorite channels or most commonly visited channels (‘Favorites’) of a customer, as well as information related to broadband and voice service, including VoIP, and credit card numbers that may be charged for interactive activity by the customer, such as for buying merchandise, downloading videos, settling accounts, etc. In one aspect, the database 184 may store settings related to an STB, and these settings may be applied to content at the backbone 110. In another aspect, the STB may store the settings and the server 182 may receive the settings from the STB at a given time, such as on a scheduled basis, or upon request or query by the server 182 and store the settings in the database 184. In yet another aspect, settings for the STB may be shared between the database 184 and the STB. The settings may be associated with the STB by an IP address, an identifier associated with the STB, or any other suitable identifier.
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One aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer program that includes instruction that affect settings related to the type of content, such as television programming from a network, VoD and pay-per-view (PPV) programming from a network, viewable at a CPE device, such as a television set, to content recorded to a recording device, such as a DVR, and to content purchasable via an interaction between a viewer and the television via a controlling device, such as a STB. Purchasable content may include VoD, PPV, or other viewable content, or a consumer item such as a book that may be purchased via an interaction between a viewer and the STB. The computer programs may operate at a suitable place within the system, such as at the STB 132, system 180 or another processor located at the network backbone 110.
In another aspect, parental control settings may be applied separately for content viewed at a television set and for content directed to a recording device. Thus, a viewer may have one set of parental control enabling him to watch R- and X-rated movies at the television set and another set of parental controls preventing him from recording those same R- and X-rated movies to a DVR or other recording device. In another aspect, the computer-readable medium may provide a program to block purchases that may be made via the STB, such as a book purchase. In another aspect, the settings, including parental controls, may be applied using variety of criteria to affect content. For example, a parental control setting may be set to block video content according to the program (such as ‘CSI’), to block a designated channel (such as HBO), to block a type of content (such as programs that contain sexual content), etc. Any suitable ratings system available in the industry, such as MPAA ratings, V-chip ratings, game ratings, etc., may be used. Changes in settings may be made to individual viewer accounts, or to groups of viewer accounts. Also, a change may be made universally to all viewer accounts. Parental control settings may be unlocked for all viewers for a specifiable period of time.
In another aspect, a monetary limit on items purchased via the television may be enforced over a time period, such as on weekly basis, a monthly basis, etc. In one example, purchases made within that time period may be made without entering a PIN number. However, once the purchase limit is reached, the viewer may be asked to enter a PIN number for approval of the purchase. Settings may be temporarily altered for a selected period of time without having to make changes to the current settings. For example, if parents are gone for a weekend, they may increase the restriction level of parental controls for that period of time. In addition, settings may be modified on behalf of the customer through a suitable notification method, such as by entering data into a Customer Service Request (CSR) form supplied at a web page, or by selecting settings over a telephone interaction with an Interactive Voice Recorder (IVR) that generally provides the caller with a set of options and provides a service in response to an input by the caller.
In another aspect, the disclosure provides channel blocking from a available channels, such a main programming guide. Although, the main programming guide may display all channels provided, a channel may be blocked at the main programming guide at one or more of the STB, from a single STB or from any other remote device such as a cell phone, PDA and computer. If a channel is blocked from the main programming guide, the main guide may display all of the network channels except the blocked channels from one or all STBs. The channel blocked on the main guide corresponding the master PIN may automatically block that channel from one or more selected sub-accounts or PINs. Alternatively, the main guide may display all available channels and change some aspect of the appearance of the name of the blocked channel to indicate the blocked status. For example, the name of the blocked channel may appear using a different shading or by using italics, etc. Any number of ways of altering the appearance may be used. The appearance of the main programming guide may be customized according to the television set it is viewed on. For example, if a channel is blocked from viewing at a first television set, yet is not blocked from viewing at a second television set, the blocked channel may not appear on the main programming guide when viewed at the first television set, yet appears on the main programming guide when viewed at the second television set.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides for selecting channels (Favorites) by a viewer from the main programming guide. The ‘Favorites’ list generally includes those channels most frequently visited by a viewer and may be limited to a pre-determined maximum number of channels (i.e., 20 channels). Channels may include several content, such as programming, VoD, Internet, purchasing, and other channels. Multiple ‘Favorites’ lists may be provided to a STB or to a related database at the network to address multiple viewers at common or separate TV sets. Additionally, a single ‘Favorites’ list may have a different appearance when receive at two TV sets having different parental control settings. In one aspect, the viewer may push a button on a remote control device to toggle between the main programming guide and the ‘Favorites’ list. In another aspect, restrictions made to the main programming guide transfer to a ‘Favorites’ listing, such that a channel blocked at the main programming guide is absent from the ‘Favorites’ list. In another aspect, the backbone may provide the main programming guide and the ‘Favorites’ list to any device such as a remote computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, etc. Such provision may be via a web portal sent by the application provider 150. The customer may access the portal utilizing a logon and providing the PIN number or another identifier recognized by the backbone 110 or the provider 150. The customer may then change the ‘Favorites’ list or lists and also block or unblock a channel via the remote device.
In the present disclosure, the settings of the STB are integrated into database 184 and may be accessed through a suitable portal, such as the Yahoo! portal. A viewer using a remote device, such as computer 174, may access the setting at the database via the remote device and make any desired changes. Once changes have been made, those changes may be communicated from the database to the STB. For example, a viewer is out shopping and remembers that he would like to record a show on his DVR that is due to begin before he returns home. The viewer uses his cell phone (114 of
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Another aspect of the disclosure provides a set of reports on viewer activity. The reports may cover a specified period, such as for the current month or for the last month or a specifiable historical perspective on viewing habits. Reports may be presented under a variety of formats and may categorize viewing habits according to several criteria, such as hours viewed per channel, hours viewed per genre, hours viewed per program, hours viewed per viewer, hours of games played, hours spent per application, etc.
The computer system 900 may include a processor 902 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 904 and a static memory 906, which communicate with each other via a bus 908. The computer system 900 may further include a video display unit 910 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 900 may include an input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 916, a signal generation device 918 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interface device 920.
The disk drive unit 916 may include a machine-readable medium 922 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 924) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein, including those methods illustrated in herein above. The instructions 924 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 904, the static memory 906, and/or within the processor 902 during execution thereof by the computer system 900. The main memory 904 and the processor 902 also may constitute machine-readable media. Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals communicated between and through the modules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.
In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the methods described herein are intended for operation as software programs running on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementations can include, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein.
The present invention contemplates a machine readable medium containing instructions 924, or that which receives and executes instructions 924 from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network environment 926 can send or receive voice, video or data, and to communicate over the network 926 using the instructions 924. The instructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over a network 926 via the network interface device 920.
While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; and carrier wave signals such as a signal embodying computer instructions in a transmission medium; and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the invention is considered to include any one or more of a machine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein and including art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations herein are stored.
Although the present specification describes components and functions implemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standards and protocols, the invention is not limited to such standards and protocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) represent examples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same functions are considered equivalents.
The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments, and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all the elements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use of the structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Figures are merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
