1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to the provision of content 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), interactive video games, music and other audio content, data from the Internet, etc. to customers or users over a broadband connection. The broadband connection typically terminates at a Set Top Box (STB) located at a customer premise either directly or via a customer gateway, such as a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem. The STB may be coupled to a television set as well as to additional devices, such as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR).
Currently, most of the content is provided via a main television guide that is displayed on the television set. Customers can create personal favorites from the guide and store them on the STB. However, such methods offer limited flexibility in creating personal libraries and choosing content from the vast number of items that can be made available. Thus, there is a need for providing an improved system and method for customers to create personalized libraries and obtain the corresponding content for viewing on user devices.
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 for providing content over a communications network. 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 provide to a user device a first list of items that corresponds to content stored in a first database associated with a master library; instructions to store in a second database at the communications network a second list of items that is selected from the first list as a personal library corresponding to a customer identifier; instructions to retrieve content from the first database that corresponds to an item selected from the second list; and instructions to provide the retrieved content to a user device over the communications network for display on a television set.
In one aspect, the user device may be a set-top-box (STB) associated with the user identifier and the first and second lists are stored in one or more network databases. In another aspect, the user device may be an STB, a computer or wireless device, such as PDA, cell phone, etc. In another aspect, the computer program may further include instructions to provide attributes corresponding to the first or second lists of items to the user device; instructions to receive a selection of an attribute from the presented attributes; instructions to search the first database for other content having the selected attribute; and instructions to provide a third list that corresponds to the other content. The presented attributes may include artist, producer, director, author, language, subject matter, file, document, etc.
In another aspect, the disclosure describes a method for providing television services which includes: providing to a user device a first set of items that correspond to content stored in a first database in response to a first input; storing in a second database at a network server a second set of items selected from the first set of items in response to a second input; retrieving content from the first database corresponding to an item selected from the second set of items in response to a third input; and providing the retrieved content to a user device for display on a television set.
In another aspect, the disclosure provides a system for use in providing content that includes a first database to store content corresponding to a first library; a second database to store a list of items from the first library corresponding to a user identifier; a server having access to a computer program, the server utilizing the first database and the second database to execute instructions contained in the computer program that include: instructions to provide a first list corresponding to the contents of the first library to a user device; instructions to store a second list selected from the first list as a personal library in response to a user selection; instructions to store the second library in the second database; and instructions to provide content relating to an item selected from the personal library to a user device for display on a user device, such as a computer display, cell phone, PDA, television set, etc.
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 via routers 158 and 160 and link 159 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. 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. The backbone is further shown coupled to a customer computer 174 over the Internet 140 and a service provider 172 via router 170. Additionally, the backbone is coupled to wireless devices such as PDA 166 and cell phone 168 via a wireless network 164 and router 162.
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The database 186 and/or 196 may store customer information including identity of the customers, personal identification numbers (PIN), identifier corresponding to each STB at customer premises, physical address, Internet Protocol address, billing information, telephone numbers, services subscribed by the customers, etc. Any other database may also be used to store such information. Thus, in one aspect, each customer or subscriber may have a unique identifier that is stored in a network database.
Any customer who has established an account with the service provider, thus, may access available library contents applicable to the customer account. For example, a customer may log in from a computer 174 via the Internet, use a cellular telephone 168 or PDA 166, or activate STB 132 to obtain a portal that displays a main or first list of items available content from the E-Library. The customer then may select items from the main list to form lists corresponding to one or more personal libraries, which are stored as a main or first list of items for personal libraries in the Personal Library database 196. When a customer logs in from an STB, the system verifies or authenticates the customer account and sends menu (index or list) of the available content to the STB for display on a television set. In one aspect, this may not require inputting a PIN number unless a parental control feature or another restriction is activated. The system may ask for a PIN number when logged in via a wireless device or the Internet. In that event, the system sends the list of available content over the Internet or the wireless network.
When a customer wishes to receive content corresponding to an item selected from the Personal Library, the server 192 receives the selection, verifies the identification and communicates with the system 180 to provide the selected content to the customer device for display. In addition, the user may utilize any remote device to create or update the Personal Library even while watching a selected content. Additionally, customers may create personal sub-libraries corresponding to sub-accounts or PIN numbers, each of which may be stored and accessed from the personal library system at the network. If a selected item is associated with a charge, such as a charge for a VoD, such items in the personal library may be listed under a separate category or may be identified with a marker, such as a specific color, asterisk, or any other suitable indication. Downloading of such content may require the customer to enter an identifier, which may be a PIN. Additionally, any item on the personal library may be marked as requiring permission, such as entry of a PIN. Thus, a customer or user may create and update personal lists from any suitable device remotely and receive content for any item from such a list at any suitable device, including a computer, PDA, cell phone, and STB.
Additionally, customers may be provided a space to input certain categories of their own or specify an attribute of a desired content, such as the name of a movie 234, name of an actor 236 or any other attribute. The customer on the screenshot No. 2 may then select a subcategory or specify an attribute, such a name of an actor, such as “Henry Fonda.” If a customer inputs an attribute, such as, Henry Fonda, then system 180 (
The computer system 500 may include a processor 502 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 504 and a static memory 506, which communicate with each other via a bus 508. The computer system 500 may further include a video display unit 510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 500 may include an input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 514 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 516, a signal generation device 518 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interface device 520.
The disk drive unit 516 may include a machine-readable medium 522 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 524) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein, including those methods illustrated in herein above. The instructions 524 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504, the static memory 506, and/or within the processor 502 during execution thereof by the computer system 500. The main memory 504 and the processor 502 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 disclosure, 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 disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containing instructions 524, or that which receives and executes instructions 524 from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network environment 526 can send or receive voice, video or data, and to communicate over the network 526 using the instructions 524. The instructions 524 may further be transmitted or received over a network 526 via the network interface device 520.
While the machine-readable medium 522 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 disclosure. 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 disclosure 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.