Systems and methods for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query

BACKGROUND

Conventional conversation systems are configured to respond to a user's query, such as a natural language query, with results for the user's query, such as media assets of interest to the user. Some conventional conversation systems may in addition include a generic pre-programmed response, such as “Thank you” or “Good-bye.” Some conventional conversation systems may in addition include a pre-programmed response based on time of day, such as “Good Morning” or “Good Evening.” However, these pre-programmed responses are generic to all users of the conversation system and do little to enhance the user's experience while interacting with the conversation system.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are described to address shortcomings in conventional conversation systems by executing a customized supplemental function for a natural language query based on the user's profile. The systems and methods receive a user query for a media asset, determine a query template in the user's profile matching the user's query, and identify and execute a supplemental function corresponding to the query template in addition to responding to the user's query. The systems and methods may be implemented via an interactive media guidance application running on a user device, a remote server, or another suitable device. The interactive media guidance application may be implemented partially on multiple devices such that some portions of the interactive media guidance application are executed on one device while other portions of the interactive media guidance application are executed on another device. The user's profile may be based on the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application.

For example, in addition to responding to the user's natural language query, the interactive media guidance application may execute a customized supplemental function to generate a subsequent question to the user based on the likelihood of what the user typically does after getting a response to a similar query. For example, the user may input a natural language query such as “Who played the role of Tony Montana in Scarface?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Al Pacino played the role,” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to view his other movies?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Who played the role of character X in movie Y,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question for other movies of the actor should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically asked for other movies of the actor after inputting such a query. The interactive media guidance application may generate for display other movies of the actor on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may provide the information for other movies of the actor directly to the user without first posing a question.

In another example, the user may input a natural language query such as “What's on ZNN?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “ZNN Newsreel,” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to tune to ZNN?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “What's on Channel Z,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whether to tune to Channel Z should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically tuned to the channel after inputting such a query. The interactive media guidance application may tune to Channel Z on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may tune to Channel Z directly without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query such as “Is there a new season of Blue is the New Red?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Yes, the new season was released last week” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to watch it on TVMAX?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Is there a new season of Show A,” and where the media asset is available at a streaming service, a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whether the user wants to watch it on the streaming service should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically watched the media asset on a streaming service after inputting such a query. The interactive media guidance application may activate the streaming service on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may activate the streaming service directly without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query such as “When is the next episode of Conviction?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “The next episode of Conviction will air tomorrow,” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to record it on the DVR?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “When is the next episode of Show B,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whether to record the next episode of Show B should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically entered a record request to the DVR for the next episode after inputting such a query. The interactive media guidance application may generate a recording request for Show B on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may generate the recording request automatically without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query such as “Give me information on show Star City.” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Star City is a television program that airs on XYZ,” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to watch it on TVMAX?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Give me information on show C,” and where the media asset is not currently airing but is available on a streaming service, a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whether the user wants to watch it on the streaming service should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically looked for options to watch the media asset after inputting such a query. The interactive media guidance application may activate the streaming service on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may activate the streaming service directly without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query such as “Is the new movie Ghostbusters in theaters?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Ghostbusters will hit theaters this weekend,” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to buy a movie ticket?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Is movie D in theaters,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whether the user wants to purchase a movie ticket should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically purchased a movie ticket after inputting such a query. The interactive media guidance application may generate for display available showtimes and prices for movie D on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may provide the information on available showtimes and prices directly without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query such as “Is the Big Game on yet?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Yes, the Big Game started 15 minutes ago,” and execute a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to view it on the living room television?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Is Sports Program E on yet,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whether the user wants to view it on the living room television should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically tuned to Sports Program E on the living room television after inputting such a query on his or her mobile phone or another suitable second screen device. The interactive media guidance application may activate the living room television and tune to Sports Program E on receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may automatically tune to Sports Program E on the living room television without first posing a question to the user.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application provides information on additional features that are available but may not be yet known to the user. For example, the user may request information on a foreign language media asset. The user profile may not have a matching query template but the generic profile may include a matching query template to provide information on subtitle information. The interactive media guidance application may execute the supplemental function and provide information to the user that English subtitles are available for the selected foreign language media asset. In addition to providing information on new features or features that are yet unknown to the user, the interactive media guidance application may also provide an enhanced user experience by allowing the user to explore these features without needing to take the initiative him- or herself to formulate a natural language query to inquire on availability of the features.

Alternatively or additionally, the supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosen based on a generic profile that is based on usage patterns of multiple users of the interactive media guidance application. The generic profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Who played the role of character X in movie Y,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question for other movies of the actor should be executed. In some embodiments, if a matching query template is not found in the user's profile, the interactive media guidance application determines the supplemental function to execute based on the generic profile. For example, the user may not have input such or a similar query before, and therefore the user profile does not have any usage pattern for the user.

In some embodiments, the user profile is given priority over the generic profile in cases of conflict. For example, if the user profile indicates that the supplemental function corresponding to the matching query template activates the bedroom television for a sports program (i.e., the user prefers to view the sports program on his or her bedroom television), while the generic profile indicates the supplemental function corresponding to the matching query template activates the living room television for a sports program (i.e., most users prefer to view the sports program on their living room televisions), the supplemental function from the user profile may take precedence and be executed. In another example, if the user profile indicates that the supplemental function corresponding to the matching query template should not be executed, i.e., the user has actively chosen to suppress the supplemental function, while the generic profile indicates the supplemental function corresponding to the matching query template activates the bedroom television, the user profile may take precedence, and therefore no supplemental function may be executed.

In some aspects, the systems and methods described provide for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query presented to an interactive media guidance application. The interactive media guidance application receives, from a user, a query for a media asset. The interactive media guidance application generates for display the media asset in response to the query. The interactive media guidance application retrieves a user profile indicating the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application. The interactive media guidance application determines whether the user profile includes a query template matching the user's query. If the user profile is determined to include the query template matching the user's query, the interactive media guidance application identifies a supplemental function corresponding to the query template and executes the supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application generates for display an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and output from execution of the supplemental function.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a search function for identifying a content source where the media asset is available. The interactive media guidance application generates for display the interactive media guidance screen including the output from execution of the supplemental function by generating for display the interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and the content source where the media asset is available.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a search function for identifying a guidance feature relating to the media asset. The interactive media guidance application generates for display the interactive media guidance screen including the output from execution of the supplemental function by generating for display the media asset and the guidance feature relating to the media asset. In some embodiments, the guidance feature is a recording request for the media asset.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application determines whether the user profile includes the query template matching the user's query by identifying one or more tokens in the query and determining whether the user profile includes the query template matching at least a portion of the one or more tokens.

In some embodiments, the user profile indicating the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application includes a plurality of query templates and a corresponding plurality of supplemental functions. The interactive media guidance application identifies the supplemental function corresponding to the query template by identifying the supplemental function corresponding to the query template from the user profile.

In some embodiments, the user profile indicating the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application includes a plurality of query templates and a remote database includes a plurality of supplemental functions corresponding to the plurality of query templates. The interactive media guidance application identifies the supplemental function corresponding to the query template by identifying the supplemental function corresponding to the query template from the remote database.

In some embodiments, the query template is referred to as a first query template and the supplemental function is referred to as a first supplemental function. If the user profile is determined to not include a query template matching the user's query, the interactive media guidance application retrieves a generic profile indicating generalized usage patterns of a plurality of users of the interactive media guidance application. The interactive media guidance application determines whether the generic profile includes a second query template matching the user's query.

In some embodiments, if the generic profile is determined to include the second query template matching the user's query, the interactive media guidance application identifies a second supplemental function corresponding to the second query template. The interactive media guidance application executes the second supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query. The interactive media guidance application generates for display an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and output from execution of the second supplemental function.

Conventional conversation systems are configured to respond to a user's query, such as a natural language query, with results for the user's query and additional pre-programmed responses which are generic to all users of the conversation system and do little to enhance the user's experience while interacting with the conversation system. The described systems and methods address shortcomings in conventional conversation systems by executing a customized supplemental function for a natural language query based on the user's profile. The systems and methods receive a user query for a media asset, determine a query template in the user's profile matching the user's query, and identify and execute a supplemental function corresponding to the query template in addition to responding to the user's query. Conventional conversation systems that provide pre-programmed responses provide for a poor user experience because they do not customize their responses based on such a user profile. In the systems and methods described, the user's profile is customized on the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application. By monitoring the user's usage patterns and learning from the user's actions in conjunction with the user's natural language queries, the interactive media guidance application may provide a smarter and more efficient user experience and minimize the need for pre-programmed responses.

It should be noted that the systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects described in this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display screen generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative example of a display screen generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screen generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of a user profile data structure and a generic profile data structure in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screen generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screen generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query presented to a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for when a user profile does not include a query template matching a user query in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for determining whether a user profile includes a query template matching a user query in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are described to address shortcomings in conventional conversation systems by executing a customized supplemental function for a natural language query based on the user's profile. The systems and methods receive a user query for a media asset, determine a query template in the user's profile matching the user's query, and identify and execute a supplemental function corresponding to the query template in addition to responding to the user's query. The systems and methods may be implemented via an interactive media guidance application running on a user device (e.g., user equipment device 700 (FIG. 7)), a remote server (e.g., server 816 or 818 (FIG. 8)), or another suitable device. The interactive media guidance application may be implemented partially on multiple devices such that some portions of the interactive media guidance application are executed on one device while other portions of the interactive media guidance application are executed on another device. The user's profile may be based on the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application.

In some aspects, the systems and methods described provide for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query presented to an interactive media guidance application executed on control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)). The control circuitry receives, from a user, a query for a media asset. The control circuitry generates for display the media asset in response to the query. The control circuitry retrieves a user profile indicating the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application. The control circuitry determines whether the user profile includes a query template matching the user's query. If the user profile is determined to include the query template matching the user's query, the control circuitry identifies a supplemental function corresponding to the query template and executes the supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query. The control circuitry generates for display an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and output from execution of the supplemental function.

In some embodiments, if the user profile is determined to not include a query template matching the user's query, the control circuitry retrieves a generic profile indicating generalized usage patterns of a plurality of users of the interactive media guidance application. The control circuitry determines whether the generic profile includes a query template matching the user's query. If the generic profile is determined to include a query template matching the user's query, the control circuitry identifies a supplemental function corresponding to the query template. The control circuitry executes the supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query. The control circuitry generates for display an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and output from execution of the supplemental function.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of display screen 100 generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In this illustrative example, in addition to responding to a user's natural language query, the control circuitry executes a customized supplemental function to generate information for the user based on the likelihood of what the user typically does after getting a response to a similar query. The user inputs natural language query 102, “Who played the role of Tony Montana in Scarface?” The control circuitry generates a suitable response 104, “Al Pacino,” and executes a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate subsequent information 106, “Scarface is available at MOVIES ONLINE.” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent information may be chosen based on the user's profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Who played the role of character X in movie Y,” a supplemental function to generate subsequent information for availability of the movie should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically searched for availability of the movie after inputting such a query. The control circuitry may generate for display option 108 to watch the movie from the MOVIES ONLINE streaming service.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of display screen 200 generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In this illustrative example, in addition to responding to the user's natural language query, the control circuitry executes a customized supplemental function to generate information for the user based on the likelihood of what the user typically does after getting a response to a similar query. The user inputs natural language query 202, “Find Korean movie Oldboy.” The control circuitry generates a suitable response 204, “Oldboy is available on MOVIES ONLINE,” and executes a customized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generate subsequent information 206, “This movie also has English subtitles available.” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent information may be chosen based on the user's profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, such as “Find Korean movie X” or “Find foreign language X movie Y,” a supplemental function to generate subsequent information for availability of English subtitles for the movie should be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application the user has typically searched for availability of English subtitles for the movie after inputting such a query. The control circuitry may generate for display option 208 to watch the movie with English subtitles from the MOVIES ONLINE streaming service.

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative example of display screen 300 generated by a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In this illustrative example, the control circuitry generates information on an additional feature that is available but may not be yet known to the user. The user may request information via query 302, “Show me latest TV episodes from TV ONLINE.” The control circuitry generates a suitable response 304, “Breaking Bad episode 5; Game of Thrones episode 9.” The control circuitry determines that the user's profile does not include a query template matching the user's query. The control circuitry retrieves a generic profile that is based on usage patterns of multiple users of the interactive media guidance application. The control circuitry determines that the generic profile includes a query template matching the user's query and a corresponding supplemental function. The control circuitry executes the supplemental function to generate subsequent information 306, “Your provider now also has episodes available from TV MAX.” This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidance application multiple users have typically searched for availability of latest TV episodes from TV MAX in addition to TV ONLINE. The control circuitry may generate for display option 308 to search TV MAX for latest TV episodes. In addition to providing information on new features or features that are yet unknown to the user, the interactive media guidance application may also provide an enhanced user experience by allowing the user to explore these features without needing to take the initiative him- or herself to formulate a natural language query to inquire on availability of the features.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of user profile data structure 400 and generic profile data structure 450 in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The supplemental function to execute for a user's natural language query may be based on either user profile data structure 400 or generic profile data structure 450. User profile data structure 400 may include user profile information based on the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application. For example, for “query template 1” (402), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be “supplemental function 1” (404). For example, for “query template 2” (406), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be “NULL” (408). This means that the user does not want any supplemental function to be executed when a query matching this query template is input. For example, for “query template 3” (410), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be “NA” (412). This means that there is no supplemental function assigned yet to the query template. This may be because the interactive media guidance application has not yet established a usage pattern for the user to consider assigning a supplemental function.

Generic profile data structure 450 may include user profile information generalized from multiple users based on usage patterns of the multiple users of the interactive media guidance application. For example, for “query template 1” (452), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be “supplemental function 2” (454). For example, for “query template 2” (456), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be “supplemental function 3” (458). For example, for “query template 3” (460), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be “supplemental function 4” (462).

In some embodiments, the control circuitry determines the supplemental function to execute based on generic profile data structure 450 if a matching query template is not found in user profile data structure 400. For example, the user may not have input such or a similar query before and therefore the user profile does not have any usage patterns for the user. Therefore for “query template 3,” the control circuitry may select “supplemental function 4” because there is no assigned supplemental function in user profile data structure 400. In some embodiments, user profile data structure 400 is given priority over generic profile data structure 450 in cases of conflict. For example, because there is a conflict between user profile data structure 400 that indicates “supplemental function 1” as corresponding to “query template 1” and generic profile data structure 450 that indicates “supplemental function 2” as corresponding to “query template 1,” the control circuitry selects “supplemental function 1” based on user profile data structure 400 having priority. In another example, because there is a conflict between user profile data structure 400 that indicates “NULL” as corresponding to “query template 2” and generic profile data structure 450 that indicates “supplemental function 3” as corresponding to “query template 2,” the control circuitry does not select any supplemental function based on user profile data structure 400 having priority.

The amount of content available to users in any given content delivery system can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form of media guidance through an interface that allows users to efficiently navigate content selections and easily identify content that they may desire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to herein as an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a media guidance application or a guidance application.

As referred to herein, an “interactive media guidance application,” or a “media guidance application” or, sometimes, a “guidance application” is an application that allows a user to consume, and/or navigate to content. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may be provided as an online application (i.e., provided on a website), or as a stand-alone application on a server or a user device. In some embodiments, control circuitry installed on various devices and platforms may execute the media guidance application, as described in more detail below. In some embodiments, the media guidance application and/or any instructions for performing any of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computer readable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable of storing data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including, but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals, or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile and nonvolatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media card, register memory, processor caches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”).

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms depending on the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type of media guidance application is an interactive television program guide. Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that, among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many types of content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications may generate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigate among, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms “media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean an electronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadable content, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information, pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles, books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/or combination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term “multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at least two different content forms described above, for example, text, audio, images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded, played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also be part of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performing any of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computer readable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable of storing data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including, but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals, or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processor caches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speed wireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment devices on which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase “user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronic device,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “media device” should be understood to mean any device for accessing the content described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), a digital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, a DVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, a BLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationary telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a portable video player, a portable music player, a portable gaming machine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computing equipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screen and a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angled screens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipment devices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same content available through a television. Consequently, media guidance may be available on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be for content available only through a television, for content available only through one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or for content available both through a television and one or more of the other types of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may be provided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or as stand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Various devices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications are described in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to provide media guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “media guidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any data related to content or data used in operating the guidance application. For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidance application settings, user preferences, user profile information, media listings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcast channels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parental control ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information, actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D, etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type of guidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locate desired content selections.

FIGS. 5-6 show illustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 5-6 may be implemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While the displays of FIGS. 5-6 are illustrated as full screen displays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A user may indicate a desire to access content information by selecting a selectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user input interface or device. In response to the user's indication, the media guidance application may provide a display screen with media guidance data organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category (e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories of programming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organization criteria.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 500 arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different types of content in a single display. Display 500 may include grid 502 with: (1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 504, where each channel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers 506, where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 502 also includes cells of program listings, such as program listing 508, where each listing provides the title of the program provided on the listing's associated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can select program listings by moving highlight region 510. Information relating to the program listing selected by highlight region 510 may be provided in program information region 512. Region 512 may include, for example, the program title, the program description, the time the program is provided (if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., content that is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipment devices at a predetermined time and is provided according to a schedule), the media guidance application also provides access to non-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipment device at any time and is not provided according to a schedule). Non-linear programming may include content from different content sources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content (e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above or other storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demand content may include movies or any other content provided by a particular content provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time Warner Company L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content may include web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or content available on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content through an Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 502 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programming including on-demand listing 514, recorded content listing 516, and Internet content listing 518. A display combining media guidance data for content from different types of content sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of the types of media guidance data that may be displayed that are different than display 500 may be based on user selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings 514, 516, and 518 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayed in grid 502 to indicate that selection of these listings may provide access to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings for these content types may be included directly in grid 502. Additional media guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selecting one of the navigational icons 520. (Pressing an arrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similar manner as selecting navigational icons 520.)

Display 500 may also include video region 522, and options region 526. Video region 522 may allow the user to view and/or preview programs that are currently available, will be available, or were available to the user. The content of video region 522 may correspond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed in grid 502. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other media guidance application display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region 526 may allow the user to access different types of content, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidance application features. Options region 526 may be part of display 500 (and other display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. The selectable options within options region 526 may concern features related to program listings in grid 502 or may include options available from a main menu display. Features related to program listings may include searching for other air times or ways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling series recording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a main menu display may include search options, VOD options, parental control options, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronization options, second screen device options, options to access various types of media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premium service, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browse overlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user's preferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user to customize displays and features to create a personalized “experience” with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may be created by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by the media guidance application monitoring user activity to determine various user preferences. Users may access their personalized guidance application by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to the guidance application. Customization of the media guidance application may be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations may include varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays, font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g., only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channels based on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display of channels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g., recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality, etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internet content (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail, electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desired customizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profile information or may automatically compile user profile information. The media guidance application may, for example, monitor the content the user accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with the guidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application may obtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to a particular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the user accesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidance applications the user accesses, from other interactive applications the user accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that the media guidance application may access. As a result, a user can be provided with a unified guidance application experience across the user's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience is described in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 8. Additional personalized media guidance application features are described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown in FIG. 6. Video mosaic display 600 includes selectable options 602 for content information organized based on content type, genre, and/or other organization criteria. In display 600, television listings option 604 is selected, thus providing listings 606, 608, 610, and 612 as broadcast program listings. In display 600 the listings may provide graphical images including cover art, still images from the content, video clip previews, live video from the content, or other types of content that indicate to a user the content being described by the media guidance data in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also be accompanied by text to provide further information about the content associated with the listing. For example, listing 608 may include more than one portion, including media portion 614 and text portion 616. Media portion 614 and/or text portion 616 may be selectable to view content in full-screen or to view information related to the content displayed in media portion 614 (e.g., to view listings for the channel that the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 600 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 606 is larger than listings 608, 610, and 612), but if desired, all the listings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes or graphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user or to emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider or based on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphically accentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and its display screens described above and below) from one or more of their user equipment devices. FIG. 7 shows a generalized embodiment of illustrative user equipment device 700. More specific implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 8. User equipment device 700 may receive content and data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 702. I/O path 702 may provide content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, content available over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 704, which includes processing circuitry 706 and storage 708. Control circuitry 704 may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 702. I/O path 702 may connect control circuitry 704 (and specifically processing circuitry 706) to one or more communications paths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 7 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 704 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry such as processing circuitry 706. As referred to herein, processing circuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may include a multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or any suitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments, processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separate processors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same type of processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multiple different processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Core i7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage 708). Specifically, control circuitry 704 may be instructed by the media guidance application to perform the functions discussed above and below. For example, the media guidance application may provide instructions to control circuitry 704 to generate the media guidance displays. In some implementations, any action performed by control circuitry 704 may be based on instructions received from the media guidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 704 may include communications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidance application server or other networks or servers. The instructions for carrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on the guidance application server. Communications circuitry may include a cable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or any other suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involve the Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths (which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 8). In addition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communication of user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (described in more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 708 that is part of control circuitry 704. As referred to herein, the phrase “electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood to mean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, or firmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives, optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD) recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders, digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal video recorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gaming consoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage devices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 708 may be used to store various types of content described herein as well as media guidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-based storage, described in relation to FIG. 8, may be used to supplement storage 708 or instead of storage 708.

Control circuitry 704 may include video generating circuitry and tuning circuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of such circuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided. Control circuitry 704 may also include scaler circuitry for upconverting and downconverting content into the preferred output format of the user equipment 700. Circuitry 704 may also include digital-to-analog converter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry for converting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and to display, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encoding circuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitry described herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or more general purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). If storage 708 is provided as a separate device from user equipment 700, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage 708.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 704 using user input interface 710. User input interface 710 may be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input interfaces. Display 712 may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of user equipment device 700. For example, display 712 may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 710 may be integrated with or combined with display 712. Display 712 may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature poly silicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, active matrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathode ray tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescent display, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display, thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display, surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television, carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulator display, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, display 712 may be HDTV-capable. In some embodiments, display 712 may be a 3D display, and the interactive media guidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. A video card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 712. The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be any processing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry 704. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 704. Speakers 714 may be provided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device 700 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and other content displayed on display 712 may be played through speakers 714. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 714.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitable architecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application wholly-implemented on user equipment device 700. In such an approach, instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage 708), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, or using another suitable approach). Control circuitry 704 may retrieve instructions of the application from storage 708 and process the instructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based on the processed instructions, control circuitry 704 may determine what action to perform when input is received from input interface 710. For example, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated by the processed instructions when input interface 710 indicates that an up/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-server based application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented on user equipment device 700 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the user equipment device 700. In one example of a client-server based guidance application, control circuitry 704 runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. For example, the remote server may store the instructions for the application in a storage device. The remote server may process the stored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) and generate the displays discussed above and below. The client device may receive the displays generated by the remote server and may display the content of the displays locally on equipment device 700. This way, the processing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server while the resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 700. Equipment device 700 may receive inputs from the user via input interface 710 and transmit those inputs to the remote server for processing and generating the corresponding displays. For example, equipment device 700 may transmit a communication to the remote server indicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 710. The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that input and generate a display of the application corresponding to the input (e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display is then transmitted to equipment device 700 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded and interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (run by control circuitry 704). In some embodiments, the guidance application may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received by control circuitry 704 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry 704. For example, the guidance application may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 704. In some of such embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital media encoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encoded and transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio and video packets of a program.

User equipment device 700 of FIG. 7 can be implemented in system 800 of FIG. 8 as user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, wireless user communications device 806, or any other type of user equipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gaming machine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to herein collectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may be substantially similar to user equipment devices described above. User equipment devices, on which a media guidance application may be implemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of a network of devices. Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system features described above in connection with FIG. 7 may not be classified solely as user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, or a wireless user communications device 806. For example, user television equipment 802 may, like some user computer equipment 804, be Internet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while user computer equipment 804 may, like some television equipment 802, include a tuner allowing for access to television programming. The media guidance application may have the same layout on various different types of user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 804, the guidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled down for wireless user communications devices 806.

In system 800, there is typically more than one of each type of user equipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize more than one type of user equipment device and also more than one of each type of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, wireless user communications device 806) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example, a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first user equipment device. The content presented on the second screen device may be any suitable content that supplements the content presented on the first device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides an interface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the first device. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured for interacting with other second screen devices or for interacting with a social network. The second screen device can be located in the same room as the first device, a different room from the first device but in the same house or building, or in a different building from the first device.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent media guidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices. Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and program favorites, programming preferences that the guidance application utilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, and other desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channel as a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on their personal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as a favorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipment and user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, if desired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can change the guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless of whether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device. In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user, as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 814. Namely, user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, and wireless user communications device 806 are coupled to communications network 814 via communications paths 808, 810, and 812, respectively. Communications network 814 may be one or more networks including the Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a 4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, or other types of communications network or combinations of communications networks. Paths 808, 810, and 812 may separately or together include one or more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path or combination of such paths. Path 812 is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8 it is a wireless path and paths 808 and 810 are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, if desired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipment devices, these devices may communicate directly with each other via communication paths, such as those described above in connection with paths 808, 810, and 812, as well as other short-range point-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or other short-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is a certification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipment devices may also communicate with each other directly through an indirect path via communications network 814.

System 800 includes content source 816 and media guidance data source 818 coupled to communications network 814 via communication paths 820 and 822, respectively. Paths 820 and 822 may include any of the communication paths described above in connection with paths 808, 810, and 812. Communications with the content source 816 and media guidance data source 818 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of content source 816 and media guidance data source 818, but only one of each is shown in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, content source 816 and media guidance data source 818 may be integrated as one source device. Although communications between sources 816 and 818 with user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 are shown as through communications network 814, in some embodiments, sources 816 and 818 may communicate directly with user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 via communication paths (not shown) such as those described above in connection with paths 808, 810, and 812.

Content source 816 may include one or more types of content distribution equipment including a television distribution facility, cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by the American Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Content source 816 may be the originator of content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) or may not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand content provider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs for downloading, etc.). Content source 816 may include cable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers, over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Content source 816 may also include a remote media server used to store different types of content (including video content selected by a user), in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems and methods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely stored content to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connection with Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 818 may provide media guidance data, such as the media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may be provided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-alone interactive television program guide that receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the user equipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique. Program schedule data and other media guidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog or digital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 818 may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. For example, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from a server, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipment device. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing on the user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 818 to obtain guidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of date or when the user equipment device receives a request from the user to receive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment with any suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specified period of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to a request from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 818 may provide user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 the media guidance application itself or software updates for the media guidance application.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data. For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical user activity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches, what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interacts with a social network, at what times the user interacts with a social network to post information, what types of content the user typically watches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information, etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. For example, the subscription data may identify to which sources or services a given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the given user has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g., whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user has added a premium level of services, whether the user has increased Internet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or the subscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period of more than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., a survivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihood a given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, the media guidance application may process the viewer data with the subscription data using the model to generate a value or score that indicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate access to a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score may indicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminate access to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the media guidance application may generate promotions that entice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-alone applications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, the media guidance application may be implemented as software or a set of executable instructions which may be stored in storage 708, and executed by control circuitry 704 of a user equipment device 700. In some embodiments, media guidance applications may be client-server applications where only a client application resides on the user equipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. For example, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as a client application on control circuitry 704 of user equipment device 700 and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., media guidance data source 818) running on control circuitry of the remote server. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such as media guidance data source 818), the media guidance application may instruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance application displays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipment devices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry of the media guidance data source 818 to transmit data for storage on the user equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry of the receiving user equipment to generate the guidance application displays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT content delivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any user equipment device described above, to receive content that is transferred over the Internet, including any content described above, in addition to content received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content is delivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP may not be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, or redistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets provided by the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers include YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IP packets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is a trademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu, LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively provide media guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or media guidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidance applications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications), or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored on the user equipment device.

Media guidance system 800 is intended to illustrate a number of approaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devices and sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each other for the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. The embodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset of these approaches, or in a system employing other approaches for delivering content and providing media guidance. The following four approaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example of FIG. 8.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each other within a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with each other directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemes described above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar device provided on a home network, or via communications network 814. Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate different user equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirable for various media guidance information or settings to be communicated between the different user equipment devices. For example, it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidance application settings on different user equipment devices within a home network, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types of user equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each other to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content from user computer equipment to a portable video player or portable music player.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment by which they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, some users may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobile devices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidance application implemented on a remote device. For example, users may access an online media guidance application on a website via a personal computer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA or web-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g., recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidance application to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guide may control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with a media guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Various systems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where the user equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, is discussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issued Oct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outside a home can use their media guidance application to communicate directly with content source 816 to access content. Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment 802 and user computer equipment 804 may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locate desirable content. Users may also access the media guidance application outside of the home using wireless user communications devices 806 to navigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloud computing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computing environment, various types of computing services for content sharing, storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networking sites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing and storage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloud can include a collection of server computing devices, which may be located centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-based services to various types of users and devices connected via a network such as the Internet via communications network 814. These cloud resources may include one or more content sources 816 and one or more media guidance data sources 818. In addition or in the alternative, the remote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such as user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, and wireless user communications device 806. For example, the other user equipment devices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamed video. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in a peer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, content sharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well as access to any content described above, for user equipment devices. Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing service providers, or through other providers of online services. For example, the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, a content sharing site, a social networking site, or other services via which user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others on connected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipment device to store content to the cloud and to receive content from the cloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-stored content.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders, digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, and handheld computing devices, to record content. The user can upload content to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, for example, from user computer equipment 804 or wireless user communications device 806 having content capture feature. Alternatively, the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, such as user computer equipment 804. The user equipment device storing the content uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmission service on communications network 814. In some embodiments, the user equipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipment devices can access the content directly from the user equipment device on which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, for example, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktop application, a mobile application, and/or any combination of access applications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloud client that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or the user equipment device may have some functionality without access to cloud resources. For example, some applications running on the user equipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications delivered as a service over the Internet, while other applications may be stored and run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user device may receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. For example, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource while downloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device can download content from multiple cloud resources for more efficient downloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloud resources for processing operations such as the processing operations performed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 7.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as a result of. For example, a first action being performed in response to a second action may include interstitial steps between the first action and the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly in response to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action being performed directly in response to a second action may not include interstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 900 for control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) to execute a supplemental function for a natural language query presented to a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments this algorithm may be encoded onto a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 708) as a set of instructions to be decoded and executed by processing circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 706). Processing circuitry may in turn provide instructions to other sub-circuits contained within control circuitry 704, such as the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry, and the like.

At step 902, control circuitry 704 initiates the process for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query presented to an interactive media guidance application.

At step 904, control circuitry 704 receives, from a user, a query for a media asset. For example, the user may input a natural language query, such as “Find movie Scarface.”

At step 906, control circuitry 704 generates for display the media asset in response to the query. For example, control circuitry 704 may generate for display a media asset identifier for media asset “Scarface.”

At step 908, control circuitry 704 retrieves a user profile indicating the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application.

At step 910, control circuitry 704 determines whether the user profile includes a query template matching the user's query. In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 determines whether the user profile includes the query template matching the user's query by identifying one or more tokens in the query and determining whether the user profile includes the query template matching at least a portion of the one or more tokens.

If the user profile is determined to include the query template matching the user's query, at step 912, control circuitry 704 identifies a supplemental function corresponding to the query template. For example, control circuitry 704 may determine that the user profile includes a query template “Find movie X” matching the user's query “Find movie Scarface.” Control circuitry 704 may identify a supplemental function to search for the media asset on streaming services and provide information to the user on availability of the media asset from the streaming services.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 identifies the supplemental function corresponding to the query template by identifying the supplemental function corresponding to the query template from the user profile.

At step 914, control circuitry 704 executes the supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query. For example, control circuitry 704 to may execute the supplemental function to search for and provide information about availability of the media asset from the streaming services subsequent to generating for display the media asset identifier for media asset “Scarface.”

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 generates for display an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and output from execution of the supplemental function. For example, control circuitry 704 may generate an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset identifier for media asset “Scarface” and information on availability of the media asset from the streaming services.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a search function for identifying a content source where the media asset is available. Control circuitry 704 generates for display the interactive media guidance screen including the output from execution of the supplemental function by generating for display the interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and the content source where the media asset is available.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a search function for identifying a guidance feature relating to the media asset. Control circuitry 704 generates for display the interactive media guidance screen including the output from execution of the supplemental function by generating for display the media asset and the guidance feature relating to the media asset. In some embodiments, the guidance feature is a recording request for the media asset.

In some embodiments, the query template is referred to as a first query template and the supplemental function is referred to as a first supplemental function. If the user profile is determined to not include a query template matching the user's query, control circuitry 704 retrieves a generic profile indicating generalized usage patterns of a plurality of users of the interactive media guidance application. Control circuitry 704 determines whether the generic profile includes a second query template matching the user's query.

In some embodiments, if the generic profile is determined to include the second query template matching the user's query, control circuitry 704 identifies a second supplemental function corresponding to the second query template. Control circuitry 704 executes the second supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query. Control circuitry 704 generates for display an interactive media guidance screen including the media asset and output from execution of the second supplemental function.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 9 may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the descriptions described in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 9 may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, conditional statements and logical evaluations, such as those at 908, may be performed in any order or in parallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. As a further example, in some embodiments several instances of a variable may be evaluated in parallel, using multiple logical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced by incorporating branch prediction. Furthermore, it should be noted that the process of FIG. 9 may be implemented on a combination of appropriately configured software and hardware, and that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could be used to implement one or more portions of the process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 1000 for control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) when a user profile does not include a query template matching a user query in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments this algorithm may be encoded onto a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 708) as a set of instructions to be decoded and executed by processing circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 706). Processing circuitry may in turn provide instructions to other sub-circuits contained within control circuitry 704, such as the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry, and the like.

At step 1002, control circuitry 704 initiates the process for when the user profile does not include a query template matching the user's query.

At step 1004, control circuitry 704 retrieves a generic profile indicating generalized usage patterns of multiple users of the interactive media guidance application.

In some embodiments, the generic profile indicating multiple users' usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application includes a plurality of query templates and a corresponding plurality of supplemental functions.

At step 1006, control circuitry 704 determines whether the generic profile includes a query template matching the user's query. In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 determines whether the generic profile includes the query template matching the user's query by identifying one or more tokens in the query and determining whether the generic profile includes the query template matching at least a portion of the one or more tokens.

If the generic profile includes a query template matching the user's query, at step 1008, control circuitry 704 identifies a supplemental function corresponding to the query template. For example, control circuitry 704 may determine that the generic profile includes a query template “Find movie X” matching the user's query “Find movie Scarface.” Control circuitry 704 may identify a supplemental function to search for the media asset on streaming services and provide information to the user on availability of the media asset from the streaming services.

At step 1010, control circuitry 704 executes the supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to the query. For example, control circuitry 704 to may execute the supplemental function to search for and provide information about availability of the media asset from the streaming services subsequent to generating for display the media asset identifier for media asset “Scarface.”

If the generic profile does not include a query template matching the user's query, at step 1012, control circuitry 704 returns an indication that no supplemental function for the query is available.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10 may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the descriptions described in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 10 may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, conditional statements and logical evaluations, such as those at 1006, may be performed in any order or in parallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. As a further example, in some embodiments several instances of a variable may be evaluated in parallel, using multiple logical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced by incorporating branch prediction. Furthermore, it should be noted that the process of FIG. 10 may be implemented on a combination of appropriately configured software and hardware, and that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could be used to implement one or more portions of the process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 1100 for control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) to determine whether a user profile includes a query template matching a user query in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. This process may be equally applicable to determine whether a generic profile includes a query template matching a user query in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments this algorithm may be encoded onto a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 708) as a set of instructions to be decoded and executed by processing circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 706). Processing circuitry may in turn provide instructions to other sub-circuits contained within control circuitry 704, such as the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry, and the like.

At step 1102, control circuitry 704 initiates the process for determining whether the user profile includes a query template matching the user's query. For example, the user may input a natural language query, such as “Find movie Scarface.”

At step 1104, control circuitry 704 identifies a token in the query. For example, control circuitry 704 may identify token “Find” in the user's query.

At step 1106, control circuitry 704 updates a token count for the query. For example, control circuitry 704 may update the token count for the query from 0 to 1.

At step 1108, control circuitry 704 determines whether the user profile includes a query template having the identified token.

If the user profile is determined to include a query template having the identified token, at step 1110, control circuitry 704 updates a matching token count for each query template that includes the identified token. Control circuitry 704 subsequently proceeds to step 1112. For example, control circuitry 704 may determine the user profile includes two query templates having the identified token “Find.” The two query templates may be “Find movie X” and “Find show X.”

If the user profile is determined to not include a query template having the identified token, at step 1112, control circuitry 704 determines whether any tokens remain in the query to be analyzed. For example, control circuitry 704 may determine tokens remain in the query to be analyzed.

If a token remains in the query to be analyzed, control circuitry 704 returns to step 1104 and identifies the next token in the query. For example, control circuitry 704 may identify the next token “movie” in the user's query.

If no tokens remain in the query to be analyzed, at step 1114, control circuitry 704 determines whether any query templates have a matching token count greater than a threshold token count. The threshold token count may be based on the length of the user's query. For example, the threshold count may be 1 for the user query “Find movie Scarface.” Control circuitry 704 may determine that query template “Find movie X” has a matching token count of 2, greater than the threshold token count of 1.

If a query template is determined to have a matching token count greater than a threshold token count, at step 1116, control circuitry 704 returns the query template with the highest matching token count as the query template matching the user's query. For example, control circuitry 704 may return query template “Find movie X” as matching the user's query.

If no query templates are determined to have a matching token count greater than the threshold token count, at step 1118, control circuitry 704 returns an indication that the user profile does not include a query template matching the user's query.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 11 may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the descriptions described in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 11 may be done in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. For example, conditional statements and logical evaluations, such as those at 1108, 1112, and 1114, may be performed in any order or in parallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of the system or method. As a further example, in some embodiments several instances of a variable may be evaluated in parallel, using multiple logical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced by incorporating branch prediction. Furthermore, it should be noted that the process of FIG. 11 may be implemented on a combination of appropriately configured software and hardware, and that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could be used to implement one or more portions of the process.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and not limiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of the processes discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/or rearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departing from the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure is meant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow are meant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes. Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitations described in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems and methods described herein may be performed in real time. It should also be noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

Number	Name	Date	Kind
6239794	Yuen et al.	May 2001	B1
6564378	Satterfield et al.	May 2003	B1
6687689	Fung	Feb 2004	B1
7165098	Boyer et al.	Jan 2007	B1
7761892	Ellis et al.	Jul 2010	B2
8046801	Ellis et al.	Oct 2011	B2
20020174430	Ellis et al.	Nov 2002	A1
20050251827	Ellis et al.	Nov 2005	A1
20080092156	Ferrone	Apr 2008	A1
20100153885	Yates	Jun 2010	A1
20110161242	Chung	Jun 2011	A1
20140358890	Chen	Dec 2014	A1
20150254333	Fife et al.	Sep 2015	A1

Number	Date	Country
WO 2011088053	Jul 2011	WO
WO-2016053847	Apr 2016	WO
WO 2016053847	Jul 2016	WO

Systems and methods for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query

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