Patent Application
20070283409
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing showing illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which:
The invention is directed to collecting and analyzing data relating to users' viewing patterns in a communications network, and further directed to presenting the analyzed results to users in an effective and user-friendly format. For example, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a user of a cable network may select a desired program for viewing. While the user is viewing the program, a network controller in the cable operator's headend facility may cause a list of TV shows that are popular among the network's subscribers to be displayed on the user's television screen. For example, a list of the ten shows that were most popular during the previous week may be displayed. The list may be shown during a commercial break, or immediately after a program ends. Alternatively, a list of popular programs may be shown during the presentation of the program, e.g., in the lower left hand corner of the television screen.
In another embodiment, when a user selects a program for viewing, the network controller causes a list of TV shows that are popular among other subscribers who have watched the selected program to be displayed on the user's television screen. Thus, for example, if a user selects the program “Everybody Loves Raymond (ELR)” to view, the network controller may cause a list of TV shows that are popular among other viewers of ELR to be presented on the user's television screen, thereby suggesting shows which may interest the user for the user to watch after the current ELR program.
As described above, an aspect of the invention is directed to analysis and presentation of information concerning user activity with respect to programming content (e.g., TV shows) in a broadband communications system. The latter may provide network personal video recorder (NPVR) service, including service functions responsive to trick mode commands (such as pausing, rewinding, fast-forwarding, etc.) for manipulating the presentation of programming content. As described below, the communications system is configured for recording broadcast programming content for subsequent review in accordance with the NPVR service. That is, the NPVR service enables a user to access programming content, albeit recorded at the headend, after its initial broadcast. Thus, the user may view an initial broadcast program in real-time and/or access a recording of such a program sometime after its initial broadcast. The aforementioned manipulation commands can be used to enhance a user's program viewing experience by, for example, enabling the user to fast-forward programming content that the user does not want to view, and to rewind and repeat the display of programming content that the user would like to view again.
For example, system 100 in this instance includes a cable system for delivering, in accordance with the invention, information and entertainment programs to set-top terminals on the user premises. As shown in
Headend 105 receives programs and services from various providers and sources, e.g., analog and digital satellite sources, application servers, media servers, the Internet, etc. Analog and digital satellite sources typically provide the traditional forms of television broadcast programs and information services. Application servers typically provide executable code and data for application specific services such as database services, network management services, transactional electronic commerce services, system administration console services, application specific services (such as stock ticker, sports ticker, weather and interactive program guide data), resource management service, connection management services, subscriber cares services, billing services, operation system services, and object management services. Media servers provide time-critical media assets such as MPEG-2 encoded video and audio, MPEG-2 encoded still images, bit-mapped graphic images, PCM digital audio, three dimensional graphic objects, application programs, application data files, etc. Although specific examples of programs and services which may be provided by the aforementioned sources are given herein, other programs and services may also be provided by these or other sources without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Acquisition/Staging (A/S) processor 109 in headend 105 processes program materials including, e.g., TV program streams, from one or more of the aforementioned sources in analog and digital forms. Analog TV program streams may be formatted according to the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) or phase alternating line (PAL) broadcast standard. Digital TV streams may be formatted according to the Digital Satellite System (DSS), Digital Broadcast Services (DBS), or Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) standard. Processor 109, among other things, extracts program content in the analog and digital TV streams and reformats the content to form one or more MPEG-2 encoded transport streams. Such reformatting may even be applied to those received streams already in an MPEG-2 format. This stems from the fact that the digital content in the received MPEG-2 streams are typically encoded at a variable bit rate (VBR). To avoid data burstiness, processor 109 in a conventional manner re-encodes such digital content at a constant bit rate (CBR) to form the aforementioned transport streams.
An MPEG-2 transport stream contains multiple program streams with different video and audio feeds multiplexed for transmission through the same transmission channel. The program streams representing individual programs are identified by respective program identifications (IDs) within a transport stream. It should be noted at this point that the term “transmission channel” should not be confused with a “program channel.” A “transmission channel” signifies a designated frequency band through which a transport stream is transmitted. On the other hand, a “program channel” signifies the source of the program material selected by a user to view. For example, a user may select program channel 2 to view initial broadcast program material provided by CBS; program channel 14 to view initial broadcast program material provided by ESPN; program channel 32 to view initial broadcast program material provided by MTV, etc.
In this illustrative embodiment, the transmission channels, each carrying a transport stream, may be 6 MHz bands populating a forward passband, e.g., 350-750 MHz band, of a coaxial cable, which is allocated for downstream communication from headend 105 to a set-top terminal.
A/S processor 109 may receive “assets” including pre-staged movie videos, news reports, sports events, etc. from content providers. However, in accordance with the invention, processor 109 may also create “assets” in real time while processing received program materials which are not pre-staged by the content providers. In general, an “asset” is a container for, or a reference (e.g., a pointer) to, any object or set of objects that may be desired to implement a service, including video, audio, images, application executables, scripts, configuration files, text, fonts, and HTML pages. In addition to the raw content, metadata (not to be confused with MPEG-2 metadata) is also a part of an asset object that describes characteristics of the asset. For example, asset metadata may describe attributes that are inherent in the content of the asset, such as the rating, format, duration, size, or encoding method. Values for asset metadata are determined at the time the asset is created.
In this illustrative embodiment, an asset concerning a program includes a metadata file and trick files associated with the program, in addition to the program content contained in a transport stream.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the TV program streams received by processor 109 are pre-processed, e.g., by the providers, to include indicators, e.g., cue-tones, on which processor 109 relies to identify the demarcations (or edges) of different programs and program segments within each program. Thus, in this instance before processor 109 processes the TV program stream containing TV program 201, a first cue-tone has been inserted at the beginning of segment 231, indicating the beginning of TV program 201; second cue-tones have been inserted at the beginnings of segments 221 and 227, indicating the beginnings of the respective commercial segments; third cue-tones have been inserted at the ends of segments 221 and 227, indicating the ends of the respective commercial segments; and a fourth cue-tone has been inserted at the end of segment 235, indicating the end of TV program 201. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, another set of cue-tones may be inserted to delimit a “chapter” (denoted 237) within a program. A chapter is a self-contained subprogram, e.g., a skit, monolog, song performance, news report, weather report, etc. within a program. With the cue-tones defining one such chapter, processor 109 is capable of identifying the chapter and create an asset concerning the same.
Let's assume that TV program 201 in this instance is an initial broadcast program. Processor 109, among other things, collects in a database (not shown) program guide data associated with different TV programs which are not pre-staged (including TV program 201 in this instance) from an application server, which may be different from the sources of the TV programs themselves, such as scheduler 112. Each program when presented to processor 109 is identified by a program designation, which may be used to locate the corresponding program guide data. In particular, processor 109 while processing TV program 201 may locate the corresponding program guide data from scheduler 112 to create in real time the metadata file associated with TV program 201. The metadata file thus created includes such data as the title, rating (e.g., G, PG-13, R, etc.), names of the producer, director, and actors, duration of the program, program type (e.g., situation comedy), etc.
Processor 109 may also create in real time trick files associated with program 201 as part of the asset which are used to perform trick mode functions (e.g., rewinding and fast-forwarding) on program 201 in accordance with the invention. One such trick file in this instance is a “fast-forward” trick file which contains an array of identifiers of I-frames in the program stream (MPEG-2 encoded as mentioned before) corresponding to program 201 in a forward direction. Another trick file is a “rewind” trick file which contains an array of identifiers of I-frames in the program stream corresponding to program 201 in the reverse direction. The I-frame identifiers in the trick files are used as indices or markers for rewinding and fast-forwarding of program 201. It should be noted that not all of the I-frames associated with program 201 are selected for the trick files. Rather, the I-frames are selected periodically along the program stream. Thus, the shorter the period is, the closer the instants from which program 201 can be rewound, and to which program 201 can be fast-forwarded, thereby achieving finer adjustments.
It should be noted that where program 201 is not an initial broadcast program, which may also be pre-staged, commercial segments 221 and 227 may not contain the commercials originally provided by the program provider. Rather, program 201 may be repackaged with after-market commercials, which may be targeted to the user, and which may even be injected anywhere in the program with no regard for original segments 221 and 227 in terms of their timing, duration, or quantity. In the event that program 201 is pre-staged, the program content comes with the corresponding metadata file and trick files associated with the program. Processor 109 stores the created or pre-staged asset including the metadata file and trick files associated with a program according to its program designation in asset storage (not shown), which may reside in library manager 113 described below.
The transport streams generated by processor 109, which contain live TV programs in this instance, are fed to cache manager 111. The latter includes a cache memory (not shown), e.g., a disk cache, having a memory capacity on the order of terabytes. Manager 111 copies the transport streams onto the cache memory, and also forwards the same to library manager 113 for long-term storage. The latter includes library storage having a memory capacity on the order of hundreds of terabytes, much larger than that of the cache memory such that the cache memory stores the last Y hours' worth of the TV programs while the library storage stores the last Z hours' worth of the TV program, where the value of Z is much greater than that of Y. It suffices to know for now that use of the cache memory, which affords faster access to its content than the library storage, facilitates a speedy retrieval of a requested program in the event of a “cache hit,” i.e., the requested program being within the last Y hour broadcast. Otherwise, a “cache miss” causes locating the requested program in the library storage, thereby incurring a delay in the retrieval of the program.
Network controller 125, among others, assigns resources for transporting program materials to set-top terminals and communicates various data including system information with the terminals. Upstream data from a set-top terminal to network controller 125 is communicated via a reverse passband, e.g., 5-40 MHz band, of a coaxial cable. The reverse passband comprises reverse data channels (RDCs) having a 1 MHz bandwidth in this instance, through which quaternary phase shift keying (QPSK) signals containing upstream data are transmitted. It should be noted that the 1 MHz bandwidth allocated for an RDC here is for illustrative purposes only. It will be appreciated that a person skilled in the art may allocate other bandwidths therefor depending on the actual implementations. A set-top terminal utilizes an RDC for sending both application data and control messages. For example, the Digital Audio Visual Council (DAVIC), a standard setting organization, has defined a contention-based access mechanism whereby multiple set-top terminals share an RDC. This mechanism enables the set-top terminals to transmit upstream messages without a dedicated connection to a QPSK demodulator. The mechanism also provides equal access to the set-top terminals that share the RDC, and enables detection and recovery from reverse path collisions that occur when two or more of the terminals transmit an upstream message simultaneously. As also specified by DAVIC, for communications purposes, the set-top terminals and network controller 125 are identified by the Internet protocol (IP) addresses assigned thereto. However, these IP addresses may be randomly assigned each time when system 100 is reconfigured. As a result, the IP address of a set-top terminal or controller 125 may change after a system reconfiguration. Nevertheless, each set-top terminal and controller 125 is also assigned a media access control (MAC) address on a permanent basis, surviving any system reconfiguration.
Downstream data from network controller 125 to a set-top terminal is communicated via forward data channels (FDCs). These channels, often referred to as “out-of-band” channels, may occupy the 70-130 MHz band of a coaxial cable. QPSK signals containing system messages to a set-top terminal are transmitted through an FDC having a 1 MHz bandwidth in this instance. It should be noted that the 1 MHz bandwidth allocated for an FDC here is for illustrative purposes only. It will be appreciated that a person skilled in the art may allocate other bandwidths therefor depending on the actual implementations.
When a user at a set-top terminal, say, terminal 158-1, turns on the TV associated therewith and selects a particular program channel, say, program channel 2, or change from another channel to channel 2, terminal 158-1 in a well known manner scans for any transport streams transporting programs to the neighborhood. In system 100, each transport stream is identified by a unique transport stream identification (TSID).
Continuing the above example, once the TSIDs of the transport streams are detected, terminal 158-1 sends through QPSK modem pool 127 a request for program channel 2 material.
It should be noted at this point that, in addition to requesting initial broadcast programming content through the selection of a channel—i.e., recorded content that is currently being broadcast over a program channel in real-time or close to real-time (also referred to as live broadcast programming and in-progress programming)—a user may also request programming content that has already been broadcast and which is recorded and stored by headend 105. Such recorded programming content may be accessed by, for example, issuing a program selection through an electronic program guide (EPG) or some other graphical user interface (GUI) configured for the access of programming content for such recorded content from set-top terminal 158 as part of the aforementioned NPVR service.
A communication protocol used by a set-top terminal for transmitting to headend 105 a selected command to request desired received programming content, and other commands to pause, rewind and fast-forward, is well known in the art, and an example of one such protocol used for such commands is described in “Lightweight Stream Control Protocol,” Time Warner Cable, Ver. 1.0, Jun. 10, 1999.
After receiving request 300, network controller 125 reads the received request to learn the TSIDs, the identity of the requested program material, and the origination address therein, as indicated at step 403 in
Referring to
In one embodiment, proxy server 118 may additionally store data relating to received commands in memory 132. The data may be stored, for example, in a database in memory 132. In this embodiment, data analyzer 133 may access and analyze the data stored in memory 132 to provide useful information concerning the viewing habits of users. Such information may be provided directly to users or may be utilized by the cable operator.
In response to received request 300, network controller 125 communicates with media processor 119 through proxy server 118 to determine the capacity required for transmitting the requested program material. Based on the required capacity, controller 125 at step 406 selects a transport stream among those identified by the received TSIDs which is suitable for transporting the requested program material. Controller 125 at step 408 identifies the carrier carrying the selected transport stream.
Referring also to
Network controller 125 may include therein a carrier assignment table which lists, for each carrier, the TSID of the transport stream carried thereby. The carrier identification by network controller 125 at aforementioned step 408 may be achieved by looking up from the table the carrier associated with the TSID of the selected transport stream. Based on the requested program channel (for a request of a live program) or the requested recorded program identified by a user's command to play such program, network controller 125 at step 409 determines the program ID identifying the program stream representing the requested program material, which is then multiplexed with other program streams in the selected transport stream. At step 412, network controller 125 communicates to media processor 119 through proxy server 118 a first message containing the identity of the modulator in modulator bank 123 which corresponds to the carrier, say, C1, just determined, and the program ID associated with the requested program material just determined. Network controller 125 at step 415 sends, through QPSK modem pool 127, a second message responsive to the received request to set-top terminal 158-1 identified by the origination IP (and/or MAC) address in field 309 of request 300. This second message traversing an FDC contains the information concerning the carrier frequency, i.e., CF1 in this instance, to which terminal 158-1 should tune to receive the appropriate transport stream, and the program ID for extracting the desired program stream within the transport stream.
In response to the first message, processor 119 directs cache manager 111 to deliver a copy of the program stream representing the requested program material thereto and causes the program stream to be multiplexed with any other program streams already in the transport stream identified by the selected TSID. In addition, processor 119 causes media switching unit 117 to switch the resulting transport stream to the modulator corresponding to the carrier C1. Accordingly, the modulator modulates the carrier C1 with the received transport stream, and causes transmission of the modulated carrier through the transmission channel associated with CF1.
Based on the information in the second message, terminal 158-1 tunes to the carrier frequency CF1 to receive the transmitted transport stream, and extracts therefrom the desired program stream, representing the requested program material in this instance. In a well known manner, terminal 158-1 converts the extracted program stream to appropriate signals for the associated TV to play the requested program material.
While the requested program material is being played, terminal 158-1 continuously registers the last I-frame identifier in the received transport stream. From time to time, terminal 158-1 sends a “heartbeat” containing the IP (and/or MAC) address identifying terminal 158-1 and the last I-frame identifier to media processor 119. Processor 119 keeps, for terminal 158-1, a record identified by the IP (and/or MAC) address of terminal 158-1, and tracks the program being transmitted to terminal 158-1 and its I-frame progress. When processor 119 no longer receives heartbeats from terminal 158-1, e.g., because of an off state of the terminal, processor 119 may cause the transmission of the transport stream to terminal 158-1 to be halted.
It should be noted that in this illustrative embodiment, media switching unit 117, media processor 119, network controller 125, VOD server 103 and proxy server 118 are in communication with one another via a local area network (LAN) 101 in headend 105. For example, LAN 101 may be an Ethernet. Media switching unit 117, media processor 119, network controller 125, VOD server 103 and proxy server 118 of headend 105, in this instance, are connected to LAN switch 126 and are thereby in communication with one another through LAN 101. The data communicated between these headend components in the manner described above is routed through switch 126 based on the processing instructions therein and routing information associated with the data.
When the user issues a pause command to terminal 158-1, e.g., by pressing a “pause” key on a remote control associated therewith to temporarily stop the progress of the program, terminal 158-1 issues a pause message to media processor 119 identified by its IP address. The process for pausing programming content is described below with reference to
When the user issues a command to resume viewing the program material, e.g., by toggling the pause key on the remote control, terminal 158-1 exits the pause state, sends a resumption message to processor 119, and readies itself to receive the program material starting from I-framepause. This resumption message includes a resumption command, and the IP and/or MAC address of terminal 158-1. The resumption message passes through proxy server 118 before it reaches processor 119, in accordance with the invention. Processor 119 then retrieves the record associated with terminal 158-1 identified by the received IP and/or MAC address. In response to the resumption command, processor 119 causes the transmission of the program material to terminal 158-1 to be restarted from I-framepause, and notes in the record the transmission resumption event. As a result, terminal 158-1 resumes receiving the program material in the same program stream delivered thereto before. It should be noted that use of a MAC address, instead of an IP address, to identify terminal 158-1 may be advantageous here especially when the pause state is long, so much so that a reconfiguration of system 100 may have occurred during such a state. In that case, the IP address identifying terminal 158-1 before the system reconfiguration may be different than that after the reconfiguration, and as a result, by using only the pre-reconfiguration IP address of terminal 158-1 for its identification, the resuming program stream would not be delivered to the intended terminal 158-1 after the reconfiguration. On the other hand, since the MAC address of terminal 158-1 is immutable and survives any system reconfiguration, by relying on the MAC address of terminal 158-1 for its identification here, the resuming program stream would be correctly delivered to terminal 158-1 even after a system reconfiguration.
While viewing a program, the user may issue a rewind command, e.g., by pressing a rewind key on the remote control, to rewind the program. In that case, terminal 158-1 issues a rewind message to processor 119 identified by its IP address. This rewind message includes a rewind initiation command, the last I-frame identifier registered by terminal 158-1, and the IP address (and/or MAC address) identifying terminal 158-1. Such a rewind message, however, passes through proxy server 118 before it reaches processor 119, in accordance with the invention. Processor 119 then reads the received rewind message as indicated at step 703 in
When the user issues a command to stop rewinding the program, e.g., by toggling the rewind key on the remote control, terminal 158-1 sends a rewind termination message to processor 119. This message includes a rewind termination command, and the IP address (and/or MAC address) of terminal 158-1. The message passes through proxy server 118 before it reaches processor 119, in accordance with the invention. In response to the rewind termination command, processor 119 stops reading the rewind trick file associated with the program. Processor 119 learns from the record associated with terminal 158-1 the last I-frame identifier read from the rewind trick file. Processor 119 causes retrieval of the program material at the normal forward speed from cache manager 111 starting from the I-frame identified by the last read identifier, and transmission of the retrieved program material to terminal 158-1. As a result, terminal 158-1 resumes receiving the program material at the normal forward speed in the same transport stream.
While viewing a recorded program, the user may issue a fast-forward command, e.g., by pressing a fast-forward key on the remote control, to fast-forward the program. In that case, terminal 158-1 issues a fast-forward message to processor 119 identified by its IP address. This fast-forward message includes a rewind initiation command, the last I-frame identifier registered by terminal 158-1, and the IP address (and/or MAC address) identifying terminal 158-1. Such a fast-forward message, however, passes through proxy server 118 before it reaches processor 119, in accordance with the invention. Processor 119 then reads the received fast-forward message, as indicated at step 803 in
When the user issues a command to stop fast-forwarding the program, e.g., by toggling the fast-forward key on the remote control, terminal 158-1 sends a fast-forward termination message to processor 119. This message includes a fast-forward termination command, and the IP address (and/or MAC address) of terminal 158-1. The message passes through proxy server 118 before it reaches processor 119, in accordance with the invention. In response to the fast-forward termination command, processor 119 stops reading the fast-forward trick file associated with the program. Processor 119 learns from the record associated with terminal 158-1 the last I-frame identifier read from the fast-forward trick file. Processor 119 causes retrieval of the program material at the normal forward speed from cache manager 111 starting from the I-frame identified by the last read identifier, and transmission of the retrieved program material to terminal 158-1. As a result, terminal 158-1 resumes receiving the program material at the normal forward speed in the same transport stream.
As described above, proxy server 118 collects information relating to program requests, program selections and manipulation commands that are received by headend 105. The collected information is then stored and made available for tracking user activity respecting programming content provided over system 100.
In steps 910 and 920, each time a user issues a command to access or manipulate recorded programming content, interface 104 of proxy server 118 receives the command (step 910). Server 118 identifies and reads (step 920) data associated with the program request, program selection or manipulation command. Proxy server 118 is programmed to read certain data associated with the issued command.
The read data relates to, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, Terminal Identification information (Terminal ID), Command Type Information, Asset Identification (ID) and Current Time Information. Terminal ID identifies the set-top terminal, e.g., its MAC address, from which the command is transmitted to headend 105. By identifying the terminal ID, additional information may be further obtained, such as the location (neighborhood or billing address) of the set-top terminal, the identity of the cable service subscriber at the terminal and the like. Such additional information is stored in one or more databases (not shown), e.g., a billing data database.
Command Type information includes an indication of the type of command that is issued by a user and received at headend 105. These commands include, e.g., request, select, pause, stop, play, rewind and fast-forward commands.
Asset ID (such as a numeric or alphanumeric string) may be used to identify the asset that the user is accessing or manipulating. When a previously broadcast program (that has been recorded), identified by an Asset ID, is selected or manipulated by a user at, say, set-top terminal 158-1, the selection triggers transmission of the Asset ID associated with the selection. Asset ID is then transmitted to headend 105 as part of the user's selection or manipulation command. However, an in progress broadcast program at a given time is identified based on the time in question and program channel to which terminal 158-1 is tuned. This is accomplished by transmitting to scheduler 112 current time and selected channel information respecting the requested programming content. Scheduler 112 receives information relating to the time that a program is scheduled to broadcast. Programming schedule data may be received from, for example, an electronic program guide (EPG) server (not shown), and includes a program identification code for each program and the start time respecting each program. For an in-progress program, Asset ID would be replaced by the analogous program identification.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, proxy server 118 includes clock 116 for generating current date and time information (referred hereinafter as Current Time Information) when a program request, program selection or manipulation command is received. In another embodiment of the invention, Current Time Information may be generated and transmitted by set-top terminal 158-1 as part of a program request, program selection or manipulation command data to be read by proxy server 118.
Proxy server 118 further identifies data that is associated with the programming content for which a user command is received. As described above, an asset is designated a unique Asset ID and this information is obtained by interface 104 of proxy server 118 when a user issues a program request, program selection or manipulation command. Once the proxy server 118 identifies the Asset ID of the asset for which a request, selection or manipulation command was received, proxy server 118 accesses session data to, among other things, identify the point within the asset the user issued the request, selection or command. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, this point may be identified in terms of the difference in time, at normal play speed, between the beginning of an asset and the point within the asset in which a user-issued command has been received. This measurement of time—referred to herein as Lapsed Play Time—may be obtained by identifying the user-accessed asset's Normal Play Time (NPT). NPT is a value associated with an accessed asset which advances in real-time in normal play mode, advances faster than real-time when the asset is fast-forwarded, decrements when the asset is rewound and is fixed when the asset is paused. Thus, if a user selects an asset for display and watches it for, let's say, exactly five minutes, an NPT value of 0 hours, 5 minutes and 0 second is generated by the server or processor (e.g., media processor 119) that is providing the content from headend 105 to set-top terminal 158. This value is also read by proxy server 118 for a received command.
Once the data for a received command is read, processor 106 then compiles the associated data (step 930) for storage (step 940). In one embodiment, data associated with a received command is compiled and stored together in a file or record (referred to as a “command record”).
In one embodiment of the invention, the data is transmitted from proxy server 118 to memory 132 and stored. Such data transmission may be performed, for example, at a predetermined frequency (e.g., once per second, per minute, per hour or per day), or when the available storage capacity of proxy server 118 reaches a predetermined threshold. In this embodiment, multiple command records may be compiled and stored in a user command table, denoted 1232 in
The received command is then forwarded to media processor 119 for accessing or manipulating a presentation of programming content (step 950). Thus, it should be noted that as far as processor 119 is concerned, server 118 performs a transparent read-and-forward function, unaffecting the received command.
Thus, suppose a user issues a command to select a recorded broadcast of a baseball game. The Select command is transmitted to interface 104 of proxy server 118, wherein server 118 reads the Terminal ID (e.g., 344323) of the set-top terminal from which the command was issued and information relating to the type of command that was received (in this instance, Select). The asset ID (e.g., asset 45325342 which corresponds to New York Yankees Baseball for Jun. 5, 2002) is also read from the user's command. In addition, the date and time that the command was received by server 118 is provided by clock 116 (e.g., 06/05/2002-08:00:26). The associated session data is also identified by proxy server 118—e.g., time 00:00:00 which relates to the Lapsed Play Time 1050 of the selected asset (which at this point is 00:00:00 because the user has only just selected the asset for playing). The data associated with the received command may then be compiled and stored as a command record, such as, in this example, record 1152 of
If, for example, the user issued a fast-forward command, let's say, 2 minutes and 10 seconds later, the resulting record (1155) stored in memory 108 would indicate: the same Terminal ID as in record 1152 since the command issued from the same terminal (i.e., 344323), the issued Command Type (fast-forward), the same Asset ID as in record 1152 since the command relates to the same asset (i.e., 45325342), the Current Time Information as 2 minutes and 10 seconds later than that for record 1152 (i.e., 06/05/2002-08:02:36) and Lapsed Play Time (00:02:10).
In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 may monitor the contents of user command table 1232, and extract and analyze selected data therefrom to provide useful information to users. For example, in one embodiment, data analyzer 133 may sort a selected subset of command records stored in table 1232 by Terminal ID to generate a user activity table reflecting the viewing activity of each terminal in system 100. For example,
In this illustrative embodiment, one or more assets attributed to the same show such as “Cheers,” “Friends,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” etc., are assigned to a group. Assets attributed to the same show, identified by a show ID, are typically related. For example, assets containing episodes of “Cheers” may be grouped together and associated with a show ID, say, show ID “217,” while assets containing episodes of “Friends” may be grouped together and associated with a second show ID, etc. “Special” program such as a Superbowl game or a Presidential address may also be designated as a show; in such cases, the show may be associated with only one asset.
In this embodiment, a show table associating various Asset IDs with show IDs may be stored in memory 132.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a viewer of a respective program is provided with a list of shows that are popular among viewers in the network. In one embodiment, when a program is playing, network controller 125 may cause a list of popular shows to be displayed one or more times during the presentation of the program. For example, the list may be shown automatically, or invoked by a viewer (e.g., by pressing a predetermined key on a remote control) during a commercial break or immediately after the program ends. In a second embodiment, the list may be shown automatically, or invoked by a viewer during the presentation of a program, e.g., in the lower right hand corner of the television screen.
In one embodiment, network controller 125 may direct data analyzer 133 to generate a list of popular shows. Network controller 125 may request that a list be generated periodically, for example, once per day. In this embodiment, data analyzer 133 may determine the relative popularity of various shows based on how many times each show was viewed during a specified time period. For example, data analyzer 133 may determine the relative popularity of shows watched during a one-week period from June 1 to June 7 based on how many times each show was viewed during that period. After a list of popular shows is generated, data analyzer 133 may provide the list to network controller 125, which in turn may cause the list to be displayed on a user's television screen. Alternatively, data analyzer 133 may store the list in memory 132, and network controller 125 may access the list at a later time.
Similarly, referring to
In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 may compile information concerning each show's popularity by analyzing the viewing patterns reflected in user activity database 1366. Specifically, data analyzer 133 examines the commands issued by each terminal in the network in order to determine how many times each respective show was accessed and viewed. Accordingly, at step 1538, data analyzer 133 accesses user activity database 1366. Referring to block 1541, assuming that there is at least one unexamined file in user activity database 1366, data analyzer 133 proceeds to step 1544. Otherwise, if there are no unexamined files in user activity database 1366, the routine comes to an end.
At step 1544, data analyzer 133 identifies an unexamined file from user activity database 1366. For example, data analyzer 133 may identify file 1367-1, pertaining to terminal 158-1. Data analyzer examines file 1367-1 to determine which shows were accessed and viewed via terminal 158-1 during the period from June 1 to June 7. In some cases, the file may contain no command records, indicating that no command records were received from terminal 158-1 during the specified time period. In such case, as indicated by block 1547, the routine returns to step 1541 and another file, pertaining to a different terminal, may be selected and examined. It should be noted at this point that after all the files stored in user activity database 1366 have been examined, the routine comes to an end, as indicated by block 1541.
Continuing with the above example, if file 1367-1 contains at least one unexamined command record, then at step 1552, data analyzer 133 identifies from the file an unexamined command record (denoted γ) containing information concerning the type of a command issued by terminal 158-1. Data analyzer 133 may examine command records in chronological order, beginning with the command record representing the earliest received command, and proceeding chronologically thereafter.
In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 determines which shows were accessed and viewed via terminal 158-1, and for how long each show was viewed, by examining the Select commands issued by the terminal. Accordingly, in this embodiment, data analyzer 133 examines only those command records that indicate a Select command. Data analyzer 133 may determine the type of command in command record γ by scanning the content of field 1020 of command record γ. As indicated by block 1555, if the command record γ does not indicate a Select command, the routine returns to block 1547, and another command record may be examined. If the command record γ indicates a Select command, the routine proceeds to subroutine 1559 (illustrated in
Referring to
If the file contains a command record γ′, then at step 1565, data analyzer 133 determines how much time elapsed between the receipt of the first and second Select commands at headend 105 by examining the Current Time information T1 associated with command record γ and the Current Time information T2 associated with command record γ′. Referring back to
Referring to step 1572, data analyzer 133 examines the Asset ID indicated within field 1030 of the command record γ. At step 1575, data analyzer 133 determines the Show ID that corresponds to the Asset ID. In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 may make this determination by consulting show table 1482 (
After all the files in user activity database 1366 have been examined, data analyzer 133 may examine show popularity table 1513 and select, say, the ten shows having the ten highest NS values. These represent the ten most watched shows during the past week. Referring to
As discussed above, when a list of popular shows is displayed on a user's television screen, as illustrated in
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a viewer of a particular show is provided with a list of other shows that are conditionally popular. For example, such other shows are popular among users who have watched the particular show recently. In one embodiment, when a program such as, for example, an episode of ELR, is playing on a user's television, network controller 125 causes a list of shows that are popular among those users who have recently watched ELR to be displayed on the television screen. The list may be displayed on the user's television screen at one or more selected times during the presentation of the program. In one embodiment, the list of shows may include shows that were popular among viewers of ELR during a specified time period, e.g., a one-week period from June 1 to June 7.
Conditional asset popularity table 1925 illustratively comprises column 1917 which includes one or more Asset IDs each representing an asset that was available for viewing during the period from June 1 to June 7. In this embodiment, column 1917 does not include any asset associated with the show ID of the show that is currently being accessed and viewed by the user (ELR, in this instance). Column 1918 includes an integer value referred to as ‘NumberTimesWatched,’ or N′A, representing the number of times a respective asset was viewed by ELR viewers during the specified period.
Conditional show popularity table 1813 illustratively comprises column 1817 which includes one or more show IDs each representing a show that was available for viewing during the period from June 1 to June 7. In this embodiment, column 1817 does not include the show ID for the show that is currently being viewed by the user (ELR, in this instance). It should be noted that a show ID listed in column 1817 represents all of the episodes of a respective show that were available during the one week period. For example, referring to row 1807-1, show ID “217” represents all episodes of “Cheers” that were available for viewing during the one-week period. In one embodiment, the contents of column 1817 may be derived from the show IDs listed in column 1492 of show table 1482. Column 1818 includes an integer value referred to as ‘NumberTimesWatched,’ or N'S, representing the number of times a respective show was accessed and viewed by ELR viewers during the week.
Referring to
At step 1738, data analyzer 133 accesses user activity database 1366. Referring to block 1741, if there are no unexamined files in user activity database 1366, the routine comes to an end. Otherwise, if there is at least one unexamined file in user activity database 1366, data analyzer 133 proceeds to step 1744.
In this embodiment, data analyzer 133 identifies files that are associated with those users who accessed ELR at least once between June 1 and June 7. Accordingly, at step 1744, data analyzer 133 identifies an unexamined file, e.g., file 1367-1 associated with terminal 158-1, from user activity database 1366. Data analyzer examines file 1367-1 to determine which shows were accessed via terminal 158-1.
Referring to block 1747, if file 1367-1 contains at least one unexamined command record, then data analyzer 133 reads each of the command records stored in file 1367-1 to determine if the user at terminal 158-1 selected ELR at least once between June 1 and June 7. In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 examines the Command Type information (field 1020) and the Asset ID (field 1030) within each command record, and searches for a command record that indicates a Select command and contains an Asset ID associated with the ELR show. As indicated by block 1749, if file 1367-1 contains at least one such command record, indicating that the user selected ELR during the specified period, data analyzer 133 proceeds to step 1752. Otherwise, data analyzer 133 returns to step 1741, and another file, pertaining to a different terminal, may be selected and examined.
Assuming that a Select command for an episode of ELR is found in file 1367-1, data analyzer 133 again examines the command records stored in the file, to determine which shows were accessed and viewed via terminal 158-1, and for how long each respective show was viewed. Accordingly, in this embodiment, data analyzer 133 examines only those command records that indicate Select commands. Thus, at step 1752, data analyzer 133 identifies from the file a command record (command record γ) indicating a command issued by terminal 158-1. In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 examines command records in chronological order, beginning with the command record representing the earliest received command, and proceeding chronologically thereafter. Data analyzer 133 may determine the type of command that is represented by command record γ by examining the content of field 1020 of command record γ. As indicated by block 1755, if the command record γ does not contain a Select command, the routine returns to block 1747, and another command record may be examined. If the command record γ contains a Select command, the routine proceeds to block 1757. As indicated by block 1757, if command record γ contains an asset ID associated with the show ELR, the routine disregards the command record γ, and returns to block 1747, at which point another command record may be examined. Otherwise, the routine proceeds to subroutine 1759, illustrated in
Referring to
If the file contains a subsequently received command record γ′, then at step 1765, data analyzer 133 determines how much time elapsed between the receipt of the first and second Select commands at headend 105 by examining the Current Time information T1 associated with command record γ and the Current Time information T2 associated with command record γ′. At step 1768, data analyzer 133 calculates the time difference Δt between the two command records, i.e., T2−T1. As indicated by block 1770, if the time difference Δt is less than a predetermined limit, the subroutine comes to an end, and data analyzer 133 may return to block 1747 of
Referring to step 1772, data analyzer 133 examines the Asset ID indicated within field 1030 of the command record γ. At step 1775, data analyzer 133 determines the Show ID that corresponds to the Asset ID. In one embodiment, data analyzer 133 may make this determination by consulting show table 1482. At step 1776, data analyzer 133 accesses conditional asset popularity table 1925 and, at step 1777, increases by one the NumberTimesWatched value N'A corresponding to the Asset ID. At step 1778, data analyzer 133 accesses conditional show popularity table 1813 and, at step 1782, identifies the show ID within show popularity table 1813 that corresponds to the Asset ID. At step 1785, data analyzer 133 increases by one the value N'S for the corresponding show ID. At this point, the subroutine comes to an end. Accordingly, data analyzer 133 returns to block 1747 of
After all the files stored in user activity database 1366 have been examined, data analyzer 133 may examine conditional show popularity table 1813 and select, say, the ten shows having the ten highest N'S values. These represent the ten shows that were most popular among the viewers of ELR during the period from June 1 to June 7. Referring to
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous other arrangements which embody the principles of the invention and are thus within its spirit and scope.
For example, in the above illustrative embodiment, the popularity of a first show (or episode) relative to a second show (or episode) is determined based on the relative numbers of times—NS, N'S (or NA, N'A)—that viewers access the respective shows (or episodes) during a specified period. In a second embodiment of the invention, the popularity of a first show (or episode) relative to a second show (or episode) is determined based on the relative cumulative lengths of time that viewers spend on the respective shows (or episodes) during a specified period. Based on the disclosure heretofore, the cumulative length of time that viewers spend on a particular show (or episode) can readily be determined by summing all Δt's pertaining to that particular show (or episode) during the specified period. In this second embodiment, a first show (or episode) is said to be more popular than a second show (or episode) when ΣΔt pertaining to the first show (or episode) is larger than ΣΔt pertaining to the second show (or episode) during the specified period.
However, in a third embodiment of the invention, the popularity of a first show (or episode) relative to a second show (or episode) is determined based on a function of both the relative ΣΔt and numbers of times that viewers access the respective shows (or episodes) during a specified period. That is, in this third embodiment, both the cumulative length of time that the viewers spend on a particular show and the number of times that viewers access the particular show are factors in determining the popularity of the particular show (or episode). That is, in determining the popularity of a particular show (or episode), ΣΔt pertaining to the particular show (or episode) may be weighted by the number of times that the viewers access the particular show (or episode), or vice versa.
Further, in accordance with another aspect of the invention, the list of popular shows (or episodes) may be geographical. That is, a first list may be generated which pertains to a first region, e.g., Northeastern region, while a second list may be generated which pertains to a second region, e.g., Midwest. Each regional list may be derived in accordance with the invention from only those command records originating from the set-top terminals in the particular region.
Finally, system 100 is disclosed herein in a form in which various functions are performed by discrete functional blocks. However, any one or more of these functions could equally well be embodied in an arrangement in which the functions of any one or more of those blocks or indeed, all of the functions thereof, are realized, for example, by one or more appropriately programmed processors.
