CA 02524586 2005-10-27
T2005-054929
METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR TRIGGERING AN EVENT ACTION IN
ACCORDANCE WITH VIEWER PREFERENCES
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to delivery of video to viewers and, more
specifically, to a
method, system and apparatus for triggering an event action in accordance with
viewer
preferences.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Television (TV) has become a ubiquitous medium to reach virtually every
household. In fact,
a typical North American residence may have more than one TV set. Various
means to deliver
TV signals to a viewer's home have been developed, including traditional
broadcast
transmission over the VHF/UHF band, as well as subscriber-based services such
as direct-to-
home (DTH) delivery via satellite, cable TV systems and the recent development
of video-
over-Internet services (e.g., video-over-IP, xDSL, video-over-DSL and the
like).
Some providers of subscriber-based services offer "theme packages" to
subscribers, such as
movie packages, sports packages, music packages, adult entertainment packages,
finance-
related packages and the like. Such packages typically give a subscriber
access to a number of
different channels (ranging from 10-20 channels to hundreds of channels) which
carry video
relating to a particular "theme" (i.e., movies, sport programs, performances,
adult
entertainment, finance-related program, etc.), thus giving the subscriber a
greater choice from
which to select a particular channel to watch. For instance, Bell ExpressVu of
Toronto,
Canada offers a premium sports package for an additional fee, which allows
subscribers to
access several simultaneously occurring sport programs (e.g., football games)
that are not
available to other subscribers who do not subscribe to the premium sports
package.
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Despite the advantages offered by theme packages, there are drawbacks to the
viewing
experience, particularly relating to the limited extent to which the
subscriber can benefit from
the multiplicity of available channels. To illustrate, consider the example of
twelve (12)
concurrently running football games on twelve (12) different TV channels. A
situation may
arise whereby a particular subscriber is interested in viewing events (such as
touchdowns,
interceptions, etc.) that tend to occur randomly in one or more of the various
football games.
Because the viewer does not know in what game, nor when, a particular event of
interest is
going to occur, the subscriber must constantly flip through the channels
hoping to "catch" an
event of interest.
To reduce the inconvenience of channel flipping, some subscribers have been
known to set up
an Internet-enabled computer in the vicinity of the TV set. Specifically, a
connection is
established with the computer in order to receive event statistics from a
server over the
Internet. However, this solution is cumbersome, due to the need for both an
Internet-enabled
computer and a TV set in the vicinity of one another. Furthermore, even if the
subscriber does
learn from the event statistics about an event of interest having occurred in
a particular game,
the subscriber must flip to the right channel and hope that a replay is being
presented to show
the event of interest.
Clearly, there is a need for an improved approach to enhancing the viewing
experience for a
subscriber interested in events that tend to occur randomly at various times
and on various
channels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with a first broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a
method executable at a
subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a
content distribution
subsystem. The method comprises monitoring a first content stream received
from the content
distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content indicators
indicative of
event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams
including at least
one content stream other than the first content stream. The method further
comprises receiving
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at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter
being associated
with a respective event of interest and effecting a comparison of a particular
one of the one or
more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter. The
method further
comprises responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a
particular one of
the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated
with the particular
selection parameter.
In accordance with a second broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a
system. The system
comprises a content distribution subsystem operable for distributing a
plurality of content
streams, at least a first content stream containing one or more content
indicators indicative of
event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams
including at least
one content stream other than the first content stream. The system further
comprises at least
one subscriber device operable for obtaining at least one selection parameter,
each of the at
least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of
interest; receiving the
first content stream from the content distribution subsystem and responsive to
detecting
presence of a particular one of the one or more content indicators in the
first content stream, to
effect a comparison of the particular one of the one or more content
indicators with each of the
at least one selection parameter to render a comparison outcome; and
responsive to the
comparison outcome being positive for a particular one of the at least one
selection parameter,
triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.
In accordance with a third broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a
subscriber device. The
subscriber device comprises a first interface operable for receiving a
plurality of content
streams from a content distribution subsystem; the plurality of content
streams including a first
content stream, at least the first control stream comprising one or more
content indicators
indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of
content streams
including at least one content stream other than the first content stream. The
subscriber device
further comprises a second interface operable for receiving at least one
selection parameter,
each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a
respective event of interest.
The subscriber device further comprises a processor coupled to the first and
second interfaces;
the processor operable for obtaining the at least one selection parameter via
the third interface;
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responsive to detecting a presence of a particular one of the one or more
content indicators in
the first one of the plurality of content streams via the first interface,
effecting a comparison of
the particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at
least one selection
parameter; and responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a
particular one
of the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated
with the particular
selection parameter.
In accordance with a fourth broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a
method executable at
a subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a
content
distribution subsystem. The method comprises monitoring a first content stream
received from
the content distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content
indicators
indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of
content streams
including at least one content stream other than the first content stream The
method further
comprises receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one
selection
parameter being associated with a respective event of interest; and effecting
a comparison of a
particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least
one selection
parameter. The method further comprises responsive to the comparison rendering
a positive
outcome for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, causing
recording of the
content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and ceasing
recording of the
content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs upon detection
of a terminating
content indicator associated with the respective event of interest.
These and other aspects and features of the invention will now become apparent
to those of
ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of specific
embodiments of
the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the
following figures, in
which:
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Figure 1 is a block diagram depicting a system for triggering an event action,
according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a logical diagram depicting a content provider and a particular
subscriber premises
device of the system of Figure 1, as well as several of a plurality of content
indicators,
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figures 3A - 3E are block diagrams schematically representing various
Graphical User
Interfaces (GUIs) for accepting a selection parameter according to various
embodiments of the
present invention;
Figure 4 is a block diagram schematically depicting a method triggering an
event action
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figures 5A and 5B are block diagrams schematically representing viewer
announcement
pages according to two embodiments of the present invention that can be used
to perform
certain steps of the method of Figure 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Figure 1 depicts a block diagram of a system 100 for triggering an event
action in accordance
with viewer preferences. The system 100 comprises a content provider 102. The
content
provider 102 is operable to acquire, multiplex and distribute multimedia
content, such as video
and audio content. The content provider 102 is coupled to a plurality of
subscriber premises
devices 104 via a distribution network 106. As such, the content provider 102
is operable to
deliver a plurality of content streams 210, 212 and 214 (depicted as logical
streams in broken
lines) to viewers who use the plurality of subscriber premises devices 104.
The content streams
210, 212 and 214 can contain content such as movies, news, sports events,
adult entertainment,
finance-related program and the like. It should be understood that the system
100 may contain
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fewer or more content streams, than the content streams 210, 212 and 214. For
the benefit of
the reader, it should be noted that the term "content stream" used herein
should be construed
broadly and can encompass, depending on the implementation and the exact
architecture used
for the content provider 102 and the distribution network 106, one or more
channels, one or
more frequencies, one or more data streams and so on. To use the example of a
DTH satellite
broadcaster, any one of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 can comprise one
or more
channels, depending on the available satellite transponder bandwidth. Some or
all of these
channels may include audio, video or additional data, as well as Interactive
Television (iTV)
applications. Other variants will become apparent to those of skill in the
art.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the content provider 102 can be
a Direct to
Home (DTH) satellite broadcaster of video and audio content. As will be
described in greater
detail herein below, the DTH-based content provider 102 is operable to collect
a variety of
content from various content sources (such as a content source 111), multiplex
various content
streams, encode the multiplexed content streams for distribution and transmit
the encoded
content streams to a geostationary satellite (not depicted), which forms part
of the distribution
network 106. The content provider 102 in such an embodiment can be further
operable to
deliver augmented services, such as pay-per-view, video-on-demand, etc., as
well as perform
conditional access and billing functions.
As would be appreciated by those of skill in the art, in the aforementioned
satellite broadcast
scenario, the distribution network 106 comprises a satellite uplink, a
stationary orbit satellite
and earth repeaters for receiving, amplifying and broadcasting the content
streams (such as the
content streams 210, 212 and 214) over the broadcasting footprint. All these
components are
known in the art and are omitted from Figure 1 for the sake of simplicity. The
subscriber
premises device 104 can comprise a receiver device, such as combined receiver
and decoder
(commonly referred to as a set-top box) for receiving and decoding the
broadcasted content
stream from the geostationary satellite. A non limiting example of the
receiver device is
manufactured by EchoStar of 9601 South Meridian Blvd., Englewood, CO, USA.
These
receiver devices are designed to provide for receiving of multiple broadcast
television channels
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(for instance, television channels embedded into one or more content streams
210, 212 and
214) to service viewers within the footprint of the DTH satellite transponder
coverage.
In other embodiments of the present invention, the content provider 102 can be
a cable
provider. In these embodiments, the distribution network 106 can be a coaxial
cable
distribution network and can comprise the required amplifiers, switches and
hubs, also known
to those skilled in the art. In these embodiments, the subscriber premises
device 104 can
comprise a cable receiver device. In yet further embodiments, the content
provider 102 can be
a video-over-IP content provider (herein below referred to as IPTV). In these
embodiments, the
subscriber premises device 104 can comprise an IPTV decoder operable to change
into one or
more channel streams distributed by the content provider 102 and the
distribution network 106
can traverse a data network, such as the Internet.
No matter what type of distribution network 106 is employed, the subscriber
premises device
104 comprises various components and interfaces. Firstly, the subscriber
premises device 104
comprises a content interface 104, for receiving the content streams 210, 212
and 214 from the
content provider 102.
Specifically, in the above-mentioned satellite broadcast scenario, the content
interface 104i can
comprise a reception device (such as a satellite dish, an antenna or the like,
typically installed
outside the subscriber's premises, such as on the side of a house or on the
roof), as well as
outside/inside wiring between the reception device and the remainder of the
subscriber
premises device 104. All of these components are known to those of skill in
the art and, as
such, need not be discussed here. In the above-mentioned cable scenario, the
content interface
104t can comprises a coaxial cable interface. In the above-mentioned IPTV
scenario, the
content interface 1041 can comprise an Ethernet cable connection and can
support various
access technologies, such as DSL, cable, fiber-to-the-home, dial up and the
like.
The subscriber premises device 104 can further comprise a display interface
1042 for
connecting to a display (such as a monitor, TV or the like) for outputting a
signal representing
one of the plurality of content streams 210, 212 and 214. The subscriber
premises device 104
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can further comprise a control port 1043 for receiving control signals from a
control device,
such as a remote control or the like. It should be understood that the control
port 1043 can be
adapted to receive control signals over infra-red waves, UHF, Bluetooth or
any other suitable
transmission medium.
The subscriber premises device 104 can further comprise a processor 1044 that
can be used for
controlling other components of the subscriber premises device 104 (such as
the content
interface 1041, the display interface 1042, the control port 1043 as well as
other components).
The processor 1044 can further comprise memory for storing information (such
as interactive
applications and other information, as will be described in greater detail
herein below).
Naturally, the subscriber premises device 104 can comprises a number of other
interfaces and
components, all these interfaces are well known to those skilled in the art
and, as such, need
not be described here in any detail.
Therefore, it should be apparent that processor 1044 is operable to receive a
content stream
(such as one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214) from the content
provider 102
via the content interface 1041, to decode and decrypt the received content
stream based on the
signals received via the content interface 1041 and to generate one or more
signals representing
the decoded and decrypted content stream for displaying on the display
connected to the
subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 1042, and possibly
other components
required for receiving, processing, decoding and transmitting the signal to a
TV.
It should be appreciated that the viewer who uses the subscriber premises
device 104 may have
access to other subscriber premises equipment located in subscriber premises
113 (such as
home, vacation property, office or the like), such as a computing apparatus
120 which may
comprise a PC, a desktop, a laptop, a wireless communication device (such as a
cellular phone,
a wireless e-mail device, a Personal Digital Assistant, etc.) or the like. It
should be noted that in
some embodiments of the present invention, the computing apparatus 120 and the
subscriber
premises device 104 may be embodied in a single apparatus, which may be the
case with
IPTV-based systems. The computing apparatus 120 may be connected to a data
network 121.
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In some embodiments of the present invention, the data network 121 can be the
same as the
distribution network 106; for instance in case of an IPTV-based distribution
network 106, both
the data network 121 and the distribution network 106 may traverse the
Internet. In other
embodiments, the data network 121 can be distinct from the distribution
network 106. For
instance, in the scenario where the distribution network 106 comprises a
satellite broadcast
network, the data network 121 may comprise a WAN (such as the Internet) or the
like.
It will be appreciated that in some embodiments of the present invention, the
content provider
102 may also be connected to the data network 121 and as such, the viewer can
also access the
content provider 102 using the computing apparatus 120 via the data network
121. For
example, the content provider 102 may present various information (such as
program listings,
network maintenance information and the like) on a web site that can be
accessed by the
viewer via the data network 121 using the computing apparatus 120. This web
site may be
hosted and/or controlled by the content provider 102. Alternatively, the web
site may be hosted
by a third party. For the sake of simplicity, this web site is referred to
herein below as "content
provider web site".
For illustration purposes only, further description will rely on examples of a
DTH satellite
broadcaster. However, it should be noted that these teachings equally apply to
other types
distribution systems including but not limited to cable broadcasters and IPTV-
based systems.
The content provider 102 can comprise a conditional access and control module
108, a content
acquiring module 110, a content processing module 112, a delay module 114A and
a
distribution module 116. The conditional access and control module 108 can be
responsible for
controlling other components of the content provider 102, to maintain
subscriber profiles,
service subscriptions detail and to perform billing functions. The conditional
access and control
module 108 may comprise one or more databases (not depicted) for storing
subscriber profiles
and service subscription details, and for maintaining billing schedules and
the like. It will be
appreciated that the one or more databases can be hosted locally on the
conditional access and
control module 108, another component of the content provider 102 or accessed
remotely by
the conditional access and control module 108 via a network (such as the data
network 121).
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The content acquiring module 110 can be responsible for acquiring content from
a plurality of
content sources, of which only one content source 111 is depicted. The type of
content sources
111 used depends on the arrangements that a particular content provider 102
has in place. It
should be recognized that some content sources 111 may be operated by the
content provider
102 and others may be operated by another content provider, such as an
affiliate or a third
party data aggregator.
The content processing module 112 can be responsible for compiling various
content acquired
by the content acquiring module 110 from the content source 111 into content
streams 210, 212
and 214 in accordance with bandwidth availability of a particular satellite
transponder (not
depicted). In other embodiments (in particular in case of IPTV-based systems),
the content
processing module 112 can be responsible for packetizing the acquired content.
In some other
embodiments, the content processing module 112 can be responsible for
digitizing the content
acquired from the content source 111. The content processing module 112 is
further operable
to process the acquired content according to various compression methods, such
as H.264,
MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and the like.
The optional delay module 114A can be embodied in a dedicated or multi-purpose
computer or
any other suitable processing apparatus, and can be operable to introduce a
delay into the
content streams 210, 212 and 214 compiled by the content processing module
112. In some
embodiments of the present invention, the delay is introduced by buffering the
content of
content streams 210, 212 and 214 in the delay module 114A. The duration of the
buffering
operation, i.e. the introduced delay, can be a pre-determined period of time,
such as 15
seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc. The delay module 114A outputs the delayed
content
streams 210, 212 and 214 to the distribution module 116 for distribution to
the plurality of
subscriber premises devices 104 via the distribution network 106. In
alternative embodiments,
the delay module 114A can be embodied in a video-on-demand architecture (not
depicted) of
the content provider 102, known to those of skill in the art.
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It should be noted that in some embodiments the delay may be introduced
locally at the
subscriber premises device 104. This, the delay module (depicted as 114B) can
be
implemented locally at the subscriber premises device 104. One skilled in the
art should
appreciate that in the case of the delay module implemented locally at the
subscriber premises
device 104 as the delay module 114B, the processor 1044 should comprise
multiple tuners, i.e.
one for each content stream to which a delay is to be introduced.
Conveniently, the delay
module 114B can be implemented using a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) function
(not
depicted), using either volatile or non-volatile memory of the customer
premises device 104.
The distribution module 116 can be responsible for encoding, encryption and
transmission of
the content streams 210, 212 and 214 to the subscriber premises devices 104.
In some
embodiments of the present invention, the distribution module 116 receives the
content streams
210, 212 and 214 from the delay module 114A (if delay is to be introduced to
the content) or
from the content processing module 112 (if no delay is required or if the
delay module 114B is
implemented locally at the subscriber premises device 104), and encodes and
encrypts the
content streams 210, 212 and 214 according to known encoding and encryption
techniques.
Once the content streams 210, 212 and 214 are encrypted, the distribution
module 116 is
operable to transmit the encrypted content streams 210, 212 and 214 to the
plurality of
subscriber premises devices 104 via the distribution network 106. The exact
method of
transmission depends on the type of the content provider 102 (ex. Direct to
Home satellite
broadcaster, cable distributor, IPTV distributor or the like) and the
corresponding distribution
network 106 (ex. satellite, cable, Internet or the like). These processes are
well known to those
skilled in the art and, as such, need not be described in detail.
Having described the components of system 100, reference is now made to Figure
2, which
depicts the content provider 102 and a particular subscriber premises device
104, as well as
several of a plurality of content indicators generated and distributed in the
content streams 210,
212 and 214. Clearly, the system 100 may generate fewer or more content
streams. For
illustration purposes only, assume that the content streams 210 and 212 both
carry sporting
channels (such as well known Sky Sports, Viasat Sports and the like) and the
content stream
214 carries a news channel (such as the well known CNN, BBC or the like).
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In some embodiments of the present invention, it is contemplated that the
content provider 102
can be responsible for generating and distributing so-called "content
indicators", each content
indicator being indicative of occurrence of a particular event in one of the
content streams 210,
212 and 214. Specifically, an operator (not depicted) monitors the content of
the content
streams 210, 212 and 214 and, in the case of the content stream 210, generates
a content
indicator 210i indicative of an occurrence of an event in the content stream
210 using a
computing apparatus (not depicted) coupled to the content processing module
112. In one
specific non-limiting example, the content stream 210 can convey video footage
of a hockey
game. The operator at the content processing module 112 can in fact generate
multiple content
indicators 210i indicative of occurrence of various events in the content
stream 210. A given
content indicator 210i can convey one of a plurality of events occurring in
the content stream
210, such as "goal", "goal; Saku Koivu", "injury", "injury; Saku Koivu" and
the like. It should
be noted that the content indicator can be embodied in a text file, an XML
file, an HTML file
or other suitable file formats. It should be noted that the generated content
indicators 210i can
carry plural quanta of information such as, in case of a hockey game, an event
type, a player
name, a team name, etc. separated by appropriate separators. For illustration
purposes, in case
of XML format used, the content indicator 210i can be encoded in the following
exemplary
format:
<game> Montreal at Toronto </game>
<event> goal </event>
<team> Montreal </team>
<player> Saku Koivu </player>
<score> Montreal 2 Toronto 4 </score>
It should be noted that the type of information that describes an event is not
particularly limited
and depends on the type of event being described.
Each content indicator 210i can further include information associated with
the content stream
210 itself to enable the subscriber premises device 104 to change to the
content stream 210.
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The information associated with the content stream 210 can include the channel
frequency
associated with the content stream 210, a logical definition of the channel, a
channel stream
definition for requesting the appropriate channel stream from an IPTV server
or the like. One
should understand that any information associated with the content stream 210
that would
enable the subscriber premises device 104 to identify and tune to the content
stream 210 can be
used.
In other embodiments of the present invention, generation of content
indicators can be done
automatically by the content processing module 112. The techniques for
automatic indexing of
content (such as MPEG-7 based Video Annotation techniques and the like) are
known in the
art and as such need not be discussed in great detail.
In still other embodiments of the present invention, the content indicators
can be generated by
the content sources (such as the content source 111) and already be
incorporated into the
content streams received by the content acquiring module 110. For example, in
the above-
illustrated non-limiting example of a hockey game, the content indicators 210i
can be
generated by a video crew that was sent to the hockey game venue to capture
the live video
feed. It should be appreciated that the content source 111 may be controlled
by the content
provider 102 or by another entity, such as another content provider, a
dedicated sport programs
content provider, a non-related third party that collects, aggregates and
distributes statistical
information relating to sporting and other events or the like.
In the same manner, a content indicator 212i is generated to describe a
particular event
occurring in the content stream 212. By way of non-limiting example, let the
content generator
212i denote a goal happening in a soccer game broadcast in the content stream
212. In
addition, the content indicator 214i can be generated to describe a particular
event occurring in
the content stream 214. By way of non-limiting example, let the content
indicator 214i denote a
specific news segment broadcast in the content stream 214. For example, "news
segment;
Martha Stewart". Alternatively, a content indicator "new album; Britney
Spears" may be used
for describing an event occurring in a content stream that conveys music
programming. Other
event indicators will become apparent to those skilled in the art having
access to the teachings
of this invention.
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A method for distributing content indicators will now be described. The method
can be
performed in its entirety or in part by the distribution module 116, the
content processing
module 112, the content acquiring module 110 or other modules of the content
provider 102.
For illustration purposes only, it is assumed that method is performed by the
content processing
module 112.
According to the method, once the content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i are
generated
(whether by the content provider 102 or by the content source I11), the
content indicators 210i,
212i and 214i are multiplexed and inserted into one or more of the content
streams 210, 212
and 214. The multiplexing of content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i can be
performed in its
entirety or in part by the content processing module 112, the distribution
module 116 or
another component of the content provider 102. The content indicators 210i,
212i and 214i can
be inserted into one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 using a
variety of
methods, such as injection into the MPEG flow, injection into a data stream,
an MPEG stream,
injection into the Vertical Blanking Interval and the like.
It should be understood, the content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i can also
be broadcast in
conjunction and in association with one or more content streams 210, 212 and
214. For
example, the content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i can be also delivered
using an out-of-band
delivery means, for instance via a wireless network, a data network and the
like. Put another
way, the content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i can be delivered in-band (i.e.
via the same
medium the content of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 is delivered) or
out-of-band (i.e.
via a medium different from the one used to deliver content of the content
streams 210, 212
and 214).
In yet further embodiments of this invention, the content indicators 210i,
212i and 214i can be
distributed on a dedicated channel (not depicted). This dedicated channel can
be a dedicated
Interactive Television (iTV) channel. It is also contemplated that this
dedicated channel can be
virtually mapped to one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 to
allow receipt of the
content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i on one or more the content streams 210,
212 and 214.
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The process of virtual mapping is known to those of skill in the art and, as
such, need to be
discussed in great detail here.
Recalling now that content streams 210 and 212 are sport channels and that the
content stream
214 is a news channel, it is assumed that only subscribers to the sports
packages have access to
the event announcement functionality described herein. It will therefore be
the case that the
content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i are inserted into content streams 210
and 212, but are
not inserted into the content stream 214. It should be noted that even though
news viewers do
not have the event announcement functionality, content indicator 214i denoting
an event
occurring in the content stream 214 (i.e. the news channel) may nevertheless
be inserted into
the content streams 210 and 212 to allow sports viewers to be alerted to news
events. Of
course, it should be understood that this is not a limiting feature of this
invention and the
multiplexed content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i may be inserted in all
available content
streams (such as all content streams 210, 212 and 214) or into a selection of
content streams
grouped in a desired manner.
If the delay module 114A is activated to introduce a delay into content
streams 210 and 212, it
is envisaged that the insertion multiplexed content indicators 210i, 212i and
214i into the
distributed content streams 210 and 212 will bypass the delay. One should
appreciate that this
approach allows for delivering content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i to the
subscriber
premises device 104 prior to the event of interest being received and viewed.
This in turn
allows for the subscriber premises device 104 to receive the content
indicators 210i, 212i and
214i, to process the received content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i and to
provide one or more
announcements of event of interest prior to reception and displaying
occurrence of the event of
interest. As such, the viewers using the subscriber premises device 104 can
decide as to how
they wish to respond to the announcement of the event of interest, as will be
described in
greater detail herein below.
On the other hand, if the delay module 114B is activated to introduce a delay
into the received
content streams 210 and 212 locally at the subscriber premises device 104, it
is envisaged that
the content of the content streams 210 and 212 is displayed after the delay
period expires,
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while the content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i are received and processed
without undergoing
the delay. One should appreciate that this approach allows for processing
content indicators
210i, 212i and 214i at the subscriber premises device 104 prior to the event
of interest being
viewed. This in turn allows for the subscriber premises device 104 to provide
one or more
event announcements based on one or more of the received content indicators
210i, 212i and
214i prior to displaying occurrence of the event of interest. As such, the
viewers using the
subscriber using the subscriber premises device 104 can decide as to how they
wish to respond
to the announcement of the event of interest, as will be described in greater
detail herein below.
Figures 3A - 3E depict various Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for accepting
a so-called
"viewer choice" which provides an indication of the types of events and other
information
quanta that are of interest to the viewer which can be used for generating a
so-called "selection
parameter". It should be noted that the terms "viewer" and "subscriber" are
used
interchangeably for the purposes of this description. At the same time, it
should be noted that
the term "subscriber" should be construed broadly and not narrowly to depict a
person who has
entered into a business relationship with the content provider 102. As such,
anyone living in or
visiting the customer premises 113 may be considered a subscriber for the
purposes of this
invention.
How the GUI is presented to the subscriber is not particularly limiting. In
some embodiments
of the present invention, the subscriber can access GUI similar to those
schematically
presented in Figures 3A-C by accessing the aforementioned content provider web
site using
the computing apparatus 120 via the data network 121. The subscriber can
access the content
provider web site in a conventional manner, by clicking a link, entering an
URL or the like.
The subscriber may be required to log into a dedicated portion of the content
provider web site
before being presented the GUI, for example by providing a user name and
password
combination that was assigned to or created by her or him. Any other suitable
means for
logging in can be used. In alternative embodiments, the GUI can be presented
to the subscriber
on a screen of a wireless communication device (such as cellular phone, a
wireless e-mail
device, a Personal Digital Assistant or the like), a selection kiosk screen or
any other suitable
means.
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The subscriber is first presented with a selection parameter screen 202 which
is aimed at
soliciting a "high level" viewer choice from the subscriber by inviting him or
her to select a
category of interest 204. Various choices in multiple categories can be
provided to the
subscriber, such as "sports", "current affairs", "other" and the like. Under
these broad
categories, various sub-categories can be provided. For example, under the
"sport" category a
list of various available sport programs can be provided, such as 'football",
"baseball",
"swimming", "hockey", "basketball" and "ice skating". One should understand
that the exact
choice of categories and sub-categories for the selection parameter screen 202
is not
particularly limited and will depend on the nature of content distributed by
the service provider
102 and available to the subscriber. It will be recalled that the conditional
access and control
module 108 of the content provider 102 maintains multiple subscriber profiles
that contains
information in respect to individual subscriber subscriptions and the like.
Information
contained in the conditional access and control module 108 can be used to
modify the choice of
categories and sub-categories presented to the subscriber via the selection
parameter screen
202.
The selection parameter can be received by means of the subscriber clicking a
mouse on a
check button associated with the category/sub-category of the event of
interest in a manner
well known in the art. It should be understood that any other method for
ascertaining the
viewer choice can be used, such as receiving the viewer choice by means of a
remote control,
keyboard, joystick, touchpad, touch screen, voice controlled device and the
like. Furthermore,
it should be understood that even though the selection parameter screen 202 is
depicted using
check buttons, other types of interfaces can be used, such as radio buttons,
drop down menus
and the like. In one specific non-limiting example, the check button beside
the "hockey"
category 208 is selected, and as such is blacked out, and the check button
beside "soccer"
category 206 is not selected. An "enter" button 207 can be provided to confirm
the acceptance
of the viewer choice. Alternatively, the viewer choice can be automatically
accepted upon the
subscriber selecting one of the check buttons. It should be noted that more
than one viewer
choice can be accepted using the selection parameter screen 202. For instance,
the subscriber
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may click both "soccer" and "cooking" sub-categories in the "sports" and
"other" categories,
respectively.
Upon the subscriber confirming the viewer choice (either by clicking the
"enter" button 207 or
selecting one or more of the categories or sub-categories (such as "hockey"
category 208), the
subscriber can be presented with further selection parameter screens 210 and
212 as depicted in
Figures 3B and 3C. These further selection parameter screens 210 and 212 can
be used to
specify more detailed viewer choice than the viewer choice specified via the
selection
parameter screen 202. The information presented on the selection parameter
screens 210 and
212 can be customized on the basis of the viewer choice made on the selection
parameter
screen 202. However, this should not be construed as a limiting feature and
information
presented on selection parameter screens 210 and 212 may be independent of the
information
solicited and received via the selection parameter screen 202.
For illustration purposes only, consider the scenario whereby the subscriber
has selected the
"hockey" category 208 using the selection parameter screen 202. In this
scenario the selection
parameter screen 210 can be designed to solicit subscriber input that further
qualifies the event
of interest. For example, the subscriber may be presented with the choice of
events such as
"power play" 210, "goal" 212, "particular player" 214, "particular team" 216
and others. The
choices presented on the selection parameter screen 210 are not particularly
limited. The
"enter" button 207 may also be provided. The viewer choice may be received
from the
subscriber in substantially the same manner as was described above with
reference to Figure
3A or in any other known manner.
The selection parameter screen 212 can be provided to ascertain yet further
information about
the viewer choice associated with a particular event of interest. In one
specific non-limiting
example, consider the following scenario whereby the subscriber has selected
"particular
player" 214 sub-category via the previously described selection parameter
screen 210. In this
scenario, the subscriber can be presented the selection parameter screen 212
containing several
choices for players, such as "Saku Koivu" 218, "Joe Sakic" 220, "Sidney
Crosby" 222 and the
like. The variety of choices presented on the selection parameter screen 212
is not particularly
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limited. The "enter" button 207 may also be provided. The viewer choice may be
received
from the subscriber in substantially the same manner as was described above
with reference to
Figure 3A or in any other manner.
It should be recognized that the depth of available choices presented to the
subscriber via one
or more of the selection parameter screens 202, 210 and 212 depends on the
content provider's
102 ability and/or desire to produce the corresponding depth of the content
indicators (such as
content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i). As an example, if the content
provider is only able
and/or desirous of providing only content identifiers indicative of "high
level" events, such as
"hockey" or "baseball", then only the selection parameter screen 202
comprising
corresponding "high level" viewer choices will be provided. On the other hand,
if the content
provider 102 is able and/or desirous of providing more detailed content
identifiers providing
more detailed information about the event, such as "hockey; Toronto at
Montreal; goal" then
one or more selection parameter screens similar to 210 and 212 can be provided
to the
subscriber to determine the viewer choice with corresponding depth of details.
Once the subscriber confirms his or her choices using one or more of the
selection parameter
screens 202, 210 and 212, the content provider web site generates a selection
parameter that
represents the viewer's choice(s). To illustrate, assume that the subscriber
has selected
"hockey" using the selection parameter screen 202 and "power play" using the
selection
parameter screen 210. Once the subscriber confirms his or her choices, for
instance by clicking
on the "enter" button 207, the content provider web site is operable to
generate the selection
parameter comprising "Hockey; Goal ". It should be appreciated that a
different format can be
used, for instance sub-categories can be separated by a comma or
alternatively, the selection
parameter can comprise a table, each of the table entries comprising a
separate sub-category.
The selection parameter can be created as a text file, an XML file, a HTML
file or using any
other suitable file format. The content provider web site stores and transmits
the so-generated
file containing the selection parameter to the service provider 102 via the
data network 121
using one of the known techniques (such as web form, web form to e-mail, web
form to
database, JAVA scripts or the like). The content provider web site is further
operable to insert
an identifier associated with the subscriber (such as a user ID, a user log-in
name or the like)
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into the file containing the selection parameter. The content provider 102
determines an
identifier of the subscriber premises device 104 associated with the
subscriber to whom the
selection parameter pertains (for example, by accessing the database stored on
the conditional
access and control module 108 and performing a look-up function).
Once the identifier of the subscriber premises device 104 (which can be one of
an IP address, a
MAC address or any other suitable identifier) is determined, the distribution
module 116 of the
content provider 102 transmits the obtained file containing the selection
parameter to the
subscriber premises device 104 associated with the subscriber to whom the
selection parameter
pertains using the determined identifier of the subscriber premises device
104. The
transmission can be implemented in any suitable manner, which depends on the
type of the
distribution network 106 used. In one specific non-limiting example of the
distribution network
106 comprising a Direct to Home satellite distribution network, the file
containing the selection
parameter can be encapsulated into a token and the token can be broadcast to
all the available
subscriber premises devices 104. The token can further comprise an identifier
of the subscriber
premises device 104 to which the selection parameter pertains. The subscriber
premises device
104 that has the same identifier as the one encapsulated into the broadcast
token is operable to
recognize its identifier and to retrieve the selection parameter from the
received file containing
the selection parameter and store the so-extracted selection parameter on the
processor 1044. In
this manner, the subscriber premises device 104 becomes aware of the selection
parameter
provisioned by the subscriber via a computing device connected to a data
network. Analogous
methods to transmit the selection parameter to the subscriber premises device
104 via other
types of distribution networks 106 (such as cable networks, IPTV networks and
the like) will
be apparent to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not be described in
great detail here.
In a variant of the above embodiment, the selection parameter can be
determined in
substantially the same manner as previously described with reference to
Figures 3A-C. For
instance, the selection parameter can be derived from viewer choices obtained
via one or more
of the selection parameter screens 202, 210, 112 conveyed by the content
provider web site
with which the subscriber interacts using the computing device 120 connected
to the data
network 121. The computing device 120 can generate a "hash code" representing
the selection
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parameter. The "hash code" can be generated in a known manner and can comprise
a unique
combination of digits or alphanumeric symbols, such as 8 symbols, 16 symbols,
24 symbols or
the like. The content provider web site outputs the "hash code" to the
subscriber, for instance
using the computing apparatus 120.
Once the subscriber obtains the "hash code", the subscriber can submit the
selection parameter
to the subscriber premises device 104 by entering the "hash code" via a
selection parameter
screen such as the selection parameter screen 216 depicted in Figure 3E. The
subscriber can
enter the "hash code" using the remote control device and can confirm the
selection using the
"select" key of the remote control device or any other suitable key. Once the
subscriber
confirms his or her entry, the subscriber premises device 104 is operable to
translate the
received hash code into the selection parameter(s) and to store the selection
parameter(s), for
instance using the processor 1044. As such, the subscriber premises device 104
becomes aware
of the selection parameter.
It should be noted that in the above embodiments, the selection parameter
screens 210, 210,
212 can be presented to the subscriber by the content provider web site
accessed by the
subscriber using the computing apparatus 120 or by an application running
locally on the
computing apparatus 120. It will be appreciated that such an application can
be downloaded
from the content provider web site via the data network 121 and can be
installed locally on the
computing apparatus 120. Alternatively, the application can be installed onto
the computing
apparatus 120 using a CD-ROM, a dynamic wireless network, an USB/memory key or
any
other suitable means. Alternatively, the subscriber may call the content
provider 102 and
provide his or her selection parameter over the phone to a customer service
representative.
Other alternatives for converting the viewer choice into the "hash code" will
become apparent
to those skilled in the art.
In yet other embodiments of the present invention, and with reference to
Figure 3D, the
subscriber can make viewer choices using the subscriber premises device 104.
The GUI for
soliciting viewer choices can be presented by an application running on the
processor 1044
which can be an Interactive Television (iTV) application. This iTV application
can be
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downloaded on demand (such as by the viewer tuning into a dedicated channel)
or can be
stored by the processor 1044 and activated when required.
In these embodiments, a selection parameter screen 214 can be conveyed by the
subscriber
premises device 104 onto the display coupled to the subscriber premises device
104 via the
display interface 1042. The subscriber can provide his or her viewer choices
using the keys of
the remote control. In one specific non-limiting example, each sub-category
can be provided
with a numerical code, such as (1) for "soccer", (3) for "swimming", (*1) for
"music" and so
on. The subscriber can enter one or more of his or her choices by entering the
appropriate
digits using the keys of the remote control. The subscriber may be invited to
confirm his or her
selection by clicking the "select" key or any other appropriate key of the
remote control ("Click
SELECT to confarm" 224). One should understand that any number of selection
parameter
screens similar to the previously described selection parameter screens 210
and 212 can be
presented to the subscriber for obtaining more detailed viewer choices. Once
the viewer
choices have been made, they are converted into a selection parameter and can
be stored at the
subscriber premises device 104, for instance using the processor 1044 of the
subscriber
premises device 104.
In all of the above embodiments, it should be understood that a number of
additional selection
parameter screens can be presented to the subscriber to ascertain further
information in respect
of the selection parameter. For example, viewer choices in respect to a number
of additional
event announcement options can be solicited. These additional event
announcement options
can comprise but is not limited to: "type" of event of interest announcement
(e.g. "automatic"
or "semi-automatic") used to determine how to handle a particular event of
interest
announcement, "priority" of a particular selection parameter used to resolve
conflicts between
concurrently occurring events, and so on. Once the viewer choice is
ascertained, the selection
parameter can be provisioned with an appropriate trigger. For example, for the
type of event of
interest announcement, the selection parameter can be augmented with an "A"
trigger for
"automatic" channel change and "S" trigger for "semi-automatic" channel
change. In a similar
manner, the selection parameter can be augmented with a priority indication,
such as in one
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non-limiting example, a numeric value from 1 to 5 (1 denoting lowest priority
and 5 denoting
the highest priority).
It should be further recognized that any one of the subscribers may provide
more than one
selection parameter indicative of more than one event of interest. In one
specific non-limiting
example, a particular subscriber may be interested to watch goals in all
soccer games, but may
only be interested in watching penalties incurred by a specific player. As
such, two selection
parameters each denoting a respective event of interest can be generated, and
ultimately stored
by the processor 1044.
With reference to Figure 4, a method for triggering an event action is now
described. It should
be noted that the method can be conveniently executed on the processor 1044 of
the subscriber
premises device 104 or another suitable component of the subscriber premises
device 104. The
method for triggering an event action can be executed by an application
running on the
processor 1044 which can be an Interactive Television (iTV) application. This
iTV application
can be downloaded on demand (such as by the viewer tuning into a dedicated
channel) or can
be stored by the processor 1044 and activated when required. It should be
recalled that the
subscriber premises device 104 can be a satellite receiver/decoder, a cable
receiver device or an
IPTV receiver device. It will be recalled that the subscriber premises device
104 is operable to
receive a plurality of content streams, such as content streams 210, 212 and
214 depicted in
Figures 1 and 2. It will be further recalled that some or all of the content
streams 210, 212 and
214 may contain a plurality of content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i
indicative of event
occurrence on corresponding content streams 210, 212 and 214.
Firstly, it is assumed that the subscriber is currently watching a first
content stream, say content
stream 210 depicted in Figures 1 and 2 on a display to the subscriber premises
device 104 via
the display interface 1042. The method starts at step 410 wherein the
processor 1044 is
monitoring the first content stream 210 for at least one content indicator. In
other words, the
processor 1044 monitors at least one of the data tracks or VBI lines of the
first content stream
210 in an attempt to detect at least one content indicator (such as content
indicators 212i or
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214i) that is indicative of event occurrence on other content streams (such as
content streams
212 or 214 respectively).
At step 412, the processor 1044 determines if at least one content indicator
has been received
within the first content stream 210. The first content stream 210 may be a
data stream related to
the currently tuned channel. Alternatively, the first content stream 210 can
be an independent
data stream in the content stream to which the processor 1044 is currently
tuned to.
If no content indicators have been received (i.e. step 412 = NO), the
processor 1044 returns to
step 410 and continues to monitor the first content stream 210 in an attempt
to detect at least
one content indicator. If, on the other hand, a content indicator has been
received (i.e. step 412
= YES), the processor 1044 proceeds to step 414 when the subscriber premises
device 104
obtains at least one selection parameter.
It should be recalled that the viewer choices can be ascertained using one of
the selection
parameter screens 202, 210, 212, 214 or 216 described with reference to
Figures 3A-E and
based on the obtained viewer choice a selection parameter can be generated.
The selection
parameter can eventually be stored in the memory of the processor 1044. In
some embodiments
of the present invention, the at least one selection parameter can be
generated before
occurrence of the event of interest on one of the content streams 210, 212 or
214 and stored in
the memory of the processor 1044 for retrieval at a later time. Thus, the
processor 1044 can
obtain the at least one selection parameter by retrieving the stored at least
one selection
parameter from the memory of processor 1044.
Is should be understood that it is further contemplated that in an alternative
embodiment, the
processor 1044 can ascertain viewer choices and generate the respective
selection parameters
concurrently with receiving a particular content stream (such as the content
streams 210, 212 or
214). Thus, the at least one selection parameter can be obtained by generating
the selection
parameter from a viewer choice ascertained concurrently with receiving of the
content stream
(such as one of the content streams 210, 212 or 214) that contains on instance
of the potential
event of interest . To illustrate, consider the following scenario. The
subscriber is watching a
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hockey game that is running on the content stream 210. Upon occurrence of a
particular event
(such as a goal), the subscriber premises device 104 can solicit a viewer
choice from the
subscriber to indicate whether he or she would be interested in other similar
events (such as all
other goals or goals from the same team/player) occurring on other content
streams being
announced according to the teachings of this invention. The viewer choice can
be solicited
using one or more selection parameter screens similar to those depicted in
Figures 3A-D and
an appropriate selection parameter can be generated based on the so-
ascertained viewer choice.
At this point it would be beneficial for the sake of the reader to discuss in
further detail various
alternatives for detail of the selection parameter. One would appreciate that
different
subscribers may be interested in different events. For instance, one
subscriber may be
interested in all goals in all sport programs. Another subscriber may be
interested in only
specific goals, such as a goal by a particular team and/or player in all sport
programs. Yet
another subscriber may be interested in goals occurring in only specific sport
program. It
should be recognized, that using the selection parameter screens 202, 210 and
212 selection
parameters with different level of detail indicative of subscriber-specific
interest may be
obtained.
The processor 1044 then proceeds to step 416, where the processor 1044 effects
a comparison
of the at least one received content indicator (such as content indicator
210i, 212i or 214i) with
the at least one locally stored selection parameter. Effectively, the
processor 1044 compares
each of the received content indicators (such as content indicators 210i, 212i
or 214i) with each
of the stored selection parameters to determine whether there is a match.
At step 418, the processor 1044 determines whether comparison renders a
positive outcome.
For the benefit of the reader and with reference to Table 1, the following
examples are
provided of what comparison scenarios would render a "positive outcome" and
what
comparison scenarios would render a "negative outcome" within the meaning of
this invention.
Table 1
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No. Selection parameter Content indicator Outcome
1 "goal" "Toronto at Montreal; Positive
goal; Saku Koivu"
2 "Montreal at Toronto; "goal" Negative
goal; Saku Koivu"
3 "goal; Saku Koivu" "goal" Negative
4 "New Jersey at Toronto; "Montreal at Toronto; Negative
goal" goal"
"hockey" "hockey; Toronto; Positive
Montreal"
6 "hockey; Toronto; "hockey" Negative
Montreal"
7 "hockey" "soccer" Negative
8 "hockey" "soccer" Positive
"soccer"
It should be recalled that both the content indicators (ex. content indicators
210i, 212i or 214i)
and the selection parameters can have different levels of detail. Table 1
describes different
scenarios for comparing a specific one of content indicators and a specific
one of the selection
5 parameters and the rendered outcome of the comparison. In the example
presented in row 1,
the stored selection parameter may contain "goal" indicating that the
subscriber is interested in
all goals occurring on all content streams. The received content indicator
(such as the content
indicator 210i) may be more or less detailed and contain, for example, three
components
"Toronto at Montreal; Goal; Saku Koivu". In this example, the comparison
between the
content indicator and the selection parameter would render a positive result.
In another example depicted in row 2, the stored selection parameter may
contain "Montreal at
Toronto; Goal; Saku Koivu" indicating that the subscriber is only interested
in goals by Saku
Koivu occurring in a Montreal at Toronto game. The received content indicator
(such as the
content indicator 210i) in this example may contain a "goal" indicating the
nature of the event
that is about to occur. In this example, the comparison between the content
indicator and the
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selection parameter would render a negative result. It should be appreciated
that these two
examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and other variations are
within the scope
of this invention.
In the example depicted in row 3, the comparison between the stored selection
parameter
comprising "goal; Saku Koivu" and the received content identifier "goal" would
render a
negative result. In the example depicted in row 4, the comparison between the
stored selection
parameter comprising "New Jersey at Toronto; goal" and the received content
identifier
"Montreal at Toronto; goal" would likewise render a negative result. In the
example depicted
in row 5 on the other hand, the comparison between the stored selection
parameter comprising
"hockey" and the received content identifier "hockey; Toronto; Montreal" would
render a
positive result. The examples provided in rows 6 and 7 in which comparison
effected between
the stored selection parameter comprising "hockey; Toronto; Montreal" and the
received
content identifier "hockey", as well the stored selection parameter comprising
"hockey" and
the received content identifier "soccer", would both render a negative result
To complete the discussion, the example provided in row 8 in which comparison
is effected
between each of the stored selection parameters (i.e. a first selection
parameter containing
"soccer" and a second selection parameter containing "hockey') and the
received content
indicator containing "soccer ". This scenario may occur when the subscriber
has provisioned
more than one viewer choice and, as such, more than one selection parameter
has been
generated and stored. In this example, the comparison would render a positive
result, as the
received content indicator matches at least one of the stored selection
parameters.
It should be appreciated that various scenarios represented with reference to
Table 1 are
merely examples to illustrate comparison principles of this invention. As
such, those skilled in
the art will be able to appreciate these principles and apply them to other
comparison scenarios.
If step 418 renders a negative result or, in other words, if none of the
stored selection
parameters matches any of the at least one received content indicator (i.e.
step 418 = NO), the
subscriber premises device 104 returns to step 410 where it continues to
monitor for a content
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indicator. If on the other hand, a positive match has been determined or, in
other words, if at
least one stored selection parameter matches at least one received content
indicator (i.e. step
418 = YES), the processor 1044 proceeds to step 420 where it determines if any
additional
event announcement options have been selected for the particular selection
parameter.
For the benefit of the reader two possible additional announcement options are
now described.
The first option is prioritization of various events of interest and the
second option is the
"automatic" vs. "semi-automatic" channel change. It should be appreciated that
these options
are described by way of an example and should not be used to limit the scope
of this invention.
It should be further understood that for any given selection parameter more
than one additional
event announcement option can be selected, or for that matter a particular
selection parameter
may have no associated additional even announcement options selected.
It will be appreciated that more than one of the content indicators 210i, 212i
and 214i that are
received quasi-simultaneously can match at least one stored selection
parameter at any given
time. This is likely to occur where two potential events of interest are
occurring almost
simultaneously in two different content streams, say content stream 210 and
content stream
212. In this scenario, two content indicators 210i and 212i will be generated
and both content
indicators 210i and 212i will match one or more of the stored selection
parameters if the
subscriber is interested in those particular events and has accordingly
provisioned
corresponding selection parameters. In order to enable the processor 1044 to
effectively
"prioritize" one event over the other, the processor 1044 may consult the
content of the
selection parameter. It will be recalled that the subscriber may provision
selection parameter
priority to determine priority treatment of one event of interest over the
other using one or
more modified selection parameter screens 202, 210 or 212. For instance, a
particular
subscriber may "prioritize" goals over penalties sustained by a specific
player over goals by
another player. In this non-limiting example, the selection parameter
pertaining to goals may
have a priority indication with a higher value than the selection parameter
pertaining to
"penalties by specific player". As such, an effective conflict resolution
method is provided to
"prioritize" certain events of interest over other events of interest based on
a subscriber-
specific selection parameter. In other embodiments of the present invention,
the prioritization
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criterion can be selected by the operator who generated the quasi-simultaneous
content
indicators (in this case the content indicators 210i and 212i) and, as such,
the prioritization
code may be part of the content indicators 210i and 212i. It should be
appreciated that in other
embodiments, the processor 1044 may announce the events of interest in a
"first-in-first-out"
manner, i.e. announcing the events of interest in sequence that a positive
comparison has been
determined between the respective content indicator and at least one sorted
selection
parameter.
The processor 1044 can also select between "automatic" and "semi-automatic"
channel change
options based on the additional event announcement options contained in the
selection
parameters. In some embodiments of the present invention, the viewer can
provide his or her
preference in respect to "automatic" and "semi-automatic" channel change
options when
providing a particular viewer choice (for instance, a particular viewer may
wish to select an
"automatic" channel change option for all "goals ", but a "semi-automatic"
channel change
option for "penalties "). In other embodiments, a default event announcement
option may be
pre-programmed into the subscriber premises device 104 (for all events are
announced with an
"automatic" channel change option).
It should be noted that step 420 is optional and as such can be varied or
omitted altogether (for
instance, the subscriber premises device 104 can always default to one
option).
Once the appropriate event announcement options are determined at step 420
(or, if step 420 is
omitted, once the default event announcement options are ascertained by the
processor 1044),
the processor 1044 proceeds to step 422 to announce the event of interest. The
event may be
announced using a subscriber notification screen now described with reference
to Figures 5A-
B. Figures 5A and 5B depict so-called subscriber notification screens that can
be used to
provide one or more event announcements to the viewer who uses the subscriber
premises
device 104 via the display interface 1042. These subscriber notification
screens can be
conveniently generated by the processor 1044.
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For illustration purposes only, consider the following scenario. The
subscriber who uses the
subscriber premises device 104 is currently tuned into the content stream 210.
The subscriber
has also provided a viewer choice via the selection parameter screens 202, 210
and 212
(Figures 3A-C) denoting her interest in "soccer", "goals" and "actions by Saku
Koivu" and the
resultant selection parameter is stored at the subscriber premises device 104.
With reference to Figure 5A, one embodiment of the announcement of an event of
interest is
described. A subscriber notification screen 302A is provided to the subscriber
using the display
coupled to the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 1042.
For the purposes
of the description of this embodiment, it is assumed that the selection
parameter has been
provisioned with the "semi-automatic" channel change additional event
announcement option
according to the ascertained viewer choice and, as such, at step 420 it has
been determined that
the "semi-automatic" channel change option is to be used. The subscriber
notification screen
302A can comprise at least two portions - a content area 304A and an event
reminder area
generally depicted at 306A. The content area 304A can be used to display the
content of the
current content stream (such as the content stream 210). If required, sizing
of the image to fit
the size of the content area 304A can be done by one of the known techniques,
such as video-
scaling and the like. Alternatively, the event reminder area 306A can be
overlaid over the
content area 304A, which in this scenario may occupy all the available screen
real estate.
The event reminder area 306A can be used to provide an event announcement to
the
subscriber. In one specific non-limiting example, once the match between the
at least one
selection parameter and at least one content indicator is determined (at step
418), an event
announcement is provided to the subscriber using the event reminder area 306A.
The event
announcement may have a heading, such as "Event Reminder" or any other
suitable heading.
The event announcement can further comprise details about the event of
interest, such as
"Toronto at Montreal; Goal; Saku Koivu" or any other suitable reminder. This
information is
retrieved from the received content indicator by the processor 1044 and
inserted into the event
announcement area 306A using any one of a variety of techniques. For example,
the processor
1044 can incorporate the event announcement into the content stream and
transmit the
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augmented content stream to the display connected to the subscriber premises
device 104 via
the display interface 1042, thereby causing the display to output the required
information.
It will be appreciated that the information presented in the event
announcement area 306A
depends on the "depth" of the event announcement (i.e. the amount of detail
representing the
event of interest contained in a particular one of the content indicators).
The event
announcement may further include an indication of the content stream where the
event of
interest is to occur (it will be recalled that this information may be
conveniently included with
the content indicator).
It should be understood that in some embodiments of the present invention, the
content area
304A and the event reminder area 306A can be overlaid, superimposed or
overlapped one over
the other. One commonly used technique is known as "lower third super", and
allows for
providing the event announcement without disturbing the viewing of the current
event and at
the same time not requiring additional/dedicated real estate on the screen.
According to this scenario, the event announcement may further comprise a
query to the
subscriber to determine whether the subscriber wishes to tune to the channel
stream that carries
the announced event of interest. The provided query may be presented in the
form of
"Automatically change channels? Select=YES, Cancel=NO" or any other suitable
message.
The subscriber can enter his or her choice using the appropriate keys of the
remote control. It
should be recalled that the content indicators 210i, 212i and 214i may
comprise channel
frequencies associated with the content streams 210, 212 and 214. The
subscriber premises
device 104 is operable to extract that information and cause an automatic
channel change (i.e.
to tune into the appropriate frequency or to request the appropriate channel
from the server) in
a manner well known in the art. It should also be recalled that a pre-
determined delay may be
inserted into the content streams 210, 212 and/or 214 either using the delay
module 114a of the
content provider 102 or the local delay module or 114b of the subscriber
premises device 104.
As such, the event announcement may be provided in enough time to enable the
subscriber to
read the event announcement and decide whether he or she wishes to watch the
announced
event of interest. In case that the subscriber is interested in the particular
event of interest, he or
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she may confirm the channel change and, as such, effect a "semi-automatic"
channel change
based on the subscriber-selected selection parameter, i.e. channel change that
requires
subscriber confirmation.
An alternative embodiment for providing an event announcement is depicted in
Figure 5B.
The subscriber notification screen 302B is substantially similar to the
subscriber notification
screen 302A and contains a content area 304B and an event reminder area 306B.
For the
purposes of the description of this embodiment, it is assumed that the
selection parameter has
been provisioned with the "automatic" channel change option according to the
ascertained
viewer choice and, as such, at step 420 it has been determined that the
"automatic" channel
change option is to be used. As such, the processes for providing an event
announcement are
different and are now discussed in detail.
For illustration purposes, it is further assumed that the subscriber premises
device 104 is
currently tuned into the content stream 210 and that at least one content
indicator associated
with the content stream 212 (such as the content indicator 212i) matches at
least one selection
parameter stored on the processor 1044. In these embodiments, the processor
1044
"automatically" tunes into the content stream 212 using the channel frequency
information or
any other suitable channel information associated with the content stream 212
that is embedded
into the content indicator 212i upon detection of the match. An event
announcement can be
further provided in the event reminder area 306B. The event announcement can
comprise a
heading (such as "Upcoming Event" or any other suitable heading) and
information
representing the event of interest, such as "Toronto at Montreal; Goal; Saku
Koivu" or any
other suitable message. It will be appreciated that the processor 1044 can
derive this
information from the received content identifier. The event announcement can
further comprise
a query to the subscriber to determine whether the subscriber wants to stay
tuned to the content
stream 212 or whether the subscriber would prefer to tune back to the previous
content stream
(such as the content stream 210), referred to herein below as the "original
content stream". The
message to the extent of "Reverse channel change? Select=YES, Cancel=NO" or
any other
suitable message can be used. It should be understood that in alternative
embodiments of the
present invention, the reversal of channel change can be performed in a
conventional manner,
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i.e. the viewer clicking a dedicated key on the remote control, such as a
RECALL key, which is
normally used for causing the processor 1044 to tune to a content stream that
it has been
previously tuned into.
It should be recalled that a pre-determined delay may be inserted into the
content streams 210,
212 and/or 214 either using the delay module 114A of the content provider 102
or the delay
module 114B of the subscriber premises device 104. As such, the event
announcement may be
provided in enough time to enable the subscriber to read the event
announcement and to decide
whether he or she wishes to watch the event of interest or switch back to the
other content
stream (in this example, the content stream 210) before the event of interest
occurs. In case that
the subscriber is not interested in the particular event of interest and
prefers to turn back to the
original content stream (in this example, the content stream 210), he or she
may confirm the
reversal of the channel change. As such, an "automatic" channel change based
on the
subscriber-selected selection parameter is effected with the option for the
subscriber to cancel,
i.e. to reverse, the "automated" channel change.
It is contemplated that in case of the "semi-automatic" and "automatic"
channel change, the
processor 1044 can record the content of the original content stream to enable
the viewer to
return back to the event that was occurring on the original content stream and
enjoy it after he
or she has viewed the event of interest on another content stream. This
functionality can be
implemented using the PVR functionality (not depicted) of the processor 1044.
One skilled in
the art should appreciate that in these embodiments, the processor 1044 can
comprise two or
more tuners (and MPEG decoders) for receiving multiple content streams
simultaneously.
Alternatively, the processor 1044 can record an entire content stream, the
entire content stream
comprising a number of different video and audio streams, and the specific
required
video/audio stream can be extracted upon playback. In this case, only a single
tuner may be
sufficient.
It should be noted that the two examples provided herein above (i.e. the event
announcement
with the "automated" or "semi-automated" channel change) are provided for
illustrative
purposes only and are not intended to be limiting in any way. For example, it
is contemplated
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that an event announcement indicative of the end of a particular event can be
provided. To
illustrate, consider the following scenario. The content indicator 210i can be
indicative of a
beginning of a particular event (such as a power play in hockey game) and the
content
indicator 212j (not depicted) can be indicative of an end of that particular
event (such as the
power play in hockey game). Accordingly, when the processor 1044 receives the
content
indicator 210i and if it matches one or more of the selection parameters
stored at the subscriber
premises device 104, an event announcement may be provided according to the
teachings of
this invention to indicate the upcoming event of interest. The "automatic" or
"semi-automatic"
channel change can also be effected according to the teachings of this
invention for the
subscriber to view the announced event. When the processor 1044 receives the
content
indicator 212i, it may provide an announcement similar to that presented on
the subscriber
notification screen 302B to indicate that the end of the event of interest and
to query the
subscriber if he or she wishes to revert to the content stream that he or she
was viewing in prior
to the "automatic" or "semi-automatic" channel change.
It should be further understood that rather then performing the "automatic" or
"semi-
automatic" channel change, the processor 1044 can simultaneously display the
second content
stream that contains the event of interest and the current content stream, so
that the viewer can
enjoy the content of as well as the event of interest happening on a second
content stream. This
can be implemented by displaying the first content stream and the original
content stream as
picture-in-picture. Other arrangements (such as side-by-side and the like) can
also be used. It
should be understood that in these embodiments, the processor 1044 comprises
at least two
decoders (such as MPEG decoders) for displaying two or more content streams
simultaneously.
It is further contemplated that rather performing an "automatic", "semi-
automatic" channel
change or the picture-in-picture displaying; the event of interest can be
recorded for later
viewing by the subscriber. The recording and storage can be performed using
the delay module
114A or the delay module 114B.
It should be noted that even though step 422 has been described with reference
to announcing
the event of interest, it should be noted that the processor 1044 can trigger
any appropriate
event action. The event action can comprise one or more of announcing the
event of interest,
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causing "automatic" channel change, causing "semi-automatic" channel change,
soliciting
subscriber input indicative of a desire to affect an "automatic" channel
change, soliciting
subscriber input indicative of a desire to reverse a "semi-automatic" channel
change, causing
simultaneous display of the current channel stream and the channel stream on
which the event
of interest occurs, "picture-in-picture" display of the current channel stream
and the channel
stream on which the event of interest occurs, causing recording of the content
stream on which
the event of interest occurs and the like. It should be recognized that any
desirable combination
of these event actions can be used.
Even though the foregoing description has been provided with an example of the
subscriber
premises device 104 comprising a receiver device coupled to a display, it
should be understood
that the teachings of this invention equally apply to other types of
subscriber devices that can
be used for delivering content streams to the viewer. For instance, the
subscriber premises
device 104 can comprise a wireless communication device (such as a cellular
phone, a wireless
e-mail device, a Personal Digital Assistant or the like) that is adapted for
receipt of streamed
video and other content streams.
As such, the subscriber receives an announcement of an event of interest that
matches at least
one subscriber-selected selection parameter. Therefore, according to the
teachings of the
present invention a method, system and apparatus for triggering an event
action in accordance
with viewer preferences is provided. By means of an example, if a particular
viewer is
interested in all of the power plays and goals available in all NHL games
running on a
particular evening; she can trigger a series of event actions comprising
announcing the events
of interest in accordance with her preference (i.e. all the power plays and
goals happening in
games) and triggering the subscriber device (i.e. the receiver or the like) to
change to the
channel on which the event of interest is about to occur. In the scenario
where a delay module
is used, the viewer can also effectively enjoy these events of interest
"live". Effectively, the
viewer can enjoy all the highlights of all the events that are of a particular
interest to that
particular viewer.
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Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, certain
functionality of the
content provider 102 and/or the subscriber premises device 104 may be
implemented as pre-
programmed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific
integrated circuits
(ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs),
etc.), or other
related components. In other embodiments, the content provider 102 and/or the
subscriber
premises device 104 may comprise an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) having
access to a code
memory (not shown) which stores program instructions for the operation of the
ALU in order
to execute the various processes described above. The program instructions
could be stored on
a medium which is fixed, tangible and readable directly by the content
provider 102 and/or the
subscriber premises device 104, (e.g., removable diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, or
fixed disk), or
the program instructions could be stored remotely but transmittable to the
content provider 102
and/or the subscriber premises device 104 via a modem or other interface
device (e.g., a
communications adapter) connected to a network over a transmission medium. The
transmission medium may be either a tangible medium (e.g., optical or analog
communications
lines) or a medium implemented using wireless techniques (e.g., microwave,
infrared or other
transmission schemes).
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternative
implementations
and modifications possible for implementing the present invention, and that
the above
implementations and examples are only illustrations of one or more embodiments
of the
present invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is only to be
limited by the claims
appended hereto.
36
