Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1
CONTENT GENERATION WITH RESTRUCTURING
FIELD
Various embodiments are directed to content rendition generation and control.
BACKGROUND
Various devices such as computers, tablets and hand-held devices such as
mobile
telephones are used at a rapidly increasing pace to access media. For
instance, users may
access news articles or other stories from a variety of sources.
While access to media has been useful, various aspects remain challenging. For
example, article metadata may not be available prior to a publication date for
content. In
addition, it may be difficult to provide access to disparate types of media
content on certain
devices, or in a flowing and pleasing format. Often, these issues can hinder
the provision of
media content, may increase cost for doing so, and otherwise render content
access difficult
for a variety of uses. These and other matters have presented challenges to
content access,
for a variety of applications.
SUMMARY
Various example embodiments are directed to methods and apparatuses involving
the
generation and implementation of renditions of media content.
In accordance with more particular embodiments, media content data is
reformatted
and restructured as follows. Different types of media content data, having
disparate formats
and corresponding to respective sets of media content received from disparate
content
providers, is reformatted into a common format type. Portions of the media
content data in
the common format type are restructured into restructured renditions having an
article-
oriented structure defined by the common format type. For each rendition,
respective
reformatted assets are generated based upon characteristics of a plurality of
disparate device
types, with each reformatted asset being specific to one of a plurality of
disparate types of
devices. Device-indeterminate ID linking data is generated, and links
respective portions of
each rendition with portions of the media content data having disparate
formats.
Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus having a first formatting
circuit that
formats different types of media content data having disparate formats and
corresponding to
respective sets of media content received from disparate content providers,
into media
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
2
content data in a common format type. A second restructuring circuit
restructures portions
of the media content data in the common format type into restructured
renditions having an
article-oriented structure defined by the common format type. A third asset
generator circuit
generates, for each rendition, respective reformatted assets in which each
reformatted asset is
specific to one of a plurality of disparate types of devices, based upon
characteristics of the
disparate device types. A linking circuit generates device-indeterminate ID
linking data that
links respective portions of each rendition with portions of the media content
data having
disparate formats.
In some embodiments, a tracking circuit tracks access to the restructured
renditions,
and a digital magazine generator circuit uses the tracked access to identify
new portions of
media content from different ones of the respective sets of media content
data. Ones of the
renditions corresponding to the identified new portions of media content are
combined into a
combined data set providing a digital magazine, which is presented to a user
via a remote
user interface circuit (e.g., a mobile phone or tablet) accessed by the user.
In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method and/or apparatus involves
different types of media content data having disparate formats and
corresponding to
respective media content issues received from disparate content providers. The
media
content data is formatted into a common format type based upon formatting
criteria defined
for each of the disparate content providers. Respective portions of the media
content data,
provided by different ones of the content providers, are transmitted in the
common format
type to users at remote user interface circuits. This transmission is based
on, for each user,
transmission initiation data from the user interface circuit, media content
access
authorization data for the user and characteristics of the remote user
interface circuit via
which the user accesses the media content. For instance, explicit user
requests, historical
user access or group-type access of other users in a group to which a
particular user is
assigned can be used to formulate transmission initiation data. The
transmission initiation
data identifies the portions of the media content issues and is initiated in
response to user-
inputs requesting viewing of the portions of the media content issues at the
user interface
circuit. Access to the transmitted portions of the media content data is
tracked and new
portions of media content are identified from different ones of the respective
issues based on
the tracking, the media content authorization data and characteristics of the
remote user
interface circuit. This tracking may involve, for example, tracking access by
a specific user,
or other users in a group or other users with similar interests (e.g., as
identified via profile
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
3
type matching data). Media content data in the common format corresponding to
the
identified new portions of media content are combined into a data set
providing a virtual
media content issue. The combined data set is transmitted to the user via the
remote user
interface circuit accessed by the user.
In accordance with more particular embodiments, a specific electronic magazine
is
generated based on user interests as follows. Respective sets of media content
data are
accessed, each set being associated with disparate electronic magazines
provided by
disparate publishers, and the accessed sets are formatted into a common
computer data
format type. Each of the formatted sets of media content data is broken into
subsets of the
media content data and stored. Remote access to the respective subsets of
media content
data is provided to a plurality of users at respective remote interface
circuits based on, for
each of the users, authorization data specifying ones of the disparate
electronic magazines
that the user is authorized to access. Access to the subsets by the plurality
of users is
tracked, and a specific electronic magazine is generated for each of the
plurality of users by
(for each user) combining disparate ones of the subsets of media content data
based on both
the tracked access and the authorization data for the user.
Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus having respective
circuits/modules
as follows. A first formatting circuit accesses respective sets of media
content data
associated with disparate electronic magazines provided by disparate
publishers, and formats
the accessed sets into a common computer data format type. A second subset
generator
circuit breaks each of the formatted sets of media content data into subsets
of the media
content data, and stores the subsets of media content data. A third content
server circuit
operates with the second circuit to provide remote access to the respective
subsets of media
content data by users at respective remote interface circuits based on
authorization data, for
each of the users, specifying ones of the disparate electronic magazines that
the user is
authorized to access. A fourth tracking circuit tracks access to the subsets
by the plurality of
users, and a fifth electronic-magazine generator circuit generates a specific
electronic
magazine for each of the plurality of users by (for each user) combining
disparate ones of the
subsets of media content data based on both the tracked access and the
authorization data for
the user.
Another embodiment is directed to a method as follows. Different types of
media
content data (e.g., electronic magazine issues), having disparate formats and
corresponding
to respective sets of media content received from disparate content providers,
are formatted
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
4
into media content data in a common format type. Portions of the media content
data in the
common format type are restructured into restructured renditions having an
article-oriented
structure defined by the common format type. For each rendition, respective
reformatted
assets are generated in which each reformatted asset is specific to one of a
plurality of
disparate types of devices, based upon characteristics of the disparate device
types. Device-
indeterminate ID linking data is generated and links respective portions of
each rendition
with portions of the media content data having disparate formats. For each of
a plurality of
users, access is provided to information characterizing the renditions in the
article-oriented
structure, and user inputs pertaining to the information characterizing the
renditions are
collected. Respective portions of the restructured renditions are transmitted,
along with
assets corresponding to the respective portion being transmitted, to users at
remote user
interface circuits based on, for each user, the collected user inputs, media
content access
authorization data for the user, the device-indeterminate ID linking data, and
characteristics
of the remote user interface circuit via which the user accesses the media
content.
Another embodiment is directed to a method as follows. Different types of
media
content data (e.g., electronic magazine issues) having disparate formats and
corresponding to
respective sets of media content received from disparate content providers,
are formatted
into media content data in a common format type. Portions of the media content
data in the
common format type are restructured into restructured renditions having an
article-oriented
structure defined by the common format type. For each rendition, respective
reformatted
assets are generated based upon characteristics of the disparate device types,
in which each
reformatted asset is specific to one of a plurality of disparate types of
devices. Device-
indeterminate ID linking data is generated, which links respective portions of
each
restructured rendition with portions of the media content data having
disparate formats.
Subscriber access to the restructured renditions is tracked, and for each
content provider,
access to portions of the restructured renditions bearing the content
provider's content is
provided, based on the device-indeterminate ID linking data, therein providing
verification
of resulting content layout. Access is also provided, to each content
provider, to tracked
subscriber access to ones of the restructured renditions bearing the content
provider's
content.
Various embodiments are directed to re-jointing content-joined publication
data
based on tracked subscriber/end-user accesses of different content types
(e.g., electronic
magazine issues), with various implementations involving an analytics system
that
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
5
reorganizes a content-joined data library. In a particular embodiment, a
method operates as
follows. Different types of media content data having disparate formats and
corresponding
to respective sets of media content received from disparate content providers,
is formatted
into media content data in a common format type. Analytics data is accessed
for a plurality
of users, with the analytics data providing information characterizing the
users. Portions of
the media content data in the common format type are restructured into
renditions having an
article-oriented structure defined by the common format type, based on the
analytics data.
Respective reformatted assets are generated for each rendition, each
reformatted asset being
specific to one of a plurality of disparate types of devices, based upon
characteristics of the
disparate device types. Device-indeterminate ID linking data is generated,
which links
respective portions of each rendition with portions of the media content data
having
disparate formats.
The above discussion/summary is not intended to describe each embodiment or
every
implementation of the present disclosure. The figures and detailed description
that follow
also exemplify various embodiments.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Various example embodiments may be more completely understood in consideration
of the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying
drawings, in
which: FIG. 1A shows a high-level overview of an apparatus and/or method, as
may be
applicable to one or more embodiments;
FIG. 1B shows a mid-level overview of an apparatus and/or method, as may be
applicable to one or more embodiments;
FIG. 1C shows an apparatus/method involving content formatting and
restructuring,
in accordance with one or more embodiments;
FIG. 1D shows a high-level overview of an apparatus and/or method, as may be
applicable to systems relating to content consumption, in accordance with one
or more
example embodiments;
FIG. 1E shows a method/apparatus involving the generation of a specific
electronic
magazine based on user interests, as may be implemented in accordance with one
or more
example embodiments;
FIG. 2 shows an overview of systems relating to content production, in
accordance
with one or more embodiments;
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
6
FIG. 3 shows a publishing apparatus and approach involving the generation of
one or
more renditions in a common format, that provides consolidated access to
content otherwise
provided in a disparate fashion, in accordance with one or more embodiments;
FIG. 4 shows an apparatus and approach with a single rendition having multiple
physical assets for each logical asset, providing access to common content via
different
physical assets amenable to different device characteristics, in accordance
with one or more
embodiments;
FIG. 5 shows an apparatus and approach with content building, in accordance
with
one or more embodiments;
FIG. 6 shows a data storage/access apparatus and approach, in accordance with
one
or more embodiments;
FIG. 7 shows an approach involving the creation of interactive renditions, in
accordance with another example embodiment;
FIG. 8 shows a full-text matching procedure as may be carried out with the
approach
shown in Figure 7, in accordance with another example embodiment;
FIG. 9 shows an approach involving matching with replica renditions with no
article
structure, in accordance with another example embodiment;
FIG. 10A shows a system as may be implemented for data management, in
accordance with another example embodiment;
FIG. 10B shows a system with analytics-based aspects, in accordance with one
or
more embodiments;
FIG. 11 shows a system as may be implemented for correlating prior and current
record linkage results, in accordance with another example embodiment; and
FIG. 12 shows another system as may be implemented for correlating prior and
current record linkage results, in accordance with another example embodiment.
While various embodiments discussed herein are amenable to modifications and
alternative forms, aspects thereof have been shown by way of example in the
drawings and
will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the
intention is not to
limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary,
the intention is
to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the
scope of the
disclosure including aspects defined in the claims. In addition, the term
"example" as used
throughout this application is only by way of illustration, and not
limitation.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
7
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Aspects of the present disclosure are believed to be applicable to a variety
of
different types of apparatuses, systems and methods involving media content
and related
circuits. Various embodiments involve reformatting media content having
disparate formats,
providing a common format from which renditions can be subsequently generated.
Such an
approach may, for example, involve formatting digital magazine issues from
different
content providers into a common format, and restructuring the common-format
data into
renditions that can be used to construct a new digital magazine having content
from one or
more of the content providers. These approaches are useful for interacting
with disparate
types of devices, disparate content sources and disparate end users, and
addresses challenges
relating to such interaction and processing of disparately-formatted data for
a large number
of users. Further, these approaches can be implemented for generating new
digital magazine
issues from disparately-formatted digital magazine issues provided by
publishers, and can be
done in a manner that is tailored to a multitude of specific users. This can
be implemented,
for example, by generating new magazine issues tailored to individual users,
with each issue
having content sourced from different source issues and/or different
publishers. While not
necessarily so limited, various aspects may be appreciated through a
discussion of examples
using this context.
In accordance with more particular embodiments, media content data such as
digital
magazine data is reformatted and restructured as follows. Different types of
media content
data having disparate formats are received from disparate content providers,
in which the
content corresponds to respective sets of media content. The media content
data is
reformatted into a common format type, such that all of the content received
from the
disparate content providers can be provided in a common format and, for
example, stored for
later access. Portions of the reformatted media content data are restructured
to provide
restructured renditions with an article-oriented structure defined by the
common format type.
This may involve, for example, generating article structure for content not
having such
structure, or generating article structure for the reformatted media content
based on an article
structure in the received sets of media content. This restructuring may thus
be carried out for
one or more received set of media content, with one or more restructured
rendition being
generated therefrom.
For each restructured rendition, reformatted assets are generated based upon
characteristics of a plurality of disparate device types, with each
reformatted asset being
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
8
specific to one of a plurality of disparate types of devices. These assets may
include, for
example, text, images, video, audio, or advertising material. Device-
indeterminate ID
linking data is generated, which links respective portions of each rendition
with portions of
the media content data having disparate formats. The device-indeterminate ID
linking data
may, for example, link digital media content including at least one of
articles, images, text
and rich media content displayed on a user device, independent from the type
of device upon
which the at least one of images and text is displayed and independent from a
page upon
which the digital media content is displayed.
The linking data can be used in a variety of manners, to suit particular
embodiments.
For example, the linking data can be used to link user access back to original
content,
publishers, groups or other aspects of the original content. The linking data
can further
ensure secure access to the restructured renditions, based on security or
other authorization
conditions tied to the original content. Moreover, access to the restructured
renditions can
be tracked and the linking data can be used to correlate the tracking to the
original content.
This tracking can be subsequently used in providing analytics and/or in
generating one or
more of renditions and new digital magazine issues. The linking data may also
be used to
link at least one of assets and a structural component of the media content
that includes the
assets. In some implementations, the linking data identifies digital media
content including
at least one of articles, images, text and rich media content displayed on a
user device,
independent from the type of device upon which the at least one of images and
text is
displayed and independent from a page upon which the digital media content is
displayed.
Restructuring can be carried out in a variety of manners, and to suit a
variety of
needs. For instance, where each of respective sets of media content represents
an original
digital magazine issue received from one of the disparate content providers,
the media
content data can be restructured into respective reformatted digital magazine
issues having
content that mimics content in one or more of the original digital magazine
issues. In some
embodiments, both navigational data and page layout data for displaying text
and/or images
are generated for each rendition as part of restructuring. The linking data is
then generated
as data that links each page in each rendition to at least one article or page
in one or more of
the sets of media content from which the rendition was generated. In certain
embodiments,
an article-oriented structure is generated with a visual layout that
corresponds to a visual
layout of the respective sets of media content.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
9
In various embodiments, restructuring includes accessing a library of the
media
content data in the common format type, and generating respective issues of
electronic
magazines from the media content data, based on the linking data and
structuring
information provided by one or more of the content providers that provide the
accessed
library of the media content data. This may involve, for example, generating
respective
virtual issues of electronic magazines from the media content data, based
further upon data
characterizing one or more users to which access to the virtual issues is
provided. This data
characterizing one or more users may be specific to a particular user or to a
genre of users.
In some implementations, this library-based approach involves a library
including media
content data for different issues of a common digital magazine to which the
user has access,
with a customized electronic magazine being generated from the library of
media content
data.
Various embodiments further involve generating metadata for the media content
data
in the common format type, the metadata including information that
characterizes the media
content data as pertaining to a particular article within a digital magazine.
This approach can
be implemented by breaking articles in a digital magazine issue into subsets
of content in
each issue, with the subsets of content having the media content data in the
common format
type. Content boundaries are defined within the articles and portions of the
media content
data are restructured based on the boundaries.
Various embodiments involve tracking user access to content and using that
tracking
in a variety of manners. In some embodiments, new portions of media content
are identified
from different ones of the respective sets of media content data based on
tracked user
accesses to respective articles in the restructured renditions. This
identifying may, for
example, include tracking access to the renditions by remote user devices. At
least two
articles of the media content data in the common format type are combined into
a virtual
magazine issue as part of the restructuring.
In certain embodiments respective portions of the restructured renditions are
transmitted along with assets corresponding to the respective portion being
transmitted, to
users at remote user interface circuits. The transmission is based on, for
each user, media
content access authorization data for the user, the device-indeterminate ID
linking data, and
characteristics of the remote user interface circuit via which the user
accesses the media
content. Access to the restructured renditions can also be tracked in this
context, and new
portions of the restructured renditions can be identified from different ones
of the respective
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
10
sets of media content based on the tracking, the media content access
authorization data and
characteristics of the remote user interface circuit. Restructured renditions
corresponding to
the identified portions of the restructured renditions are combined into a
data set providing a
digital magazine, which is presented to a user via the remote user interface
circuit.
Transmitting the restructured renditions in this context may be carried out
based on
transmission initiation data received from the remote user interface circuit,
which identifies
the portions of the media content sets. This initiation data may, for example,
be initiated in
response to user-inputs requesting viewing of portions of media content sets,
or
automatically initiated by a device based upon user settings.
Various embodiments involve reformatting respective sets of media content
representing digital magazine issues received from the disparate content
providers, into a
common (e.g., canonical) format. The restructured renditions may be combined
to
effectively combine articles from different ones of the digital magazine
issues into a virtual
digital magazine issue.
Various embodiments are directed to refolinatting disparate sets of original
media
content into reformatted media content having a common format, and
restructuring the
reformatted media content. This restructuring may, for example, involve
constructing an
electronic magazine type article from the reformatted media content, with
layout derived
from the original media content. In some implementations, a rendition is
reformatted from a
source format such as PDF (portable document format from Adobe), Adobe Folio,
OFIP
(Open Format for Internet Publications by Woodwing), an electronic book format
such as
ePub of the International Digital Publishing Forum, and HPUB (form the open
source Baker
Framework or Friar Framework) to a common canonical format. This approach can
facilitate restructuring at a later time, using reader-type components that
may operate to
recognize/process a single content format. For instance, such a reader-type
component may
be programmed to process only the common canonical format, simplifying the
componentry
and facilitating reliability.
Restructuring may be carried out in a variety of manners. In some embodiments,
content tools restructure a rendition by mapping a native document structure
defined by the
format of the original media content, to an article-oriented structure defined
by the common
canonical format. Each article in resulting output content represents a
discrete unit of
editorial content (e.g., as defined by the publisher of the original media
content), and maps
some subset of the reformatted media content to the original media content. In
some
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
11
implementations involving magazine content, subsets are determined by matching
input
content features with features from a set of article metadata records whose
features are
common to all renditions of a magazine issue. Restructuring content according
to article
metadata allows the construction of an article catalog upon which many
features may rely,
such as full-text search, recommendations, bookmarking, sharing, deep linking,
and fine-
grained reporting and analytics.
Accordingly, restructuring may involve accurately identifying content elements
that
constitute each article in a rendition of an issue, associating constituent
article content with
article metadata that is common to all renditions of the issue, and relating
equivalent content
articles from different renditions of an issue to one another via a globally
unique rendition
independent identification (e.g., a UUID) that is mathematically derived from
a globally
unique name determined by the common metadata. In some implementations,
content tools
restructure source content to define articles, using a constraint that
specifies that a degree (or
all of) the presentation structure (visual layout) of original content shall
be preserved.
A variety of components of media content can be restructured, involving some
or all
of a set of content. In various embodiments, input formats are used to define
a specific
presentational model to be applied to a resulting restructured document
structure. The details
of the presentational model may vary between formats. For example, a PDF
document may
have a linear sequence of pages, where each page is a discrete and
individually addressable
unit of information display. A page may be identified by a 1-based index that
corresponds to
its offset within the linear sequence. An Adobe Folio document may have a
linear sequence
of content stacks, each of which is a discrete and individually addressable
unit of
information display. A user can navigate the content stacks sequentially by
horizontally
scrolling between stacks. Each content stack includes one or more background
assets (e.g.,
which may be laid out vertically or horizontally), over which may exist a
variety of static
and interactive overlays such as images, video, audio, and slideshows. A
content stack can
be identified by a text "localld" property that is unique.
One or more embodiments herein may be implemented in connection with one or
more aspects shown and/or described in: U.S. Patent Application Serial No.
13/474,432,
PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/038406; U.S. Patent Application Serial
No.
13/415,157; and U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/439,665. For instance,
various
rendition-based aspects may be implemented with systems and approaches such as
one or
more of the apparatus(es) shown in Figures 1A-1D of U.S. Patent Application
Serial No.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
12
13/474,432 (e.g., with stored content in one or more renditions) and similar
aspects of PCT
Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/038406. In addition, various embodiments may
be
implemented with usage-based tracking and content provision as described in
U.S. Patent
Application Serial No. 13/415,157 (e.g., as in Figures 1A-1D). One or more
embodiments
may also be implemented in connection with content delivery and related
presentation of
available media (e.g., with creation and management of renditions of that
content), such as
described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/439,665 (e.g., as shown in
and described
in connection with Figures 1 and 3).
One or more embodiments are directed to a system having a storefront, such as
described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/474,432. The storefront may
provide a
website with catalog-type purchasing functions, such as may be amenable to a
magazine
rack. Users can select issues, or a library of issues, and the storefront may
identify what
issues a user can access as well as accounting aspects and related user
entitlement. Various
remote user devices can access the storefront, and a content delivery system
provides content
to the user devices based upon activity in the storefront (e.g., with content
being stored in
cloud storage with a content delivery network in front of it using an edge
cache).
Various aspects are directed to bringing content into a content delivery
network and
system, and making content such as a magazine issue available in such a
storefront catalog.
An input file from a publisher for respective media content includes assets
(e.g., media such
as text, images and/or video) and metadata that attributes the assets to a
page. This
information is pushed to a content delivery network, and catalog-related
information is
pushed to a storefront catalog served by the content delivery network.
Media content received from disparate publishers is formatted into a common
format
for use and for rapid loading for media-rich content, such as magazine content
having
embedded video or audio. The common format is transformed into one or more
renditions,
each rendition including assets (e.g., set of content), which may be presented
in two or more
formats for each asset. For instance, each format may be device-specific and
scaled based
upon aspects of the device from which the content is requested for delivery
and access (and,
e.g., storing). In this context, a single data format/rendition can be used to
generate
respectively scaled versions of the content that are amenable to use on
disparate devices with
different requirements, which can be carried out on an asset-by-asset basis.
For instance, a
rendition can be generated with two or more different versions of respective
assets therein,
such that the rendition is amenable to access on disparate devices each
utilizing a different
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
13
one of the respective versions. Accordingly, a single rendition can support
multiple display
resolutions (such as a standard definition and a high-definition display) and
image formats
(e.g., raster and PDF). For instance, each rendition can be implemented on
devices with
different display resolutions, aspect ratios, and page layout and the size of
the assets that are
optimized for each device. Such an approach facilitates rapid load times, and
desirable
storage of relevant data. In certain embodiments, the common format includes
information
for loading on remote devices in an order based on which aspects are to be
displayed first.
In some embodiments, media content is stored with rendition-independent IDs,
such that
each rendition can be linked to a particular set of content that can be
accessed on different
devices.
In some embodiments, renditions are made for several target configurations
known
for particular devices, with the respective configuration stored in a matrix
corresponding to a
parent set of common format-data. This approach can be implemented, for
example, by
storing multiple physical assets in a matrix corresponding to logical assets.
For instance, for
certain high-definition devices, large-scale or high-definition assets
corresponding to logical
assets of media content may be sent through to end users. For devices
operating at lower
definition and accessing the same media content, small-scale or low-definition
assets
corresponding to the same logical assets can be sent to end users. These
approaches may,
for example, be carried out using a parser function to parse content and
identify
characteristics such as scaling to be performed based on a size and/or type of
assets detected
in the content, or other characteristics such as device type or communication
connection
type.
In addition to scaling as relating to resolution, the format of the respective
assets in
each rendition, or the format of the renditions themselves, may also be set
for the respective
devices on which each rendition is to be accessed. For instance, for media
content pertaining
to a set of assets, metadata that describes aspects of the content such as
page layout of
magazine-type content is configured with information that models the layout
using the
different assets. Such an approach can be carried out in various manners, such
as by
tailoring the resulting scaling and/or format of assets to access and display
characteristics
and, in some embodiments, characteristics of available delivery channels
(e.g., quality of
wireless connection via which the content is provided). For instance, some
devices may be
amenable to displaying certain resolutions of documents formatted in a PDF
format available
from Adobe, and related assets can be scaled accordingly relative to
resolution. For the
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
14
same target content, devices that do not support such a format may be served
by generating
another data format type, such as JPEG or PNG, at respective scaling.
Accordingly, different scaled versions of a particular asset, along with
information
for presentation of content (e.g., display of information, play audio or play
video), can be
targeted to specific devices. Each asset may contain a series of asset
descriptors each of
which is a physical asset that has an asset class. Such assets may, for
example, be bundled
or left unbundled for delivery, such as to group portions of a media content
file or portions
of different files. For instance, if a page has a video file, such as 10
megabytes, with other
aspects in the page being 1-2 megabytes, such a video file can be unbundled
from the rest of
the page such that the rest of the page can be delivered and displayed first
and quickly (e.g.,
in a single bundled archive that can be retrieved with a single request), with
the video being
presented later. In some implementations, a place holder or a poster image is
displayed in
place of the video file until it is delivered and/or until a user requests
delivery.
Various embodiments involve circuit-based methods and/or apparatuses, as
exemplified by examples herein, with methods and/or apparatuses being directed
to,
including and/or involving different types of media content data having
disparate formats
and corresponding to respective sets of media content received from disparate
content
providers, and efforts to develop therefrom a common format type. Portions of
the media
content data are sent to users at remote user interface circuits, using one or
more of
transmission initiation data that identifies the portions of the media
content, media content
access authorization data, and/or characteristics of the remote user interface
circuit via which
the user accesses the media content. For at least one user or entity that
sends data indicating
a request to access at least a subset of the portions of the media content
data, media content
data is combined in a common format, and at least some of the portions of the
media content
data are provided in a combined data set in response to the user or entity.
The combined
data set is presented to the user via the remote user interface circuit
accessed by the user.
Such an approach may involve generating a virtual electronic magazine issue,
which has
portions of two or many individual media content sources.
Various embodiments are directed to a method including, or an apparatus to
perform,
steps involving formatting different types of media content data having
disparate formats
and corresponding to respective sets of media content received from disparate
content
providers, into a common (e.g., canonical) format type. This approach may
involve
reformatting media content issues such as electronic magazine issues, received
from disparate
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
15
publishers. Respective portions of the media content data, as provided by
different ones of
the content providers, are transmitted in the common format type to users at
remote user
interface circuits. The transmission is based on, for each user, transmission
initiation data
from the user interface circuit, media content access authorization data for
the user (e.g.,
subscription data), and characteristics of the remote user interface circuit
via which the user
accesses the media content. The transmission initiation data may, for example,
identify
portions of the media content sets requested by or accessed by the user
interface circuit, and
may be initiated in response to user-inputs requesting viewing of portions of
media content
sets or automatically by the user interface circuits or other circuitry.
Access to the
transmitted portions of the media content data is tracked and, for each user,
new portions of
media content from different ones of the respective issues are identified
based on the
tracking, the media content authorization data and characteristics of the
remote user interface
circuit. Media content data in the common format corresponding to the
identified new
portions of media content is combined into a combined data set, such as a
virtual media
content issue (e.g., virtual magazine issue). The combined data set is
presented to the user
via the remote user interface circuit (e.g., to a user's device, such as a
smart phone, personal
computer or tablet).
In various embodiments, sets of disparately-formatted media content are
reformatted
into corresponding renditions of media content having a common format by
restructuring
portions of the media content data in a common format type into an article-
oriented structure
defined by the common format type. Restructuring may include, for example,
generating an
article-oriented structure having a visual layout that corresponds to a visual
layout of the
respective disparately-formatted media content. The common format includes
device-
indeterminate ID linking data that links respective portions of each rendition
with the
common format to corresponding portions of the disparately-formatted media
content. The
respective portions may, in this context, include one of assets and a
structural component of
the media content that includes the assets. Reformatted assets are generated
for each
rendition, with each reformatted asset being specific to one of many disparate
types of
devices, and being reformatted based upon characteristics of the disparate
device types.
Access to the portions of disparately-formatted media content and assets
therein is tracked
based on the linking data.
In accordance with more particular embodiments, a specific electronic magazine
is
generated from sets of media content data associated with disparate electronic
magazines
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
16
provided by disparate publishers. The sets are formatted into a common
computer data
format type, and the sets are broken into subsets and stored. Remote access to
the subsets is
provided to users at respective remote interface circuits based on, for each
of the users,
authorization data specifying ones of the disparate electronic magazines that
the user is
authorized to access. This access is tracked and a specific electronic
magazine is generated
based on the tracking. Such a magazine may, for example, be tailored to an
individual one
of the users, by combining disparate ones of the subsets based on both the
tracked access and
the authorization data for the user. These approaches may involve
restructuring the subsets
into an electronic magazine format having articles, with respective ones of
the articles
having different ones of the subsets.
In some embodiments, the subsets are stored in association with at least one
or more
categories, and access to the subsets is tracked based on respective
categories associated with
subsets of data accessed by a particular user. The specific electronic
magazine can then be
generated by identifying ones of the subsets that are associated with the
tracked categories,
such as by combining two or more of the identified subsets to form the
specific electronic
magazine. In certain embodiments, each user is grouped into one or more groups
with other
users, and the subsets are combined based on tracked access by other users in
one of the
groups. In certain embodiments, subsets of media content data are associated
with at least
one of the categories by assigning one of the plurality of categories to the
subset based upon
attributes of the media content data in the subset.
Where each set of the media content data provided by the disparate publishers
is
associated with an electronic magazine issue having a publication date, the
specific
electronic magazine issue can be generated by combining different ones of the
subsets of
media content data having different publication dates. In some embodiments,
the specific
electronic magazine issue is generated and tailored for a remote interface
circuit via which
the user accesses the specific electronic magazine.
Identifying subsets to combine can be carried out in a variety of manners. In
some
embodiments, remote interface circuits are accessed for tracking access to
other media
content (e.g., provided by a third party), and the tracked access is used in
determining which
ones of the subsets to combine to form the specific electronic magazine. In
some instances,
analytics data pertaining to a particular user is utilized for selecting the
subsets. These
approaches facilitate tailoring specific electronic magazines for individual
users.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
17
In some embodiments, new ones of the subsets are identified based on tracking,
media content authorization data for each user and characteristics of a remote
user interface
circuit via which media content access by the user is provided. The specific
electronic
magazine is generated by using disparate ones of the identified subsets to
create a specific
electronic magazine for each user. This approach can facilitate the generation
of tailored
electronic magazines that meet requirements of a user's authorization, an
electronic display
device via which the magazines are accessed, and the user's historical trends.
In some
implementations, a non-authorized subset or subsets of media content data are
identified for
a particular user, for which the user does not have authorized access. This
non-authorized
subset can be provided along with authorized subsets, with an option for the
user to preview,
view or obtain authorized access to the non-authorized subset.
Various embodiments involve generating metadata for the subsets and/or
specific
electronic magazine issues. In some implementations, metadata is generated
that associates
a subset with an article-oriented electronic magazine structure and an
electronic magazine
issue. In this or other implementations, each set of media content may
correspond to a
collection of media articles for an electronic magazine in which the articles
appear, the
media articles are broken apart, content boundaries within the articles is
defined, and
metadata is assigned to the subsets based on the defined content boundaries.
In a more particular embodiment involving restructuring, the sets of media
content
data are restructured into renditions having an article-oriented structure
with device-
indeterminate ID linking data that links respective portions of each rendition
to
corresponding portions of the accessed sets of media content data. The device-
indeterminate
ID linking data is used to link the tracked access to articles in the specific
electronic
magazine back to the articles in the sets of media content data provided by
the disparate
publishers.
Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus having respective
circuits/modules,
which can be implemented in accordance with the above-discussed approaches. A
formatting circuit accesses sets of media content data associated with
disparate electronic
magazines provided by disparate publishers, and formats the accessed sets into
a common
computer data format type. A subset generator breaks each of the formatted
sets of media
content data into subsets of the media content data, and stores the subsets. A
content server
operates with the subset generator to provide remote access to the respective
subsets of
media content data by users at respective remote interface circuits, based on
authorization
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
18
data specifying, for each of the users, ones of the disparate electronic
magazines that the user
is authorized to access. A tracking circuit tracks access to the subsets by
the plurality of
users, and an electronic-magazine generator generates a specific electronic
magazine for
each of the plurality of users by combining disparate ones of the subsets of
media content
data (for each user) based on both the tracked access and the authorization
data for the user.
Various embodiments are directed to customizing magazines based
on subscriber/end-user access requests and on verification of a content-joined
data library,
and related aspects providing services to subscribers and subscriber devices.
In accordance
with a particular embodiment, different types of media content data, having
disparate
formats and corresponding to respective sets of media content received from
disparate
content providers, are formatted into media content data in a common format
type. Portions
of the media content data in the common format type are restructured into
restructured
renditions having an article-oriented structure defined by the common format
type. For each
rendition, respective reformatted assets are generated in which each
reformatted asset is
specific to one of a plurality of disparate types of devices, based upon
characteristics of the
disparate device types. Device-indeterminate ID linking data is generated and
links
respective portions of each rendition with portions of the media content data
having
disparate formats. For each of a plurality of users, access is provided to
information
characterizing the renditions in the article-oriented structure, and user
inputs pertaining to
the information characterizing the renditions are collected. Respective
portions of the
restructured renditions are transmitted, along with assets corresponding to
the respective
portion being transmitted, to users at remote user interface circuits based
on, for each user,
the collected user inputs, media content access authorization data for the
user, the device-
indeterminate ID linking data, and characteristics of the remote user
interface circuit via
which the user accesses the media content. Various implementations involve
such sets of
media content including electronic magazine issues from different electronic
magazine
publishers. The restructured renditions can thus be arranged in an article-
oriented structure
for an electronic magazine including sets of media content from different ones
of the
electronic magazine issues.
In some implementations, the media content in the common format type is
stored,
and for each subscriber, subscriber-specific content library data is generated
as data that
links one or more sets of the stored media content to the subscriber. Each
subscriber is
notified of content in the subscriber-specific content library by providing
information
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
19
indicative of the content to the subscriber. In some implementations,
subscriber-relevant
information is sent to the subscriber in response to the notifying. This
subscriber-relevant
information may include information that is not identified by the subscriber-
specific content
library data, such as offers, advertisements, promotions, and sample-previews.
In some embodiments, access information is communicated with the subscriber,
the
access information pertaining to services, goods or additional content that is
available to the
subscriber (e.g., but not included in the subscriber-specific library). The
access information
includes information for providing the services, goods or additional content
to the
subscriber.
In other embodiments, access is provided to a set of the stored media content
corresponding to the content based on the subscriber-specific content library
data. This can
be carried out in response to the notifying/notification, such as in response
to a subscriber
requesting the access in by selecting or responding to the notification.
Various embodiments involve verifying and tracking content-joined publication
data
library and tracking data, which can be used to provide information and
services to content
providers, such as by providing access to the library and user-specific data.
Some
embodiments are directed to formatting different types of media content data
having
disparate formats and corresponding to respective sets of media content
received from
disparate content providers, into media content data in a common format type.
Portions of
the media content data in the common format type are restructured into
restructured
renditions having an article-oriented structure defined by the common format
type. For each
rendition, respective reformatted assets are generated based upon
characteristics of the
disparate device types, in which each reformatted asset is specific to one of
a plurality of
disparate types of devices. Device-indeterminate ID linking data is generated,
which links
respective portions of each restructured rendition with portions of the media
content data
having disparate formats. Subscriber access to the restructured renditions is
tracked, and for
each content provider, access to portions of the restructured renditions
bearing the content
provider's content is provided, based on the device-indeterminate ID linking
data, therein
providing verification of resulting content layout. Access is also provided,
to each content
provider, to tracked subscriber access to ones of the restructured renditions
bearing the
content provider's content. Various implementations involve such sets of media
content
including electronic magazine issues from different electronic magazine
publishers. The
restructured renditions can thus be arranged in an article-oriented structure
for an electronic
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
20
magazine including sets of media content from different ones of the electronic
magazine
issues.
Some embodiments further involve providing subscriber access to respective
portions
of the restructured renditions along with assets corresponding to the
respective portion being
transmitted, to users at remote user interface circuits. This access is
provided based on, for
each user, media content access authorization data for the user, the device-
indeterminate ID
linking data, and characteristics of the remote user interface circuit via
which the user
accesses the media content. Data characterizing subscriber accesses to the
restructured
renditions is generated or each content provider. In some implementations, the
generated
data characterizing the subscriber accesses is utilized for tracking
subscriber access.
In some embodiments, access to the portions of the restructured renditions are
provided by, for each content provider, using security data to filter the data
provided to the
content provider. The security data may, for example, include data that
identifies only
content provided by the content provider.
In certain embodiments, the restructured renditions are modified based on
feedback
provided from one of the content providers to which the access to tracked
subscriber access
is provided. In other embodiments, access to the tracked subscriber access is
provided to
advertising content providers, for tracked subscriber access to content
bearing information
pertaining to the advertising content provider.
Various embodiments are directed to re-jointing content-joined publication
data
based on tracked subscriber/end-user accesses of different content types, with
various
implementations involving an analytics system that reorganizes a content-
joined data library.
In a particular embodiment, a method operates as follows. Different types of
media content
data having disparate formats and corresponding to respective sets of media
content received
from disparate content providers, is formatted into media content data in a
common format
type. Analytics data is accessed for a plurality of users, with the analytics
data providing
information characterizing the users. Portions of the media content data in
the common
format type are restructured into renditions having an article-oriented
structure defined by
the common format type, based on the analytics data. Respective reformatted
assets are
generated for each rendition, each reformatted asset being specific to one of
a plurality of
disparate types of devices, based upon characteristics of the disparate device
types. Device-
indeterminate ID linking data is generated, which links respective portions of
each rendition
with portions of the media content data having disparate formats. Various
implementations
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
21
involve such sets of media content including electronic magazine issues from
different
electronic magazine publishers. The restructured renditions can thus be
arranged in an
article-oriented structure for an electronic magazine including sets of media
content from
different ones of the electronic magazine issues.
Another embodiment is directed to further transmitting respective portions of
the
restructured media content data in the common format type, along with assets
corresponding
to the respective portion being transmitted, to users at remote user interface
circuits. This
transmission may be based on, for each user, media content access
authorization data for the
user, the device-indeterminate ID linking data, and characteristics of the
remote user
interface circuit via which the user accesses the media content.
In some implementations, the portions of media content data are restructured
based
on the analytics data. This may involve, for example, generating analytics
data based on
tracked access to the sets of media content by the users. This generated
analytics data may
be used from a multitude of the users to provide an indication of user access
to different
types of the sets of media content.
In certain embodiments, the analytics data is accessed by a third party based
on user
demographics. In these or other embodiments, the analytics data is generated
based on third
party user demographics and tracked subscriber access to the renditions. In
some
embodiments, the analytics data is generated based on actions of the users
accessing the
renditions and linking the analytics data to specific users; analytics data
linked to the
plurality of users is accessed, based on subscriber agreements. For instance,
personal
tracking of private information can be carried out for users based on those
users' agreement
to do so, and this information can be used within a closed system, at one or
both of the user's
and content providers' benefit, while maintaining confidentiality of the
information relative
to external entities.
One or more embodiments characterized herein may be implemented in connection
with and/or otherwise using embodiments in U.S. Provisional Patent Application
Serial No.
62/248,938 entitled "Content Rendition Generation and Control". Similarly, one
or more
embodiments characterized herein may be implemented in connection with and/or
otherwise
using embodiments in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14/681,911, entitled
"Content
Rendition Generation and Control". For instance, various embodiments
characterized in
similar figures in these referenced patent documents, and claims therein
supported by those
figures, can be implemented in accordance with embodiments herein.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
22
Turning now to the figures, various embodiments are shown and described
therein,
and may be implemented with one or more embodiments herein. For instance,
Figure 1A
shows a high-level overview of an apparatus and/or method 100, as may be
applicable to one
or more embodiments (e.g., with iterations 110 thereof implemented for
different resulting
publications). Rendition-specific source content 120 is initially restructured
at block 122
using common metadata 121 to generate rendition-specific canonical content 123
along with
rendition-specific canonical metadata 124. This approach may, for example,
involve
reformatting the rendition-specific source content 120 into the canonical
format prior to
restructuring. The rendition-specific canonical content 123 and related
metadata 124 is
reviewed at block 130 and, if appropriate, corrected. If all renditions are
not correct at 132,
the process continues using corrected metadata 125 to iteratively restructure
the rendition-
specific source content 120 at block 126 to generate rendition-specific
canonical content 123
and related metadata 124 that is reviewed at block 130 and, if needed,
corrected. Once all
renditions are correct, the rendition-specific canonical content is published
at block 133.
Figure 1B shows a mid-level overview of an apparatus and/or method, as may be
applicable to one or more embodiments. Source content (such as Adobe Folio
source
content) is reformatted into a canonical content format, and used to form
content articles.
Where Adobe Folio content is reformatted, content stacks are merged for common
articles.
Previous restructuring matches (if any) are applied to match the canonical
content to
original/source content. Metadata is added to a search index and used to
generate a full text
index, which is used to match any residual unmatched content articles to
original/source
content.
The content articles are added to a search index and used to generate an
article
content full-text index, which is used to match residual unmatched metadata
articles to
content. Metadata is also created for unmatched content for residual unmatched
content
articles. An ID (RIUUID) is assigned to the residual unmatched content
articles and
metadata articles, and used to generate rendition-specific canonical content
and related
canonical metadata.
Figure 1C shows an apparatus/method 102 involving content formatting and
restructuring, in accordance with one or more embodiments. A formatting
circuit/module
140 formats incoming publisher content, from disparate content providers, into
portions of
reformatted media content 142 having a common format type such as a canonical
format. A
restructuring circuit/module 150 restructures portions of the reformatted
media content 142
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
23
into renditions 152 having an article-oriented structure defined by the common
format type.
An asset generator 160 generates, for each rendition, respective reformatted
assets 162 that
are specific to one of a plurality of disparate types of devices that may
access the rendition,
based upon characteristics of the disparate device type. An ID
generation/linking
circuit/module 170 generates ID data that is associated with the renditions,
and links a
respective portion or portions of each rendition 153 with portions of the
media content data
having disparate formats.
In some embodiments, a content server 190 operates to serve content issues
(191-193
shown by way of example) having one or more renditions to respective remote
devices.
Such an approach may, for example, include combining renditions from a common
publisher
to provide a digital magazine to a user, or combining renditions from
disparate publishers to
generate a new digital magazine tailored for a specific user (e.g., as a
virtual issue noted
herein). Such a digital magazine may, for example, exhibit a cover similar to
that shown at
194, with modifications therein to show different titles of different
electronic magazine
issues represented in the digital magazine. In this context, the content
server 190 may
transmit respective portions of the restructured renditions along with assets
corresponding to
the respective portion being transmitted, to users at remote devices. In some
implementations, such transmissions to each user are based on media content
access
authorization data for the user, device-indeterminate ID linking data for the
rendition(s), and
characteristics of the remote device via which the user accesses the media
content.
Some embodiments involve a tracking circuit/module 195 that operates to obtain
tracking data from remote user devices and/or from other user access sources,
directly or
indirectly, and provide that data to the content server 190. The content
server 190 uses the
tracking data in one or more of a variety of manners, such as for combining
renditions into
issues, arranging assets, or providing different advertising in copies of the
same issue
provided to different users based on the tracking data as relative to each
user. In a more
particular embodiment, the tracking circuit/module 195 tracks access to the
restructured
renditions, such as renditions pertaining to articles. The content server 190
identifies new
renditions from different ones of the respective issues for individual users,
based on the
tracking, media content authorization data for the user and characteristics of
a remote device
that the user employs to access the issues. The content server 190 further
combines the
identified renditions into a combined data set providing a digital magazine,
and presents the
digital magazine to the user.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
24
In some embodiments, metadata is generated for each rendition at 180, and
associated with each rendition. This metadata may, for example, include
linking data
generated at 170, include data linking some or all of each rendition with an
article or articles,
or with media content issues (e.g., digital magazine issues). This approach
may be used, for
example, to assign new metadata to articles or pages within articles, such as
may be used to
organize content within the articles relative to pages and/or assets on the
pages.
Figure 1D shows a high-level overview of an apparatus and/or method, as may be
applicable to systems relating to content consumption, in accordance with one
or more
example embodiments. A storefront Web/CMS interacts with users, with specific
content
that may be tailored as described herein. Further, the storefront Web/CMS can
also be
tailored to operate in accordance with a particular network or location (e.g.,
tailored to a
particular entity offering internet access, and/or to a location at which the
service is offered).
A content management system can be implemented in this regard, for providing
content
access based on one or more of the user accessing the content, the content
provider, or a
provider of services that are used to deliver the content to the user.
Respective application
programming interfaces (APIs) can be used to provide cataloging, account
services, event
services and index services as shown. Resulting information can be stored
(e.g., in a
relational database management system ¨ RDBMS).
Figure 1E shows a method/apparatus 103 involving the generation of a specific
electronic magazine based on user interests, as may be implemented in
accordance with one
or more example embodiments. A formatting circuit/module 145 accesses
respective sets of
media content data associated with disparate electronic magazines (E-Mags)
provided by
disparate publishers, and formats the accessed sets into a common computer
data format type
146. Each of the formatted sets of media content data 146 is broken into
subsets 156 that are
stored at 157. A content server 192 provides remote access to subset content
197 including
one or more of the respective subsets of media content data 156, for users at
respective
remote interface circuits 193. In some instances this access is provided based
on
authorization data 194 specifying one or more electronic magazines that each
user is
authorized to access.
A tracking circuit/module 196 tracks access to the subset content 197 provided
to the
users, and provides data characterizing the tracked access for use by the
content server 192.
An electronic magazine generation circuit/module 198 operates to combine
disparate ones of
the subsets 156 to generate (virtual) electronic magazine issues 199 tailored
to specific users.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
25
These generated electronic magazine issues may, for example, be generated by
combining
disparate ones of the subsets of media content data based on both the tracked
access and
authorization data 194 for the user. For instance, authorization data 194 may
specify one or
more electronic magazines that each user is authorized to access, such that
subsets of
different portions of magazines to which the user has access can be combined
into such a
virtual magazine issue including content from disparate publishers. This
combination can
further be effected using disparately-formatted data received from the
publishers. Moreover,
the combination and resulting electronic magazine layout can be effected using
specified
display characteristics relating to disparate publishers and disparate remote
devices (via their
capabilities), facilitating enhanced access and display capabilities.
In the various figures herein, circuits and/or modules may be combined, or
separated
into distinct circuits and/or modules. In this context, various embodiments
involve one or
more computer circuits that encompass(es) two or more circuits or modules as
characterized
herein, providing the relevant functionality that enhances operation of the
computer circuits
and related interaction with remote circuits, such as those employed within
user interface
devices. These approaches may be useful, for example, for configuring an
interactive
display of content (such as combined content from disparately-formatted
sources) for use by
individual users at disparate devices which would otherwise be incapable of
displaying the
content in respective formats or combined. This enhances operability of both
content service
provided via respective servers and end-user devices, as well as interaction
therebetween.
Figure 2 shows an overview of systems relating to content production, in
accordance
with one or more embodiments. A content builder module interacts with a
content manager
module via a global content service. The content builder module transforms
content into a
format as characterized herein, and delivers the content into a staging area
from which the
content can be accessed (released), as controlled by the content manager
module. These
modules may be integrated together.
Figure 3 shows a publishing apparatus and approach involving the generation of
one
or more renditions in a common format, which provides consolidated access to
content
otherwise provided in a disparate fashion, in accordance with one or more
embodiments.
Figure 4 shows an apparatus and approach with a single rendition having
multiple physical
assets for each logical asset, providing access to common content via
different physical
assets amenable to different device characteristics, in accordance with one or
more
embodiments. Figure 5 shows an apparatus and approach with content building in
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
26
accordance with one or more embodiments, and Figure 6 shows a data
storage/access
apparatus and approach in accordance with one or more other embodiments. In
various
embodiments, incoming data is originally parsed and preserved for various uses
and
distribution to subscribers in accordance with various aspects characterized
herein, such as
with the formatting and restructuring approaches described above.
In some implementations, different content sources for a particular set of
media
content and related assets are combined and formatted to a common format as
discussed
herein. Common index formats are generated and linked relative to metadata,
and different
source renditions are correlated. For instance, publisher content (e.g., a
rendition) for a
particular magazine issue that is formatted for a specific user device can be
taken in,
reformatted into a general high-definition format, and scaled and formatted to
provide assets
that are accessible by a multitude of disparate types of devices.
In various embodiments, media content is reformatted to account for
differences in
device and display characteristics, such as aspect ratio and/or differences in
display
resolution. In some implementations, media content assets are formatted into
separate
physical assets for a particular logical asset to maintain certain
compatibility, such as that
relating to aspect ratio. For instance, separate sets of assets can be made
for devices with
different aspects ratios or different display sizes. Content can be scaled,
such as for display
on a large display class (e.g., tablets) or small display class (e.g., hand-
held mobile
telephones). In certain applications, changes in content may include reflowing
text and
providing different page layouts.
Various other embodiments tie in data on each rendition to a particular
portion of
source content, such as articles, sections or other structural components.
Content assets and
interactive elements may include, for example, images, audio, video, buttons,
hyperlinks and
pop-ups. For instance, data such as that relating to how users access various
magazines, how
much time they are spending on certain articles, and which advertisements are
viewed can be
traced back to source content via mapped content ID. As such, a rendition-
dependent article
ID can be used in recording data regarding the access to content in the
specific rendition,
along with a rendition-independent ID that maps the rendition back to an
original set of
media content to provide access information about supported device types. Such
an
approach may involve, for example, extracting and correlating metadata and
other assets,
and/or using correlation between respective renditions to track and match
access data (e.g.,
by matching to a table of contents-type correlation of data). In this context,
a rendition-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
27
independent ID may be mapped to several rendition-specific IDs. A similar
approach can be
used for tracking access to specific (logical) assets.
Data can be tied in or linked in a variety of manners. In some
implementations, an
interactive approach for tying or linking data employs both manual matching
and automated
matching. An initial automated match is carried out using a computer-type
circuit to match
portions of content from an input file to a new format or rendition, which can
be carried out
when the input file is transformed. A user can then review the result and
correct errors. The
new format/rendition is rebuilt using such user-corrected matching directives.
In various
such approaches involving the transformation of and related matching with
publisher-
provided input data, publisher-supplied metadata is used as a basis for
matching articles
across renditions. Publisher metadata is also used to provide article and
section structure to
renditions that do not naturally have structure, such as a PDF input supplied
by publisher.
The publisher metadata provides a common reference point between different
renditions, and
the same metadata can be used for all renditions of an issue.
For certain types of documents such as PDF documents, publisher metadata
describing organization of the PDF can be implemented in this regard to
generate a table of
contents. This can be particularly helpful where such documents are not
provided with a
table of contents or similar structure. For instance, certain types of
documents, such as PDF
documents, do not contain information that identifies article structure. For
such documents,
publisher metadata describing article organization can be implemented in this
regard to
generate the article-page containment hierarchy and a table of contents. This
information
can be linked to assets that provide content for each page, such as text,
images and/or video.
Using approaches as described herein, usage data for a particular set of media
content
can be tracked across multiple devices and renditions. For instance, a person
browsing a
page or otherwise accessing an asset and spending 10 minutes doing so on a
first type of
tablet and another person spending 15 minutes on the same page or asset in a
different
format another type of tablet are matched. Such an approach may involve table
of content-
based matching, other hierarchical matching, and or aspects that relate
rendition-specific IDs
to rendition-independent IDs. Certain embodiments involve matching content
from different
formats using two or more statistical-type approaches.
Accordingly, content from various sources including magazines and others can
be
linked together and provided via a common format. Content can thus be
automatically
created, with information in the resulting combination displayed and accessed
with related
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
28
tracking across multiple scaling and format types. Non-homogeneous content
from different
sources can thus be linked and tracked commonly. For instance, web content or
advertisements can be dynamically encapsulated into a common format, and may
be mixed
with other content such as publisher-based magazine content.
In more specific embodiments, content provided in a general format is
reformatted
and imparted with navigational and/or page layout metadata data. Such data may
include,
for example, page layout for the display of text and/or images, and
navigational information
for these items. The reformatted data (including any relevant assets) is
configured and
implemented for a device having a display type and/or processing system
different than
another device for which the layout/navigational data was generated, by
converting the
layout/navigational data for use with the device for which the reformatted
data is configured.
The converted data is used to generate structural views for the content on the
device for
which the reformatted data is configured, which is consistent with structural
views of the
content on the device for which the layout/navigational data was generated.
For instance, content that is provided in a portable document format (PDF) and
having a corresponding initial format for a specific type of device (e.g., for
a specific brand
of tablet) can be processed to generate content in format that is different
than that of the
specific type of device but having a layout and navigational information that
generally
matches that of the initial format. Such PDF content may not have article
structure or other
metadata associated with it, in which case layout and navigation data is
generated to provide
a structure that matches that of the initial format, or that does so with
scaling applied (e.g.,
for differently-sized displays). The generated data may thus impart article
structure as well
as other aspects such as navigational aspects relating to other content.
Accordingly, various embodiments are directed to generating a common content
format with a layout and navigation, for multiple different types of received
content
including content having a format for a specific device, content having
article structure
without navigation, and content generally format-free such as content in a
PDF. The
common content format can then be used to generate content for a multitude of
different
types of devices, which can be implemented to track metadata for the content.
Accordingly,
a common view and/or navigational structure are provided for access via
disparate types of
devices. These approaches facilitate user navigation as well as tracking for
intermittent
access to content and for identifying content access by multiple users. For
instance, media
content in the form of magazine articles may have different numbers of pages,
different
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
29
layouts, and different renditions. Access to portions of the articles (e.g.,
pages, or assets) via
different types of devices is tracked similarly, to provide an indication of
the content
accessed independently of the page on which the content is provided or the
location on the
particular page being viewed.
In some embodiments, magazine data is formatted from original/input data
having
sections, a collection of articles in each section, and a collection of pages
in each article. An
index file is created to characterize the magazine, such as to indicate where
each article starts
in the data. Text can be obtained for each article or page of an incoming
article, and broken
into subsets of text (e.g., a certain number of words), and the words are
processed with a
search engine to correlate the text subset with a particular article or page
of the incoming
article. For instance, certain subsets may span more than one article or page,
and a particular
page may include text from two or more subsets.
In some implementations, the subsets of text are selected in a manner that
facilitates
correlation to articles, pages or other components of original documents. For
instance, if text
is extracted from an original document having a four-page article, subsets of
text in the
article may be correlated to four different pages in a resulting reformatted
media file. In
some implementations, page ranges for an article are identified using a search
engine
approach to match pages of an incoming article to a page range in reformatted
media
content. As may be consistent with auto-correlating, the page ranges are
compared relatively
(e.g., as two linear arrays or linear matrixes that can be slid over one
other). Once the page
ranges are matched (e.g., via a highest page correlation relative to
position), the incoming
and reformatted content are anchored against each other, and data can be
filled in the
reformatted version or otherwise adjusted to accommodate mismatches. Further,
navigational information can be generated using such matching aspects.
Rendition-independent tracking data is provided and used in a variety of
manners to
track articles as accessed in various different renditions. In various
implementations, data-
matching is carried out to identify common content presented in different
renditions. One
such approach involves the use of a search engine type function as discussed
above for text.
Other approaches involve the matching of image data. In various contexts, an
index of
content is created in one domain, and matched to content in another domain
using search
expressions to find the best match. This information can be used to correlate
portions of
media content, such as articles. The portions of media content are correlated
to a general
identification, such as to an index file, that can be used to identify content
independently of
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
30
the end-use format/rendition of that content and the device on which the
content is accessed.
Such approaches may, for example, be implemented in matching data for media
content that
has been converted to a common follnat, back to an original media content file
from which
the data in the common format has been generated.
These approaches may also be implemented to match different formats of a
common
set of data within a rendition or in respective renditions of the media
content generated from
the media content in the common format. Device-independent identification data
can thus be
assigned to the content in accordance with the common format, with the match
(or other
linking data) used to correlate content in the renditions back to the media
content in the
common format. In some implementations, assets may be linked back to content
in such an
original media content file, generally or specifically. This device-
independent data may, for
example, link magazine content back to an original magazine article. In
various
implementations, original media content files used in this context are
modified to facilitate
searching and matching.
In various embodiments, interactive functions provided in an original media
content
file are linked to a converted version of the media content file in a common
content format.
These interactive functions are correlated with related text or imagery as in
the original
media content file. Similarly, attributes of media content variations, such as
high-resolution
and low-resolution options as well as high-bandwidth or low-bandwidth (e.g.,
with lower
resolution and/or fewer data-rich components), can be linked back to the
original media
content. This may, for example, involve linking different physical assets back
to a single
logical asset. Similarly, different versions of executable code or other
interactive
components such as web links as implemented on disparate end-user devices can
be linked
to one another.
In some embodiments, interactive renditions are created using an article
matching
approach, using an approach such as shown in Figure 7. Each article is matched
to a
particular publisher, with metadata used such that each article has a
rendition independent
ID.
In various embodiments, linking of text is carried out for articles provided
with
publisher metadata that includes a collection of index documents, with one
index document
for each magazine article. Such index documents may, for example, involve
publishing
requirements for industry standard metadata (PRISM) format XML files. In
certain
approaches, rendition-independent ID can be computed using a hash function on
input data
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
31
including globally-identifying code for a magazine title, the cover date of
the magazine issue
and an identifier for the article that is unique within the magazine issue.
In certain embodiments, a full-text matching procedure is carried out shown in
Figure
8, for an "issue article to index docs" step of the approach shown in Figure
7. Where
unmatched index documents are linked to issue articles, data is stored in the
search index
and data is chunked and used in searches.
In certain embodiments involve replica renditions such as PDF-based renditions
that
have no article structure, page matching is carried out as shown in Figure 9.
The article
structure is generated using publisher metadata so that table-of-contents
navigation can be
performed in the reader, and so that articles are correlated by a rendition-
independent ID
against counterpart articles in other renditions.
Figure 10A shows a method and apparatus for managing data. Reader metrics,
storefront metrics and account & catalog data are loaded into an analytics
cluster, which
processes the data to provide characterizations of the inputs. For instance,
metadata can be
used to track usage of content, which is in turn used to identify top stories
or other
components that can be used across multiple users.
Figure 10B shows an analytics-based apparatus 1000, as may be implemented with
the analytics cluster in Figure 10A and/or as a separate embodiment. The
apparatus 1000
includes an analytics module/engine 1010 that utilizes analytics data, to
provide information
that can be used in a variety of manners, including for restructuring media
content. For
instance, the restructuring instructions may be provided at block 122 in
Figure 1A,
restructuring circuit/module 150 in Figure 1C, or electronic magazine
generator 198 in
Figure 1E. These aspects can be provided within a Next Issue Media electronic
magazine
system. The analytics data may be accessed by using one or more of: internal
analytics
resources 1020 (e.g., obtained via tracking at 195 in Figure 1C);
external/third party
analytics resources 1030 (e.g., based on user demographics provided from third-
party
sources); the generation of analytics data at analytics assessor/generator
1040 or
assessor/generator 1042. A database manager/access filter 1050 operates to
control access to
the respective resources.
The analytics data may be generated, for example, in conjunction with the
tracking
noted in Figure 1C and characterized herein, such as by generating analytics
pertaining to
user access to renditions. This analytics data can be generated for disparate
users, or for
users grouped together (e.g., based on commonalities). Further, the analytics
data can be
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
32
generated as hybrid data, utilizing demographics data provided by third-party
analytics
resources at 1030 together with user-specific (private) internal resources at
1020 and/or as
generated. Augmented internal analytics resources can be generated at 1042 and
stored at
1022, used internally and/or provided to external entities via access that is
filtered by the
database manager/access filter 1050. For instance, filtered demographics can
be provided to
indicate an enhanced demographic information, based upon tracking internally
to the NIM
system. Publisher-specific data can be provided to publishers for analytics
information
pertaining to that publisher's material. User-specific data can be provided to
each user or to
a group of users (e.g., to an entity/employer for generating employee-based
analytics).
Branding analytics data can be generated for indicating successful/desirable
branding
approaches. Marketing analytics can be provided to provide an indication of
success of
certain marketing approaches. In various implementations, these types of data
can be
generated using private analytics internal to the NIM system (e.g., to
analytics
module/engine 1010), while maintaining confidentiality of the private
analytics themselves.
The following discussion exemplifies how the overview diagram of the analytics-
based system 1000 of Figure 10B might be used. Assuming two primary databases
of
relevant user demographics (1020 and 1030), analytics data is collected from
external (third-
party) resources and also collected from the system's ongoing tracking of
subscriber
accesses to magazine-directed products generated by the system (e.g., at the
output of
analytics module/engine 1010). The system's ongoing tracking of subscriber
accesses are
much more user-specific as the system uses cookies and other memory tools to
track which
articles, article types and advertisements the subscribers have reviewed, read
and/or
hyperlinked to for further information. The analytics data collected from
external (third-
party) resources is less specific to the user as it includes higher-level
information such as
tendencies of users having relevant/common age, geographic device location,
purchases
tendencies (e.g., more elite/expensive products, sales) and areas of interest
(e.g., type of
sport, fiction reading, politics). Within analytics module/engine 1010, the
system is
configured to employ as a starting point, the more user-specific data and then
probe an
expanded range of the user's access tendencies by exploring and then tracking
whether user
accesses (and to what extents) new products aspects (e.g., if the user was
tracked by his/her
accesses of articles on democratic-party politics, the system might market to
the same user
articles on politics which feature more neutral/independent positions and
track how the user
reads/treats such featured articles). Such efforts by the system to further
explore and then
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
33
track the user stems from: (i) the system's ongoing tracking of subscriber
accesses to
magazine-directed products; and (ii) likelihood assessments that data from
that internal
gathering effort is common with the above-mentioned third party demographics
data. This
combined information is depicted with the additive symbol "+" in block 1010 of
Figure
10B. Further, by weighting each common attribute and also weighting the extent
to which
the user is (e.g., heavily) interested in the known products, the system can
use the weighting
to assess the likelihood of the user being interested in new articles and
related offerings. As
discussed above, this further access information can be tracked and used to
evolve and
augment the internal data for further iterative magazine product offerings,
for
successful/desirable branding and marketing efforts.
Figure 11 shows a system 1100 as may be implemented for correlating prior and
current record linkage results, in accordance with another example embodiment.
Figure 12
shows yet another system 1200 as may be implemented for correlating prior and
current
record linkage results, in accordance with another example embodiment. Each of
the
respective components is carried out in accordance with one or more
embodiments per the
indicated function, as may be consistent with the above.
In various embodiments, approaches as above are implemented in the context of
providing media content access options to a user (e.g., articles in a
magazine), with requested
articles being reformatted on-the-fly for the user's device from commonly-
formatted data as
noted. Accordingly, such a magazine includes multiple files that may be
presented
separately to the user as access is requested, without providing the entire
magazine (or, e.g.,
without providing an entire article).
Various blocks, modules or other circuits may be implemented to carry out one
or
more of the operations and activities described herein and/or shown in the
figures. In these
contexts, a "block" (also sometimes "logic circuitry" or "module") is a
circuit that carries out
one or more of these or related operations/activities (e.g., the content
builder and manager
blocks of Figures 1A-1D, or respective content builder, parsing, and other
blocks as shown
in Figures 4-7). For example, in certain of the above-discussed embodiments,
one or more
modules are discrete logic circuits or programmable logic circuits configured
and arranged
for implementing these operations/activities, as in the circuit modules shown
in Figures 1A-
1D and/or in related aspects as combined with one or more of the recited
patent documents
herein. In certain embodiments, such a programmable circuit is one or more
computer
circuits programmed to execute a set (or sets) of instructions (and/or
configuration data).
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
34
The instructions (and/or configuration data) can be in the form of firmware or
software
stored in and accessible from a memory (circuit). As an example, first and
second modules
include a combination of a CPU hardware-based circuit and a set of
instructions in the form
of firmware, where the first module includes a first CPU hardware circuit with
one set of
instructions and the second module includes a second CPU hardware circuit with
another set
of instructions.
Certain embodiments are directed to a computer program product (e.g.,
nonvolatile
memory device), which includes a machine or computer-readable medium having
stored
thereon instructions which may be executed by a computer (or other electronic
device) to
perform these operations/activities.
Based upon the above discussion and illustrations, those skilled in the art
will readily
recognize that various modifications and changes may be made to the various
embodiments
without strictly following the exemplary embodiments and applications
illustrated and
described herein. For example, relative aspects of different arrangements of
renditions may
be combined and used for respective types of devices. In addition, the various
embodiments
described herein and in the referenced patent documents may be combined in
certain
embodiments, and various aspects of individual embodiments may be implemented
as
separate embodiments. Such modifications do not depart from the true spirit
and scope of
various aspects of the invention, including aspects set forth in the claims.
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-03-11
