Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090133086 | System and Method for Delivering Long-Tail Content - A system and method for delivering a long-tail content comprising a set-top box configured to couple an external signal to a user device. The long-tail content server also comprises a long-tail content server configured to provide the external signal to the set-top box from a central server. The long-tail content server further comprises a long-tail content asset manager configured to control a communication between at least one of the central server, the long-tail content server and the set-top box and at least one of the central server, the long-tail content server and the set-top box. | 05-21-2009 |
20090317065 | EXTENDED DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER - A device receives, from one of a set-top box/digital video recorder (STB/DVR) or a user device, a request to allocate an amount of storage, and allocates the amount of storage based on the allocation request, logically extending the user's available storage. The device also receives, from the one of a set-top box/digital video recorder (STB/DVR) or a user device, a request to record content, and records the content to one or more portions of the allocated storage based on the record request. | 12-24-2009 |
20100313217 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RECOVERING FROM ERRORS ASSOCIATED WITH ADVERTISEMENT STREAMS - An exemplary method includes switching, by a media content access subsystem, from a program stream to an advertisement stream in response to a switching instruction received by the media content access subsystem, detecting, by the media content access subsystem, a predetermined number of markers included within the advertisement stream, the predetermined number of markers indicative of an error associated with the advertisement stream, and switching, by the media content access subsystem, from the advertisement stream to another media content stream in response to the detecting of the predetermined number of markers. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 12-09-2010 |
20110078723 | REAL TIME TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT SHAPING - A multimedia client receives, over a subscription multimedia network, television content for presentation to a viewer, where the television content includes an advertising break and identifies a keyword associated with the television content. The multimedia client sends, over the subscription multimedia network, the keyword to an advertisement server and receives from the advertisement server, an advertisement corresponding to the keyword. The multimedia client then provides, for display to the viewer, the advertisement within the advertising break. | 03-31-2011 |
20110093893 | DATA DISTRIBUTION - A device may include a communication interface configured to receive programming information from a service provider multicast over multiple channels. The device may also include logic configured to decode the programming information received over the multiple channels, assemble a programming guide based on the decoded programming information and output the programming guide to an output device for display. | 04-21-2011 |
20110123173 | TRICK PLAY ADVERTISING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Exemplary trick play advertising systems and methods are described herein. An exemplary method includes a media content access system detecting a command to execute a trick play function on a media content program, accessing a splash screen advertisement in response to the detected command, and providing the splash screen advertisement for display during an execution of the trick play function. Corresponding methods and systems are also described. | 05-26-2011 |
20110179356 | Methods and Systems for Dynamically Inserting an Advertisement into a Playback of a Recorded Media Content Instance - An exemplary method includes maintaining data representative of a recorded media content instance comprising a media content program and a first advertisement and an index file corresponding to the recorded media content instance, playing back the recorded media content instance in accordance with timestamp data and storage location data included in the index file, dynamically replacing, during the playback of the recorded media content instance, a portion of the storage location data in the index file that corresponds to the first advertisement with storage location data corresponding to a second advertisement, and presenting the second advertisement in place of the first advertisement during the playback of the recorded media content instance in accordance with the modified index file. Corresponding methods and systems are also described. | 07-21-2011 |
20110191798 | Dynamic Advertisement Insertion Methods and Systems - An exemplary method includes maintaining data representative of a plurality of advertisements each having one of a plurality of different resolutions, detecting a message indicative of an upcoming advertisement break in a media content program being transmitted to a media content access device by way of a content channel, detecting a resolution of the media content program, directing a dynamic advertisement delivery subsystem communicatively coupled to the media content access device to dynamically transmit a subset of the advertisements by way of one or more advertisement channels, wherein each advertisement included in the subset has the same resolution as the resolution of the media content program, and distributing tuning information associated with each of the one or more advertisement channels to the media content access device prior to an occurrence of the advertisement break. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 08-04-2011 |
20110209175 | Methods and Systems for Synchronizing Delivery of Media Content Streams Having Different Resolutions - An exemplary method includes processing a first program stream representative of media content having a first resolution and a second program stream representative of the media content having a second resolution, generating a single advertisement stream representative of advertisement content having a third resolution, detecting a transmission lag between the first and second program streams, dynamically synchronizing the first and second program streams to substantially remove the detected transmission lag, transmitting the synchronized first program stream by way of a first content channel, the synchronized second program stream by way of a second content channel, and the advertisement stream by way of an advertisement channel, and directing a media content access device to switch from being tuned to the second content channel to being tuned to the advertisement channel during an advertising break in the media content. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 08-25-2011 |
20110211049 | Methods and Systems for Presenting Three-Dimensional Video Content - An exemplary method includes receiving, by a three-dimensional (ā3Dā) adapter subsystem separate from and communicatively coupled to a display device, a 3D video content stream comprising data representative of 3D video content, directing, by the 3D adapter subsystem, the display device to generate and display the 3D video content in accordance with the 3D video content stream, and calibrating, by the 3D adapter subsystem, the display of the 3D video content in accordance with one or more attributes of the display device. Corresponding methods and systems are also described. | 09-01-2011 |
20110296458 | BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT AND ADVERTISEMENT INSERTION IN MEDIA CONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An exemplary method includes a media content delivery system transmitting a transport stream containing an advertisement channel and a program channel, the program channel carrying a media program stream at a first bit rate, detecting an upcoming advertisement break within the media program stream, inserting, in response to the detecting of the upcoming advertisement break, an advertisement content stream having a second bit rate that is lower than the first bit rate into the program channel to temporally coincide with the advertisement break to free bandwidth in the transport stream during the advertisement break, and inserting an additional advertisement content stream in the advertisement channel, the additional advertisement content stream temporally coinciding with the advertisement break and utilizing at least a portion of the freed bandwidth in the transport stream. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 12-01-2011 |
20110314496 | ENHANCED MEDIA CONTENT TRANSPORT STREAM FOR MEDIA CONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An exemplary method includes a media content delivery system transmitting an enhanced media content transport stream that includes at least a single program stream that carries data representative of multiple video content programs. The enhanced media content transport stream further includes data specifying multiple video program identifiers for the multiple video content programs, each of the multiple video program identifiers configured to be used by an access subsystem that receives the enhanced media content transport stream to selectively access a different one of the multiple video content programs. In certain embodiments, the multiple video content programs comprise a first video content program including video data for a main media content program and a second video content program including video data for an advertisement. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 12-22-2011 |
20120109726 | Methods and Systems for Trigger-Based Updating of an Index File Associated with a Captured Media Content Instance - An exemplary method includes a media content provider subsystem capturing data representative of a media content instance during transmission of the media content instance, detecting, during the capturing, a trigger included in the transmission and indicating a start time and an end time of an advertisement break included in the media content instance, and dynamically updating an index file associated with the captured media content instance with data representative of the start time and the end time of the advertisement break. Corresponding methods and systems are also described. | 05-03-2012 |
20120133731 | HIGH BANDWIDTH STREAMING TO MEDIA PLAYER - A method performed by one or more computing devices includes receiving, by a data center and from a user device via a public network connection, a selection of high-definition three-dimensional (HD3D) content and sending, by the data center and to the user device, a link to a content delivery system to provide the selected HD3D content. The method also includes receiving, by the content delivery system and from the user device, a streaming request for the selected HD3D content; reserving, by the content delivery system, bandwidth, for the selected HD3D content, within a managed network; and sending, by the content delivery system and to the user device, a streaming Internet protocol (IP) address for providing the selected HD3D content over the managed network. | 05-31-2012 |
20120151520 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RECOVERING FROM ERRORS ASSOCIATED WITH ADVERTISEMENT STREAMS - An exemplary method includes switching, by a media content access subsystem, from a program stream to an advertisement stream in response to a switching instruction received by the media content access subsystem, detecting, by the media content access subsystem, a predetermined number of markers included within the advertisement stream, the predetermined number of markers indicative of an error associated with the advertisement stream, and switching, by the media content access subsystem, from the advertisement stream to another media content stream in response to the detecting of the predetermined number of markers. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed. | 06-14-2012 |
20120167132 | ADVERTISING INSERTION FOR PLAYBACK OF VIDEO STREAMS ON USER DEVICES - One or more servers in an IP network receive, from a user device, a selection of live streaming content and assemble an index file including links to chunks of the selected live streaming content and links to advertising files for insertion within the selected live streaming content. The one or more severs send, to the user device, a link to the index file associated with the selected live streaming content and receive, from the user device, a streaming request for the selected live streaming content. The one or more servers send, to the user device, the index file including the links to chunks of the selected live streaming content and the links to advertising files for insertion within the selected live streaming content. The user device may use the links to combine the chunks of the selected live streaming content and the advertising files into a single linear presentation. A standards-based client for the user device is used with the server side implementation. Multiple groupings of index files, based on various location and business criteria, allow for reduction in media stream creation, and granularity of addressing each subscriber. | 06-28-2012 |
20120316965 | DYNAMIC TARGETED ADVERTISING IN CLIENT-SERVER TOPOLOGY - A network device in a customer premises network collects profile data for a client device of multiple client devices in the customer premises network and sends the client profile data to a remote provider network. The network device receives, from the remote provider network, a group of advertisement files for targeted advertising to the client device and stores, in a memory, the group of advertisement files. The network device detects an advertisement insertion cue in linear program content being streamed to the client device, selects an advertisement file from the stored group of advertisement files, and inserts the selected advertisement file into the linear program content being streamed to the client device. | 12-13-2012 |
20130160044 | STREAM CONTROL WITH DIFFERENT TRICK-MODE PROTOCOLS - Embodiments disclosed include a method and a system. The method includes receiving a first media stream, in a first network device from a remote network device, using a first network protocol. The may method include converting the first media stream in real-time to a second media stream according to a second network protocol and transmitting the second media stream to a user device. The method may include receiving a first trick-mode command according to a first trick-mode protocol from the user device, wherein the first trick-mode command includes rewind, fast forward, or pause. The method may include converting the first trick-mode command into a second trick-mode command according to a second trick-mode protocol and transmitting the second trick-mode command to the remote network device. | 06-20-2013 |
20130219424 | AD REPLACEMENT - Devices, methods, and storage media provide for receiving an airing of a program and a national ad; recording the program and the national ad; identifying an age of the national ad; comparing the age of the national ad to a threshold time period; and obtaining a replacement national ad in response to a comparison indicating that the age of the national ad exceeds the threshold time period. | 08-22-2013 |
20140130104 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING DELIVERY OF THIRD PARTY CONTENT - An approach for enabling third party video content to be assigned a higher priority for delivery over a service provider network is described. A content delivery platform determines whether a third party content provider or video content to be delivered fulfill one or more criteria for permitting the content delivery system direct access to a video on demand network of a network provider. The content delivery platform then assigns a higher delivery priority to the video content based on the direct access of the video on demand network by the content delivery system. | 05-08-2014 |
20150016241 | BACK-UP PATH FOR IN-HOME DIAGNOSTICS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS - A local router for a home network pairs with a mobile device via a local network connection. The local router is also connected to a wide area network. The local router receives, from the mobile device and over the local network connection, configuration settings for a backup path for the wide area network. The backup path includes the local network connection and a mobile broadband connection using the mobile device. The local router detects an interruption with the local router's connection to the managed wide area network and forwards, based on the detecting, critical traffic from the home network via the backup path. | 01-15-2015 |
20150089517 | LA CARTE VIDEO PROGRAMMING AND SUGGESTION SYSTEM - A system may receive a first list of users of a provider network. For each of the first list of users, the system may obtain data pertaining to the user's categories of interest from a social media system; infer video programs based on the data; infer a list of one or more video channels based on the video programs; score the one or more video channels; rank the list of one or more video channels based on the scores; and recommend the ranked list of one or more video channels. | 03-26-2015 |