METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING SELECTED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT TO A USER IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS
A method and apparatus for delivering selected multimedia content to a user of a mobile device in a pervasive computing environment is disclosed. Communications with a mobile device in the environment is established. A user profile and viewing history is received from the mobile device. Multimedia content is selected and sequenced for viewing by the user. The selection of multimedia content is based on search logic that includes the user profile and viewing history. Metadata is transmitted to the mobile device that is associated with the selected multimedia content.
The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority to each of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/542,842, filed Aug. 16, 2019, and entitled, “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING SELECTED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT TO A USER IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/181,974 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,390,091), filed Feb. 17, 2014, and entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING SELECTED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT TO A USER IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/192,212 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,656,004), filed Jul. 10, 2002, and entitled, “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING SELECTED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT TO A USER IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS”, the entireties of which applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis subject application relates to multimedia content delivery in pervasive computing environments. Specifically, a method and apparatus are defined to customize delivery and minimize duplication of information for users in the environments.
BACKGROUNDA pervasive computing environment contains a high density of mobile and non-mobile information devices. IT provides easy access to information at any time, from any place, on any device. These devices span a wide range of complexity. They include set top boxes, stereos, radios, televisions, and other applications that are familiar to consumers. They also include handheld and wearable devices that are embedded in clothing and jewelry. These devices can adapt their behavior to their user and surroundings.
There are many research and prototyping activities in this field. The article “Pervasive Computing: Vision ad Challenges” by Satyanarayanan in IEEE Personal Communications, August 2001 is an excellent overview of these efforts. It is incorporated by reference. Other relevant articles include “Mobile Information Access” by Satyanarayanan in IEEE Personal Communications, February 1996 and “Uniform Web presence Architecture for People, Places, and Things” by Debaty and Caswell in IEEE Personal Communications, August 2001.
Personal area networks (PANS) allow devices in the same environment to establish wireless connections, discover resources, and share information. The article “Wireless Networked Digital Devices: A New Paradigm for Computing and Communication” by Zimmerman in IBM Systems Journal, Volume 38, Number 4, 1999 provides an excellent overview of these technologies. Bluetooth, IrDA, and HomeRF are examples of wireless technologies. Specifications are available at http://www.bluetooth.org, http://www.irda.org, and http://www.homerf.org, respectively. Users in pervasive computing environments receive information from many sources. Radio and television stations transmit news programs containing reports about local, national, and international events. Streaming and non-streaming multimedia content is available from the Internet.
These sources often duplicate information. Competing television stations discuss the same events. Each broadcaster duplicates reports on their local and national programs. Information from popular Web portals duplicates that which is available from radio and television stations. For example, a consumer may visit a Web portal and learn about important news developments of the day. The information may be repeated on a radio program during a commute home. Finally, a television program delivered by a set top box may also report the same information.
Consumers need an efficient way to assimilate this information. Duplication should be minimized unless a user specifically requests additional details or perspectives on an event or topic. Maximum benefit must be obtained from the time spent viewing news and other information.
Limitations of the prior art are overcome and technical advance is made by the various embodiments of the subject application. It minimizes duplication of information and, therefore, enables a user to efficiently assimilate information from many different content providers (e.g. radio, television, and Web) in pervasive computing environments.
Content providers generate and transmit metadata for their information. This metadata provides additional detail about the content (e.g. content provider, date/time of delivery, topic, duration, etc.).
Mobile and non-mobile devices (e.g., personal computers, personal digital assistants, radios, set top boxes, televisions) are enhanced to contain short-range wireless transceivers. The devices use these transceivers to communicate with each other and select content that is most valuable for a consumer and do not duplicate information that has already been received by that individual.
In an embodiment of the subject application, mobile devices maintain a user profile and viewing history. The user profile specifies the topics in which the user has an interest. A priority may be assigned to each topic. Preferences for different content providers may also be indicated. The viewing history stores metadata for information that has already been received by that individual.
A typical usage scenario is: (1) A mobile device establishes wireless communication with a non-mobile device in an environment. (2) The mobile device transmits a user profile and viewing history to the non-mobile device. (3) The non-mobile device uses this data to select and sequence content for that user. (4) As the non-mobile device presents content, it transmits metadata associated with that content. (5) The mobile device receives this metadata and updates its viewing history.
A mobile device can establish transient wireless communication with a sequence of non-mobile devices in one or more pervasive computing environments. Communication is established when the mobile and non-mobile device are in proximity to each other.
The subject embodiments of the present application will be more fully understood upon consideration of the following detailed description and the attached drawings wherein:
The current art provides techniques by which content providers may generate, store, and transmit metadata for their information. For example, the MPEG-2 video format enables metadata to be transmitted as a component of a digital video stream. The book “Digital Video: An Introduction to MPEG-2 (Digital Multimedia Standards Series)” by Haskell et al., Chapman and Hall, 1996 provides details.
Multiple pervasive computing environment 112 may contain non-mobile devices 114-120 and mobile devices 122-124. Mobile devices 122-124 enter and exit these environments. Transient short-range wireless connections 126-128 are automatically established between a mobile device and a non-mobile device via techniques in the current art.
As a mobile device 122 moves within an environment 112 (or moves among environments), connections are dynamically established and dropped to devices. Data is exchanged that enables the devices to adjust their behavior for the user of the mobile device and minimize repetitive presentation of information.
A statistics server 108 can accumulate statistics on the content that is selected for presentation. It can also accumulate statistics about advertising that is inserted into the presentation. Reports can be generated for all of these activities. This data can be shared with content providers for a fee.
The mobile device 122 and non-mobile device 116 establish a connection via messages 307 according to techniques in the current art. Message 308 is then transmitted to the non-mobile device. This message contains the user profile and viewing history. The non-mobile device 116 uses this data to select and sequence stored multimedia content. As content is presented, the metadata for that content is transmitted to the mobile device 122. This is done by messages 309-311. This metadata is stored in the viewing history 214 on the mobile device. The mobile device 122 then drops its connection to non-mobile device 116. This is shown as 312 on the diagram.
The mobile device 122 may periodically transmit statistics to the statistics server 108. This data may indicate the specific multimedia content that was received by the mobile device. The statistics server can use this information to generate reports that can be distributed to content providers. Mobile devices may also be billed for this service.
The software controller 202 receives requests from a mobile device 122 via the short-range wireless transceiver 206. In response to these requests, the software controller 202 examines the metadata in server 204 and selects a subset of the content for that user. The content is retrieved from server 204 and output via digital/analog converter 406 and audio/video RF CATV modulator 408 to a television 410. The content can be viewed immediately or scheduled for viewing at a later date and/or time.
Several products in the current art can be enhanced for the present application. For example, digital video recorders are available from TiVO, Replay TV, and Microsoft. These products can be programmed to receive and store digital television content. Additional details can be found at http://www.tivo.com, http://www.replaytv.com, http://www.microsoft.com.
The mobile device 122 and non-mobile device 116 establish a connection via messages 1208 according to techniques in the current art. Message 1209 is then transmitted to the non-mobile device. This message contains the user profile and viewing history. The non-mobile device uses this data to select stored multimedia content. Metadata for the selected content is returned to the mobile device as message 1210. The mobile device examines this metadata and selects and sequences the content for the user. The selection is transmitted to the non-mobile device 116 as message 1211. As content is presented, the metadata for that content is transmitted to the mobile device 122. This is done by message 1212. This metadata is stored in the viewing history 214 on the mobile device. The mobile device 122 then drops its connection to non-mobile device 116. This is shown as 1213 on the diagram.
The mobile device 122 may periodically transmit statistics to the statistics server 108. This data may indicate the specific multimedia content that was received by the mobile device. The statistics server can use this information to generate reports that can be distributed to content providers. Mobile devices may also be billed for this service.
While the subject application has been described with reference to specific embodiments, modifications and variations of the various embodiments may be constructed without departing from the scope and spirit of the embodiments as defined in the following claims.
Claims
1. A method, comprising:
- determining, by first equipment comprising a processor, multimedia content associated with a content server based on a user profile and previously-viewed multimedia content that was previously viewed via second equipment, resulting in determined multimedia content; and
- transmitting, by the first equipment to the second equipment, metadata associated with the determined multimedia content, wherein transmitting the metadata results in a reduction in duplicate content being transmitted by the content server to the second equipment relative to an amount of content that would be transmitted to the second equipment without transmitting the metadata associated with the determined multimedia content.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second equipment comprises a mobile device.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mobile device is a smart phone, and the determined multimedia content comprises video content.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first equipment comprises a non-mobile device.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the non-mobile device comprises a home electronic device.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user profile comprises a preference defined by user input attributed to a user identity associated with the user profile.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises content provider information representative of a content provider identity associated with the content server, a topic of the determined multimedia content, and a duration of the determined multimedia content.
8. A system, comprising:
- a processor; and
- a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: obtaining multimedia content from a content server based on a user profile associated with a user identity and a history of previously viewed multimedia content that was viewed in association with the user identity, the obtaining resulting in obtained multimedia content; and transmitting, to a device associated with the user profile, the obtained multimedia content and metadata associated with the obtained multimedia content, the metadata comprising information usable to update history data representative of a history of the previously viewed multimedia content at the device.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the obtained multimedia content comprises at least one of audio content or video content.
10. The system of claim 8, wherein the user profile comprises information representative of a topic of interest applicable to the user identity associated with the user profile.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the information comprises a priority assigned to the topic of interest.
12. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one of the user profile or the history data comprises content provider information, date and time of delivery of respective multimedia content of the previously viewed multimedia content, a topic of the respective multimedia content, and a duration of the respective multimedia content.
13. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
- accessing, from a content data store and based on a user profile, content previously viewed via a first multimedia device associated with the user profile; and
- transmitting, to the first multimedia device, the content and metadata associated with the content, wherein the content is received from the content data store and results in a reduction in duplicate content being transmitted to a second multimedia device relative to an amount of content that would be transmitted to the second multimedia device without accessing the content and without transmitting the content and the metadata associated with the content.
14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the content comprises audio content.
15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second multimedia device receives the user profile.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first multimedia device comprises a mobile device, and wherein the second multimedia device comprises a non-mobile device.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second multimedia device receives history data representative of a history of previously viewed multimedia content.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the user profile indicates a topic of interest applicable to a user identity associated with the user profile.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise selecting a content provider identity associated with a content provider and the content data store based on respective preferences for different content provider identities contained in the user profile.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the content comprises advertising information.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 1, 2021
Publication Date: Jul 15, 2021
Inventor: Joseph Thomas O'Neil (Staten Island, NY)
Application Number: 17/220,188