Abstract:
In order to provide end users with an individualized electronic program guide, a plurality of client devices is connected to a back end system. Each client device is operable by an end user. User information, which is related to content of at least one end user is collected. Individual preferences content preferences of one or several end users is determined. Taking into account the determined content preferences of the end user, the individualized program guide is generated. The individualized program guide is then made available to the client device of the respective end user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a method for providing end users with an individualized electronic program guide, and to an electronic program guide system.  
         [0002]     Currently electronic program guides are available in interactive television systems. Known electronic program guides thereby submit an index to all end users. The index comprises several index entries. An index entry comprises for example information about a television show, like for example the name of the television show, the channel that emits the show and the time, when the show is to be broadcasted. Nowadays electronic program guides allow an end user to add a tag to an index entry, which can be read by the other end users. In a typical example the content of the tag is a rating of the entry, thus a rating of the television show. However, not all users have the same taste concerning television programs. It is therefore a drawback of the existing program guides, that a tag generally is valuable information for only a minor part of the end users.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is therefore the objective of this invention to provide end users with an individualized electronic program guide.  
         [0004]     In order to provide end users with an individualized electronic program guide, a plurality of client devices is connected to a back end system. Each client device is operable by an end user. User information, which is related to content of at least one end user is collected. Individual preferences content preferences of one or several end users is determined. Taking into account the determined content preferences of the end user, the individualized program guide is generated. The individualized program guide is then made available to the client device of the respective end user.  
         [0005]     According to a first preferred embodiment of the invention,  
         [0006]     the content preferences of the end user are taken into account by statistically consolidating the user information.  
         [0007]     This can be done by consolidating the user information of one specific user and generating the individualized program guide by taking into account only the consolidated user information of this specific user. As an example, if in the back end system it is registered, that the end user often watches movies of a specific genre, the individualized program guide can recommend all movies of this specific genre, which are to be broadcasted in the next 5 days, to the specific end user.  
         [0008]     The consolidating can also be done, by consolidating the user information of a group of users, who in the past had similar user preferences. This way it is possible to recommend content which is likely to be of interest for an end user, but the interest is not so easy to forecast as in the case of recommending movies of the a specific genre. For example, a new comedy show with a specific kind of humor can this way be proposed to an end user because other end users, who were watching the same shows in the past, seem to like this comedy show.  
         [0009]     According to a second preferred embodiment, the user information is collected by automatically registering an identification of a content (e.g. a television program) that was consumed by the end user. For example, in case of television broadcast, the information can automatically be collected, when the client device is switched to a specific television program. Analogously, in case the content is downloadable on demand, the information is automatically collected, when the client device downloads the content.  
         [0010]     In a third preferred embodiment, the back end system is connected to the client devices by means of a multimedia broadcast network, for example by means of a bi-directional television broadcast network. This way, the multimedia broadcast network, which is normally used to transmit multimedia content to the client device, can also be used for transmitting the program guide to the client device and for transmitting user information to the back end system.  
         [0011]     According to a fourth preferred embodiment a community is created by creating a data structure in the back end system. The data structure logically subsumes at least a subset of the plurality of client devices and/or end users. For example client devices of end users with identical or similar content preferences can be subsumed in the community. Therefore user information related to content preferences of the end users which correspond to the client devices of the subset is collected.  
         [0012]     In a fifth preferred embodiment the program guide is a community specific program index which comprises index entries. An index entry identifies content, for example a television program which is to be broadcasted. In order to individualize the program guide, the program index displays content of high popularity within the community first and/or adds a code, a number or some other form of indication to an index entry, representing a popularity of the corresponding content within the community.  
         [0013]     According to a sixth preferred embodiment the content preferences of the end user are taken into account by adding the user information to the individualized program guide. This way an end user of a community can for example rate or add a comment to a specific piece of content. Since the rating or the comment is not of high interest for non-members of the community, the rating or the comment can be made accessible only to members of the community. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The novel features and method steps characteristic of the invention are set out in the claims below. The invention itself, however, as well as other features and advantages thereof, are best understood by reference to the detailed description, which follows, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows an electronic program guide system for providing end users with an individualized electronic program guide in a seventh embodiment; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows an electronic program guide system for providing end users with an individualized electronic program guide in an eight embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  shows an electronic program guide system  100  for providing end users with an individualized electronic program guide in a seventh preferred embodiment of the invention. The electronic program guide system  100  comprises a back end system  101  which is connected by means of a network  102  to a plurality of client devices  103 ,  104 . Each client device  103 ,  104  is operable by an end user. The client devices are used for the reception of content like for example TV broadcast, video on demand or audio download. A client device  103 ,  104  is for example a set top box, or a set top box that is integrated into a TV set or a multimedia handset that communicates with the back end system  101 . The back end system  101  comprises a community service system  110 , a multimedia distribution system  120  and at least one community info processing device  130 . In a preferred variant of the embodiment, information about the users&#39; content preferences is automatically detectable by each client device and transmittable via the network  102  to the back end system  101 .  
         [0018]     The community service system  110  comprises software components, for example an registration component  111  and a group list management component  112 . The registration component  111  allows the user to identify himself. The registration component can for example be an instant messaging system in which the user registers himself or any other form of authentication system. In this way the backend system can keep track when the user is logged on. The group list management component  112  administrates communities, which includes to register the communities for which the end user has a membership. Therefore the group list management component  112  comprises a data structure  113  which logically subsumes client devices and/or their users in order to generate communities. An end user can belong to one or more communities.  
         [0019]     The multimedia distribution system  120  comprises a program guide content database  121 , an index enhancer  122  and at least one usage monitoring component  123 ,  124 . The program guide content database  121  is able to store program guide content, e.g. information about television programs which are to be broadcasted.  
         [0020]     The usage monitoring components  123 ,  124  register the content preferences of the end user. This can for example be done by registering in the usage monitoring component  123 ,  124  all broadcasted programs that have been chosen by a client device  103 ,  104 .  
         [0021]     The usage monitoring components  123 ,  124  therefore create user information in the form of information elements that reflect the content preferences of the end user. As an example, an information element comprises a reference to the program that has been consumed by an end user together with an identification of the end user or of the user&#39;s client device. Instead of the identification of the end user, an information element can also comprise an identification of the community an end user belongs to. Further examples of information elements are: 
        Which television channel a user is watching at a certain moment in time: Information elements indicating a channel change will be generated. The information elements contain references to the new and the old channel, time of the switch     Which Movies or other information a user is accessing on demand at a certain time: Information elements containing a unique identifier for the movie or multimedia item will be generated. The monitoring can happen on any type of multimedia content, for example audio files, video files, archives or documents.     Information elements may also be generated when the user does a manual action, for example enters a rating of the content he has been viewing or hearing.        
 
         [0025]     The community info processing device  130  collects the information elements originating from the usage monitoring components  123 ,  124  and consolidates them. The consolidated results are then published so that they can be used in external applications that communicate with this community info processing device  130 , for example with the group list management component  112 . The consolidating of the information elements will make sure that the information can be sent in a consolidated form to the external applications. During the processing the community info processing device  130  takes into account to which communities a user belongs at the moment the monitoring information is generated. The community info processing device  130  can also comprise a data base  131  for storing information elements and/or consolidated information. The database can for example part of or connected to a presence server, which helps to keep a history of the usage of the television programs or multimedia content. Examples of processing and consolidating of monitoring information elements are: 
        Count the number of times persons within a community have accessed a certain piece of multimedia content. Usage counting.     Calculate the chance that a member of a community will like a piece of content based on the usage statistics derived from the monitoring information elements originating from the other user&#39;s within the same community that have accessed the content.     Record the identities of the last ‘x’ users within the community that have accessed a certain piece of content.     Record for each user within a community the last ‘x’ content items he accessed/downloaded     Record a list of content items that gets the highest rating from the community (top list).        
 
         [0031]     The consolidated information is then transmitted from the community info processing device  130  to the index enhancer  122 . In addition, the index enhancer has access to the program guide content database  121 . If for example the consolidated information indicates that a certain television show is popular within a community, this consolidated information is used to generate a program guide index, which presents the index entry for this television show on a prominent position.  
         [0032]     On the client devices  103 ,  104  different program indexes may be shown that allow the user to select content like for example television programs or content on demand. A program index comprises index entries which identify for example a television program or a multimedia content. These program indexes are enriched with consolidated information that is published by the community info processing device  130 . The consolidated information can be presented in the user interface for example as star ratings, icons on which the user can click or numbers showing how many other users of the community are watching the specific multimedia item. The index enhancer  122 , which can be located on a client device  103 ,  104  or in the back end system, receives information from the program guide content database  121  and from the community info processing device  130 . The index enhancer  122  makes sure that the consolidated information is associated correctly with the content from the program guide content database  121 . Therefore the index entries are also associated with the user that is currently logged in on the client device so that he sees only the additional information that is associated with the communities of which he is a member.  
         [0033]     Additionally, software components may also generate new program indexes that allow a user of a community to see a selected number of multimedia items based on the published information of the community info processing device  130 . The order of the elements in the index and the selection multimedia items to which references appear in the index may depend on the information published by the community info processing devices. An example is a top list index where only the ten most popular downloadable movies are shown for the communities of which the logged in user is a member.  
         [0034]     This embodiment enables the presentation of additional information regarding the content preferences of an end user in a program guide index. The additional information is based on the membership of the user in communities and recorded usage data of the multimedia content items represented in the program guide index. Additionally it is possible to build up new indexes which are based on usage data. Thereby the community membership of the user and usage data can be taken into account. For example, the program guide can act like an automatic dynamic favorites list, which will stimulate usage of the multimedia system because people within a community are assumed to have common interests.  
         [0035]     In order to generate a program index  125  that is adapted to an end user&#39;s interest, the usage monitoring component  123 ,  124  does not need to be located in the multimedia distribution system  120 . Instead or in addition, a usage monitoring component can also be situated in a client device  103 ,  104  or at any other location of the back end system  101  and transmit information elements to the community info processing device  130 .  
         [0036]     Also the index enhancer  122  does not need to be situated in the multimedia distribution system. Instead, each of the client devices can comprise an index enhancer which associates the consolidated information from the community info processing device with the information from the program guide content database  121 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 2  shows an electronic program guide system  200  for providing end users with an individualized electronic program index  225  in an eighth embodiment. The electronic program guide system  200  comprises a back end system  201  which is connected by means of a network  202  to a plurality of client devices  203 ,  204 . The back end system  201  comprises a community service system  210 , a program guide system  220  and at least one tagging component  230 .  
         [0038]     The back end system  201  and the client devices  203 ,  204  can comprise basically the same elements as the back end system  101  and the client devices  103 ,  104  of  FIG. 1 . However, additionally or instead of the community info processing device  130 , the back end system  201  comprises a tagging component  230 .  
         [0039]     The tagging component  230  receives tagging information from the client devices  203  of a first end user for distributing this tagging information to client devices of other end users. In other words, the tagging component  230  serves to collect the content preferences of the first end user by adding the user information to the individualized program guide. This way, if the first end user is for example a member of a community, he can write a comment about a television program. The comment will then be added to a program guide for this community.  
         [0040]     The tagging component  230  thus allows the first end user to add tags to multimedia items, in particular to an index entry. The data part of a tag can consist of any type of content or combination of content, for example: 
        a piece of free text in which a user gives his opinion about the content,     an audio fragment which a user recorded in which he tells his opinion about the content,     a video fragment which a user has recorded with a web cam expressing his feelings about the content item, or     a document.        
 
         [0045]     In addition to the tag, further meta information may be associated like for example: 
        the target audience for which the tag (community as a whole, a selected number of users, everyone) is intended,     an identifier that uniquely identifies to which piece of multimedia content the tag belongs, or     The creation date/time.        
 
         [0049]     The data part of the tag may be entered into a client device by the end user when he creates the tag or may partially or completely be filled in automatically by the tagging component  230 , for example by deriving the user id from a network address.  
         [0050]     The tagging component  230  may receive tags via any possible communications channel. If necessary it may perform data and metadata conversions on the tag before it stores this tag in its database  231  or distributes the tag to other applications. Examples of communications channels through which the tagging component  230  may receive tags are SMS, MMS, SIP session, file transfer, directly streamed connection, electronic mail, electronic mail with MIME extensions or other forms of attachments, video streams from a camera with or without associated metadata, hypertext transfer protocol.  
         [0051]     The client device presents program indexes that allow the end users to select the multimedia content they want to consume. The tagging component  230  provides an interface to the index enhancer  222  through which the enhancer can retrieve the tags that are necessary to build up an individualized electronic program guide. The index enhancer  222  can be located on client devices or in the back end system. The index enhancer  222  uses the tags in order to generate an individualized program guide index with an index entry that comprises the tags or a reference to the tags.  
         [0052]     The program guide index shown in a user interface of the client device may show the content of the tags directly or may show indications that additional tagging information is available for the multimedia item. In the second case the user may then navigate by means of the user interface to the tagging information and look at it in more detail.  
         [0053]     The index enhancer  222  may be located on the client device or on server devices in the backend. The tagging information may optionally be cached on the client device if necessary. The index enhancer  222  decides then which tags need to be attached to which program guide index. This selection process can take into account filter criteria like for example: 
        the user id of the user currently requesting the tagged index,     the tag display filter criteria of the user defined in his personal profile, for example the tag, creation date, or the originator,     the communities of which the user currently logged in on the device is a member,     capabilities of the user interface in a client device, or     Capabilities of the client device, capabilities of the network connection between the client device and the backend.        
 
         [0059]     The index enhancer  222  retrieves the tagging information from the tagging component  230 . Therefore it sends the different filter criteria to the tagging component  230 , in order to forward the tags or references to the tags needed for the individualization of the program index.  
         [0060]     The index enhancer  222  may also adapt the program guide index itself so that for example the resulting index contains only those multimedia item references to which tags are attached that fulfill the filtering criteria of the user requesting the index.  
         [0061]     An other use case of tags is to display them when the user is consuming the content. For example a user may attach a text tag to a scene of a movie that is to be displayed in an overlay or subtitle when an other user of the community is watching that particular scene in the movie.  
       LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS  
       [0000]    
       
           100 ,  200  electronic program guide system  
           101 ,  201  back end system  
           102 ,  202  network, broadcast network  
           103 ,  203  client device  
           104 ,  204  client device  
           110 ,  210  community service system  
           111 ,  211  registration component  
           112 ,  212  group list management component  
           113 ,  213  data structure  
           120 ,  220  multimedia distribution system  
           121 ,  221 , program guide content database  
           122 ,  222  index enhancer  
           123 ,  223  usage monitoring component  
           124 ,  224  usage monitoring component  
           125 ,  225  program index  
           130  community info processing device  
           131  data base  
           230  tagging component  
           231  data base