Abstract:
An instant messaging device is provided specifically for TV viewers sharing a common preference. The device contains a reception module, a registration module, a list management module, and an IM module. The reception module is for receiving video programs along with their channel IDs and operator IDs. The registration module is to register the user ID, channel ID, and operator ID and obtain the accessibility to a viewer list. The list management module searches the viewer list to establish a fellow viewer list. The IM module is for conducting IM sessions with those who are on the fellow viewer list.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to instant messaging and, more particularly, to a device and method for instant messaging between TV viewers.  
         [0003]     2. The Prior Arts  
         [0004]     Instant messaging (IM) via service providers, such as ICQ®, MSN®, and Yahoo!®, has become a very popular means for communications between friends and colleagues. A lot of people also use IM as a way to make new friends. However, currently the service providers only provide limited search capability, such as based on age or hobbies, for finding other people.  
         [0005]     For two parties made into contact in this way, due to the lack of a common foundation, often they can only exchange trivial greetings. Meaningful discussion is usually rare and rather unlikely.  
         [0006]     Accordingly, a need has arisen for IM, users to better locate people sharing the same interests and having a common topic to talk about with them.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     An objective of the present invention is to provide an IM device with which TV viewers can reach other TV viewers having common program preferences via the Internet.  
         [0008]     Another objective of the present invention is to provide an IM device so that TV viewers sharing common program preferences could conduct IM sessions via the Internet.  
         [0009]     Based on the foregoing objectives, the present invention provides an IM device that receives video programs from an operator and interacts with an IM server on the Internet. The IM device comprises a reception module, a registration module, a list management module, and an IM module.  
         [0010]     The reception module receives video programs from the operator. Along with the video program received by the reception module is a channel ID and an operator ID. The registration module makes a registration on the IM server by providing user information including a user ID, and the channel ID and operator ID of the video program the user is viewing. After the registration procedure, the reception module could access a viewer list on the IM server to establish a fellow viewer list. The fellow viewer list contains multiple IDs of users who are viewing the same video program and could be reached via the IM server. The IM module then can be used to conduct IM sessions with one or more of the fellow viewers in the list.  
         [0011]     Using the IM device of the present invention, a user could more accurately locate other IM users who is watching a specific video program, find out the characteristics of the video programs they typically watch, and conduct IM sessions with them.  
         [0012]     The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing a system of fellow viewers using the IM devices according to the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing the various components of the IM device and the IM server according to the present invention  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the operator and channel list according to the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram showing the program schedule according to the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing the user interface of the IM device according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     In the following, detailed description along with the accompanied drawings is given to better explain preferred embodiments of the present invention. Please be noted that, in the accompanied drawings, some parts are not drawn to scale or are somewhat exaggerated, so that people skilled in the art can better understand the principles of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing a system of fellow viewers using the IM devices according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the IM devices  12  and  14  are used by the users  18  and  19  to receive video programs from the operators  16  and  17 , respectively. In other embodiment of the present invention, the operators  16  and  17  could actually be the same operator.  
         [0020]     Within the structure shown in  FIG. 1 , when all users have completed the registration process on the IM server  10  through their IM devices, a user  19 , for example, could conduct a search process on the IM server  10  through the IM device  14  based on the video program information. Then, based on the result from the search process, the user  19  could generate a list of fellow viewers that can be reached via IM in the IM device  14 . The user  19  could consequently conduct an IM session with another user in the list. In the following, the components of the IM device  14  and the IM server  10  are described and how the registration and search processes are carried out by these components are explained as well.  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing the various components of the IM device and the IM server according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the IM device  14  contains a reception module  20 , a registration module  21 , a list management module  23 , and an IM module  28 . On the other hand, the IM server  10  contains an operator and channel list  22 , a viewer list  24 , program schedule  31 , and viewer behavior list  26 . The IM server  10  also contains invitation module  27 , fellow status module  29 , and user interface  30 , which will be explained later. Please be noted that, since all IM devices would function identically, the IM device  19  is used as an example in the following.  
         [0022]     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the reception module  20  receives a video program on a channel from the operator  17 . In addition to the video program content, the reception module  20  would also receive a channel ID (e.g., 50) and an operator ID (e.g., AAA).  
         [0023]     The registration module  21  registers on the IM server  10  with information such as the user  19 &#39;s user ID (e.g., “john”), the channel ID (e.g., “50”), and the operator ID (e.g., “AAA”). After the registration process, the registration module  21  could access the viewer list  24  on the IM server  10 . Please be noted that, as the user  19  could switch and view different video programs received by the IM device  14  at any time and when that happens, the registration module  21  would re-register immediately so that the viewer list  24  would always to up to date.  
         [0024]     The list management module  23  conducts a search process in the viewer list  24  by the IM server  10 , and establishes a fellow viewer list  25  in the IM device  14 . The fellow viewer list  25  contains multiple IDs of users who is watching the same video program and can be reached via the IM server  10 . The IM module  28  then is used to communicate with a user (such as user  18  in  FIG. 1 ) in the fellow viewer list  25  via the IM server  10 . The components of the IM server  10  are described as follows.  
         [0025]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the operator and channel list according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the operator and channel list  22  contains multiple records, each of which includes information such as operator ID, channel ID, and program provider. For example, the operator  18  of  FIG. 1  has an ID “BBB” and its channel “30” is from the provider “HBQ.” On the other hand, the same program provider “HBQ” is broadcast in channel “50” of the operator  19  (whose ID is “AAA”). Therefore, the operator and channel list  22  is used to solve the operator inconsistency in their channel assignment.  
         [0026]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram showing the program schedule according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the program schedule  31  contains multiple records of program titles and their corresponding showing times. For example, the program provider “HBQ” has a program called “Oscar Movie” between 21:00-22:00.  
         [0027]     The viewer list  24  contains multiple records, each of which keeps track of what program from which program provider that a user is watching. In other words, the viewer list  24  is generated by the aforementioned registration process, and each record of the viewer list  24  has a user ID, the name of the program provider, and the program title. On the other hand, the viewer behavior list  26  keeps track of a user&#39;s viewing preference. The viewer behavior list  26  is generated by the IM server  10  based on information collected from another registration process of the IM devices. Please be noted that the two registration processes could be conducted simultaneously or separately. In the following, the two registration processes and the search process will be described in details.  
         [0028]     In the first registration process, the IM server  10  receives the user  19 &#39;s user ID “john,” the channel ID “50,” and the operator ID “AAA” from the IM device  14 . Based on the operator and channel list  22 , the IM server  10  is able to find out that the user  19  is watching a program from the program provider “HBQ.” Then based on the program schedule  31  and the current time, for example 21:25, the IM server  10  could further find out that the user  19  is watching the program called “Oscar Movie.” The IM server  10  then records the user ID “john,” the program provider “HBQ,” and the program title “Oscar Movie” in the viewer list  24 .  
         [0029]     Assuming that the user  18  (whose user ID is “mary”) has also conducted the same registration process by the IM device  12 , the IM server therefore knows that the user  18  is watching the channel “30” of the operator  16  (whose ID is “BBB”). After similar table look-up procedures, the IM server  10  stores in the viewer list  24  another record showing that “mary” is also watching the “Oscar Movie” from “HBQ.” 
         [0030]     To find out the fellow viewers of the “Oscar Movie,” the user  19  requests, via a user interface, the IM device  14  to conduct a search on the IM server  10 . The search process locates in the viewer list  24  all the users (including the user  18 , “mary”) who are watching “Oscar Movie” at the moment. These users are the user  19 &#39;s fellow viewers. The user  19  then can request the IM device  14  via a user interface to save the user  18 &#39;s ID “mary” into the fellow viewer list  25  on the IM device  14 .  
         [0031]     To establish a user&#39;s viewing behavior, another registration process between the IM server  10  and the IM device  14  is required. In this registration process, the IM device  14  sends to the IM server  10 , besides the user information, the starting time and end time of the program that the user  19  has watched. For example, the IM server  10  could therefore know that the user  19  has watched the channel “50” of the operator “AAA” from 21:15 to 21:30. From similar table look-up procedures, the IM server  10  knows that, during this interval, the user  19  is watching the program “Oscar Movie.” Then, further based on the nature of the program, the IM server  10  could establish the viewer behavior list  26 . In the viewer behavior list  26 , corresponding to each user, the individual programs viewed by the user, the program&#39;s characteristics, and the starting and end times of the user  19 &#39;s viewing are all recorded.  
         [0032]     Based on such a viewer behavior list  26 , a search process could be conducted to locate users who have a preference toward, for example, “Action Movies.” Then “fellow viewer” could be picked from these users and stored in the fellow viewer list  25 .  
         [0033]     Also based on such a viewer behavior list  26 , another search process could be conducted to locate users who have watched a specific program most often. This is achieved by calculating how much time a user has spent on a specific program and sorting out, for example, the top ten users who has spent the longest time on a specific program. Then “fellow viewer” could be picked from these users and stored in the fellow viewer list  25 .  
         [0034]     Accordingly, the registration and search processes of the IM devices  12  and  14  allow users  18 ,  19  to locate other users who have similar viewing preference and behavior, and to communicate with them using IM. In the following, the functions of the invitation module  27 , fellow status module  29 , and user interface  30  will be described in details.  
         [0035]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing the user interface of the IM device according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the user interface  30  has two separate areas for showing the fellow viewers and the video program respectively. The fellow status module  29  utilizes the viewer list  24  in the IM server  10  and the fellow viewer list  25  in the IM device  14  to determine who in the fellow viewer list  25  is currently watching TV and show these users&#39; IDs and the programs they are viewing in the fellow viewer area of the user interface  30 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the user “mary”, considered by the user  19  as one of the fellow viewers, is also watching the program “Oscar Movie.” 
         [0036]     The invitation module  27  has two functions for two different operating conditions. First, the invitation module  27  in the IM device  14  is activated by the user  19  via the user interface  30  to invite the user  18  shown in the fellow viewer area of the user interface  30  to watch a specific video program. Secondly, when the invitation module  27  in the IM device  12  receives an invitation request from the user  19 , the user interface  30  of the IM device  12  would display a message showing the requesting user&#39;s ID and the name of the program. If the user  18  confirms the invitation in the displayed message, the reception module  20  of the IM device  12  would switch to receive the program specified in the invitation request.  
         [0037]     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.