Abstract:
Disclosed is a method and system for detecting a particular content in a stream of video data signals preferred by a user. Accordingly, the present invention obtains a user&#39;s profile or monitors a user&#39;s viewing history of various programs to determine the type of program content that is not watched or not liked by the user. Thereafter, incoming television programs are compared with the user&#39;s profile or the user&#39;s past viewing information to determine whether some portion of the incoming television programs are liked by the user. The portion of the program content liked by the user is collectively stored in a storage medium, then the user can subsequently view only the segments of the programs preferred by the user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to the detection of a particular content in a stream of video data signals, and more particularly to a system and method for compiling a number of key audio/video segments of interest to a television viewer according to his or her criteria.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Invention  
           [0004]    Both ReplayTV (trademark of REPLAY NETWORKS, INC., of Palo Alto, Calif.) and TiVo (trademark of TIVO, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif.) are the first wave of a new type of “VCR” that gives the television viewer new abilities to capture and manipulate the stream of television shows, which flow from their cable and satellite systems. These personal television devices act as a personal assistant by changing channels for viewers, recording programs that interest the viewers, and assisting the viewers to watch recorded programs without commercials when they wish.  
           [0005]    As such, the present invention proposes a new mechanism for delivering a summary of video and/or audio content to the viewers by automatically detecting and storing the content of interest for subsequent retrieval.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention provides a method and system for delivering the key audio/video segments according to predetermined data representative of content liked by a user or a user&#39;s past commercial viewing history.  
           [0007]    According to one aspect of the invention, a method of detecting a particular content in a stream of video data signals according to a user&#39;s criteria is provided. The method includes the steps of: obtaining a user profile indicating video content preferred by the user; comparing incoming television programs in a channel to the user profile to detect at least one key frame preferred by the user; storing the key frame preferred by the user in a storage means for subsequent retrieval; and, retrieving the key frame stored in the storage means for display, wherein the user profile is interactively created in advance. The method further includes the step of converting the video signals of the incoming television programs into a time-based map of transcript data and storing a plurality of key words liked by the user in the user profile.  
           [0008]    Another aspect of the invention provides a method of detecting a particular content in a stream of video data signals according to a user&#39;s criteria. The method includes the steps of: obtaining a user profile indicating the video content preferred by the user; analyzing incoming television programs to detect a plurality of key frames liked by the user based on the user profile; identifying the beginning and ending positions of each of the plurality of key frames; and, storing the plurality of key frames liked by the user in a storage means for subsequent retrieval. The method further includes the steps of retrieving the plurality of key frames stored in the storage means; storing a plurality of key words liked by the user in the user profile; and, displaying the identified beginning and ending position of each of the plurality of key frames. The analyzing step further includes the steps of: detecting the frequency of key words appearing within a predetermined time period; comparing the detected frequency to a threshold value; and, identifying the beginning and ending positions of each of the plurality of the key frames if the detected frequency exceeds a threshold value. The user profile also may be obtained according to a viewing history of the user.  
           [0009]    According to another aspect of the invention, a system of detecting a particular content in a stream of video data signals according to a user&#39;s criteria is provided. The system includes a memory for storing a computer-readable code; and, a processor operatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to: obtain a user profile indicating the video content preferred by the user; compare incoming television programs in a channel to the user profile to detect at least one key frame preferred by the user; and, store the key frame preferred by the user in a storage means for subsequent retrieval. The processor is further operative to retrieve the key frame stored in the storage means for display and convert the video signals of the incoming television programs into a time-based map of transcript data.  
           [0010]    According to a further aspect of the invention, a system of detecting a particular content in a stream of video data signals according to a user&#39;s criteria is provided. The system includes a first storage means for storing a plurality of key words liked by the user; a detection means, coupled to receive incoming television programs, for detecting a plurality of key frames preferred by the user; a second storage means for storing the plurality of key frames preferred by the user; a controlling means, coupled to the first storage means, the detection means, and the second storage means for determining the plurality of key frames preferred by the user based on a comparison between the received incoming television programs and the data stored in the first storage means; and, a replay means coupled to the controlling means for replaying the plurality of key frames from the second storage means for viewing. The system further includes a converting means for converting the incoming television programs into a time-based map of transcript data, and a display means for displaying the output signals of the replaying means.  
           [0011]    These and other advantages will become apparent to those skilled in this art upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a hardware system whereto the embodiment of the present invention may be applied;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of the system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and,  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation process according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]    In the following description, for purposes of explanation rather than limitation, specific details are set forth such as the particular architecture, interfaces, techniques, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. For the purpose of simplicity and clarity, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a hardware system whereto the embodiment of the present invention may be applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus  10  is adapted to receive a stream of video signals from a variety of sources, including a cable service provider, a digital high definition television (HDTV) and/or digital standard definition television (SDTV) signals, a satellite dish, a conventional RF broadcast, an Internet connection, or another storage device, such as a VHS player or DVD player. The audio/video programming along with the data signals can be delivered in analog, digital, or digitally compressed formats via any transmission means, including satellite, cable, wire, television broadcast, or sent via the Web. The Internet connection can be via a high-speed line, RF, conventional modem, or by way of a two-way cable carrying the video programming. It should be noted that the present system is capable of being connected to other possible networks, such as a direct private network and a wireless network. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus  10  processes and generates data that is representative of a plurality of program segments that is of interest to a given user. The major components of the apparatus  10  is shown in FIG. 2, and described below.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary apparatus  10  in greater detail according to the embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus  10  includes an input interface (i.e., IR sensor)  12 , an MPEG-2 encoder  14 , a hard disk drive  16 , an MPEG-2 decoder  18 , a controller  20 , a transcript detector  22 , a video processor  24 , a memory  26 , and a playback section  28 . It should be noted that an MPEG encoder/decoder can comply with other MPEG standards, i.e., MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4. The controller  20  oversees the overall operation of the detection system  10 , including a detection mode, record mode, play mode, and other modes that are common in a video recorder/player.  
         [0018]    During a normal viewing mode, the controller  20  causes the incoming television signals to be demodulated and processed by the video processor  24  and transmits them to the television set  2 . The video processor  24  converts the incoming TV signals to corresponding baseband television signals suitable for display on the television set  2 . Here, the incoming TV signals are not stored or retrieved from the hard disk driver  16 .  
         [0019]    During a normal recording mode, the controller  20  causes the MPEG-2 encoder  14  to receive incoming television signals delivered from satellite, cable, wire, and television broadcasts, or the web, and converts the received TV signals to the MPEG format for storage on the hard disk driver  16 . Thereafter, the controller  20  causes the hard disk driver  16  to stream the stored television signals to the MPEG-2 decoder, which in turn transmits the decoded TV signals to be transmitted to the television set  2  via the playback section  28  during a normal playing mode. At the same time, the controller  20  causes the transcript extractor  22  to extract transcripts from either the closed captioning data present in the incoming broadcast video stream. It should be noted that not all commercials are closed-captioned. In such a case, the incoming video programs are converted to generate transcripts using a speech-to-text converter that is well known in the art. Alternatively, the transcripts can be obtained from a well-known OCR(on-screen converting text) operation on the texts shown in the video stream. It should be noted that extracting transcript is well known in the art that can be performed in a variety of ways. The function of transcript extractor  22  is to detect the beginning and ending of key audio/video segments, comprised of a plurality of frames, containing the program segments or frames that are of interest to the user. Once the transcripts corresponding to the content of the user&#39;s interest is obtained, the video processor  24  processes a stream of video signals to retrieve the corresponding program segments or frames of interest, and stores them in the memory  26  for subsequent retrieval. Alternatively, the video processor  24  can mark the beginning and ending of the program segments of interest, so that these marked commercial segments can be played at a later stage. Finally, upon receiving a request to preview the recorded program segments of interest, the program content stored in the memory  26  is forwarded to the television set  2  for display via the play back section  28 .  
         [0020]    To generate a database for the user profile of memory  26 , a suitable interface exists between the user and the apparatus  10  to gather the user&#39;s hot and cold lists for the type of program content he or she wishes to see or skip. For example, if the user wants to receive information relating to a particular actor or actress, the user can give the name of that actor or actress as a query in the user profile. Similarly, the user can specify other types of TV program contents by listing a plurality of key words associated with the program content in the user profile. Alternatively, the inventive system  10  can build the viewing history of a given user to determine the type of program contents preferred by the user, by observing the user&#39;s commercial viewing habits over time and generalizing the user&#39;s viewing habits to build a database that is similar to the user profile. Obtaining the user profile based on the viewing history of the user can be performed in a variety of ways. An example of such a system, which employs decision trees, is described in a patent application, PCT WO 01/45408 (Gutta), assigned to the same assignee, and herein incorporated by simple reference. Thus, based on the user&#39;s viewing pattern, a database reflecting the user&#39;s likes or dislikes of various program contents can be obtained.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation steps for detecting key audio/video segments or frames using the configuration shown in FIG. 2. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that unless otherwise indicated herein, the particular sequence of steps described is illustrative only and can be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention. In addition, the flow diagrams illustrate the functional information that one of ordinary skill in the art requires to fabricate circuits or to generate computer software to perform the processing required of the particular apparatus.  
         [0022]    The initial set-up of detecting the segments of a program may be triggered by an auto set-up routine, which detects incoming channel signals and identifies the corresponding transcripts, for example, closed-caption (CC) texts in step  100 . The detected transcript texts are used to compare with the pre-recorded key words in query format that is stored in the user profile. Here, the controller  20  causes the transcript extractor  22  to count the frequency of the occurrence of the “non-stop” (words other than “an”, “the”, “of”, etc.) words that occur within a series of predetermined time period. If one or more key words occur more than twice within each predetermined time interval, then the corresponding key audio/video segment or frames is determined to be a possible content of interest to the user in step  102 . The detected frequency of the key words is then compared to a predetermined threshold value of, for example, 2. If the detected frequency of the key words exceeds the threshold value, the program segment or frames containing the key words is stored in the memory for subsequent retrieval in step  104 .  
         [0023]    While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt to a particular situation and the teaching of the present invention without departing from the central scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention, but that the present invention is intended to include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.