Patent Publication Number: US-2009241151-A1

Title: Systems and methods for remotely controlling a consumer device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention generally relates to consumer devices such as set-top boxes (STBs), digital video recorders (DVRs) and/or the like, and more particularly relates to systems and methods for remotely controlling a consumer device using a telephone or other communication device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Most television viewers now receive their television signals through a content aggregator such as a cable or satellite television provider. In the typical instance, encoded television signals are sent via a cable or wireless data link to the viewer&#39;s home, where the signals are ultimately decoded in a set-top box (STB) or other consumer device. The decoded signals can then be viewed on a television or other appropriate display as desired by the viewer. 
     More recently, personal video recorders (PVRs), also commonly called “digital video recorders” (DVRs), have become commonplace. Like a video cassette recorder (VCR), a PVR/DVR is able to record programs for later viewing by the customer. Many set-top boxes provided by cable or wireless content aggregators now include PVR/DVR functionality, thereby expanding the capabilities of the STB and greatly improving the convenience and service provided to the customer. 
     Often, however, customers have a need or desire to make changes to their STB or DVR/PVR programming even when they are not in close physical proximity to the device. While a customer is away from home, for example, he or she may think of a program that he or she would like to record. If there is no opportunity to immediately instruct the customer&#39;s DVR to record the program, the thought may be lost and the program may not be recorded. Moreover, if the program is scheduled to begin before the customer plans to return to his or her home, the customer may not have an opportunity to record the program at all. 
     It is therefore desirable to create systems and processes for remotely controlling PVR/DVR, STB and/or other consumer devices. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In various embodiments, systems and methods allow for the remote control of a personal video recorder (PVR), digital video recorder (PVR), set-top box (STB) and/or other consumer device that is capable of receiving programming via a high-bandwidth connection. A request is received from the customer for an action to be taken by the consumer device, wherein the request is received via a communications channel distinct from the high-bandwidth connection. The consumer device associated with the customer is identified in response to the request, and instruction is transmitted to the consumer device associated with the customer via the high-bandwidth connection to thereby direct the consumer device to carry out the action requested by the customer. 
     In other embodiments, a method is provided for directing a consumer device associated with a customer to record a program, wherein the consumer device is capable of receiving programming via a high-bandwidth connection. A request is received from the customer via a communications channel distinct from the high-bandwidth connection. The program to be recorded on the consumer device is determined based upon information received from the customer via the communications channel, and the consumer device associated with the customer is identified in response to the request. An instruction is then broadcast or otherwise transmitted to the consumer device associated with the customer via the high-bandwidth connection to thereby direct the consumer device to record the program requested by the customer. 
     In still other embodiments, a system is provided for distributing a plurality of instructions to a plurality of consumer devices associated with a plurality of customers via a high-bandwidth connection. The system includes an interface to a communications channel separate from the high-bandwidth connection, wherein the interface is configured to receive requests from the customers for actions to be carried out on the plurality of consumer devices. A processing system is configured to identify an identified one of the plurality of consumer devices for each of the receive requests, and to create an instruction for each of the received requests to direct the identified consumer device to carry out the action. An uplink control system configured to transmit the instructions to each identified consumer device via the high-bandwidth connection to thereby allow each identified consumer device to carry out the action requested by the customer. 
     Various other embodiments, aspects and other features are described in more detail below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       Exemplary embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of an exemplary system for remotely controlling a consumer device; and 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of an exemplary process for remotely controlling a consumer device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description. 
     According to various embodiments, a customer is able to remotely control a set-top box (STB), personal video recorder (PVR), digital video recorder (DVR) and/or other consumer device from a telephone or other convenient terminal even though the controlled device is not directly accessible via a telephone or data network. In a telephone-based embodiment, for example, a customer places a telephone call to a service center and provides information that allows the service center to identify the particular device associated with the customer and the desired action to be taken. The service center is then able to transmit an instruction to the identified device over a high-bandwidth channel, such as the channel used to transmit programming content. In a satellite-based system, for example, an uplink station at the service center encodes the instruction to the consumer device in the content broadcast over the satellite link; a cable television system could similarly embed the instruction in a cable television signal distributed to various receiving devices. Other embodiments may allow the customer to provide inputs via other communications channels, such as via any sort of telephone, text message, data, Internet or other connection as appropriate. As a result, customers are able to remotely send instructions to a PVR/DVR, STB or other consumer device from a telephone, personal digital assistant, computer terminal, or other convenient access point as appropriate. 
     Turning now to the drawings figures and with initial reference to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary system  100  for remotely programming a consumer device  102  suitably allows customers to place requests  115  for actions via a telephone  114 , computer system  116  or other node that is able to communicate with a service center  118  via any convenient communications channel  112 . Service center  118  includes an interface  120  to communications channel  112  for receiving requests  115  from customers, as well as a processing module  122  that is able to identify particular consumer devices associated with customers placing requests  115 . An uplink control system  126  associated with service center  118  transmits instructions  132  to the customer&#39;s device  102  via a high-bandwidth connection  131 , which may be a satellite connection, cable connection and/or the like. Using this system  100 , customers can conveniently place requests  115  to remotely control their consumer device  102  using any convenient communications channel  112 , with ensuing instructions  132  being provided to the appropriate consumer device  102  via the high-bandwidth distribution channel  131 . Customers can therefore remotely instruct a particular consumer device  102  to record a program, activate a parental control and/or take any other suitable action even though the device  102  is not connected to communications channel  112 . 
     Consumer device  102  is any appliance or other device that is capable of receiving a high-bandwidth signal  131  and demodulating individual program signals  108  from signal  131  for viewing on display  110 . In various embodiments, consumer device  102  is a set-top box or the like that typically includes a conventional processor  104 , as well as a memory, hard disk or other storage device  106 . Device  102  may incorporate digital and/or analog television demodulation features, PVR/DVR capabilities, video games or other entertainment features, and/or other capabilities as desired. In various embodiments, device  102  includes or communicates with any type of additional mass storage, including any sort of internal or external magnetic or optical hard drives, flash memory and/or the like. As used herein, the terms “personal video recorder (PVR)” and “digital video recorder (DVR)” are intended to be used synonymously as examples of consumer devices. In addition to describing devices capable of directly receiving high-bandwidth programming signals (e.g., television receivers and STBs), the phrase “consumer device” is intended to broadly encompass components or devices that may communicate with a set-top box or other device capable of receiving high-bandwidth programming signals in certain embodiments. As an example, an external PVR/DVR, place shifting device, disc player or other device may not itself directly receive instructions  132  via a high-bandwidth channel, but may instead interact or communicate with a television receiver, STB or other intermediary that is able to receive such instructions  132  and relay them to the end device. Such end devices could nevertheless be considered “consumer devices” as that term is intended in this document. 
     In addition to receiving programming signals  131  from a satellite  130  or other transmitter, consumer device  102  is generally able to receive instructions  132  from a service center  118  as appropriate. These instructions are generally contained within programming signals  131 , and may be keyed to a unique code or other identifier associated with the particular device  102 . Upon receiving an instruction in signal  131  that includes the device&#39;s identifier, then, device  102  is able to respond to individualized instructions from service center  118 . Such instructions may be cryptographically encoded or otherwise protected to prevent tampering or other unauthorized behavior. 
     The particular instructions  131  may direct any sort of tasks or programming carried out by device  102 . That is, device  102  may be able to process the instruction  132  using processor  104  and/or other resources as appropriate. In various embodiments, instructions  132  may direct device  102  to record a particular program, to set or release a parental control, to power on or off at any particular time, or to take any other appropriate action as desired by the customer. In various embodiments, instructions  132  include an identification of a program or other content to be recorded on a PVR/DVR associated with customer device  102 . Instructions  132  may include an indication of the program such as a title, channel number, start and/or end time, program duration and/or other information as appropriate. In other embodiments, instructions  132  may simply indicate an entry in an electronic program guide (EPG) database that corresponds to the program to be recorded. Again, instructions  132  may direct any actions or programming on customer device  102  in any appropriate manner or format. 
     Service center  118  is any centralized or distributed data center, operations center, server or other central processor, and/or any combination thereof that is capable of receiving requests  115  from consumers and transmitting instructions  132  to consumer devices  102  as appropriate. In the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , service center  118  includes an interface  120  to a communications channel  112  that is separate from the high-bandwidth link  131 , as well as a processing system  122  and an uplink control  126  as appropriate. In various embodiments, requests  115  received from consumers via interface  120  are used to generate instructions  132  transmitted to consumer devices  102  over the high-bandwidth link  131 . Service center  118  may also contain a database  127  or other repository of information that can be used to associate customers with particular consumer devices  102 , as described more fully below. 
     Interface  120  is any system, module or other logic capable of receiving requests  115  from various consumers via any communications channel  112 . In various embodiments, communications channel  112  is any sort of telephone and/or data network, such as the Internet. Interface  120  therefore receives requests  115  via any type of telephone, text message (e.g., short message service (SMS)), email, web-based message, instant message and/or other communication as desired. In various embodiments, customers are able to generate and transmit requests  115  from any telephone  114 , computer system  116 , personal digital assistant, appliance and/or the like. Interface  120  may additionally incorporate a conventional call center function whereby a human or automated operator receives requests  115  via telephone, text message, email or any other medium, and enters the requests  115  into a computer system or the like for subsequent processing. 
     Processing system  122  suitably includes any sort of processing capability to produce electronic instructions  132  from received requests  115 . Processing system  122  includes any sort of computing system, including appropriate hardware and/or software logic, for identifying a particular consumer device  102  associated with each request  115 . In various embodiments, a database  127  includes information formatted in any appropriate manner that allows identifying information contained within request  115  to be correlated to a particular consumer device  102 . Identifying information may include, for example, a telephone number or other address associated with a telephone or other device in the customer&#39;s possession. Such information may be obtained manually (e.g., may be typed in by the customer) or may be obtained using conventional caller-ID techniques to identify the customer transmitting a particular request  115 . Alternatively, customers may provide a UserID/password combination, digital credential or other identifying information as appropriate. Such information may be initially obtained through any conventional registration process and/or may be based upon information already contained in a customer database maintained by a content aggregator or other party. 
     Processing system  122  may include hardware and/or software for executing any other actions as appropriate. In various embodiments, processing system  122  is able to determine an appropriate action to be executed by the identified consumer device  102 , and/or to format or otherwise create an appropriate instruction  132  that can be transmitted to the consumer device  102  as appropriate. Processing system  122  may include call processing features, for example, for receiving inputs from a telephone call or other connection with the customers. In such embodiments, processing system  122  suitably provides menu options or other prompts to enable a customer to enter a program name, channel identifier, start/stop time, program identifier and/or other information as appropriate to identify programs to be recorded, or to take other actions as desired. In other embodiments, processing system  122  contains logic that is able to parse data contained within the request  115  (e.g., in the body of an email, text message or other datagram) to identify the desired action. 
     Instructions  132  may be formatted in any manner, and according to any temporal basis. In various embodiments, instructions  132  are formatted as data instructions that can be broadcast on high-bandwidth connection  131  by uplink control system  126 . In various embodiments, uplink control system  126  contains scheduling and/or formatting logic that is able to create instructions  132  that can then be transmitted as a portion of the high-bandwidth link  131  to particular consumer devices  102  for execution. Uplink control system  126  further creates appropriate uplink signals  129  that include instructions  132  to particular devices  102 . In a satellite-based embodiment such as that shown in  FIG. 1 , uplink signal  129  is typically provided to an antenna  128  that transmits the signal  131  to a geo-synchronous or other satellite  130 . Satellite  130  then repeats the signal  131  toward the Earth for reception by the various consumer devices  102 . Equivalent embodiments may use cable-based or terrestrial wireless distribution in place of satellite distribution. 
     In operation, then, system  100  allows a customer to remotely control a particular consumer device  102  (e.g., to record a program or take another action) using a convenient communications medium  112 . The customer uses a telephone  114  or computer terminal  116 , for example, to provide a request  115  to a service center  118  via a conventional telephone or network connection. Service center  118  receives the request  115  at interface  120 , processes the request as appropriate, and transmits an instruction  132  to the customer&#39;s consumer device  102  via a high-bandwidth connection  131  that is distinct from the communications medium  112  used to transmit the original request. 
       FIG. 2  provides additional detail about an exemplary method  200  for remotely controlling a consumer device  102 . With reference now to  FIG. 2 , an exemplary method  200  suitably includes the broad steps of receiving a request  115  from the customer via a communications medium  112  (step  202 ), identifying the consumer device  102  associated with the customer (step  206 ), and transmitting an instruction  132  to the consumer device  102  via a high-bandwidth connection  131  distinct from the communications medium  112  used to place the original request (step  212 ). Method  200  may be implemented with any combination of manual and automatic processing. In various embodiments, method  200  may be implemented within the context of various processing devices or modules operating within service center  118  ( FIG. 1 ) as appropriate. While much of method  200  may be implemented with general purpose computing hardware executing software or firmware in any language or format, some embodiments may incorporate elements of manual processing (e.g., data entry or the like) where appropriate to do so. 
     The exemplary method  200  shown in  FIG. 2  begins with the receipt of a request  115  from a customer (step  202 ). As noted above, this request  115  may be placed via a telephone call, text message, internet message, datagram and/or the like. As such, step  202  may be carried out by any appropriate interface (e.g., interface  120  in  FIG. 1 ) associated with a service center  118  or the like. 
     Upon receipt of a request from a customer, it is typically desirable to determine the particular action desired (step  204 ), and to identify the particular consumer device  102  that should execute the desired action (step  206 ). As noted above, the desired action can be determined in any manner. For example, the desired action may be determined by parsing the contents of an email, text message, datagram or the like. Alternatively, desired action can be determined though interaction with the customer in any manner. In embodiments wherein the customer&#39;s request  115  is provided in the context of a telephone call, for example, the desired action can be determined through interaction between the customer and a human operator and/or an automated data entry system. In the latter case, the customer may provide data to the automated system through keypad touches, voice recognition and/or any other technique. 
     Similarly, the consumer device  102  associated with the customer placing the request  115  may be determined in any manner (step  206 ). In some embodiments, the request  115  itself may contain sufficient information (e.g., an originating address or telephone number) to identify the customer. Alternatively, the customer can provide additional identifying information (e.g., userid/password combinations or other credentials as appropriate) to a human operator, automated data processing system, or other interface as appropriate. In either case, the identified customer can be associated with one or more consumer devices  102  using, for example, information stored in database  127  or the like. 
     As noted above, the various functions of steps  202 ,  204  and  206  may be combined or separated in any manner in various equivalent embodiments. A customer could send a request  115  as an an email or text message to a particular receiving address (or phone number), for example, with the content of the message specifying a title of a program to record (or any other identifier, such as a program identifier from an online guide or the like). In such an embodiment, the customer&#39;s particular consumer device  102  to be controlled could be identified by correlating the address or telephone number used to send request  115  to an identifier for the consumer device stored in database  127 . In another embodiment, a customer contacts a call center via telephone, enters a personal identification number (PIN) or other code for identification, and then enters additional information via a keypad to further identify the program to be recorded or other action to be taken. Again, request  115  could be processed in any manner across a wide array of equivalent embodiments. 
     When the desired action and the particular consumer device  102  are identified, an appropriate instruction  132  can be formatted for the device in any manner (step  208 ). Formatting may involve generating appropriate commands and data parameters that can be understood by the particular consumer device  102 , as well as processing any integrity checking, encryption and/or the like that may be appropriate. In various embodiments, multiple instructions  132  are aggregated in a queue or other structure for batch processing. Loop  210 , for example, reflects that multiple requests  115  may be received and processed collectively so that instructions  132  for multiple consumer devices  102  are transmitted at a common time. Such a time may be assigned on any basis (e.g., hourly, half or quarter hourly, minute-by-minute, or any other basis). Alternatively, instructions  132  may be transmitted on link  131  when a queue fills or a threshold number of instructions are ready for transmit. In still other embodiments, instructions  132  are transmitted in real-time (or near real-time) to permit rapid implementation of customer requests. 
     Instructions  132  are therefore transmitted to the identified consumer devices  102  via the appropriate channel (step  212 ). As noted above, in some embodiments instructions may be broadcast or otherwise transmitted on the high-bandwidth channel  131  used to transmit television programming. Upon receipt of an instruction  132  with the device&#39;s identifying number, that device is able to extract the instruction  132  and carry out the desired action as appropriate. 
     Various systems and methods have therefore been described for remotely controlling an STB, PVR/DVR or other consumer device. While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of alternate but equivalent variations exist. Although the systems and techniques described herein are frequently described with respect to satellite-based implementations, for example, similar concepts could be equivalently applied with cable, telephone, wireless and/or any other methods of content or message delivery. In an over-the-air embodiment, for example, instructions  132  could be equivalently transmitted in any broadcast channel (e.g., in an unused channel for a particular television market or geographic region), or in the unused bits (e.g., the so-called “user bits”) of an MPEG stream or any other portion of a digital or analog transmission. Instructions  132  could be equivalently transmitted on a separate carrier frequency across any wired or wireless media using any sort of radio frequency (RF) modulation scheme or the like. 
     While the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing various embodiments of the invention, it should be appreciated that the particular embodiments described above are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. To the contrary, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described without departing from the scope of the invention.