Patent Publication Number: US-2009222853-A1

Title: Advertisement Replacement System

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Disclosure 
     The present disclosure generally relates to distributing digital television content and more particularly to replacing advertisements associated with digital television content. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Advertisements are commonly included as part of television content that may be received over a provider network. For some audiences, certain advertisements have objectionable content such as references to adult-oriented prescription medications or other products. In some cases, advertisements have objectionable content in that they target children for unhealthy products. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts an example provider network in which advertisements are replaced in accordance with disclosed embodiments if the advertisements contain one or more indications of objectionable content; 
         FIG. 2  depicts, in block diagram form, selected elements of an embodied set-top box enabled for replacing advertisements detected to have objectionable content; 
         FIG. 3  depicts, in block diagram form, selected software-based applications for detecting and replacing objectionable advertisement content; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram with selected operations for detecting and replacing objectionable advertisement content. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S) 
     In one aspect, in a digital television environment an advertisement replacement system operates to substitute objectionable advertisement content with replacement content. The system includes a content detection module for sensing objectionable advertisement content. The system further includes a replacement module for automatically substituting replacement content for a portion of the objectionable advertisement content. Some embodied systems further include an advertisement detection module for detecting the beginning of an advertisement for monitoring by the content detection module. In some embodiments, the replacement content includes user-provided photographic images or user-provided video images. The content detection module may operate to compare closed-caption text to known words associated with objectionable content. In addition, the content detection module may review metadata associated with an advertisement for a rating that qualifies the advertisement as having objectionable content according to stored user profiles. Data related to classifying objectionable content may be received by the system through an input. In turn, the content detection module may access the received data for sensitivity data and other parameters related to detecting and replacing objectionable advertising content. 
     In another aspect, a method is disclosed for replacing advertisements that have indicators of objectionable content. The method may include detecting an advertisement in a multimedia stream. The method includes monitoring advertisements for one or more indicators of objectionable content. In response to detecting one or more indicators of objectionable content, the method includes substituting a portion of the advertisement with replacement content. In some embodiments, the replacement content includes user-provided photographic images or user-provided video images. Monitoring the advertisement for the one or more indicators of objectionable content may include comparing closed-caption text and known words that are stored and associated with objectionable content. In addition, monitoring the advertisement for an indicator of objectionable content may include reviewing metadata associated with the advertisement for a rating that qualifies the advertisement as having objectionable content according to stored user profiles. The content detection module may access user data stored in user profiles for sensing objectionable advertisement content. The method may further include buffering a multimedia stream that includes the advertisement content and inserting the replacement content in the buffer if an indicator of objectionable content is detected. Substituting replacement content for a portion of the advertisement may include replacing the entire advertisement. In the alternative, the method may include presenting a non-objectionable portion of the advertisement prior to substituting the replacement content for the objectionable portion. 
     In still another aspect, a set-top box is enabled for replacing advertisements received within a multimedia stream that includes digital television content. Embodied set-top boxes include an input for receiving the multimedia stream that contains the digital television content. Embodied set-top boxes further include a content detection module for detecting indicators of objectionable content in advertisements. Further, embodied set-top boxes include or are communicatively coupled to replacement modules for substituting approved content for a portion of the objectionable content. Some embodied set-top boxes further include an advertisement detection module for detecting the beginning of advertisements in the multimedia stream. In order to detect indicators of objectionable content, the content detection module may monitor metadata, closed-caption data, or speech data generated from speech recognition operations that monitor audio portions of the multimedia stream. Approved content for substituting may include user-provided photographic images. 
     The following description includes examples and details to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the claimed subject matter without undue experimentation. It should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill that disclosed embodiments are included as examples and not exhaustive of all possible embodiments. Regarding reference numerals used to describe some elements in the figures, a hyphenated form of a reference numeral may refer to a specific instance of an element and the un-hyphenated form of the reference numeral may refer to the element generically or collectively. Thus, for example, “set-top box 121-1” refers to an instance of a set-top box. Accordingly, multiple set-top boxes may be referred to collectively as “set-top boxes 121” or “STBs 121.” In addition, using this numbering convention, a single set-top box may be referred to more generically as “set-top box 121” or “STB 121.” 
     In accordance with disclosed embodiments, any of several methods may be used to determine when an advertisement has or may have objectionable content. In some embodiments, advertisements may be manually “tagged” by user input (e.g., from remote control device inputs) and subsequently blocked during future broadcasts of the advertisement. In addition, user profiles may be configured to set user-defined criteria that are stored in user profiles and accessed when determining whether indicators exist for blocking commercials. Closed-caption data, speech recognition, optical character recognition, and other forms of processing may be conducted on multimedia streams to detect indicators for objectionable content. If a threshold level of objectionable content is met, the advertisement may be replaced, edited, or blocked to prevent the objectionable content from reaching viewers. Multimedia streams containing potentially objectionable content may be buffered and processed or alternatively, processed in substantially real time. In addition, any multimedia content stored on a digital video recorder (DVR), for example, may be processed during recording the content or after recording the content during non-peak times. 
     Some advertisers will obviously object to having their content removed from digital television content. Therefore, service provider networks may wish to implement embodied systems and methods in ways that do not conflict, in general, with the aims of the advertising industry. To this end, objectionable advertisements may be substituted with more appropriate advertisements rather than wholly blocking the advertisements. In other cases, methods and systems may block only the objectionable advertising or replace only the objectionable content with still images of user-provided photographs or video images of user-provided videos, as examples. 
     In some embodied systems, a service provider network delivers advertising content to a set-top box with advertisements that include advertisement ratings data within metadata. The metadata may also signal the beginning of the advertisement. The ratings data may be based on community-based groups or central ratings organizations, as examples. In some embodiments, advertisements have unique identifiers and a user is provided an opportunity to “tag” the advertisement for future blocking. In such systems, locally stored identification data may be compared to the identification data of incoming advertisements to determine whether the advertisement is approved or subject to replacement or blocking. In some embodiments, advertisements may be broadcast with tags that designate the advertisement as having a predetermined type of content. For example, advertisements may be tagged with one or more of a set of predetermined tags such as TV-Y, TV-G, TV-14, TV-MA, and the like. In operation, embodied set-top boxes or network-based equipment may detect these ratings by processing metadata that contains these tags. Alternatively, closed-caption data may be scanned for keywords the user has explicitly defined (e.g., Viagra) or compared against pre-defined profiles (e.g., a young child&#39;s profile that filters out certain keywords). In some embodiments, users may block further viewings of specific advertisements or advertisements by certain advertisers. 
     Once an objectionable advertisement is detected, in some embodiments, set-top box substitutes a more acceptable form of media for the duration of the advertisement. Options include simply “blacking out” the media or substituting media from the user&#39;s library (e.g., a snippet from a home video or an impromptu slideshow of random photos and a selection from the user&#39;s music library). In addition, advertiser-friendly options for replacing objectionable advertisements include substituting an advertiser-specific still image for the advertisement or substituting a simulcast or pre-staged alternate advertisement (e.g., a more acceptable edit or an advertisement for a different product from the same advertiser). Such advertisements may provide opportunities for advertisers to provide alternate advertisements that are more appropriate to an audience rather than simply having advertisements blocked and replaced with a blank screen, for example. 
     Embodied systems may provide parents with desired control over their children&#39;s viewing experience. In addition, advertisements that some users may find offensive or annoying may be blocked. For example, some adults would rather not see advertisements for products or services they already have. Providing substitute advertisements in such cases may reduce annoyance caused to the users and perhaps enhance an advertiser&#39;s chance of promoting and selling other products or services to the user. In some embodiments, a service provider network may generate revenue by allowing a user, as a premium service, the option to block or substitute offensive or annoying advertisements. Therefore, embodied systems for advertisement substitutions provide various solutions for presenting advertisements that are more effective and less objectionable. 
     Disclosed embodiments relate to substituting advertisements that may be included with or embedded within television programs, video-on-demand (“VOD”) programs, radio programs, and a variety of other multimedia content forms. In this disclosure terms such as “digital television content” or “multimedia program” may be used to describe any of these types of content. Suitable types of networks that may be provisioned for distribution and delivery of such multimedia content include, as examples, telephony-based networks, coaxial-based networks, satellite-based networks, and the like. In some networks that includes, for example, traditional coaxial-based “cable” networks, a service provider distributes a mixed signal that may include a relatively large number of multimedia content channels. Each channel may be transmitted at a different frequency band (i.e., channel), through a coaxial cable, a fiber-optic cable, or a combination of these and potentially other cables or wireless media. The enormous bandwidth required to transport simultaneously large numbers of multimedia channels is a source of constant challenge for cable-based providers. In these types of networks, a tuner or some form of receiver is required to select a channel from the mixed signal for playing or recording. Accordingly, a user wishing to play or record multiple channels simultaneously may need distinct tuners for each desired channel. This is an inherent limitation of cable networks and other mixed signal networks. 
     In contrast to mixed signal networks, internet protocol television (IPTV) networks generally distribute content to a user only in response to user requests. Therefore, at any given time, the number of content channels provided to the user is relatively small. For example, a user may simultaneously receive one or more multimedia streams that contain one channel for viewing and possibly one or more channels for recording during viewing of the first channel. As suggested by the name, IPTV networks typically employ IP and other open, mature, and pervasive networking technologies. During transmission, rather than requiring the use of a particular frequency band, an IPTV television program, movie, or other form of multimedia content is a digital, packet-based stream that corresponds to a particular network address (e.g., an IP address). In such networks, the concept of a channel is inherently distinct from the frequency channels native to mixed signal networks. Moreover, whereas a mixed signal network may require a hardware-intensive tuner for every channel to be played, IPTV channels can be “tuned” simply by transmitting a request (e.g., a universal resource locator (URL) request) to a server. 
     To transmit multimedia content, IPTV service providers may utilize existing infrastructure such as existing telephone lines. In addition, within a user&#39;s site (e.g., home or office), an IPTV service provider may utilize customer premises equipment (CPE), a residential gateway (RG), a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, or other equipment enabled for receiving multimedia content and data from the provider network. Such CPE may include set-top boxes (STBs), displays, and other appropriate equipment for converting the received multimedia content into usable form. In some implementations, a core portion of an IPTV network is implemented with fiber optic cables, while the so-called “last mile” may include conventional, unshielded, twisted-pair, copper cables (e.g., traditional telephone lines). 
     Typical IPTV networks support bidirectional (i.e., two-way) communication between a user&#39;s CPE and the content provider&#39;s equipment. Bidirectional communication allows the content provider (i.e., “service provider” or “provider network”) to deploy advanced features, such as VOD, pay-per-view, electronic programming guides (“EPGs”), and the like. Bidirectional networks may also enable a service provider to collect information related to a user&#39;s preferences, viewing habits, and the like. In accordance with disclosed embodiments, bidirectional communication permits a user to provide inputs to network-based systems to request blocking replacement of objectionable advertisements. The bidirectional nature of the IPTV network also allows software applications related to the control of multimedia access to be network-based. In addition, communication between STBs over the provider network is permitted due to the bidirectional nature of an IPTV provider network. In this way, for example, a parent in one room may manipulate settings stored in an STB in another room (e.g., a child&#39;s room) to block objectionable advertisements. 
     Additional details of embodied systems and methods are included in the attached drawings.  FIG. 1  depicts selected aspects of a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN)  100 . MCDN  100  is a provider network that, as shown, may be divided into a client side  101  and a service provider side  102  (a.k.a. server side  102 ). The client side  101  includes all or most of the resources depicted to the left of access network  130  while the server side  102  encompasses the remainder. 
     Client side  101  and server side  102  are linked by access network  130 . In embodiments of MCDN  100  that leverage telephony hardware and infrastructure, access network  130  may include the “local loop” or “last mile,” which refers to the physical wires that connect a user&#39;s home or business to a local exchange. In these embodiments, the physical layer of access network  130  may include twisted pair copper cables or fiber optics cables employed as either fiber to the curb (FTTC) or fiber to the home (FTTH). 
     Access network  130  may include hardware and firmware to perform signal translation when access network  130  includes multiple types of physical media. For example, an access network that includes twisted-pair telephone lines to deliver multimedia content to users may utilize DSL. In embodiments of access network  130  that implement FTTC, a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) may be used within access network  130  to transfer signals containing multimedia content from optical fiber to copper wire for DSL delivery to consumers. 
     In other embodiments, access network  130  may transmit radio frequency (RF) signals over coaxial cables. In these embodiments, access network  130  may utilize quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) equipment for downstream traffic. In these embodiments, access network  130  may receive upstream traffic from a consumer&#39;s location using quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulated RF signals. In such embodiments, a cable modem termination system (CMTS) may be used to mediate between IP-based traffic on private network  110  and access network  130 . 
     Services provided by the server side resources as shown in  FIG. 1  may be distributed over a private network  110 . In some embodiments, private network  110  is referred to as a “core network.” In at least some embodiments, private network  110  includes a fiber optic wide area network (WAN), referred to herein as the fiber backbone, and one or more video hub offices (VHOs). In large-scale implementations of MCDN  100  private network  110  includes a hierarchy of VHOs. 
     A national VHO may deliver national content feeds to several regional VHOs. In turn, each regional VHO may include its own acquisition resources to acquire local content, such as from the local affiliate of a national network, and to inject the local content into the feeds. The regional VHOs may then deliver the local and national content for reception by users served by the regional VHO. The hierarchical arrangement of VHOs, in addition to facilitating localized or regionalized content provisioning, may conserve bandwidth by limiting the content that is transmitted over the core network and injecting regional content “downstream” from the core network. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , segments of private network  110  are connected together with a plurality of network switching and routing devices referred to simply as switches  113  through  117 . The depicted switches include client facing switch  113 , acquisition switch  114 , operations-systems-support/business-systems-support (OSS/BSS) switch  115 , database switch  116 , and an application switch  117 . In addition to providing routing/switching functionality, switches  113  through  117  preferably include hardware or firmware firewalls (not depicted) that maintain the security and privacy of network  110 . Other portions of MCDN  100  communicate over a public network  112 , including, for example, the Internet or other type of web network where the public network  112  is signified in  FIG. 1  by the World Wide Web icons  111 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the client side  101  of MCDN  100  depicts two of a potentially large number of client-side resources referred to herein simply as client(s)  120 . Each client  120 , as shown, includes an STB  121 , an RG  122 , a display  124 , and a remote control device  126 . Clients  120  may be in different user sites, for example houses that are in different cities. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , RGs  122  may include elements of broadband modems (e.g., DSL modems), as well as elements of Ethernet-compliant routers and/or access points that are suitable for communication over local area networks (LANs)  127 . In some embodiments, STBs  121  may be uniquely addressable Ethernet compliant devices. In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , remote control device  126  communicates wirelessly with STB  121  using an infrared (IR) or RF signal. Display  124  may include any form of conventional frequency tuner and may contain all or part of the functionality and circuitry of RG  122  and STB  121 . 
     In IPTV-compliant implementations of MCDN  100 , clients  120  are operable to receive packet-based multimedia streams from access network  130  and process the streams for presentation on displays  124 . In addition, clients  120  are network-aware systems that may facilitate bidirectional-networked communications with server side  102  resources to facilitate network-hosted services and features such as the substitution of objectionable advertisements. Because clients  120  are operable to process multimedia content streams while simultaneously supporting more traditional web-like communications, clients  120  may support or comply with a variety of network protocols including streaming protocols such as reliable datagram protocol (RDP) over user datagram protocol Internet protocol (UDP/IP) and web protocols such as hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) over transport control protocol IP (TCP/IP). The depiction in  FIG. 1  of server side  102  emphasizes network capabilities including application resources  105 , content acquisition resources  106 , content delivery resources  107 , and OSS/BSS resources  108 . One or more of these resources may have access to database resources  109 . 
     Before distributing multimedia content to viewers, MCDN  100  first obtains multimedia content from content providers. To that end, acquisition resources  106  encompass various systems and devices to acquire multimedia content, reformat it when necessary or desired, and process it for delivery to users over private network  110  and access network  130 . Acquisition resources  106  may include, for example, systems for capturing analog and/or digital content feeds, either directly from a content provider or from a content aggregation facility. Content feeds transmitted via VHF/UHF broadcast signals may be captured by an antenna  141  and delivered to live acquisition server  140 . Similarly, live acquisition server  140  may capture down-linked signals transmitted by a satellite  142  and received by parabolic dish  144 . In addition, live acquisition server  140  may acquire programming feeds transmitted via high-speed fiber feeds or other suitable transmission means. Acquisition resources  106  may further include signal conditioning systems and content preparation systems for encoding content. 
     As depicted in  FIG. 1 , content acquisition resources  106  include a VOD acquisition server  150 . VOD acquisition server  150  receives content from one or more VOD sources that may be external to the MCDN  100  including, as examples, discs represented by DVD player  151 , or transmitted feeds (not shown). VOD acquisition server  150  may temporarily store multimedia content for transmission to a VOD delivery server  158  in communication with client-facing switch  113 . 
     After acquiring multimedia content, acquisition resources  106  transmits acquired content over private network  110 , for example, to one or more servers in content delivery resources  107 . Prior to transmission, live acquisition server  140  may encode acquired content using, for example, MPEG-2, H.263, a Windows Media Video (WMV) family codec, or another suitable video codec. Acquired content may be encoded and composed to preserve network bandwidth and network storage resources and, optionally, to provide encryption for securing the content. VOD content acquired by VOD acquisition server  150  may be in a compressed format prior to acquisition and further compression or formatting prior to transmission may be unnecessary. 
     Content delivery resources  107  as shown in  FIG. 1  are in communication with private network  110  via client facing switch  113 . In the depicted implementation, content delivery resources  107  include a content delivery server  155  in communication with a live or real-time content server  156  and a VOD delivery server  158 . For purposes of this disclosure, the use of the term “live” or “real-time” in connection with content server  156  is intended primarily to distinguish the applicable content from the content provided by VOD delivery server  158 . The content provided by a VOD server may be referred to as time-shifted content to emphasize the ability to obtain and view VOD content substantially without regard to the time of day or the day of week. 
     Content delivery server  155 , in conjunction with live content server  156  and VOD delivery server  158 , responds to viewer requests for content by providing the requested content to the viewer. The content delivery resources  107  are, in some embodiments, responsible for creating video streams that are suitable for transmission over private network  110  and/or access network  130 . In some embodiments, creating video streams from the stored content generally includes generating data packets by encapsulating relatively small segments of the stored content in one or more packet headers according to the network communication protocol stack in use. These data packets are then transmitted across a network to a receiver (e.g., STB  121  of client  120 ), where the content is parsed from individual packets and re-assembled into multimedia content suitable for processing by a STB decoder. 
     Viewer requests received by content delivery server  155  may include an indication of the content that is being requested. In some embodiments, this indication includes an IP address associated with the desired content. For example, a particular local broadcast television station may be associated with a particular channel and the feed for that channel may be associated with a particular IP address. When a user wishes to view the station, the user may interact with remote control device  126  to send a signal to STB  121  indicating a request for the particular channel. When STB  121  responds to the remote control signal, the STB  121  changes to the requested channel by transmitting a request that includes an IP address associated with the desired channel to content delivery server  155 . 
     Content delivery server  155  may respond to a request for content by making a streaming video signal accessible STB  121  for conversion into usable form by display  124 . Content delivery server  155  may employ unicast and broadcast techniques when making content available to a viewer. In the case of multicast, content delivery server  155  employs a multicast protocol to deliver a single originating stream to multiple clients. When a new user requests the content associated with a multicast stream, there may be latency associated with updating the multicast information to reflect the new viewer as a part of the multicast group. To avoid exposing this undesirable latency to the user, content delivery server  155  may temporarily unicast a stream to the requesting user. When the user is ultimately enrolled in the multicast group, the unicast stream is terminated and the user receives the multicast stream. Multicasting desirably reduces bandwidth consumption by reducing the number of streams that must be transmitted over the access network  130  to clients  120 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a client-facing switch  113  provides a conduit between client side  101  and server side  102 . Client-facing switch  113 , as shown, is so-named because it connects directly to the client  120  via access network  130  and it provides the network connectivity of IPTV services to users&#39; locations. 
     To deliver multimedia content, client-facing switch  113  may employ any of various existing or future Internet protocols for providing reliable real-time streaming multimedia content. In addition to the TCP, UDP, and HTTP protocols referenced above, such protocols may use, in various combinations, other protocols including real-time transport protocol (RTP), real-time control protocol (RTCP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and real-time streaming protocol (RTSP). 
     In some embodiments, client-facing switch  113  routes multimedia content encapsulated into IP packets over access network  130 . For example, an MPEG- 2  transport stream may be sent that includes a series of  188 -byte transport packets. Client-facing switch  113 , as shown, is coupled to a content delivery server  155 , acquisition switch  114 , applications switch  117 , a client gateway  153 , and a terminal server  154  that is operable to provide terminal devices with a connection point to the private network  110 . Client gateway  153  may provide user access to private network  110  and the resources coupled thereto. 
     In some embodiments, STB  121  may access MCDN  100  using information received from client gateway  153 . Subscriber devices may access client gateway  153  and client gateway  153  may then allow such devices to access the private network  110  once the devices are authenticated or verified. Similarly, client gateway  153  may prevent unauthorized devices, such as hacker computers or stolen STBs, from accessing the private network  110 . Accordingly, in some embodiments, when an STB  121  accesses MCDN  100 , client gateway  153  verifies user information by communicating with user store  172  via the private network  110 . Client gateway  153  may verify billing information and user status by communicating with an OSS/BSS gateway  167 . OSS/BSS gateway  167  may transmit a query to the OSS/BSS server  181  via an OSS/BSS switch  115  that may be connected to a public network  112 . Upon client gateway  153  confirming user and/or billing information, client gateway  153  may allow STB  121  access to IPTV content, VOD content, and other services. If client gateway  153  cannot verify user information for STB  121 , for example, because it is connected to an unauthorized twisted pair or RG, client gateway  153  may block transmissions to and from STB  121  beyond the private access network  130 . 
     MCDN  100 , as depicted, includes application resources  105 , which communicate with private network  110  via application switch  117 . Application resources  105  as shown include an application server  160  operable to host or otherwise facilitate one or more subscriber applications  165  that may be made available to system users. For example, subscriber applications  165  as shown include an EPG application  163 . Subscriber applications  165  may include other applications including user applications  164 . In addition to subscriber applications  165 , application server  160  may host or provide a gateway to operation support systems and/or business support systems. In some embodiments, communication between application server  160  and the applications that it hosts and/or communication between application server  160  and client  120  may be via a conventional web based protocol stack such as HTTP over TCP/IP or HTTP over UDP/IP. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , application server  160  hosts a generic application referenced as user application  164 . User application  164  represents any application that may deliver a value-added feature to a subscribing user or non-subscribing user. User application  164  is illustrated in  FIG. 1  to emphasize the ability to extend the network&#39;s capabilities by implementing one or more networked-hosted applications. Because the application resides on the network, it generally does not impose any significant computing requirements on local devices or imply any substantial modifications to the client  120  including STB  121 . In some instances, an STB  121  may require knowledge of a network address associated with user application  164 , but STB  121  and the other components of client  120  are typically largely unaffected. Accordingly, STBs that are not locally networked together may exchange information through user application  164  or may share information that is processed by one or more applications such as user application  164 . 
     In accordance with disclosed embodiments, user application  164  may include software modules or applications for substituting objectionable advertisement content according to user preferences. The software modules may reside on computer-readable media that is network-based and communicatively coupled to or otherwise included with MCDN  100 . Alternatively, parts of the software modules for substituting objectionable advertisements may reside on devices such as STBs  121 . Therefore, in accordance with disclosed embodiments, MCDN  100  includes an advertisement replacement system for substituting replacement content for objectionable advertisement content. In some disclosed embodiments, user application  164  includes a content detection module for sensing objectionable content. The content detection module and other similar modules may include computer executable instructions and may be stored on computer readable media. User application  164  may further include a replacement module for automatically substituting replacement content for a portion of the objectionable advertisement content. In some embodiments the replacement content includes user-provided photographic images. User-provided photographic images may be stored on STB  121  or uploaded to network-based storage such as storage used for user profiles  174 . In addition, replacement content may include user-provided video images as substitute content. 
     In some embodiments, for content that may be queued for delivery to STB  121 , the content detection module operates to compare closed-caption text to known words associated with objectionable content. Alternatively, the content detection module may review metadata associated with an advertisement for a rating that qualifies the advertisement as having objectionable content according to predetermined parameters stored in a user profile. In some multimedia streams, the beginning of an advertisement may not be identified without an advertisement detection module. In some embodiments, user application  164  further includes or accesses an advertisement detection module for detecting the occurrence of an advertisement. Therefore, in other streams, the beginning of an advertisement may be bookmarked using metadata, out-of-band data, or packet headers as examples. In some embodiments, user application  164  receives an input or an indication of an input regarding which content to block as objectionable content. In such embodiments, the content detection module accesses the user preferences for setting sensitivity levels (i.e., threshold levels) for what should be blocked as objectionable. Embodied systems may include a buffer for processing a multimedia stream analyzed by the content detection module. Accordingly, multimedia content may be streamed through the buffer and analyzed. If objectionable content is detected or sensed, substitute content may be inserted within the buffer or otherwise displayed in place of the objectionable content. In some cases, substituting replacement content for the objectionable content includes replacing the entire advertisement. In other cases, non-objectionable parts of an advertisement are played until the replacement module or related component automatically substitutes replacement content for the objectionable advertisement content. 
     Additional elements shown in  FIG. 1  include database switch  116 , which is connected to applications switch  117  and provides access to database resources  109 . Database resources  109  include a database server  170  that manages a system storage resource  172 , also referred to herein as user store  172 . User store  172 , as shown, includes one or more user profiles  174  where each user profile includes account information and may include preferences information that may be retrieved by applications executing on application server  160  including subscriber application  165 . MCDN  100 , as shown, includes OSS/BSS resources  108  including an OSS/BSS switch  115 . OSS/BSS switch  115  facilitates communication between OSS/BSS resources  108  via public network  112 . The OSS/BSS switch  115  is coupled to an OSS/BSS server  181  that hosts operations support services including remote management via a management server  182 . OSS/BSS resources  108  may include a monitor server (not depicted) that monitors network devices within or coupled to MCDN  100  via, for example, a simple network management protocol (SNMP). 
       FIG. 2  depicts selected components of STB  121 , which may be similar to or identical to STB  121  in  FIG. 1 . As shown, STB  121  ( FIG. 2 ) is enabled to detect indicators of objectionable content in advertisements and replace the objectionable content with substitute content. As shown, STB  121  is suitable for use in an IPTV client and includes functionality in some combination of hardware, software, and firmware to receive streaming multimedia data from an IP-based network and process the data to produce video and audio signals suitable for delivery to an NTSC, PAL, or other type of display  124 . In addition, some embodiments of STB  121  may include resources to store and play back multimedia content locally. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , STB  121  includes a general-purpose processing core represented as controller  260 . Controller  260  communicates with special purpose multimedia modules including, as examples, transport/demultiplexer module  205 , an A/V decoder  210 , a video encoder  220 , an audio digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  230 , and an RF modulator  235 . Although  FIG. 2  depicts each of these modules discretely, STB  121  may be implemented with a system on chip (SoC) device that integrates controller  260  and each of these multimedia modules. In still other embodiments, STB  121  may include an embedded processor serving as controller  260  and at least some of the multimedia modules may be implemented with a general-purpose digital signal processor (DSP) and supporting software. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , input module  251  may operate to receive user preferences regarding what content to block as objectionable. Network interface  202  enables STB  121  to communicate with an external network such as LAN  127 . Network interface  202  may share many characteristics with conventional network interface cards (NICs) used in personal computer platforms. For embodiments in which LAN  127  is an Ethernet LAN, for example, network interface  202  implements level  1  (physical) and level  2  (data link) layers of a standard communication protocol stack by enabling access to the twisted pair or other form of physical network medium and by supporting low level addressing using media access control (MAC) addressing. In these embodiments, every network interface  202  includes, for example, a globally unique 48-bit MAC address  203  stored in a read-only memory (ROM) or other persistent storage element of network interface  202 . Similarly, at the other end of the LAN connection  127 , RG  122  ( FIG. 1 ) has a network interface (not depicted) with its own globally-unique MAC address. 
     Network interface  202  may further include or support software or firmware providing one or more complete network communication protocol stacks. Where network interface  202  is tasked with receiving streaming multimedia communications, for example, network interface  202  may include a streaming video protocol stack such as an RTP/UDP stack. In these embodiments, network interface  202  is operable to receive a series of streaming multimedia packets and process them to generate a digital multimedia stream  204  that is provided to transport/demux  205 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , STB  121  carries and processes digital multimedia stream  204 , which in accordance with disclosed embodiments contains a multimedia program and may contain objectionable advertisement content. The digital multimedia stream  204  is a sequence of digital information that includes interlaced audio data streams and video data streams. The video and audio data contained in digital multimedia stream  204  may be referred to as “in-band” data in reference to a particular frequency bandwidth that such data might have been transmitted in an RF transmission environment. Digital multimedia stream  204  may also include “out-of-band” data that might encompass any type of data that is not audio or video data, but may refer in particular to data that is useful to the provider of an IPTV service (e.g., advertisement rating data). This out-of-band data might include, for example, billing data, decryption data, and data enabling the IPTV service provider to manage IPTV client  120  remotely. In some embodiments, advertisement rating data or substitute content data may be transmitted as out-of-band data and otherwise excluded from the core audio or video portions of digital multimedia stream  204 . 
     Transport/demux  205 , as shown, is operable to segregate and possibly decrypt the audio, video, and out-of-band data in digital multimedia stream  204 . Transport/demux  205  outputs a digital audio stream  206 , a digital video stream  207 , and an out-of-band digital stream  208  to A/V decoder  210 . Transport/demux  205  may also, in some embodiments, support or communicate with various peripheral interfaces of STB  121  including RF interface  250  suitable for use with an RF remote control device (not shown) and a front panel interface (not shown). RF interface  250  may also be compatible to receive infrared signals, light signals, laser signals, or other signals from remote control devices that use signal types that differ from RF signals. RF interface  250  represents a hardware interface that may be enabled for receiving signals indicative of user inputs. For example, a user may provide user inputs to a remote control device for selecting or highlighting EPG elements on a display or setting preferences regarding what should be considered objectionable content. 
     A/V decoder  210  processes digital audio, video, and out-of-band streams  206 ,  207 , and  208  respectively to produce a native format digital audio stream  211  and a native format digital video stream  212 . A/V decoder  210  processing may include decompression of digital audio stream  206  and/or digital video stream  207 , which are generally delivered to STB  121  as compressed data streams. In some embodiments, digital audio stream  206  and digital video stream  207  are MPEG compliant streams and, in these embodiments, A/V decoder  210  is an MPEG decoder. 
     The digital out-of-band stream  208  may include information about or associated with advertisement content and digital television content provided through the audio and video streams. This information may include, for example, ratings, the title of a show, start and end times for the show, type or genre of the show, broadcast channel number associated with the show, and so forth. A/V decoder  210  may decode such out-of-band information. MPEG embodiments of A/V decoder  210  support a graphics plane as well as a video plane and at least some of the out-of-band information may be incorporated by A/V decoder  210  into its graphics plane and presented to display  124 , perhaps in response to a signal from a remote control device. In addition to potentially including data related to blocked or substituted advertisement content, the digital out-of-band stream  208  may be a part of an EPG, an interactive program guide, or an electronic service guide (ESG). These devices allow a viewer to navigate, select, and search for content by time, channel, genre, title, and the like. A typical EPG may have a graphical user interface that enables the display of program titles and other descriptive information such as program identifiers, a summary of subject matter for programs, names of actors, names of directors, year of production, and the like. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the native format digital audio stream  211  is routed to audio DAC  230  to produce an audio output signal  231 . The native format digital video stream  212  is routed to an NTSC/PAL or other suitable video encoder  220 , which generates digital video output signals suitable for presentation to an NTSC or PAL compliant display device. In the depicted embodiment, video encoder  220  generates a composite video output signal  221  and an S video output signal  222 . An RF modulator  235  receives the audio and composite video output signals  231  and  221  respectively and generates an RF output signal  233  suitable for providing to an analog input of a display (e.g., display  124  from  FIG. 1 ). STB  121 , as shown, includes universal serial bus (USB) interface  240  and a local interconnection interface  245 . Local interconnection interface  245  may, in some embodiments, support Home Phone Networking Alliance (HPNA) or another form of local interconnection  123  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The illustrated embodiment of STB  121  includes storage resources  270  that are accessible to controller  260  and possibly one or more multimedia modules. Storage resources  270  may include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or another type of volatile storage identified as memory  275  as well as various forms of persistent or nonvolatile storage including flash memory  280  and/or other suitable types of persistent memory devices including ROMs, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), and electrical erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROMs). In addition, the depicted embodiment of STB  121  includes a mass storage device in the form of one or more magnetic hard disks  295  supported by integrated device electronics (IDE) compliant or other type of disk drive  290 . Embodiments of STB  121  employing mass storage devices may be operable to store content locally and play back stored content when desired. In addition, one or more components of storage resources  270  may be employed to store program identification data, user preferences, administrator preferences, and the like for operation of disclosed embodiments. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates STB  121 , which has selected software elements or modules (e.g., software applications) operable for detecting and replacing objectionable advertisement content, in accordance with some embodiments. In the depicted implementation, storage resources  270  include programs or execution modules identified as remote control application  301 , advertisement detection  303 , content detection  305 , and replacement application  309 . In addition, the depicted implementation of storage  270  includes data  311 . Network interface  235  is enabled for allowing STB  121  communication with remote sources such as other STBs and Internet based servers, as examples. 
     Remote control application  301  includes computer executable code that supports STB  121 &#39;s remote control functionality. For example, when a viewer depresses a volume button on remote control device  126  ( FIG. 1 ), remote control application  301  is invoked by controller  260  in response to a signal from RF I/F  250  indicating that RF I/F  250  has received a remote control command signal. Although the embodiments described herein employ a wireless remote control device  126  to convey viewer commands to STB  121 , the viewer commands may be conveyed to STB  121  in other ways. For example, STB  121  may include a front panel having function buttons that are associated with various commands, some of which may coincide with commands associated with function buttons on remote control device  126 . Similarly, although remote control device  126  is described herein as being an RF or IR remote control device, other embodiments may use other media and/or protocols to convey commands to STB  121 . For example, remote control commands may be conveyed to STB  121  via USB, WiFi (IEEE 802.11-family protocols), and/or Bluetooth techniques, all of which are well known in the field of network communications. RF I/F  250  may be operable to parse or otherwise extract the remote control command that is included in the signal. The remote control command may then be made available to controller  260  and/or remote control application  301 . In this manner, remote control application  301  may receive an indication of the remote control command from the RF I/F  250  directly or from controller  260 . In the latter case, for example, controller  260  may call remote control application  301  as a function call and include an indication of remote control device  126  as a parameter in the function call. 
     As shown, a content detection application  305  detects indicators of objectionable content in advertisements that are included within a multimedia stream. Replacement application  309  substitutes approved content for a portion of the advertisement. Advertisement detection application  303  detects advertisements in a multimedia stream. An advertisement may be detected by analyzing screenshots, analyzing changes in audio portions of a multimedia stream, analyzing metadata associated with a multimedia stream, analyzing closed-caption text, or processing headers for packets that make up a multimedia stream, as examples. In addition, speech recognition may be performed on an audio portion of a multimedia stream to detect indicators of objectionable content. The examples listed for detecting advertisements and objectionable content are for illustration purposes only and are not meant to limit the claimed subject matter. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates methodology  400  for substituting objectionable advertisement content with user-specified content, replacement advertisements, or a blank display screen, as examples. As shown, optional operation  402  relates to buffering a multimedia stream. Operation  402  is optional in disclosed embodiments and may create a delay needed for processing a multimedia stream. While the multimedia stream is within the buffer, it may be analyzed for objectionable content. For example, metadata associated within the multimedia stream may be analyzed for words that indicate objectionable advertisement content. In addition, voice recognition may be performed on an audio portion of the multimedia stream to detect indications of objectionable advertisement content. Operation  404  relates to detecting an advertisement in the multimedia stream. In some embodiments, detecting the beginning of an advertisement may require processing of multimedia content or processing of metadata associated with the multimedia content. Advertisements may be marked with identifiers such as packet headers that are used in operation  404  for detecting the occurrence of an advertisement. Operation  406  relates to monitoring the advertisement for an indicator of objectionable content. In some cases, trigger words may provide an indication of objectionable content. Trigger words may be stored in a user profile in a local STB or remotely on an application server, as examples. Example trigger words include “sex,” “sexual performance,” “ED,” “condom,” “beer,” or “girls gone wild.” In addition or alternatively, operation  406  may be performed by comparing close-captioned text to known words associated with objectionable content. In addition, operation  406  may include processing metadata associated with the advertisement for a rating that qualifies the advertisement as having objectionable content. If a service network provider or advertiser sends advertisements with standardized ratings (e.g., PG-13), then the metadata may be analyzed for such indicators of objectionable content. Operation  408  makes a determination of whether monitored advertisements contain objectionable content. If no objectionable content is detected or until a threshold level of objectionable content is reached, methodology  400  cycles back to operation  406  as shown for more monitoring of advertisements for indicators of objectionable content. If a threshold level of objectionable content is found in operation  408 , methodology  400  proceeds to operation  410  for substituting replacement content for a portion of the advertisement. In some embodiments, non-objectionable portions of an advertisement are displayed and objectionable portions of the advertisement are replaced or deleted. Replacement content may include user-provided photographic images, user-provided video images, edited versions of the objectionable advertisement, or substitute advertisements chosen by a service provider network, affiliate, or user. 
     While the disclosed systems may be described in connection with one or more embodiments, it is not intended to limit the subject matter of the claims to the particular forms set forth. On the contrary, disclosed systems are intended to include alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. For example, although disclosed embodiments may be described in terms of STBs, it should be noted that disclosed embodiments may incorporate such functionality into data processing systems, displays, televisions, or monitors that do not have physical characteristics, for example, of traditional converter boxes that may have been operated from atop a television, as the name “set-top box” may otherwise suggest.