Patent Publication Number: US-10320503-B2

Title: Method and system for remote television replay control

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/195,699 filed Aug. 1, 2011, which is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/518,117, filed Sep. 8, 2006, which is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/925,121, filed Aug. 8, 2001, which claims priority from the Provisional Application 60/258,937, filed Dec. 29, 2000, and claims priority from the Provisional Application 60/258,940, filed Dec. 29, 2000, and claims priority from the Provisional Application 60/248,313, filed Nov. 14, 2000, and claims priority from the Provisional Application 60/223,856, filed Aug. 8, 2000. All sections of the aforementioned applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to enabling web users easy access and control of media-based devices and appliances over computer networks, and more specifically, to a method, system and computer medium for remote control of a digital video recorder from a client user interface both in communication with the Internet. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional techniques provide for control input of a media-based device either directly or with a short-ranged remote controller. That is, typically the media-based device may be directly programmed using the control panel disposed on the device itself or with a remote controller (i.e., typically handheld) in communication with the media-based device. The hand-held remote controller provided control input from short-ranged distances about the device usually by direct hardwired extension cable, or by some wireless medium, like for example, infrared and radio frequency. While these conventional techniques work well for those situations where the user is physically located within the vicinity (e.g., typically in the same room as the media-based) of the device, they do not address the situation where the user is at a different physical location and is thereby unable to access the device at such short-ranges. Although there exists numerous reasons and situations as to why the user would be physically away from the device, the details of such are less important as opposed to the overriding drawback that the user is unable to control the media-based device from a location remote to the physical location of the media-based device. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the handheld remote controller may be designed to accommodate an increased range of hardwired and/or wireless transmission; however, this alternative is still unsatisfactory as it is cost prohibitive in proportion to an increase in the transmission distance. 
     Consequently, what is needed is a solution to enable user control and programming of media-based devices and appliances from remote locations. It would be desirable if the device could be accessed and controlled from anywhere in the world, like from a web browser in a mariner that is convenient, familiar, and relatively simple to use. Furthermore, it would be advantageous if a web-based solution could be provided in a manner that seamlessly integrates information from multiple sources, like for example, from the media-based device and various media content providers as well as other online service providers so that the combination of information is available to a user in a single web session. It would be beneficial if the devices and appliances could communicate with such providers of information and content, so as to automatically receive and send information there between. Finally, the method, system, and computer medium that is needed, for enabling remote control of a media-based device and for accessing related information, should also be available to various web servers including portals in a uniform manner such as through an application program interface. 
     SUMMARY OF DESCRIBED EMBODIMENTS 
     The described embodiments of the present invention utilize the world wide web to overcome the limitations of the current state of the art concerning access and control of stand-alone media-based devices. Web users, content providers of the subject-matter being utilized with the media-based device, and web-hosted service providers who typically provide ancillary services, system administration and system maintenance of the media-based devices may benefit from the described embodiments of the present invention, which enable the integration of stand-alone applications for media-based devices and appliances with web-hosted services that by themselves do not necessarily work well with each other. To this end, the described embodiments of the present invention are beneficial in creating a web application, which may be offered as a web-hosted service, for enabling existing stand-alone media-based devices to be more effective to a user. 
     The described embodiments of the present invention comprise a method, system, computer medium, and other embodiments for integrating unrelated web-hosted services with stand-alone media-based devices and appliances, and for allowing users to access and control the media-based device and/or appliance conveniently with a client user interface such as a web-browser through various portals on the Internet. One technical aspect of the present invention enables users to access the media-based device and appliance through one or more unrelated web portals, so as to control and to program the media-based device in a single web session. With this aspect of the present invention, users are provided with an integrated presentation that includes information both stored on the media-based device and appliance and that in one embodiment may originate from third-party online sources of information and services. That is, rather than having to be in the same room as the media-based device and appliance to provide control input thereto, the described embodiments of the present invention overcome the limitations associated with conventional programming techniques and enables users to access the media-based device from remote locations throughout the world via the Internet. 
     Another aspect of the present invention simulates an operational standalone media-based device and appliance over a network, whether the device or appliance is in periodic communication or continuous continuation with the network. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a virtual representation of the media-based device and appliance is created over the network and presented to the client user interface to simulate the operation of the media-based device. In another embodiment of the present invention, the media-based device and appliance communicates over the network in real-time and on-the-fly with the client user interface. 
     According to yet another aspect of the present invention, when the information both stored on the media-based device and originating from unrelated online sources are combined into an integrated presentation and presented to a user through a single web session, users can access and view the combined information through one web presentation, and select and manipulate particular information of interest. These otherwise unrelated and disparately-located sources of information include, but are not limited to, web-hosted and online services concerning television, satellite-based, pay-per-view and cable-based television guide information, user preferences and authentication information and other related and ancillary services. 
     The described embodiments are implemented with a client/server architecture embodied in a computer-based communication system. By enabling access and control of the media-based device and appliance over the Internet using a “web paradigm,” the described embodiments of the present invention provide users with a convenient and efficient manner for programming the media-based device and appliance. In one embodiment, the media-based device and appliance comprises an interactive television device in the nature of a digital video recorder (DVR), also known as a personal video recorder (PVR). By porting the local control interface typically utilized on the stand-alone DVR to enable control input from a client user interface over a network, the described embodiment of the present invention provides a context for control input in which users are increasing becoming familiar with due to the growing popularity of the Internet. The world-wide appeal of the Internet coupled with the web application to control the DVR allow a scalable solution without the intensive high-end costs for tooling and manufacturing. 
     One technical advantage of the present invention is that it includes a computer-based communication system that is enabled to: (1) extract information from the stand-alone media-based device and appliance through a back end client-server subsystem; (2) extract information from online and unrelated web hosted services through yet another server subsystem; (3) combine the extracted information from the various sources mentioned; (4) maintain a local representation of the combined data on a database; (5) create an integrated presentation based on combining the information extracted to simulate the operation of the media-based device in either a virtual or real-time manner; (6) allow multiple portals to make requests to a front end subsystem and to receive the integrated presentation via an API (Application Program Interface); (7) transfer the integrated presentation to a client user interface; (8) accept instructions from the client user interface in response to receiving the presentation in order to update the database and the media-based device and appliance; (9) combine the instructions received with further information obtained from the online and web-hosted services; and (10) update the media-based device and appliance with the instructions and further information combined. 
     One aspect of the computer-based communication system of the present invention enables the communication between a network computing system, a network/media-based data integration system, and a media-based computing system. In order for the network computing system to communicate with the media-based computing system through the data integration system, a set of processes embodied in an API is provided. In one embodiment, the network computing system includes web-hosted services provided over the Internet, the web-hosted services being external to the data integration system. In the same embodiment, the standalone DVR is connected to a network in the media-based computing system. The API provided in the data integration system enables a flexible approach to allow various external web portals in the network computing system to communicate with the DVRs in the media-based computing system. Furthermore, the API enables clients on the network computing system to request and to obtain the integrated presentation at the client user interfaces in unique arrangements distinctive to the local environment of the web portal. Accordingly, the API exposes the integrated presentation to be utilized by a wide range of websites for millions of users in a simple and easily accessible manner. The API encapsulates a variety of functions that facilitate creating a user account, user login, user preferences, adding a request, obtaining programming guide information, finding television programs of interest, and others to be described more specifically herein. 
     In yet another technical aspect of the present invention, the media-based computing system enables the communication of requests, data and other control input information across various networks from a DVR. The DVR is also enabled to receive commands and to send out data and status information based on commands and data received across the various networks. In particular, the DVR is enabled to be programmed from an external source (e.g., preferably through a computer-based communication system having multiple web servers) in a uniform manner. That is, instead of a conventional hand-held remote controller and the control panel disposed on the DVR being the mechanisms used to program the DVR, an external source may be used to facilitate the programming. 
     The features and advantages described in this summary and the following detailed description are not all-inclusive, and particularly, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification and claims hereof. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter, resort to the claims being necessary to determine such inventive subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1A  is a high-level block diagram of a computer-based communications system that enables the remote control of media-based devices and appliances over a communication network in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 1B  is a high-level block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the computer-based communications system of  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the computer-based communications system of  FIG. 1A  in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is block diagram of an embodiment of hardware for the client-based computer, servers, and media-based devices in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 4A  is a block diagram of the main memory unit of a client computer. 
         FIG. 4B  is a block diagram of the main memory unit of a server. 
         FIG. 4C  is a block diagram of the main memory unit of the middle tier server. 
         FIG. 4D  is a block diagram of the main memory unit of a media-based device and appliance. 
         FIG. 5  is an alternate embodiment of the computer-based communication system of  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of the main memory unit of the batch request server. 
         FIG. 7  is an exemplary class diagram of related information pertaining to a client user and a DVR. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the main memory unit of the RNS server. 
         FIG. 9  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the back end enabling the RNS servers to receive EPG data from an online source in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment for an interactive television sub-system having a digital video recorder in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for logging into and accessing the computer-based communications system of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12A  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for indicating the channel guide information. 
         FIG. 12B  is an exemplary graphical representation of drop-down menus for the user interface of  FIG. 12A . 
         FIG. 13A  is a block diagram showing the data flow throughout the computer-based communications system of  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 13B  is a sequence diagram of one implementation for login to the front end and for “batched” communication at the back end of the computer-based communications systems of  FIGS. 2 and 5 . 
         FIG. 14  is a chart listing the functions implemented on one embodiment of the API and the corresponding functions in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a chart listing the functions implemented on one embodiment of the API and the corresponding input parameters and output files. 
         FIG. 16A  is a high level illustration of one embodiment of the front end implementation in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 16B  is a data flow block diagram showing further details of API in the front end of  FIG. 16A . 
         FIG. 17  is a chart illustrating the multiple requests handled by the AddRequest routine implemented as part of an embodiment of the API. 
         FIG. 18  is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a method of implementing the mechanism to respond to user requests based on the user interface of  FIG. 12A . 
         FIG. 19A  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for indicating the Replay Guide information organized by Replay Channels. 
         FIG. 19B  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for indicating the Replay Guide information organized by Recorded Shows. 
         FIG. 20  is a flow chart illustrating one method of implementing the mechanism to respond to user requests based on the user interface illustrated in  FIG. 19A . 
         FIG. 21  is a flow chart illustrating one method of implementing the mechanism to respond to user requests based on the user interface illustrated in  FIG. 19B . 
         FIG. 22  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for performing a search on the Find Shows page. 
         FIG. 23  is a flow chart illustrating one method for implementing the mechanism to respond to user requests based on the user interface illustrated in  FIG. 22 . 
         FIG. 24A  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for indicating a single recording on the manual record page. 
         FIG. 24B  is an exemplary graphical representation of a user interface for repeated manual recording. 
         FIG. 25  is a flow chart illustrating one method for implementing the mechanism to respond to user requests based on the user interface illustrated in  FIG. 24A . 
         FIG. 26  is a flow chart illustrating one method for implementing the user login process. 
         FIG. 27  is a block diagram showing further details of an embodiment of the computer-based communications system of  FIG. 1B  in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 28  is a block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the computer-based communication system of  FIG. 1B . 
         FIG. 29  is a block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the computer-based communications systems. 
         FIG. 30  is a detailed block diagram of the computer-based communications system of  FIG. 28 . 
         FIG. 31  is high-level block diagram of a distributed architecture for a load-balanced computer-based communications system. 
     
    
    
     The figures depict a preferred embodiment of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Introduction 
     A system, method, computer medium and other embodiments for accessing, reviewing and providing selective control input over a computer-based communications system to media-based devices and appliances from client user interfaces are described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the invention with unnecessary details. 
     Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or to “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
     Some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps (instructions) leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to certain arrangements of steps requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities as (modules) code devices, without loss of generality. 
     It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated and otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
     One aspect of the present invention includes an embodiment of the process steps and instructions described herein in the form of a computer program. Alternatively, the process steps and instructions of the present invention could be embodied in firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems and applications. 
     The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability. 
     The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein, and any references below to specific languages are provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of the present invention. 
     Moreover, the present invention is claimed below as operating on or working in conjunction with an information system. Such an information system as claimed may be the entire information system for providing remote control of a digital video recorder and other media-based devices and/or appliances from browser and user interface applications in communication with a network as detailed below in the described embodiments or only portions of such a system. For example, the present invention can operate with an information system that need only be a communications network in the simplest sense to facilitate the review of program data and selections existing at the media-based devices and appliances. At the other extreme, the present invention can operate with an information system that locates, extracts and stores data from a variety of unrelated data sources and integrates such data with user control input to program and update the media-based devices and appliances as detailed below in the described embodiments or only portions of such a system. Thus, the present invention is capable of operating with any information system from those with minimal functionality, to those providing all of the functionality disclosed herein. 
     System Overview 
     Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever practicable, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     One aspect of the present invention addresses the situation where the media-based devices and appliances may not always be continuously connected to a network. To address this situation, all of the information, that is necessary for the replication of what a user would experience as if the media-based device acting as a stand-alone unit, is stored in a database. This information stored on the database, along with other sources of related information, allows the construction of an integrated presentation to be sent to a client user interface, like a browser, to simulate the operation of the media-based device functioning as if it were in a “live” (i.e., stand-alone) mode, that is, for viewing and control input. Accordingly, the present invention enables access to and control of the media-based device and/or appliance from a remote location and over a network whether or not the media-based device is participating in a communication session with a network in a peer-to-peer or periodic mode. 
     In one embodiment discussed below, when the media-based device and/or appliance periodically establishes a connection with a network and database, information is pushed and pulled between the client, database and media-based device in a “batched” processing mode. In this embodiment, the replication of data necessary to simulate using the media-based device at a client can be analogized to virtualizing the media-based device over a network. 
     With another embodiment discussed below, where the media based device establishes a peer-to-peer communication session with the client, the control input and update of the media-based device and/or appliance from a client is executed “on-the-fly”, that is, in real time enabling near instantaneous results. 
     1. An Embodiment for Remote Control of Media-Based Devices and Appliances Through Batched Processing 
     Referring now to the block diagram of  FIG. 1A , there is shown an example of a computer-based communications system  10  that enables the remote control of media-based devices and appliances over a communication network in accordance with the present invention. In the example of  FIG. 1A , communications system  10  includes a network computing system  12  coupled to a network/media-based data integration system  14  (henceforth “integration system  14 ”), which in turn, is communicatively coupled to a media-based computing system  16 . The network computing system  12  enables multiple users to communicate over a communications system  10  in order to access and control the media-based devices and appliances of media-based computing system  16  from a remote location. Media-based computing system  16  enables the media-based devices and appliances to be accessed through a network system, thereby further enhancing stand-alone capabilities of the devices and appliances. Integration system  14  provides the interface between the different networks where users and media-based devices may be in communication, and additionally provides a centralized repository for capturing, combining and integrating data from multiple sources of data and for providing the data captured to the client user interfaces and the media-based devices. 
       FIG. 2  shows a block diagram of one embodiment of a communications system  10 A having further details of the communications system  10  of  FIG. 1A . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , communications system  10 A includes a network computing system  12   a  coupled to a network/media-based data integration system  14   a , which in turn is communicatively coupled to a media-based computing system  16   a . In particular, and by way of example, network computing system  12   a  is based on a client-server computer model which enables users to access supplying-computer devices from requesting-computer devices through requests made from a user interface provided at the requesting-computer devices. As shown in  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of the client-server computer model that is well-suited for network computing system  12   a  comprises one or more client computers  18  (used interchangeably with “client applications  18 ” and “clients  18 ”) each having a user interface, e.g., like a browser  20 , to communicate  22  with network  24 . Network  24  is, in turn, communicatively coupled  26  to one or more server computers  28 - 1  to  28 - n  (referred to interchangeably as servers  28 - 1 ,  28 - 2 , . . . ,  28 - n ). For convenience in describing the present invention, reference to “server computers” will be used interchangeably with “servers.” In turn, servers  28 - 1 ,  28 - 2 , . . . ,  28 - n  are communicatively coupled to integration system  14   a , as indicated by data lines  30 . 
     Also shown in the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , media-based computing system  16   a  is similarly based upon a client-server computer model. For convenience and ease of understanding the present invention, the media-based computing system  16   a  will be referenced interchangeably herein as the “back end sub-system  16   a ,” and “back end  16   a .” As seen in the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the back end sub-system  16   a  includes a plurality of RNS servers  32  coupled  34  to a plurality of media-based devices and appliances  36 . For ease of understanding the invention and convenience, reference to “media-based devices and appliances  36 ” will interchangeably be made to “media-based devices  36 .” As will be described more specifically later, media-based devices  36  additionally include functionality to perform communication tasks similar to client computers, and RNS servers  32  are additionally designed to operate similarly to the server computers in the client-server computer model. As will be described subsequently in further detail, the RNS servers  32  may communicate with the media-based devices  36  over network  38 . 
     In between the network computing system  12   a  and the back end sub-system  16   a , the network/media-based data integration system  14   a  provides a centralized interface there-between. For convenience and ease of understanding the present invention, system  14   a  will be referenced interchangeably as the “front end sub-system  14   a ,” and “front end  14   a ,” relative to the back end sub-system  16   a . Collectively, the front end  14   a  and the back end  16   a  comprise the “My Replay TV” (MRTV) system in accordance with the present invention. In general, front end  14   a  extracts, captures, stores, and integrates information from a variety of disparate data sources and transmits the information assembled to the client user interfaces, like at browser  20 , and to the media-based devices  36 . Additionally, front end  14   a  enables data from a variety of sources to be shared across systems  12   a  and  16   a , and in doing so, facilitates user control input for media-based devices  68  over communications system  10 A. In the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the front end  14   a  includes a middle tier server  40  coupled  42  to a database  44  and to servers  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n , over data lines  30 . The database  44  is communicatively coupled  46  to a batch request server  48 , and other online sources of data, such as database  50  over data line  52  and an online service  54  over data line  56 , by way of example. Batch request server  48  is capable of communication with RNS server  32  over data line  58 , and directly over line  60  with media-based devices  36 . 
     One embodiment of network  24  in accordance with the present invention includes the Internet. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention works suitably-well with a wide variety of computer networks over numerous topologies, so long as network  24  connects the distributed clients  18  to servers  28 - 1  to  28 - n . For convenience and ease of understanding the present invention, at times, reference will be made to network  24  as the Internet  24 . However, it is noted that the present invention is not limited by the type of network described. Thus, to the extent the discussion herein identifies a particular type of network, such description is purely illustrative and is not intended to limit the applicability of the present invention to a specific type of network. For example, other public or private communication networks that can be used for network  24  include Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), intranets, extranets, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and wireless networks (i.e., with the appropriate wireless interfaces as known in the industry substituted for the hardwired communication links). Generally, these types of communication networks can in turn be communicatively coupled to other networks comprising storage devices, server computers, databases, and client computers that are communicatively coupled to other computers and storage devices. 
     Clients  18 , servers  28 - 1  to  28 - n , servers  32 ,  40  and  48  and media-based devices  36  may beneficially utilize the present invention, and may contain an embodiment of the process steps and modules of the present invention in the form of a computer program. Alternatively, the process steps and modules of the present invention could be embodied in firmware, or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems and applications. 
     A. Exemplary Embodiment for Clients 
     Each user at client  18  works with communications system  10 A to seamlessly access one or more of servers  28 - 1  through  28 - n  through network  24 . Referring now to the block diagram of  FIG. 3 , one embodiment for the client computer  18  is shown. The client computer  18  comprises a control unit  62  coupled to a display device  64 , a keyboard  66 , a control input device  68 , a network controller  70 , and an Input/Output (I/O) device  72  by a bus  74 . 
     Control unit  62  may comprise an arithmetic logic unit, a microprocessor, a general purpose computer, a personal digital assistant or some other information appliance equipped to provide electronic display signals to display device  64 . In one embodiment, control unit  62  comprises a general purpose computer having a graphical user interface, which may be generated, for example, by a program written in the Java language running on top of an operating system like the WINDOWS™ or UNIX™ based operating systems. In the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , one or more applications, electronic mail applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications, and web browser applications, generate the displays, store information, and retrieve information as part of communications system  10 A (and  10 B as will be described in detail subsequently). The control unit  62  also has other conventional connections to other systems such as a network for the distribution of files (e.g., media objects) using standard network protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP, LDAP and SMTP as will be understood by those skilled in art. 
     It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that control unit  62  may include more or less components than those shown in  FIG. 3 , without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, control unit  62  may include additional memory, such as, for example, a first or second level cache, or one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Similarly, additional components may be coupled to control unit  62  including, for example, image scanning devices, digital still or video cameras, or other devices that may or may not be equipped to capture and/or download electronic data to control unit  62 . 
     Also shown in the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , the control unit  62  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  76  (otherwise referred to interchangeably as a processor  76 ), a main memory unit  78 , and a data storage device  80 , all of which are communicatively coupled to a system bus  74 . 
     CPU  76  processes data signals and may comprise various computing architectures including a complex instruction set computer (CISC) architecture, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, or an architecture implementing a combination of instruction sets. Although only a single CPU is shown in  FIG. 3 , multiple CPUs may be included. 
     Main memory unit  78  can generally store instructions and data that may be executed by CPU  76 . Generally, main memory unit  78  may be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM) device, or some other memory device known in the art, by way of example.  FIG. 4A  shows further details of a particular embodiment of a main memory unit  78 A for a client computer  18 , by way of example. In the embodiment of  FIG. 4A , the memory unit  78 A preferably includes an Internet (web) browser application  82  ( 20 ) being of conventional type that provides access to the Internet and processes HTML, DHTML, XML, XSL, or other mark-up language to generate images on the display device  64 . As is known in the art, a web browser facilitates the viewing of a web page on the Internet, wherein a user enters a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the web page or clicks on a hyperlink to the web page. By doing so, the web page itself is fetched from the appropriate web server. Several examples of web browser applications  82  include the Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. The main memory unit  78 A also includes a network application program  85  and optionally a client program  86  to enable communication between the client computer  18  and the servers  28 - 1  to  28 - n . Network application  85  functions with network controller  70  to establish communication between client  18  and network  24 . Client program  86  may function with browser  82  for creating, editing, moving, adding, searching, removing and/or viewing information related to the media-based devices  36  (unless browser  82  includes such functionality) described in accordance with the present invention. The memory unit  78 A may also include one or more application programs  87 , including without limitation, word processing applications, electronic mail applications, and spreadsheet applications. Also, main memory unit  78 A includes an Operating System (OS)  84 . For example, OS  84  may be of conventional type such as WINDOWS™ 98/2000 based operating systems. In other embodiments, the present invention may additionally be used in conjunction with any computer network operating system (NOS), which is an operating system used to manage network resources. A NOS may manage multiple inputs or requests concurrently and may provide the security necessary in a multi-user environment. An example of an NOS that is completely self-contained includes WINDOWS™ NT manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in general, main memory unit  78 A may include other features than those illustrated. The instructions and data may comprise code devices for performing any and all of the techniques described herein. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 3 , data storage device  80  stores data and instructions for CPU  76  and may comprise one or more devices including a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD-ROM device, a DVD-ROM device, a DVD-RAM device, a DVD-RW device, a flash memory device, or some other mass storage device known in the art. 
     System bus  74  represents a shared bus for communicating information and data through control unit  62 . System bus  74  may represent one or more buses including an industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), or some other bus known in the art to provide similar functionality. 
     Additional components coupled to control unit  62  through system bus  74  will now be described, and which include display device  64 , a keyboard  66 , a control input device  68 , a network controller  70 , and an I/O device  72 . Display device  64  represents any device equipped to display electronic images and data as described herein. Display device  64  may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or any other similarly equipped display device, screen or monitor. Alternatively, other embodiments of display device  64  corresponding to the alternative embodiments of client  18 , can include by way of example, the touch panel Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and the display screen of a cellular phone. 
     Keyboard  66  represents an alpha-numeric input device coupled to control unit  62  to communicate information and command selections to CPU  76 . Control input device  68  represents a user input device equipped to communicate positional data as well as command selections to CPU  76 . Control input device  68  may include a mouse, a trackball, a stylus, a pen, a touch screen, cursor direction keys, joystick, touchpad, or other mechanisms to cause movement of a cursor. Network controller  70  links control unit  62  to network  24  and may include network I/O adapters for enabling connection to multiple processing systems. The network of processing systems may comprise a LAN, WAN, and any other interconnected data path across which multiple devices may communicate. 
     One or more input/output devices  72  are coupled to system bus  74 . For example, I/O device  72  could be an audio device equipped to receive audio input and transmit audio output. Audio input may be received through various devices including a microphone within I/O device  72  and network controller  70 . Similarly, audio output may originate from various devices including CPU  76  and network controller  70 . In one embodiment, I/O device  72  is a general purpose audio add-in expansion card designed for use within a general purpose computer. Optionally, I/O device  72  may contain one or more analog-to-digital or digital-to-analog converters, and/or one or more digital signal processors to facilitate audio processing. 
     Having described one embodiment for the hardware of client computer  18 , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments exist for client  18 , besides the computer hardware shown in  FIG. 3 . Such alternative embodiments that may be substituted for client  18  can include portable hand held devices that are processor-based, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art. By way of example, several portable hand held devices that may be substituted for client  18  include PDAs, two-way pagers, email terminals, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and mobile/cellular phones. When such alternative embodiments are utilized with the present invention, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the user interface, communication medium and protocol adapters described for the embodiment of  FIG. 3  should be modified to comply with the corresponding media-enabled portable wireless devices. For example, the present invention also has described embodiments for a set of protocol adapters that interface to a variety of Internet protocols, including but not limited to, HTML, DHTML, POP3, SMTP, SNMP, FTP, NFS, IMAP, NNTP, and WAP. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that web browsers  20 ,  82  may be modified to be used on media-enabled portable wireless devices in connection with the corresponding communication protocol. Further, it will be apparent that data flow lines  22  would correspondingly represent a wireless communication medium (e.g., radio frequency signals, infrared signals) as appropriate for wireless transmission of signals. 
     B. Exemplary Embodiment for Server Computers 
     Referring now to the block diagrams of  FIGS. 3 and 4B , the servers  28 - 1  through  28 - n  included in the embodiment of network computing system  12   a  will be described in more detail. For convenience and ease of understanding the invention, reference will interchangeably be made to “servers  28 ” to generically describe features of servers  28 - 1  through  28 - n . Also for convenience, like reference numerals have been used for similar components used in both the client computer  18 , and the servers  28 . Servers  28  are generally responsible for presenting the front end  14   a  of computer system  10 A to a user at the client  18 . In one embodiment, servers  28  may be web portals, which is defined to mean a web “supersite” that provides a variety of online services. Alternatively, servers  28  may be web-sites provided by and/or web-hosted by unrelated entities and system administrators. These particular embodiments are well-suited for the situation when network  24  is the Internet. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , server  28  preferably includes a display  64 , a keyboard  66 , a control input device  68 , a first network controller and interface (I/F)  70 , an I/O device  72 , and a second network controller and interface (I/F)  73 , coupled together via bus  74 . Server  28  further includes a control unit  62  having a processor  76 , memory unit  78 , and a data storage device  80  also coupled to bus  74 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first network controller and I/F  70  is communicatively coupled via  26  to the network  24 , and ultimately to client  18 . The second network controller and I/F  73  is communicatively coupled to the front end  14   a , and as shown in  FIG. 2 , by data line  30 . The processing unit  76  processes data signals and may comprise various computing architectures including CISC or RISC architecture, or an architecture implementing a combination of instruction sets. In one embodiment, server  28  includes a multiple processor system having a main memory unit  78 B, as will be described in  FIG. 4B . As an example, a WINDOWS™ NT/2000 server can be used for server  28 , while other multiple processor systems may work suitably well with the present invention, including the Dell  1800  made and sold by Dell Computer Corporation. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4B ; further details of a particular embodiment of a main memory unit  78 B for a server  28  are shown, by way of example. In the embodiment of  FIG. 4B , the memory unit  78 B preferably comprises an operating system  88 , other applications  90 , server application programs  92  (“servers  92 ”), and a “front end” server application  94 , all communicatively coupled together via system bus  74 . Server  92  may be any conventionally, known server application, like for example, an Apache HTTP server. Front end server application  94  is an interface for establishing communication with the middle tier server  40  by sending and receiving requests and data to the API, which will be described subsequently. In general, servers  28  may host front end  14   a  and are typically external websites relative to systems  14   a  and  16   a . Because servers  28  can represent a variety of general purpose websites, some functioning as a “supersite” that provide various online services, while others being for more limited purposes, for convenience and to avoid obscuring the invention with unnecessary details, reference to servers  28  will interchangeably be made herein to “web portals  280 .” The memory unit  78 B may also include one or more other application programs  90  including, without limitation, word processing applications, electronic mail applications, and spreadsheet applications. A network application module  98  is part of network controller  70  which enables server  28  to communicate with network  24  over lines  26 . Optionally, a browser  96  may be included. As noted above, the memory unit  78 B stores instructions and/or data that may be executed by processing unit  76 . The instructions and/or data may comprise code for performing any and/or all of the techniques described herein. These modules  88 ,  90 ,  92 ,  94 , and  96  in addition to others not specifically shown, are coupled by system bus  74  to the processing unit  76  for communication and cooperation to provide the functionality of the server  28 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that while the present invention will now be described as modules or portions of the memory unit  78 B of a computer system, the module or portions may also be stored in other media such as permanent data storage and may be distributed across a network having a plurality of different computers such as in a client/server environment. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , in accordance with the present invention, network  24  enables the communication between multiple components of servers  28  and clients  18 , as well as other devices, which may or may not be co-located, but may be distributed for convenience, security or other reasons. To facilitate the communication between client  18  and server  28 , a client-server computer network operating system (NOS) may be used for operating system  88  in memory unit  78 B of  FIG. 4B  to manage network resources. An NOS can manage multiple inputs or requests concurrently and may provide the security necessary in a multi-user environment. Operating system  88  can include, for example, a NOS of conventional type such as a WINDOWS™ NT/2000, and UNIX™ used with the Microsystem SOLARIS™ computing environment. Another conventional type of operating system that may be used with the present invention includes LINUX™ based operating systems. 
     C. Exemplary Embodiment for the Front End 
     Still referring to the block diagram of  FIG. 2 , more details about an embodiment of the front end  14   a  will now be discussed. Front end  14   a  includes a middle tier server  40 , to which servers  28  communicate with. Front end  14   a  further includes a database  44  coupled  42  to the middle tier server  40 , which in turn, is coupled  46  to a server  48  for providing information from the front end  14   a  to the back end  16   a  in “batches,” (i.e., periodically). Various other databases  50  and online data sources  54  are in communication ( 52  and  56 , respectively) with database  44 . 
     Prior to describing other aspects of the present invention in detail, several definitions will now be introduced in the context of a particular embodiment of the present invention, where the media-based devices  36  are DVRs  37 . By way of example, in a particular implementation where media-based devices  36  are DVRs  37 , database  44  stores at least: 1) for every DVR  37 , a list of configured channels; and 2) Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data for all channels by national broadcasters. Although the particular embodiment of DVR  37  will be discussed in more detail subsequently with reference to  FIG. 10 , the following definitions are now provided by way of illustration and for ease of understanding the invention. 
     The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is defined to mean television (TV) guide data represented in electronic form, and provided from an online data source, like for example, Tribune Media Services (TMS), as will be discussed subsequently with respect to the TMS FTP server  112  of  FIG. 5 . As conventionally known, FTP is defined to mean File Transfer Protocol. In general, the EPG includes a broadcast schedule of television, cable, and pay-per-view shows offered by national broadcasters. An exemplary representation of the EPG data is the Replay Guide that is shown in  FIGS. 19A-B . 
     The Channel Guide is defined to mean a listing of all shows assembled from the EPG that will be broadcast, as will be discussed in further detail subsequently with reference to  FIG. 12A , showing one exemplary list of configured channels includes the Channel Guide  190 . The Channel Guide contains a list of channel lineup indicating the actual channels to be selected by the user to appear in the Replay Guide. In general, the Channel Guide is an interactive on-screen program guide that lists upcoming and past programs broadcast. 
     The Replay Guide is defined to mean those shows that have been selected by the user to be recorded as they are broadcast, and that are either stored or to be stored in memory, as will be further described with reference to  FIG. 19B . In general, the Replay Guide includes user-created record channels and current recorded shows. Replay Show is defined to mean a particular view of the Replay Guide, wherein for each program to be recorded, a distinct Replay Channel is assigned, as will be further described with reference to  FIG. 19A . 
     Replay Channel is defined to mean a particular view of the Replay Guide, indicating descriptions associated with pending and completed program recording requests invoked according to either a search-based criteria or the Channel Guide criteria, as will be further described with reference to  FIG. 12A . A Replay Channel may include a collection of Replay Shows. 
     The Replay Zone is defined to mean television and video programming organized by categories selected by the user. 
     i. Middle Tier Server 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the middle tier server  40  is communicatively coupled to least one database  44 , as indicated by data line  42 . Furthermore, middle tier server  40  is communicatively coupled to servers  28  as indicated by data lines  30 . User requests originated by clients  18  and communicated through servers  28  are received at the middle tier server  40 . The requests are processed by server  40  according to a set of functions preferably embodied in an API  264 , as will be discussed with respect to  FIG. 16B . For convenience and to provide further clarification in distinguishing between multiple sets of APIs used throughout system  10 A, reference to the API residing on the middle tier server  40  will interchangeably be made to the MyReplayTV (MRTV) API  264 . In general, the API  264  can be accessed by servers  28  through HTTP calls that are received by the middle tier server  40 . As will be described in more detail subsequently, the API  264  includes the: (1) procedural and functional calls, parameters, and formatting specifications to enable data transfers amongst the interactive media-based devices  36  and  37  and the web portals  28  through the front end subsystem  14   a ; and (2) the software used on the middle tier server  40  to create a virtual representation of an operational DVR  68 B in an integrated presentation to be presented to a client  18 . The API  264  also enables the external devices in the network computing system  12   a  to access information throughout the front end  14   a  and to communicate with the back end  16   a.    
     More details of the particular implementation of the middle tier server  40  shown in  FIG. 2  are illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The middle tier server  40  may have the general hardware structure described with respect to client  18  and server  28  as seen in  FIG. 3 . It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that like reference numerals are used in  FIG. 3  for describing the general hardware of the middle tier server  40  primarily for convenience and so as not to obscure the invention with unnecessary details. To this end, server  40  includes a control unit  62  having a processor  76 , main memory  78 , and data storage device  80 . Control unit  62  is coupled via bus  74  to a display device  64 , keyboard  66 , control input device  68 , one or more network controllers  70  and  73 , and I/O device  72 . 
     A particular embodiment of main memory unit  78 C is shown in  FIG. 4C  for the middle tier server  40 . Main memory  78 C includes an operating system  88  as already described, and includes server tools, such as, Java servlets  100  running on an Apache web server  102  with a Tomcat (servlet) server. Tomcat, is a reference implementation combining the Java servlet  100  and JavaServer Pages™ (JSP)  104  specifications which can run in standalone mode or be integrated into the Apache web server  102 . By using Tomcat, an operational definition for the Enterprise Java™ JSP  104  and servlet  100  drives the Application Programming Interface (API)  264  provided in accordance with the present invention. Java servlets  100  can be written to run on middle tier server  40  that accept requests via HTTP format and to transmit data in XML format to and from database  44 . These Java servlets  100  provide functionality for converting the XML files into data that can be stored in database  44 , and for extracting data from database  44 , converting the extracted data into XML before sending the converted data to an external client  18  via web servers  28 . It is preferable that the Java servlets  100 , incorporating the functions of database interactions and the conversion of data format to XML, be shared between the Java applications that run on the RNS servers  32  and the Java servlets  100  that run on the middle tier server  40 . The memory unit  78 C for the middle tier server  40  can further include applications in the nature of Java applets  106 , CGI scripts  108 , database interface applications  110  and other applications  90  (as previously described). Generally, the API  264  executes under the control of the Java servlets  100 . The Apache web server  102  is capable of generating an HTTP page having a virtual representation of the control-input interface of DVR  37  and for display on browser  20  and  82 . 
     The database interface applications  110  are one or more programs that include functionality for accessing, storing, and extracting data from a wide variety of relational computing systems such as databases, and which may be implemented by conventionally known techniques. For example, the database interface applications module  110  can be embodied as a program for extracting and defining schema from any relational data sources that can be reached using Object Linking and Embedding DataBase (OLE DB), Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC), and/or Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) software drivers. 
     It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that memory unit  78 C may include more or less components than those shown in  FIG. 4C  without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     ii. Online Services and Databases 
     The database  44  in  FIG. 2  will now be described more specifically. Database  44  represents any relational database system, table or view. Preferably, any OLE DB, ODBC, or JDBC compliant database is well-suited to work with the present invention. Although a single database  44  is shown in  FIG. 2 , multiple heterogeneous databases may be included. Examples of such databases include: Microsoft SQL server, Oracle, Informix, DB2, Sybase and Microsoft Access. Both the middle tier server  40  and the batch request server  48  may store and extract data from database  44 . For example, one manner of extracting information as indicated by data flow line  42  is using JDBC to access user profile information from the database  44 . 
     Database  44  stores information received from various sources, like for example, an online service  54  coupled thereto by line  56 . One particular online service is provided by Tribune Media Services (TMS), and is shown in the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , where a TMS FTP server  112  provides a feed to the MPREG module  114  of electronic programming guide (EPG) data into database  44 , as will be described in more detail subsequently. A Cruncher module  116  may be provided to load selected EPG data into the DVR  37  via RNS server  32 . Optionally, other databases may be coupled to database  44  to provide specific types of information to database  44 , as indicated by data line  52 . For example, a user authentication database  50  may be included in front end  14   a  to authenticate users against a collection of personal profile information. One particular proprietary user authentication database  50  that may work suitably well with the present invention is a Silknet™ database. It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that additional online sources of data, including third-party search engines and other online content-providers, may provide additional information (e.g., content, broadcast, show and movie clips, chat rooms, etc. . . . ) to database  44  for integration with existing information, functions, features and services. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , database  44  is coupled to a batch request server  48  as shown by line  46 . It will be appreciated that numerous configurations of databases may work suitably well with the present invention, in addition to the particular implementation shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , where database  44  is configured as a hub that is communicatively coupled to other sources of information for receiving information to be combined with other data stored therein. 
     iii. Batch Request Server 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 5 , server  48  will now be discussed in detail, with occasional reference made to  FIGS. 13A-B . For convenience and ease of understanding the invention, server  48  will be referenced interchangeably with the “batch request server  48 .” Server  48  is provided for “batching” requests, meaning that periodically a communication session is established between database  44  and server  48  to pull data from the database  44  to the server  48  and/or to push data from server  48  to database  44 . Additionally, periodic sessions are established between batch request server  48  and the RNS servers  32  to exchange data there between. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the particular embodiment of server  48  in  FIGS. 2 and 5  provides “batched” communications between the front end  14   a  and the back end  16   a , rather than a continuous real-time communication session directly between media-based devices  36  and the database  44  in a load-balanced distributed communication system as will be described in another embodiment subsequently. 
     One aspect of providing “batch” communications with server  48  is to minimize the possibility of impacting the reliability of the RNS servers  32  as the number of media-based devices  36  scales upward. It is noted that there are a variety of ways to preserve the reliability of the RNS servers  32 . As will become apparent to those skilled in the art, batch request server  48  can include similar components in  FIG. 3 , a description of which has already been described. 
     One particular implementation of batch request server  48  will now be discussed, by way of example, with reference to  FIG. 6 . In  FIG. 6 , a block diagram of a main memory unit  120  is shown of a batch request server  48  having software modules therein that facilitate the “batch” processing functions described herein. As seen in  FIG. 6 , main memory unit  120  includes a first module  122  for “pushing” data to the media-based devices  36  through the RNS servers  32 . In order to accomplish this function, module  122  can be designed to query  243  the database  44  in order to extract  245  data in the nature of all of the media-based devices  36  that have been registered to use systems  10 A and  10 B. A convenient parameter for discerning the registration data extracted is by way of tracking serial numbers associated with each device  36 . 
     To provide further illustration, an implementation of module  122  will now be discussed. Module  122  may be embodied as a script and invoked as a CRON job, resulting with the extracted data placed into a BereklyDB file. More specifically, with this particular example, the CRON job can run a Java program: that periodically queries database  44  for transaction information concerning the devices  36  that converts each transaction into an XML snippet; and that constructs a single-indexed BerkelyDB file containing all transactions since the last query arranged by serial number of the media-based devices  36 . The BerkelyDB file preferably includes the transactions for all devices  36  formatted in XML. Once the data has been extracted, module  122  pushes  247  the BereklyDB file to all RNS servers  32  using the RSYNC command and as described further during a discussion regarding Load Sharing Servers. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 6 , batch request server  46  may further include a second module  124  for pushing transactions to the RNS servers  32 . Second module  124  can be designed to query database  44  for a list of pending transactions for all of the media-based devices  36 . Similar to module  122 , module  124  can be embodied as a script and invoked as a CRON job, having the extracted data being placed in a BerkelyDB file. The file can then be pushed to all of the RNS servers  32 . 
     Main memory unit  120  can include a third module  126  that functions to monitor a particular folder for a file that the batch request server  48  pulls from the RNS servers  32 . The particular folder preferably includes all of the transaction result files assembled from all of the RNS servers  32 . Third module  126  preferably includes a Java program to convert the format of the result files into XML formatted data, which may be stored in database  44 . Similar to modules  122  and  124 , third module  126  can be embodied as a script and invoked as a CRON job that periodically collects the transaction result files using the RSYNC command. 
     D. Exemplary Embodiment for the Back End 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , communicatively coupled to the front end  14   a  is a backend sub-system  16   a  which in one embodiment comprises one or more media-based devices  36  coupled to the front end  14   a . In another embodiment, a plurality of media-based devices  36  are coupled to at least one of a plurality of load sharing servers  32 , which in turn, communicate with the front end  14   a . More details of these embodiments are discussed below. 
     i. Load Sharing Servers 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment is shown of a back end  16   a  having a plurality of media-based devices  36  each being communicatively coupled to the front end  14   a  as indicated by control data line  60 . This embodiment works suitably well for a limited number of media-based devices. As larger volumes of media-based devices  36  are provided, back end  16   a  must be modified to accommodate the increased communication traffic and loads. 
     With another embodiment of back end  16   a , a mechanism for undertaking load-balancing of the communication between front end  14   a  and a plurality of media-based devices  68  will now be discussed in detail gill referring to  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the back end sub-system  16   a  includes a plurality of media-based devices  36  that are in communication with at least one of a plurality of load sharing servers  32 . For convenience and by way of example, reference will be made interchangeably to the load sharing servers  32  as Replay Network Service (RNS) servers  32 . As will become evident from the discussion below, one technical benefit of RNS servers  32  is that they enable the system  10 A to scale to large volumes of media-based devices  36  while providing flexibility and the expandability required for deploying a diverse set of applications. 
     With regard to control/data line  34 , although each media-based device  36  can be directly coupled to an RNS server  32 , a preferred manner is to communicatively couple media-based devices  36  over a network  38  (shown in broken line) to the RNS servers  32 . By doing so, back end  16   a  functions as a distributed sub-system of media-based devices  36 . Data communication line  58  indicates that the RNS servers  32  are coupled to the front end  14   a  through the batch request server  48 . It is noted that the present invention works suitably well without servers  32 , but as the number of media-based devices  36  increases, servers  32  become beneficial for providing load balancing. That is, as the number of media-based device  36  and DVRs  37  increase, a single RNS server  32  can easily become overloaded, and thereby result in a failure of network communications. 
     In the same embodiment, back end sub-system  16   a  can be analogized to a client-server computer model which enables the media-based devices  36  to access the RNS servers  32  over a network  38 , which in one implementation may be the Internet. Back end sub-system  16   a  comprises a distributed set of RNS servers  32 , which are load-balanced, for example, by using a load balancing Domain Naming Service (DNS) server. A DNS server is a directory service whose general function is to facilitate a mapping of Internet host names to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses with a complete fault tolerance system, as is known in the art. Furthermore, a plurality of load-balanced DNS servers can be web-hosted at different server farms on the Internet; and DVRs  37  can be directed to the appropriate server farm on the Internet based on a random algorithm which is intended to be replaced with one that is geographically optimized. 
     As described herein, there are several ways the communication between the RNS servers  32  and the DVRs  37  may be established. The flow of data there between may be categorized based on the pull, push or broadcast models. The pull model is defined to mean that each DVR  37  connects (e.g., dials into) periodically to a RNS server  32  looking to upload requests being transmitted from the front end  14   a . The requests received by the DVR  37  may be placed in a “to do” list. Although an exemplary particular implementation of the pull model will be discussed subsequently, the implementation of the pull model at a higher level of abstraction may generally include the following interactions between the DVR  37  and the RNS servers  32 : modem negotiation between the DVR  37  and the RNS servers  32  to establish a session; a Peer-to-Peer Point negotiation; a URL request being made by the DVR  37 ; data transfer; and conclusion of the session. By contrast, the push model is defined to mean that RNS servers  32  initiate contact with the DVR  37  to download requests transmitted from the front end  14   a  in the nature of recording instructions. For example, using the same PPP connection as in the pull model, when called, the DVR  37  can engage in a session with the RNS server  32 , for example, if a caller identification matches a predetermined RNS server  32 . Alternatively, broadcast tagged recording instructions may be used. For example, the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) can be used to embed instructions into the broadcast datastream. If a DVR  37  detects its tag (e.g., serial number), the DVR  37  stores associated instructions in its “to do” list. In this embodiment, the DVR  37  should preferably be constantly tuned to a specific broadcast channel in order to receive the data broadcast by the RNS servers  32 . 
     There are several ways in which the RNS servers  32  may obtain information from front end  14   a  or from other online data sources, the information being ultimately provided to the DVRs  37 . These alternatives will now be discussed. First, referring to the communication system of  FIG. 2 , the front end  14   a  may push data through the batch request server  48  to the RNS servers  32  over data line  58 . On a periodic basis, the batch request servers  48  push a database of all of the pending requests to all of the RNS servers  32 . In one implementation, the pending requests can be contained in a BerkelyDB file. Additionally, another BerkelyDB file can include a list of all of the users who have registered their corresponding DVR  37  for use over systems  10 A and  10 B. When a DVR  37  sends an HTTP request with a corresponding serial number embedded therein to an RNS server  32 , a determination is made as to whether the DVR  37  has been configured to intemperate with systems  10 A and  10 B. As described herein, the DVR  37  is capable of instructing the RNS server  32  to provide a list of pending requests by sending a URL to the RNS server  32 . 
     As will become apparent to those skilled in the art, RNS request server  32  can include similar components in  FIG. 3 , a description of which has already been described. One particular implementation of a main memory unit  130  for RNS server  32  will now be discussed, by way of example, with reference to  FIG. 8 . When a DVR  37  first establishes a session with the RNS server  32 , a URL is sent from the DVR  37  with the serial number embedded therein to the RNS server  32 . As seen in  FIG. 8 , main memory unit  130  includes a first module  132  providing the functionality of verifying whether the DVR  37  is properly registered to interoperate with the systems  10 A and  10 B. By way of example, module  132  can be implemented as a CGI written in Perl script that analyzes the BereklyDB file (containing a list of serial numbers for all DVRs that have registered) to match the serial number embedded in the HTTP request therewith. 
     Additionally, the DVR  37  can send another URL to the RNS server  32  requesting a list of responses. A second module  134  provides the functionality of determining and extracting the pending requests for the particular DVR  37 . By way of example, module  134  can be implemented as a CGI written in Peri script that analyzes the BereklyDB file to match the serial number embedded in the HTTP request with a list of pending requests. Upon locating the pending requests, module  134  extracts the relevant information and transmits it to the DVR  37  of interest. 
     Also, the DVR  37  can send another URL to a particular RNS server  32  indicating a list responses to the requests received from the RNS server  32 . When the list of responses is received by the RNS server  32 , another module  136  is included to concatenate the responses into a response log file. Third module  136  may also be implemented as a CGI written as a Perl script. It will be appreciated that the response log file concatenates responses from many DVRs  37 , and can grow considerably large in as the distributed back end  16   a  scales upward. Accordingly and periodically, the RNS server  32  pushes the response log file to the database  44  through the batch request server  48 . This enables database  44  to be updated with responses, that can include by way of example, a new channel lineup, a new Replay Guide, a list of requests that the particular DVR  37  has successfully processed, and corresponding errors. To implement the push function, by way of example, a standard UNIX command that invokes a CRON job can be included to execute periodically (e.g., every 15 minutes), thereby pushing the concatenated list to the batch request server  48 . As is conventionally, known by those familiar with UNIX, a CRON job handles the execution of shell command lines at specified intervals. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , another embodiment of the communications system  10 B is shown.  FIG. 5  is similar to  FIG. 2 , except for the addition of the TMS FTP server  112  coupled to the converter module  116  (referred to interchangeably as the Cruncher module  116 ) and to the MREPG module  114 . The TMS FTP Server  112  is an online data source of programming data which is translated into a localized EPG format. The EPG retrieved from server  112  is transmitted to database  44 , while selected portions of the EPG are transmitted to the DVR  37  via the Cruncher module  16  and the RNS server  32 . 
     Referring to the block diagram of  FIG. 9 , the data flow of selected EPG data from the TMS FTP server  112  to DVR  37  is shown, wherein such EPG data is pushed from TMS FPT server  112  towards the RNS server  32  through the Cruncher  116 . In one implementation, the Cruncher module  116  periodically collects EPG data from the TMS FTP server  112 , constructs the Channel Guide and ReplayZone data, and feeds such information to the RNS servers  32 . In the particular implementation, the Cruncher  116  can be designed to run a CRON job that periodically wakes up and downloads TMS data files from server  112 . The Cruncher  116  can be implemented using scripts (e.g., Perl scripts) that “crunch” (i.e., decompose) the EPG files into many individual files in a format suitable for the DVR  37 . These formatted files can also include SUZUKI data inserted therein. SUZUKI data includes a collection of genre-based shows having identification tags associated therewith. These tags can in turn be used by system  10 B to filter certain genres of show for the user to select, referenced for convenience as the Replay Zones feature. Under the control of the Cruncher  116 , an RSYNC command known in UNIX can be used to distribute these files to the RNS servers  32 . As conventionally known, the RSYNC command allows the transfer of data using a secure channel. 
     With either the push, pull or broadcast models described herein, the RNS servers  32  are a distributed load-balanced set of servers that receive these files from the Cruncher  116  and receive requests from front end  14   a . When an Internet connection is established between the DVRs  37  and the corresponding RNS server  32 , the DVRs  37  receive the data stored in the RNS server  32 . For example, every show in the Channel Guide is associated with a unique definition specified therewith that is pushed from the front end  14   a  to DVR  37 . The DVR  37  matches this data based on other data it receives from the Cruncher module  116 . The DVR  37  includes a list of program data in its Channel Guide, and based upon the matching and the data received from the Cruncher  116 , constructs its Channel Guide. 
     Regarding the upload of EPG data to the database  44 , the MREPG module  114  comprises a batched process implemented by software and that extracts data from the TMS FTP server  112  to update database  44 . The MREPG module  114  is responsible for providing the TV program guide content to the database  44 . Module  114  also provides a search feature allowing users to find shows based on their title, description and/or credits. Furthermore, module  114  also is responsible for maintaining the EPG data in database  44  and keeping such data up-to-date based on the TMS feed. The Channel Guide that is sent to browser  20  is constructed from EPG data from database  44 , and that is loaded by the MREPG module  114 . The DVR  37  has a Channel Guide that is constructed by the Cruncher module  116  and loaded through the RNS server  32 . Accordingly, there are two versions of the Channel Guide, one in database  44  and the other in the DVR  37 , albeit both originating from the TMS FTP server  112 . The reason for this dual loading of TMS data in database  44  and in the DVR  37  for the Channel Guide is for the purpose of providing only necessary Channel Guide data to the DVR  37  so as to prevent unnecessary memory allocation thereon. 
     Reference is now made to an implementation shown in  FIG. 9 , where a Log-Mill module  140  collects all of the logs from the DVRs  37 , each of which includes a system log file that accumulates administrative system tasks. As this system log file grows in size, it is archived from the data storage of the DVR  37  to free up memory space. An application can be included on DVR  37  to upload the system log file to the RNS server  32 . Once the system log file is uploaded to the RNS server  32 , Log-Mill application module  140  can archive it ( 257 ,  259  in  FIG. 13B ) to a database  142 . One example of doing so is for the Log-Mill module  140  to execute a CRON job that periodically wakes up to use the RSYNC routine to retrieve the system log files distributed across all RNS servers  32 , that coalesces them, and that feeds them to database  142 . It will be appreciated that database  142  may be separate from database  44 . In one example where database  142  is provided from Oracle, a SQL*Load command is invoked by the Log-Mill module  140  to archive the system log files in the database as entries. Archiving the system log file enables usage tracking, that is, tracking the number of users utilizing certain features of the DVR  37 . The Log-Mill is also useful for collecting information used for statistical calculations, billing, establishing projections, and targeting advertising, products, and content. 
     ii. Media-Based Devices and Appliances 
     The media-based devices and appliances  36  will now be discussed in more detail by referring to a general embodiment of the hardware shown in  FIG. 3 , by way of example, and occasionally to  FIGS. 13A-B . For convenience and ease of understanding the invention, like reference numerals are referenced for similar components previously described regarding  FIG. 3 , a portion of which are applicable to media-based device and appliances  36 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , media based device  36  includes a control input device  68 , a first network controller and interface (I/F)  70 , and an I/O device  72 , coupled together via bus  74 . Optionally, media-based device  36  can optionally be coupled to or include a display device  64 , and can optionally include a second network controller and interface (I/F)  73 , and a keyboard  66  coupled together via bus  74 . It will be appreciated that device  36  can include more or less components than those explicitly described here. Media-based device  36  further includes a control unit  62  having a processor  76 , memory unit  78 , and a data storage device  80  also coupled to bus  74 . 
     According to one implementation of  FIGS. 2 and 5 , a first network controller and I/F  70  may facilitate the communicative coupling of the media based device  36  to the batch request server  48  of front end  14   a  over data line  60 . Optionally, a second network controller and I/F  73  may be coupled to other network and devices not explicitly shown. The processing unit  76  processes data signals and may comprise various computing architectures as already discussed with respect to clients  18  and servers  28 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4D , further details of a particular embodiment of a main memory unit  78 D for a media-based device  36  are shown. In the embodiment of  FIG. 4D , the memory unit  78 D preferably comprises an operating system  84 , other applications  87 , and a network application  85 , the functions of which have already been described. Main memory unit  78 D further includes a video capture engine  150 , a transaction handler (application) program  152 , and a request handler (application) program  154  all communicatively coupled together via system bus  74 . Optionally, a browser  82  may be included. 
     As noted above, the main memory unit  78 D stores instructions and/or data that may be executed by processing unit  76 . The instructions and/or data may comprise code for performing any and/or all of the techniques described herein. These modules  82 ,  84 ,  85 ,  87 ,  150 ,  152 , and  154 , in addition to others not specifically shown, are coupled by system bus  74  to the processing unit  76  for communication and cooperation to provide the functionality of the media-based device  36 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that while the present invention will now be described as modules or portions of the memory unit  78 D of a computer-based system, the module or portions may also be stored in other media such as permanent data storage and may be distributed across a network having a plurality of different computers such as in a client/server environment. 
     In general, it is noted that media-based device  36  may include the functionality described with respect to  FIG. 4D , or equivalent, as well as additional functionality not explicitly shown. The present invention can be implemented in a wide range of devices and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Examples of media-based devices  36  can include, but are not limited to home appliances, interactive televisions, portable network televisions, portable networked devices having television functionality, or set-top applications and devices. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , one type of set-top device that is well-suited for use with the present invention is shown and embodied as an interactive television sub-system  160  comprising a Digital Video Recorder (DVR)  37 , such as those available from ReplayTV, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., by way of example. For convenience, the DVR  37  will be interchangeably used with a “video replay system  37 .” In the example of  FIG. 4 , the DVR  37  is coupled to television-based display device  162  for viewing broadcast content (i.e., programs) from a broadcast provider  164 . Program  166  (e.g., a television program) is received from a national broadcaster  164  and is passed to the display device  162 , along with other content, data and control data  168  (e.g., such as ads, programming guides, and control input from a network). 
     Referring back to  FIGS. 3 and 4D , the DVR  37  is a client-based system having similar functionality to that previously described with client  18 . For example, DVR  37  includes a data storage device  80 , such as a hard drive, which is used to store the incoming program signal  166 . The saved signal can then be viewed at a later time or can be viewed immediately from the storage medium  80 . The DVR  37  includes a processor  76  and a memory unit  78 D (or similar components used to direct the functionality of the unit) and implements the described functions for the particular device  37 . Further, DVR  37  can make decisions when disconnected from the initial source of content  166 , that is, when functioning as a stand-along device. 
     In one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, the DVR  37  receives control information  168  over a network as indicated by data line  34  from a network server, which in a particular embodiment is described herein as the load-sharing “RNS” servers  32 . Control lines  34  indicate that a communication link is present coupling the DVRs  37  to the respective RNS server  32 . Content information  166  can include, but is not limited to, electronic advertisements, electronic program guides, authentication information, control input originating from a client  18 , and other types of data from online sources and databases described herein. In response, DVR  37  can transmit control information  168 , such as advertisement impressions, accounting information, and updated programming and profile information to the servers  32  and  48 . It should be understood that the sub-system  160  can receive various types of programming, including but not limited to cable content, television content, high definition TV content, digital TV content, pay per view content, and content broadcasted over a network, including the Internet. It should also be understood that display device  162  can be any appropriate type of display device, including but not limited to a digital or analog television set, an Internet appliance, a cellular device, or a wireless device. The DVR  37  and the display device  162  may be separate physical devices as shown, integrated together, or broken into even more functional units than shown. 
     It will be understood that one implementation of the DVR  37  includes a telephone line to implement one or more of control lines  34  and  60 . For example, such control lines  34  and  60  can include an RJ-45 (Registered Jack-45) connector, and in other implementations, can include an Ethernet connection or Token Ring Type 3 communications. In the system  10 A shown in  FIG. 2 , the information  168  is passed to and from the DVR  37  on a regular basis (e.g., such as every 24 hours) as will be described in the “batched” mode operation. Other implementations use an Internet connection as data control line  34  and  60  and connect regularly or on a more frequent basis. For example, in the additional embodiment of system  108  shown in  FIG. 5 , the information  168  is passed between the DVR  37  and the client  18  in a real-time mode, with near instantaneous results. Still, other embodiments of control lines  34  and  60  may be a wireless communication medium as will be known in the art. 
       FIG. 10  also shows a remote control device  170 , which is used to control the sub-system  160 . Typically, DVR  37  will also include control input in the form of a touch panel disposed on the housing of the device. As will be described subsequently, one aspect of the present invention comprises the user control of the media-based device  36  being enabled over communication systems  10 A and  10 B. For example, in a particular embodiment, the sub-system  160  can be controlled over the Internet. 
     The context in which the described embodiment operates is with an individual user&#39;s DVR  37 , although the invention is not intended to be limited to interactive-television subsystems  160 . For example, other types of media devices and appliances  36  are shown in  FIG. 2 . Generally though, with a DVR  37 , a user selects program content by replaying previously recorded “taped” content from a hard drive or similar storage medium  80  or by turning on his television (or other content source) and selecting a program or show to watch. As the selected program content is received by the DVR  37 , it is first stored on the storage medium  80  and then displayed on a display device  162  such as a television set or monitor  64 . 
     Referring back to  FIG. 4D , the various modules representing software applications and programs executing in main memory unit  78 D of a DVR  37  will now be discussed in detail with occasional reference to  FIG. 10 , for ease of understanding the present invention. The DVR  37  receives signals from a national broadcaster  164 , such as a television, cable, or pay-per-view broadcaster that broadcasts one or more programs  166  (such as a video broadcast). The broadcast is received by the video capture engine  150  in memory unit  78 D. The video capture engine  150  passes the captured programming content to a storage medium  80  as it is received and to a display device  162  upon user selection. Video capture engine  150  can be coupled to a tuner (if needed, but not explicitly shown) to indicate which of the possible broadcast programs  166  the user has selected, i.e., by changing the channel. The user can then choose to either display the program  166  as it is being received or save the program  166  for playback at a later time (or both). 
     The user at client  18  generally is provided with functions to: add a program listing to the guide; delete a program from the guide; update the program listing on the guide; obtain the guide from the DVR  37 ; and obtain the channel guide from the DVR  37 . In one implementation, and by way of example, these types of control input requests, commands and instructions provided by the user at client  18  can be stored in a transaction file in the front end  14   a , and pushed to the back end  16   a , ultimately being transmitted to the DVR  37  through the RNS servers  32 . 
     Reference will occasionally be made to the sequence diagram of  FIGS. 13A-B  when describing the “batched” mode implementation. Periodically, the DVR  37  dials  249 ,  253  into a network (e.g., Internet) to communicate with RNS servers  32 , and requests the transaction file to be downloaded  251 ,  255  to the DVR  37 . To facilitate this communication, DVR  37  includes a network application module  85  that generally controls the frequency and time that connections to the RNS servers  32  are made. The network application module  85  also controls what data is transmitted to and received from the RNS servers  32 . 
     In one implementation, the DVR  37  can obtain requests from the RNS servers  32  by parsing a request list and creating a file for each request. The file can be appropriately named according to the contents, and can be formatted in XML. The request handler  154  is notified when new requests have arrived at the DVR  37 . To perform these functions, and by way of example, when control line  34  and  60  are interpreted to be a network connection, like communicating with the Internet, DVR  37  can establish a point-to-point protocol (PPP) connection to the Internet to communicate via http commands with the RNS servers  32 . DVR  37  includes a HTTP/PPP client module  156  as shown in the main memory module  78 D of  FIG. 4D , which under the control of the network application module  85 , generally enables the DVR  37  to establish a PPP connection with RNS servers  32  by using a communications protocol for enabling dial-up access to the Internet. By doing so, http transmissions  253  may be made from DVR  37  to the RNS servers  32 . More specifically, a PPP connection uses an Internet protocol that provides a standard way of transporting datagrams from many other protocols over point-to-point links, as is conventionally known in the art. A PPP connection between the DVR  37  and server  32  allows the connection over a regular telephone line, thereby enabling the DVR  37  to be a network participant. Module  156  can be provided with additional functionality to enable the PPP connection by establishing and terminating a session, in addition to hanging-up and redialing functions with the gateway to the Internet. From the perspective of each DVR  37  functioning as a client, there is one RNS server  32 , namely corresponding to the URL rns.replaytv.net, by way of example. One benefit of the PPP connection is that it permits direct file transfers between DVRs  37  and servers  32 , as opposed to transferring a file to a dial-up computer and downloading the file into the system. Alternatively, the PPP connection can be implemented on a full-duplex link by dialing into high-speed DS  1  and DS3 lines. 
     The DVR  37  establishes a session  253 ,  255  with the RNS servers  32  to enable the transaction file to be downloaded to the DVR  37 . For example, several exemplary features under the control of the network application module  85  include: (1) downloading the Channel Guide data from the front end  14   a ; (2) downloading the ReplayZone data from the front end  14   a ; (3) downloading new software upgrades from the front end  14   a ; and (4) uploading log file information from the DVR  37  to the front end  14   a . One manner of implementing these four functions is for the DVR  37  to provide http requests to the RNS server  32 , which in response uses a CGI-gateway to invoke Peri scripts that fulfill the requests received from the DVRs  37 . 
     Upon receiving the transaction file, the DVR  37  includes a transaction handler module  152 , as seen in  FIG. 4D . The transaction handler  152  parses the transaction file into requests and calls a request handler  154  for each request. 
     The request handler  154  executes the request, checking for a possible conflict and returns a response for each request. Each of these responses can be formatted with XML in the same embodiment. The transaction handler  152  compiles the responses into a transaction response file and returns the file to a RTVS Communicator module  158 . The RTVS Communicator module  158  functions to upload the transaction response file to the RNS servers  32  when the network application  85  controls the periodic automatic dial-up to the Internet to communicate with the RNS servers  32 . 
     In a particular implementation, a set of routines may be included in the other applications  87 . One such routine gets requests by parsing a request list under the control of the request handler  154  and creates a corresponding file. The information that may be contained in the request file can include a request identifier, the command to execute, and the target interface on which to perform the command. For example, the request file may contain a unique identifier associated with the command “AddReplayChannel” on the Replay Guide interface. When new requests arrive at the DVR  37 , the request handler  154  is notified and processes each request and places the results in a “results” file. By way of example, the “results” file can be designed to include an indication of the success of the command for the unique identifier, the particular results generated by performing the command, and a timestamp associated therewith. It will be appreciated, that the described request and results files are merely exemplary and that other implementations would work suitably well with the present invention. 
     Various features that may be included in the other applications module  87  will now be described. Module  87  can be designed to accommodate a request to add a single show. This module is used to add record events as specified after checking for conflicts or free disk space availability. Table 1 below lists exemplary data that can be helpful in creating a data structure to be used by such a module. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Start time 
               
               
                   
                 Duration 
               
               
                   
                 Encoder Quality Level 
               
               
                   
                 Source of Input of Show 
               
               
                   
                 Index of channel in Channel Guide 
               
               
                   
                 TMS ID used for sanity check 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator to force a raw record mode for time- 
               
               
                   
                 based record requests 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator of a guaranteed record 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator to record all episodes 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator of the number of episodes 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The application module  87  can further include the capability to add a show-based Replay Channel using the quality and guaranteed status from the show. Based on the number of episodes and duration of the show, the calculation of available memory space  80  should preferably be performed. In addition to the exemplary data listed in Table 1, the following additional data can be included in the data structure: 1) the name of the Replay show to be added; and 2) the name of the Replay Channel to be added. This same combination of exemplary data can be used to accommodate a request received by the DVR  37  to add multiple shows. 
     When the request received involves adding a theme-based Replay Channel, application module  87  can include functionality to calculate available memory space  80 , based upon the duration of the theme-based show, the encoder quality level, and the indicator of guaranteed values. Table 2 below lists exemplary data that is desirable in creating a data structure to be used by such a module. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Name of Replay Theme 
               
               
                   
                 Name of Replay Channel 
               
               
                   
                 Duration of (e.g., in minutes) 
               
               
                   
                 Encoder Quality level 
               
               
                   
                 Flag defining what is search 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator to force a raw record mode for time- 
               
               
                   
                 based record requests 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator of a guaranteed record 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Requests received at the DVR  37  can also be directed to deleting scheduled record requests that are maintained in a record list. Accordingly, application module  87  can include functionality to delete a scheduled show from the record list on the Replay Channel. Table 3 below lists exemplary data that can be helpful in creating a data structure to be used by module  87  to provide this functionality. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Start time 
               
               
                   
                 Index of channel in Channel Guide 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator to force a raw record mode for time- 
               
               
                   
                 based record requests 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Application  87  can also include functionality to accommodate a request received at DVR  37  directed to deleting a Replay Channel. To enable this functionality, the Replay Channel id corresponding to a show should be provided in the request. 
     Furthermore, application  87  can include functionality that enables the user to change the parameters of the channel, like for example, the hours guaranteed. Once the parameters are changed, the Replay Channel is updated, including checking for conflicts and available memory space  80 , providing notification of the success of the update. 
     Additionally, application  87  can provide functionality to change a static Replay Channel to a show-based Replay Channel. Exemplary data that can facilitate this function includes: 1) the name of the Replay show; and 2) the name of the Replay Channel. 
     Other functionality for application  87  includes accommodating requests received to obtain the Replay Guide from the DVR  37 , as well as the Channel Guide. Given the described functionality of the application module  87 , one technical advantage that will be appreciated by those skilled in the art is that the corresponding requests received at the DVR  37  may be treated as though originating from standard interactions, and incorporated into a “to do” list. Whether the pull, push or broadcast flow of data is used, the DVR  37  does not require added infrastructure, and thus additional custom software is not required. 
     E. An Exemplary Method for Batched Processing of the Communication System 
     The process of a preferred method for the user to control the DVR  37  or to access related information is now described. The process begins with user authentication on the Internet initiated by a user requesting a home page such as  180  shown in  FIG. 11 . Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) on the world wide web is utilized in order to locate the home page  180 . If the user is a new user to systems  10 A and  10 B, he is provided the opportunity to register through a web server  28 - 1  . . .  28 - n . For the user who has already registered, he may log in by entering personal information (e.g. user name  182  and password  184 ) from home page  180 . More details of the authentication process are described later. 
     Once the authentication is successfully accomplished, the web server  28 - 1  . . .  28 - n  initiates one or more steps through the API to generate the first web page of information representing the user interface of DVR  37  that a user sees after login. An example of this first page of information is shown in  FIG. 12A . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this information may be generated based on state information, which may be indicated by a default value, by the system administration, or by the cookie information (i.e. information related to how certain web pages have been used in the particular browser stored in small data files, or cookies, residing locally in the browser computer) embedded in the HTTP request originating from the browser  18 . For example, the information that is eventually returned to a user who has just completed the login process could include an EPG (electronic program guide of channels) as seen in  FIG. 12A , a Replay Guide, a “find shows” page, and a “manual record” page. The latter are further described below. 
       FIG. 13A  is a data flow diagram illustrating the process  230  of one method for a user to obtain information from and provide instructions to systems  10 A and  10 B.  FIG. 13B  is a sequence diagram illustrating further details regarding the data flow of  FIG. 13A . Throughout this figure, data flow lines (used interchangeably with “steps”) reflect an order in which part of the method is preferably practiced. In the description to follow, occasional reference will also be made to  FIGS. 2 and 5 . Before the process  230  of obtaining information from and providing instructions to system  10 A and  10 B begins, a user navigates to  229  a website for one of the servers  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n , which responds with an appropriate web page  231 . The process  230  begins with the user login  232  into system  10 A or  10 B. A user enters identifying information, as for example, in the user interface  180  of  FIG. 11 . A user name and password are transmitted from the client browser to the database as indicated by steps  232 ,  234  and  236  in  FIG. 13B . Once the user is authenticated with predetermined information on the database, a first page  190  of information such as an EPG as shown in  FIG. 12A  is formulated  240  from data received from the database  238 , and is forwarded  242  to client browser  20 . Such first page  190  of information, as well as subsequent pages, may include drop-down menus such as those illustrated in  FIG. 12B , as well as buttons such as the “Go” button  192  seen in  FIG. 12A . The user may select a desirable entry within each drop-down menu and/or click on the “Go” button  192  to invoke a command. Upon doing so, the browser  20  sends a HTTP request to an already connected web server such as  28 - 1 , as shown in step  232 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that the drop-down menu and button-driven features may be implemented in a variety of ways. 
     Once the HTTP request is received at server  28 - 1 ; the server  28 - 1  will initiate the appropriate steps, or make the appropriate function calls, within the context of the API on the middle tier server  40 , as indicated in flow line  234 . The step further involves communication  236  between the middle tier server  40  and the database  44 . Flow line  236  illustrates the steps in which the middle tier server  40  obtains the requested information from or stores instructions into the database  44 . One manner for doing so is with JDBC (Java DataBase Connectivity, otherwise known as the Java™ database API) wherein raw data is sent from the middle tier server  40  to database  44 . The database  44  will return the requested data preferably, although not required, in a raw format to the middle tier server  40  as indicated by flow line  238 . 
     The middle tier server  40  then assembles the retrieved data and updated information into formatted data, which are forwarded  240  to the web server  28 - 1 . It is noted that the API on the middle tier server  40  includes that programmable logic to package (i.e., format) data received in a raw format into a form that is well-suited for flexibly defining data structures. One format that is advantageous is XML because it allows the tagging of data in a manner that is not tightly coupled together, thereby providing more flexibility in defining data structures. Other formats, though, will work suitably well with the described embodiments of the present invention, including HTML. The above step  240  is followed by step  242 , whereby the server  28 - 1  in turn assembles and forwards a presentation, having a format that is well-suited for the client browser  20  (e.g., in HTML, Java, JavaScript), to browser  20 . In an alternative embodiment, another format that works well with this presentation is WML (or Wireless Markup Language, an XML language used to specify content and user interface for wireless device such as mobile phone browser), provided that the system  10 A and  10 B is modified for wireless media client-server access when using WML. It will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the process steps shown in  FIG. 13A  are flexible in the nature of accommodating a variety of contexts related to user requests, e.g., requests for information and for recording specified programs. Steps  234 ′,  236 ′,  238 ′,  240 ′ and  242 ′ indicate further communication between the client  18 , server  28 , middle tier server  40 , and database  44 , similar to those steps already described. 
     The middle tier server  40  enables communication between various web portals  28 - 1  . . .  28 - n  and the database  44  through an API, which facilitates the communication of user instructions and operations for controlling the DVR  37  with the front end  14   a . One technical advantage of the API is that it allows a portal (e.g.,  28 - 2 ) to cache information received from the middle tier server  40  locally within the environment of the particular portal such as  28 - 2  with a frequency based upon when a user is interested in the information. Furthermore, the API of the described embodiment of the present invention is flexible so as to permit a portal  28 - 2  to present the content of information from the middle tier server  40  in a manner that enables display of information using proprietary types of graphical user interfaces (i.e., GUIs) distinctive to those system administrators operating the particular portal (e.g.,  28 - 2 ). Business logic (e.g., checking of time conflicts for recording, disk space) may be included in the middle tier server  40  to form a part of the API that provides a standardized mechanism for receiving requests forwarded from the portals  28 - 1  . . .  28 - n , and for sending back a corresponding response. 
     In order for the web server  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n  such as portal  28 - 2  to present the interactive television device data at the web browser  20 , each web portal is enabled to use, copy, encode, store, archive, distribute, transmit, modify, translate, render into an audible format, publicly display and publicly perform the content received from database  44 , in whole or in part in connection with the property of the web portals  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n . The API enables the web portals to allow users at the browser  20  to download and print or perform the content. This content includes the interactive television device data, like for example, a top watched shows list. The API of the described embodiments of the present invention permits the content to fit the format and look-and-feel of the particular web portal. 
     As evident from the above discussion, the API plays an important role in the front end of the described embodiments of the present invention. The API includes data structure definitions, functions that facilitate communication between the middle tier server  40  and the portals  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n , as well as a series of routines that retrieve and manipulate data in the database  44 . A routine is defined to mean a callable algorithm or sequence of steps residing in and forming part of the API that can be invoked to perform various tasks involving communication with the database  44 . The routines of the API may be invoked by the servers  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n  to operate the DVR  37  or to access related information stored in the database  44 . A list of such routines as implemented in the described embodiments of the invention is given in  FIG. 14 . The corresponding input parameters and output files are listed in  FIG. 15 . The names of the routines, and of the parameters and files, are designed to be indicative of their respective functions, most of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Some less intuitive terms have been previously described with the description of front end  14   a.    
     One aspect of the present invention is to enable a user to operate a media-based device  36  remotely by communicating with one or more databases through a computer network. Referring to an embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 16A , a user request  260  is first received and processed, for example, by a web server such as portal  28 - 2 . The portal  28 - 2  translates the request into function call  262  to the API  264 . The routines embedded in the API  264  are then invoked and the middle tier server  40  on which the API  262  is implemented proceeds accordingly to communicate  266 ,  270  with at least one database  268 . This step  266  involves providing instructions to control the media-based device  36  and/or retrieving 270 related data from the database  268 . The database  268  itself may be configured as a hub that is in communication with the media-based device  68  and other sources of information, which have been previously described in  FIGS. 2 and 5 . After all the routines called by the portal  28 - 2  are executed, the portal  28 - 2  responds to the user request by incorporating the results of the execution of the routines residing in the API. 
       FIG. 16B  illustrates on a high level how a web server, e.g., portal  28 - 2 , may utilize the API routines to access and manipulate data in the databases  268  in response to various user requests  260  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Note that database  44  in  FIG. 2  and in  FIG. 5  is merely illustrative, and that the embodiment shown in  FIG. 16B , which illustrates four databases  280 ,  282 ,  284  and  286  each of which will be described below, works suitably well. The API routines  264  shown in  FIG. 16B  are designed to extract data from and to insert instructions into the databases  268 . The predominant directions of data flows are indicated in the figure by the directions of the arrows connecting each routine to one or more databases. However, some parameters or exchange of triggering data is presumed to have occurred before any substantial amount of data is transferred to or from the databases  268 . The database  280  contains information related to the user and comprises, for example, a replica of a commercial authentication database such as SilkNet™ and additional user profile data. This database is accessed by the API routines CreateAccount  288 , Login  290  and GetProfile  292  that together authenticate a user and initialize communication between the user and the systems  10 A and  10 B, through the server  28 - 1  and the middle tier server  40 . The box profile database  282  archives information related to individual media-based devices, including the respective channel lineups. This database  282  is accessed by GetProfile  294  as well as GetChannelLineUp  296  in response to a user request to view information related particularly to the DVR  37  that the user wants to operate. The EPG database  284  may either be a commercial database such as an online service  54  or a database containing already extracted information from a commercial source. This database  284  is accessed by GetEPG  298  and ShowGuide  300  to retrieve program information. Lastly, the box transaction database  286  includes information related to programs recorded by the DVR  37  and requests for the DVR  37  to record future programs. This database  286  exchanges information with the middle tier server  40  every time a request is made through the AddRequest routine  304 , or DeleteRequest routine  306 . It is also accessed in response to user requests to view related information through GetReplayGuide  302 . 
     The GetEPG routine  298  provides the function of retrieving an EPG that has been customized for a particular user. One particular manner of doing so is for module  298  to accept user input from the instruction received from client  18 , and to return a document of the user&#39;s EPG. By way of example, the user can include various identifiers, like the user id, the id of the particular DVR, the start time and duration of the EPG being requested, the staring channel, and the number of channels to be displayed. 
     The GetChannelLineUp routine  196  provides the function of retrieving the channel lineup of a particular DVR  37 . This lineup may be retrieved if the user provides, for example, the user id and the id of the particular DVR  37 . This information retrieved may depend on the availability of various program channels to the DVR  37  because of the service subscribed (e.g. cable or satellite disk service) and on the preference of the user who may have customize the lineup (e.g. by deleting certain channels). In some embodiments, a call to the GetChannelLineUp routine  296  may be embedded in the GetEPG routine  298  so that a single call to the latter can retrieve an EPG customized for a particular user as well as a particular DVR  37 . 
     The ShowGuide routine  300  provides the function of retrieving the detailed description of a show as available, for example, from a commercial source providing EPG information (e.g. TMS feed), based on the user id, the id of the DVR, the start time, and the level of detail requested. Additionally, the routine  300  can search the detailed information of all available shows to find shows that fit the user&#39;s interest as suggested by attributes such as the show title, the actors, the director, etc. In that case, the user can provide the query criteria including attributes and word or phrase to match, and the ShowGuide routine  300  will return a list of shows as the search result. As for the GetEPG routine  298 , the ShowGuide routine  300  may include a call to the GetChannelLineUp routine  296 , depending on the implementation. 
     The function and mechanics of most other routines illustrated in  FIG. 16B  will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the description provided in  FIGS. 14-15 . However, the AddRequest routine  304  is now further described in  FIG. 17 , and includes a set of routines that allow the user to make different types of requests. As illustrated in  FIG. 17 , these requests may range from those simple for updating of the status of the DVR  37  (i.e., Reqtype=none) to those for program recording (Reqtype=show or Reqtype=theme) and deletion (Reqtype=update). The recording requests can be specified by show or by time and program channel (i.e. manual recording requests). They can also be based on themes corresponding to specific search criteria or corresponding to ReplayZones, as for example identified by Suzuki identifiers. 
     The above discussion outlines a basic structure for the front-end  14   a  operations of an embodiment of the present invention. This structure provides a web server such as portal  28 - 1  with a series of options for responding to requests made by users. These options are based on the API  264  implemented preferably in the middle tier server  40 . In what follows, several exemplary methods to invoke the various routines will be described, taking into account elements of user interface design. For example, reference is made to the Channel Guide, as illustrated in  FIG. 12A . A user presented with this page  190  may view the Channel Guide for different time span and different set of channels. He can either jump to the desirable time and channel by selecting the appropriate options in the menu bars  194 ,  196 , and  198 , and select the “go” button  192 , or he can navigate through the Channel Guide using the buttons  195  and  197 . Once the user sees a show of interest to him, he may select that show and access a pull-down menu such as  218  in  FIG. 12B  to see detailed description of the show or to record the selected show. He may also search for other shows similar to the selected one and/or record them as he wishes. 
       FIG. 18  is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method  320  for a web server such as  28 - 1  to respond to user requests with the anticipation that the user may take any of the above-described actions. The web server  28 - 1  first verifies  322  that the Channel Guide is up-to-date, in which the information displayed is synchronous with information contained in the appropriate databases being accessed that store such information. Note, however, that such information may not be current because, at least in the batched processing mode, the databases only communicate with the DVR  37  at periodic time intervals. If the web server  28 - 1  determines (YES branch of  322 ) that it possesses up-to-date channel information, the Channel Guide is displayed  328 . If not, the server  28 - 1  calls  324  the GetChannelLineUp routine  296  and calls  326  the Get EPG routine  298  to update the information before displaying  328  the Channel Guide. The channel lineup is specific to each DVR  37  and is required as a filter for the EPG data, so that information concerning programs not available to the DVR  37  are screened out. The user can navigate the Channel Guide, as described above, until he chooses to do one of several things. For example, if he requests  330  to see detailed description of a show or to find similar shows, the web server in response invokes  332  the ShowGuide routine  300  and displays  334  the information retrieved. If, on the other hand, the user chooses  336  to record selected shows, then the web server  28 - 1  will call  338  the AddRequest routine  304  and display  340  the updated information, which may indicate, for example, that the request has been processed or that there is no space left in the DVR  37  for such recording. Depending on the implementation, the updated information may be presented in a modified Channel Guide as shown in  FIG. 12A , or in a Replay Guide as shown in  FIGS. 19A-B . 
     It must be emphasized that the ways in which the server  28 - 1  may accommodate the user and the options available to the user depend on the implementation of the user interface. The method in  FIG. 18  and the options discussed above, for example, correspond to the channel lineup display implemented according to  FIG. 12A , including the drop-down menus as illustrated in  FIG. 12B . A different implementation of the user interface will result in other request options available to the user. For example, implementing the drop-down menu  220  or  222  will allow the user to change the recording options in the channel lineup display page. The same dependence on the user interface implementation applies to all the exemplary methods and the corresponding flow charts discussed below. 
     The Replay Guide shown in  FIGS. 19A-B  illustrate one method to present the Replay Guide information. The presentation  350  in  FIG. 19A  shows the information as organized by Replay Channels, which may be based on individual shows or on specific themes, as discussed above. An alternative way to present the Replay Guide information is shown in  FIG. 19B , where the recorded shows are displayed in a Replay Show page. In either case, one main option available to the user is to delete one or more shows. In the case of the presentation of MG.  19 B, another option is to delete one or more requests to record future shows. Again, the actual implementation of the Replay Guide determines what options are available to the user. 
       FIG. 20  is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method  360  for the web server  28 - 1  to respond to user requests in correspondence with the presentation of the Replay Guide information as shown in  FIGS. 19A-B . The web server  28 - 1  first determines  362  if it possesses up-to-date Replay Guide information. If not, it invokes the API routines GetReplayGuide  302  in step  364 , and AddRequest  304  (with Reqtype=none) in step  366  to update the information. Calling the latter routine is necessary if there are previously pending requests that may or may not have been fulfilled by the time the Replay Guide information is requested. Once the Replay Guide information is displayed  368 , the web server  28 - 1  may entertain requests from the user to delete previously recorded shows or to cancel previous requests to record future shows. If deletion of recorded shows is requested  370 , the server  28 - 1  calls  372  AddRequest  304  (with Reqtype=Update and Updatetype=DeleteShow or DeleteChannel) to forward the request to the box transaction database  286 . An updated Replay Guide is then displayed  374 . If cancellation of pending requests is requested  376 , the server  28 - 1  calls  378  DeleteRequest  306  to accomplish the cancellation and then displays  380  the updated Replay Guide. In this situation, pending requests are those requests residing in the database  44 , and in general, a response from the DVR indicating that the request has been processed has not yet been processed by server  48  nor received by database  44 . In each case, the box transaction forwards the request to the DVR  37  in a batched process, for example, in the next pre-set periodic connection session. 
     The flow chart of  FIG. 21  corresponds to the case when the Replay Guide information is presented in the Replay Show form illustrated in  FIG. 19B . In this case, a method  390  where a user may request the deletion only of recorded shows since he does not have access to the pending requests. First, the web server  28 - 1  determines  392  whether it possesses up-to-date Replay Guide information. If not, GetReplayGuide  302  is called  394  before the Replay Guide in the form of  FIG. 19B  is displayed  396 . The user may request  398  to see the detailed description of a show listed in the Replay Guide or to see a collection of similar shows. If so, the web server  28 - 1  calls  400  the API routine ShowGuide  300  to retrieve the information and displays  402  the result. If the user requests  406  the deletion of a selected show from the list of recorded shows, the server  28 - 1  calls  408  AddRequest  304  (with Reqtype=Update and Updatetype=DeleteShow or DeleteChannel) to forward the request to the DVR  37  through the box transaction database  286 . 
       FIG. 22  shows a “find shows” page that allows the user to search for shows based on specified criteria. In the exemplary implementation shown, the user types in a search word or phrase and specifies which fields (e.g., show title and description fields) to search for the word or phrase.  FIG. 23  illustrates the corresponding implementation of a method  420  for the web server  28 - 1  to respond to user requests initiated from this find shows page. After displaying  422  the find shows page and receiving  424  the search word or phrase from the user, the server  28 - 1  calls.  426  the GetChannelLineUp  296  and calls  428  the ShowGuide  300  routine to effect the search. If one or more shows are found  430  that conform to the search criteria, the result is displayed  434  so that the user may request  436  to set up a Replay Channel based on the theme as defined by the search criteria, or to record one of the shows listed in the search result. Once such a request is made, the server  28 - 1  invokes  438  the AddRequest routine  304  to forward the request to the box transaction database  286  which is in communication with the DVR  37 , and displays  440  the updated information. In the case when no show is found  430  to satisfy the search criteria, an error page is displayed  432 . 
     Next consider the example “manual record” page shown in  FIGS. 24A-B . From this page  450  in  FIG. 24A , a user can specify the date and time of a future recording session, as well as the program channel from which the DVR  37  should be recording. Although not shown, an alternative implementation of the manual record page  452  in  FIG. 24B  may allow the request of repeated recordings at a specified time on selected days of the week. As illustrated in  FIG. 25 , a method  460  for displaying the manual record page is shown. The server  28 - 1  first displays  462  the manual record page and receives  464  the required information for processing the manual recording requests. Then, it calls  466  the AddRequest routine  304  (with Reqtype=show and Showtype=SingleManual or RepeatManual) to forward the request to the DVR  37  through the box transaction database  286  and returns  468  updated information to the user. 
     Rounding up this discussion of exemplary methods for the web server  28 - 1  to respond to user requests, a preferred method  470  for implementing the user login to systems  10 A and  10 B is illustrated in  FIG. 26 . The flow chart in  FIG. 26  represents a method that may be used with any web based services. A homepage is displayed  472 , followed by a determination  474  of whether the user is a new user initiating the communication. For information gathered  476  on a new user, the web server  28 - 1  calls  478  the CreateAccount routine  288 . If the user&#39;s input information is valid  480 , then a call  482  is made to GetProfile  294 , from which a default page  484  is determined, otherwise an error page is displayed  486 . For information in the nature of a username and password is gathered  488  for an existing user, a call  490  is made to the Login routine  290 . Upon authentication  492  of the user information, the server  28 - 1  determines the default page  484  (e.g., an EPG guide) to display next after calling  482  the GetProfile  294  routine. Otherwise, an error page is displayed  494 . 
     2. An Embodiment for Remote Control of Media-Based Devices and Appliances Through on-the-Fly (Real Time) Processing 
     Referring now to the block diagram of  FIG. 1B , there is shown another example of a computer-based communications system  19  that enables the remote control of media-based devices and appliances over a communication network in accordance with the present invention. In the example of  FIG. 1B , communications system  19  includes a network computing system  15  coupled to a media-based/data integration system  17  (referred to as “integration system  17 ”). The network computing system  15  enables multiple users to communicate over a communications system  19  in order to access and control the media-based devices and appliances of integration system  17  from a remote location. Integration system  17  enables the media-based devices to be accessed through the communications system  19 , thereby further enhancing stand-alone capabilities of the devices and appliances. 
       FIG. 27  shows a block diagram of one embodiment of a communications system  19 A having further details of the communications system  19  of  FIG. 1B . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 27 , communications system  19 A includes a network computing system  15   a  coupled to an integration system  17   a . In particular, and by way of example, network computing system  15   a  and integration system  17   a  are both based on a client-server computer model as will be discussed below. 
     A. Exemplary Embodiments for the Front End and Back End Sub-Systems 
     Referring to  FIG. 27 , an alternative embodiment of a communications system  19 A is shown. One technical aspect of this embodiment allows a browser  20  on client  18  to communicate  22  over a network  24 , such as the Internet, to a media-based device  36  with near real-time communication response. In this embodiment, the front end subsystem  14   a  and backend subsystem  16   a  have been modified to relocate the logic therein into a middle tier server  500  within integration system  17   a . By doing so, the network computing system  15   a  and the integration system  17   a  can be embodied as two client-server subsystems, which are communicatively coupled together. Network computing system  15   a  includes one or more client computers  18  preferably having web browser  20  running thereon. System  15   a  further includes one or more server computers  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n , which are in communication with network  24 , as indicated by lines  26 . For convenience and ease of understanding the invention, like reference numerals of  FIGS. 2 and 5  have been used in  FIG. 27 . 
     Integration system  17   a  includes media-based devices  36  and DVRs  37 , which are communicatively coupled to one of a plurality of middle tier servers  500  via a communications link  60 ,  34  and  38 . DVR  37  and media-based devices  36  and servers  500  operate in a client-server relationship. The servers  28 - 1 , . . . ,  28 - n  are in communication with the servers  500  as indicated by data flow lines  30 . One or more databases  502  are coupled to servers  500 . Database  502  is similar to database  44  in the nature of storing a compilation of data from various online and web hosted sources similar to sources  44 ,  50 , and  54 , although this is not shown explicitly in  FIG. 27 . Furthermore, client computers  18 , servers  28 - 1  through  28 - n , and media-based device  36  (and DVR  37 ) include similar exemplary hardware as described previously with regard to  FIGS. 4A-D . Accordingly, a detailed discussion of each of these devices is not provided so as to focus on other aspects of system  19 A. 
     Referring to  FIG. 28 , an alternative embodiment of  FIG. 27  is shown, by way of example, to include a load-balanced replicated set of databases  502  and an application server. The Cruncher and Log-Mill modules are rewritten as application server modules, not standalone modules as in  FIG. 9 , to enable the rapid development and deployment of diverse applications. One particular implementation that is well-suited for load-balancing includes a WebLogic Application server  510  provided by BEA Systems, and which may be used for server  500  in  FIG. 27 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 28 , the WebLogic Application server  510  includes a Cruncher application  116  for extracting data from the TMS FTS server  112  and converting the extracted data into a localized format. The Cruncher application  116  is no longer a standalone module as in  FIG. 9 , although it functions to transmit the TMS data to a module for aggregating data into a pool  512  for storage in database  502 . Furthermore, server  510  includes an application module  514  enabling communication with the RNS servers  32 . Another application module  516  enables server  510  to communicate with a web servers  518 . Both modules  514  and  516  are coupled to DB Connection pool  512  to provide and receive data to and from database  502 . 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 29  to describe another embodiment of the communications system  550 , that uses the WebLogic application server  552  but in a manner different than that shown in  FIG. 28 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 29 , the WebLogic application server  552  is coupled to database  502 , which in turn, is coupled to a Silknet database  50  already described herein. A portion of the network computing system  15   a  includes web servers  28 , which are coupled to server  552 . The RNS server  32  is communicatively coupled to database  502  in  FIG. 29 , unlike the embodiment of  FIG. 28 . In this embodiment of  FIG. 29 , communications is staged through database  502 . In general, this configuration uses less server resources due to servicing only one means of accessing the database  502 . In this embodiment, the database  502  is tuned to perform database functions, as opposed to processing many transactions over numerous protocols. The application server  552  effectively shields the database server from such transactional tasks. According to the particular implementation, server  552  generally includes an Enterprise Java Bean container, which facilitates the development of client and server components in an easy manner. Also, an Apache Xerces and SAX Java class libraries  554  can be used for parsing XML documents received at web servers  28 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 30 , another embodiment of the communications system  560  will now be discussed. In the embodiment of  FIG. 30 , a series of layers are depicted, where each layer performs a particular function in the data pipeline. Components shown in each layer communicate with its neighboring layers through well-defined interfaces. A first layer  562 , referred to interchangeably as the “presentation layer  562 ,” produces the HTML pages viewed by the user. Layer  562  receives data in XML format from a second layer  564 . Layer  564  is referred to interchangeably as the “external interface layer  564 .” The external interface layer  564  presents an externally accessible interface to those web portals  28 . To this end, layer  564  serves as an intermediary between the presentation layer  562  and a third layer  566 , which is referred to interchangeably as the “data management layer  566 .” The data management layer  566  encapsulates all data access and management functionality. Using the Enterprise Java Beans services of the WebLogic application server, layer  566  handles the connection pools to databases  502 ,  50 , manages transactions, manages server component lifecycles, and provides another layer of load-balancing, if necessary. 
     Referring to  FIG. 31 , the computer-based communication systems described herein can be designed to provide a high degree of fault tolerance and scalability. As shown in  FIG. 31 , a network infrastructure  580  operates with multiple network centers (or pods)  582  and a global load balancer  584 , which directs traffic to the pods. Although only one pod  582  (e.g., associated with the West Coast) is shown, it will be appreciated that other pods (e.g., on the East Coast, or elsewhere in the world) can be included, under the management and control of the global load balancer  584 . To provide data management to support database needs, a local database  586  can be included in each pod. Additionally, a main database  588  (e.g., databases  120  and  126  of  FIG. 2 ) can be located at the corporate office of the enterprise. The databases may be kept synchronized by using built-in facilities of the databases, and by local caching techniques. The main database  588  is used for archiving purposes and for communicating with external data sources like TMS, and internal data sources like SilkNet. 
     B. An Exemplary Method for Real-Time Processing of the Communication System 
     Referring back to  FIG. 27 , by coupling two client-server systems  15   a  and  17   a  back-to-back, communication between the client browser  20  and the media-based device  36  may be accomplished in near real-time fashion because the device  36  is no longer communicating in a periodic manner (i.e., batched) with middle tier server  500  and database  502 , but is enabled to send and receive commands (e.g., HTTP) to and from servers  500 , and  28 - 1  through  28 - n.    
     As shown in  FIG. 27 , media-based device  36  communicates with the middle tier server  500 , which also handles requests from external devices  28 - 1  through  28 - n . By doing so, a request made from browser  20  would be transmitted directly to the middle tier server  500  through web servers  28 , and would be provided to the media-based devices  36  on-the-fly with near real-time response. 
     One benefit of middle tier server  500  is that it provides real-time access to database  502  without exposing the schema in the database, along with the provision of conflict checking and other data manipulation functions. Web servers  28  do not need to directly access the database  502 , but through a set of APIs on middle tier server  500 . This is advantageous because the architecture of system  19 A is not dependent on the schema nor the database  502 . As such, the database  502  and schema may be changed while not necessarily impacting the rest of system  19 A. Additional functionality, such as conflict checking, can be easily added to system  19 A. For example, the additional functionality can be programmed with Java code. Media-based device  36  can also communicate directly with the database  502  through an API, and no longer have to communicate with servers  32  and  48  as in  FIGS. 2 and 5 . This aspect of media-based devices  36  being able to engage in real-time communications also enables them to communicate with one another. For example, devices  36  and  37  may communicate with each other through middle tier server  500 . In one implementation, device  36  may want to establish an online “chat session” with or send an email to DVR  37 . In general, there will be two parts of the middle tier server  576 . The first part of the middle tier server  576  handles external requests (i.e., to web servers  28 ), and the second part of the middle tier server  500  handles requests from the media-based devices  36  and DVR  37 . 
     Referring to the particular embodiment of  FIG. 28 , several technical advantages of the WebLogic application server  510  are now discussed. Server  510  is capable of providing a single method of accessing a database  502  through an API for a diverse set of clients, and that it is a mechanism for achieving high scalability for millions of clients. For convenience, like reference numerals have been used for similar components appearing in  FIGS. 9 and 28 . In  FIG. 28 , for ease of understanding the present invention, a single server  510  being representative of an Enterprise Application server is shown to be communicatively coupled to a single database  502 . However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the implementation of  FIG. 28  supports multiple load-balanced application servers  510  providing access to multiple mirrored databases  502 . 
     The exemplary API routines discussed previously in detail work suitably well with this alternate embodiment with minor changes. The most important difference in this case is that the API routines are no longer required to access one or more databases, in this case database  502 . Rather, the routines should be programmed to recognize the additional option of accessing the DVR  37 , preferably through the RNS server  32 . For example, in one implementation, the database may be configured with an “insert trigger” which notifies a networked DVR of a new request when the request is inserted. Upon receiving a function call from a web server  518 , the application server  510  decides whether communication should be established with the database  502 , or the DVR  37 , or neither of the two if the information requested is already under storage in some storage module within the application server. Any changes required in the API routines, however, do not affect the general logical schemes according to which the routines enable the remote control of the media-based device. 
     Other advantages to using server  510  are discussed as follows. First, no software change is required for the media-based device  36  and DVR  37 . Second, communication between the external web servers  518  and the and server  510  may be facilitated through HTTP requests, Java servlets, or Java applications employing the application modules  514  and  516 . Accordingly, the RNS servers  32  will either redirect HTTP requests directly to server  510  or will utilize Java servlets to perform the required communication with server  518 . Third, the RNS servers  32  no longer need to maintain the large collection of files which are mirrored across the RNS servers  32  as in the embodiment of  FIGS. 2 and 5 . Instead, with the alternate embodiment shown in  FIG. 28 , all of the data requested and provided by the device  36  and DVR  37  are brokered by the RNS servers  32  to the server  510 . Fourth, since all data is stored on database  502 , the Cruncher application  116  running on server  510  no longer needs to process and to distribute the files amongst the RNS servers  32 . With the embodiment of  FIG. 28 , the Cruncher application  116  retrieves EPG data from the TMS server  112 , constructs the Channel Guide using the retrieved EPG data and stores the constructed Channel Guide in database  502 . Fifth, multiple applications can be developed to access the data stored in database  502 , using server  510  as a single point of access thereto. This not only improves scalability and security, but also the ability to easily and rapidly develop new applications for the media-based devices  36  and DVR  37 . 
     By contrast with the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the web servers  518  no longer need to communicate with the Tomcat server, but to a WebLogic server  510  in order to load-balance the API. Additionally, these embodiments are beneficial for providing system redundancy, that is, in the event that one or more servers becomes inoperative or that congestion arises with a particular server. Accordingly, HTTP requests from web servers  518  and from media-based devices  36  would be directed to the WebLogic server  510 , which would then disperse the request accordingly. 
     Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments, other embodiments are possible. As will be understood by those of skill in the art, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims and equivalents.