Patent Abstract:
A method and apparatus for providing personalized supplemental programming is provided. In one embodiment, the invention can include searching text for a keyword, the text associated with primary programming to be provided to an element of an entertainment system, accessing a database upon finding the keyword, retrieving content associated with the keyword from the database, combining the retrieved content with the primary programming to generate combined programming, and providing the combined programming to the element of the entertainment system.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This divisional patent application claims priority to non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 08/916,865 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,103 entitled Method and Apparatus for Automatically Providing Personalized Supplemental Programming, filed on Aug. 22, 1997, which claims priority to provisional application No. 60/024,438 entitled Commentary Based on Content and Keywords, filed on Aug. 22, 1996. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of entertainment systems and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for providing personalized supplemental programming in entertainment systems. 
     2. Background Information 
     Numerous advances have been made in recent years in the field of entertainment systems. Many providers of programming content now offer supplemental programming content designed to complement the normal/typical program information. For example, many television networks provide supplemental closed captioning of the audio information to allow people who are hearing impaired to view and enjoy the network&#39;s programming. The closed caption information is typically provided within line 21 of the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of the television signal. Another example of supplemental programming is the Supplemental Audio Programming (SAP) that is provided by many television networks, wherein the audio content of a broadcast is provided in an alternate language, or other supplemental audio content directed to the broadcast is provided. Many entertainment systems allow the system user to enable or disable such supplemental broadcast services. 
     Other examples of supplemental programming exist throughout, for example, the Internet. Many of the web sites throughout the Internet, for example, provide supplemental programming information. Such information may be introduced by any of the intermediate routers between the user and the host web site. In particular, many of the Internet Service Providers (ISP&#39;s) sell advertising space to local businesses, wherein the advertising will be displayed to all users browsing a particular web site, or web site genre. However, the web sites that provide such supplemental programming information often rely on the uniform resource locator (URL) of the accessed web site to determine which web site is being browsed and, consequently, which supplemental information to provide. In other words, the ISP&#39;s do not evaluate the content of the information flow between the web site and the browser to determine what supplemental programming information to provide. In addition, this supplemental information is not personalized. Rather, it is common to a particular genre of web sites and provided to each user of the ISP accessing a particular genre of web sites. For example, those users viewing an automotive web site are likely to receive supplemental information regarding automotive products or services offered via the web, however the same generic supplemental information is provided to all users of the web site. 
     Insofar as all of the supplemental programming of prior art systems is supplied by the broadcast networks or in the stream of broadcast, and that such information is not truly personalized for the recipient of such information, none of the prior art entertainment systems provide personalized supplemental programming to users of entertainment systems. 
     Thus, a need exists for a method and apparatus for providing personalized supplemental programming content. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a method and apparatus for automatically providing personalized supplemental programming is provided. In a first embodiment, an apparatus comprising a first component for supplying supplemental programming, a second component operative to receive primary programming from an external source, and a processor agent coupled to the first and the second components. The processor agent being operative to evaluate the received primary programming for predetermined content criteria, and to provide appropriate ones of the supplemental programming based on the results of the evaluation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system providing personalized supplemental programming, incorporating the teachings of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a supplemental programming provider for evaluating primary programming content and providing personalized supplemental programming, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a supplemental programming database suitable for use by the supplemental programming provider of  FIG. 2 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a primary programming database suitable for use by the supplemental programming provider of  FIG. 2 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart illustrating the method steps for providing personalized supplemental programming, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating the method steps for evaluating primary programming for predetermined content criteria, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a computer system incorporating the teachings of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating the software elements in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well known features have been omitted or simplified for ease of explanation. Furthermore, for ease of understanding, certain method steps are delineated as separate steps, however, these separately delineated steps should not be construed as necessarily order dependent in their performance. 
     Turning to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram illustrating one example of a system incorporating the teachings of the present invention is depicted. In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment, system  100  is depicted comprising supplemental programming provider  104  which receives primary programming (e.g., television programming, internet programming, radio programming, satellite programming, etc.) via a number of alternative mediums. For example, supplemental programming provider  104  receives primary programming from wireline sources (cable television, cable radio, computer network sources, telephone line, etc.) via line  102 . Supplemental programming provider  104  can also receive primary programming from wireless sources such as broadcast television, broadcast radio, infrared computer networks, and the like cumulatively depicted with signal  102 ′, via appropriate antennae (not shown). 
     As will be discussed in greater detail below, supplemental programming provider  104  evaluates primary programming information received from various sources (e.g., cable  102 , signal  102 ′, an electronic program guide (EPG), or locally stored primary programming) against individual system user preferences for predetermined content criteria that corresponds with the individual system user preferences and personality, whereupon the supplemental programming provider  104  outputs personalized supplemental programming associated with the predetermined content criteria via line  106  to the individual elements of an entertainment system (e.g., television system, audio system, computer system, etc.), cumulatively identified within system  100  as entertainment system  108 . That is to say, supplemental programming provider  104  continuously evaluates primary programming information for content that satisfies the predetermined content criteria found within a user profile for the current user of system  100 , and, when the predetermined content criteria of the user profile is satisfied, supplemental programming provider  104  outputs supplemental programming associated with the predetermined content criteria. In addition to the foregoing, supplemental programming provider  104  monitors trends in information obtained from primary programming to provide supplemental programming associated with those trends, and provides a host of external outputs, cumulatively identified by line  110  to control environmental elements such as room lighting, temperature controls (i.e., thermostat), and the like. Thus, as will be described in greater detail below, the supplemental programming may be informative, educational, entertaining, and/or program enhancing. 
     In one embodiment, supplemental programming provider  104  may be a computer system incorporated with the teachings of the present invention, as will be discussed further with respect to  FIG. 7 , below. In another embodiment, supplemental programming provider  104  may be a “set-top” box endowed with the necessary processing power and incorporated with the teachings of the present invention. Alternatively, supplemental programming provider  104  may well be incorporated into individual elements within system  100  (e.g., television system, stereo tuner, or computer network). 
     Having introduced the concept of the innovative supplemental programming provider  104  above within the context of system  100 ,  FIG. 2  provides a block diagram which illustrates one example architecture of supplemental programming provider  200  suitable for use in system  100 , incorporating the teachings of the present invention. In one embodiment, supplemental programming provider  200  is beneficially integrated into system  100  as supplemental programming provider  104 . As illustrated in the functional block diagram of  FIG. 2 , example supplemental programming provider  200  comprises commentary provider  206  including keyword search engine  208  and content evaluator  214 , supplemental programming database  210  (also referred to as a keyword specification module), primary programming database  222  (also referred to as a program description source, or an electronic program guide (EPG)), commentary generator module  216  and commentary delivery module  218 , communicatively coupled together as depicted. 
     In the illustrated embodiment of  FIG. 2 , supplemental programming provider  200  receives primary programming via line  202  at an input port which directs the primary programming to commentary provider  206 . As depicted, the primary programming received via line  202  is intended to represent primary programming received via wireline sources (e.g., line  102  in system  100 ) and wireless sources (e.g., signal  102 ′ in system  100 ). In one embodiment, commentary provider  206  receives primary programming via line  202 , and provides the primary programming to keyword search engine  210  and content evaluator  214 . If the primary programming contains text information, such as the closed caption information found in the VBI of a television signal, or computer data communications, keyword search engine  210  evaluates the received text information for content that satisfies the predetermined content criteria. In addition, the received primary programming is routed to content evaluator  214 , which evaluates the received primary programming for audio content and video/graphical content which satisfies predetermined content criteria. Additionally, commentary provider  206  analyzes primary programming for trends associated with the predetermined content criteria. In one embodiment, the trend information is stored locally within commentary generator  206 , while in alternate embodiments, the trend information is stored in an externally accessible storage location. It should be understood that alternate embodiments of supplemental program provider  200  may include a filter (or filters) in the front end of supplemental program provider  200  to filter text information from received primary programming, providing only text information to keyword search engine  210 , while the remaining programming content (e.g., audio, video/graphical, etc.) is provided to content evaluator  214 . One skilled in the art will appreciate that although commentary provider  206  is depicted in the illustrated embodiment as including both keyword search engine  208  and content evaluator  214 , alternate embodiments of the present invention may be practiced with only the keyword search engine  208 , or the content evaluator  214 , without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined content criteria employed by keyword search engine  208  to evaluate the received primary programming is saved in user profiles in supplemental programming database  210 . In one embodiment, supplemental programming database  210  includes a list of predetermined content criteria (e.g., keywords, audio or visual) with corresponding supplemental programming associated with each of the predetermined content criteria entries, for each of a plurality of system users. In alternate embodiments, supplemental programming database  210  may well include additional user preference/profile information associated with the preferred system environment for the corresponding system user. In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the predetermined content criteria may be default settings provided by the manufacturer, or user defined content criteria entered in user profiles of the supplemental programming database  210  by corresponding individual users of supplemental programming provider  200 . Jumping ahead to  FIG. 3 , one example of a supplemental programming database (i.e., supplemental programming database  300 ) is illustrated. 
     As depicted in the illustrated example embodiment of  FIG. 3 , supplemental programming database  300  including the individual user profiles is a three-dimensional relational database. In the illustrated embodiment, the y-axis is characterized by identifying the genre  302  of the predetermined content criteria and the associated supplemental programming. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that genre information  302  is but one of a number of alternative means by which the information within supplemental programming database  300  may be organized. Thus, a number of suitable alternative approaches exist for organizing the information of supplemental programming database  310 , without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The x-axis is characterized by default content criteria  304 , and user specified content criteria in the form of text  306 , video/graphical  308  and audio  310  content. Corresponding supplemental programming is provided in the form of text  312 , video/graphical  314  and audio  316  supplemental programming. Moreover, audio supplemental programming  316  may be generated in a number of alternative “personalities” (e.g., Beavis, John Wayne, excited person, etc.) dictated by the personality index of column  318 . In addition, personality index  318  may be relied upon to produce supplemental programming corresponding to the personality of the user. 
     As depicted in the illustrated example of  FIG. 3 , the z-axis of supplemental programming database  300  provides multiple “pages” of the x- and y-axes (user profile) corresponding to a plurality of system users of system  100 . In an alternate embodiment, supplemental programming database  300  may simply contain a list of keywords with a corresponding list of supplemental programming responses. In yet another embodiment, supplemental programming database may simply include a list of keywords, relying on commentary provider  206  to store and determine which supplemental programming response is appropriate when the predetermined content criteria has been satisfied. 
     As described within the context of the present invention, supplemental programming is intended to include a wide variety of content and media. In one embodiment, the content of the supplemental programming may be informative (e.g., a definition of a spoken word, or a translation of a foreign language), or entertaining (e.g., a comment on a particular celebrity). In one embodiment, supplemental programming may include audio commentary on the received primary programming, video clips interjected in a pop-up window of, for example, a television or monitor, or text displayed on a television or computer terminal in response to received primary programming. In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, supplemental programming database  210  may be preloaded with a number of predetermined content criteria (e.g., default content criteria) with corresponding supplemental programming. In addition, supplemental programming provider  200  provides a user interface which allows a user of the system to enter personalized content criteria (e.g., user specified content criteria) corresponding to a wide variety of media, and the associated supplemental programming corresponding to the predetermined content criteria. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although supplemental programming database  300  is depicted as a three-dimensional relational database, this is for ease of explanation only. That is, databases of greater or lessor complexity may be beneficially substituted for supplemental programming database  300 , with a corresponding effect on the amount and complexity of the information contained therein. 
     In addition to evaluating the received primary programming for the predetermined content criteria of supplemental programming database  210 , in one embodiment keyword search engine  208  also searches primary programming database  222  for programming description information that satisfies the predetermined content criteria found in supplemental programming database  210 . Primary programming database  222  contains program description information on the primary programming available from a wide variety of sources. In one embodiment, for example, primary programming database  222  is a localized version of an on-line programming guide (e.g., an electronic program guide (EPG)), and the program description information is a summation of the programming available from a particular source at a particular time. One example of a primary programming database is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment of  FIG. 4 , primary programming database  400  is a three-dimensional database, with primary programming referenced by time of day on the x-axis, primary programming source indicated on the y-axis, organized by the day of the week and month in the z-axis. In the illustrated embodiment, primary programming database  400  is updated on a monthly basis, however those skilled in the art will recognize that primary programming database  400  may be updated more frequently. In the illustrated example of  FIG. 4 , a 24-hour day is divided into half-hour segments  404 ,  406 , etc. In one embodiment, the primary programming information corresponding to the source of the primary programming and the time of day contains primary programming description information in the form of text. 
     Accordingly, in the context of  FIG. 2 , keyword search engine  208  searches the primary programming database  222  corresponding to the time/source of the primary programming for text that satisfies the predetermined content criteria of supplemental programming database  210 . Although primary programming database  222  is integrated with supplemental programming provider  200  in the example embodiment of  FIG. 2 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that primary programming database  222  may well be an external source of program description information, accessible by supplemental programming provider  200  as necessary. 
     Continuing with  FIG. 2 , supplemental programming provider  200  also includes content evaluator  214  for evaluating the audio components and video/graphical components of the primary programming, an EPG, or stored programming for the predetermined content criteria associated with the user profiles stored in supplemental programming database  210 . In particular, content evaluator  214  analyzes audio input and video/graphical input for matches against the audio and/or video/graphical predetermined content criteria (e.g., found in columns  316  and  314 , respectively) of supplemental programming database  210 . In one embodiment, for example, content evaluator  214  utilizes a speech comparator to evaluate the audio content of the received primary programming for audio content which satisfies the predetermined audio content criteria (e.g., as found in column  316 ) of supplemental programming database  210 . In one embodiment, content evaluator  214  similarly utilizes a video/graphical comparator to evaluate the video/graphical images of the received primary programming for images which satisfy the predetermined video/graphical content criteria (e.g., as found in column  314 ) of supplemental programming database  210 . Devices which analyze audio information and devices which analyze video/graphical information are known to those skilled in the art, thus, further description is not necessary. 
     With continued reference to the example embodiment of  FIG. 2 , if the predetermined content criteria is satisfied by the received primary programming, or corresponding description information from primary programming database  222 , the appropriate supplemental programming is supplied to commentary generator  216  from the supplemental programming database  210  by keyword search engine  208  or content evaluator  214 , respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, commentary generator  216  generates the supplemental programming from the input supplied by either keyword search engine  208  or content evaluator  214 . For example, if the supplemental programming corresponding to the predetermined content criteria is comprised of audio information, commentary generator  216  generates an audio signal containing the supplemental programming content, in the personality identified by personality index  318 . In an alternate embodiment, keyword search engine  208  or content evaluator  214  supply commentary generator  216  with an index identifying a file which contains the supplemental programming. For example, with reference to  FIG. 3 , if keyword search engine  208  receives primary programming with the closed caption text reading “Michigan Touchdown”, keyword search engine  208  provides commentary generator  216  with the content of the “Michigan Fight Song”. Consequently, commentary generator  216  generates audio supplemental programming from the Michigan Fight Song input received from keyword search engine  208 . Thus, in one embodiment, supplemental programming provider  200  monitors primary programming, or the primary programming database for information corresponding to the predetermined content criteria, and provides the associated supplemental programming content identified in supplemental programming database  210 . 
     In an alternate embodiment, commentary provider  206  monitors primary programming for information trends, and provides supplemental programming in accordance with the analyzed trend information. For example, if from a user profile it is apparent that a user is interested in the performance of Intel® stock, commentary provider will analyze the trend of the stock performance, providing supplemental programming as appropriate. In one embodiment, the trend information is stored locally within commentary provider  206 , and as primary programming is identified satisfying a predetermined content criteria associated with the performance of Intel® stock, the corresponding supplemental programming is provided. In an alternate embodiment, the trend information may be stored remotely and accessed as needed by commentary provider  206 . Another example wherein commentary provider  206  analyzes primary programming for trend information is, in accordance with the Michigan football game example above, commentary generator determines in the third quarter that Michigan is down by a touchdown, commentary provider  206  generates audio supplemental programming to the effect of “Let&#39;s Go, Michigan”, in a corresponding personality. 
     In yet another embodiment, supplemental programming provider  200  analyzes the predetermined content criteria of a particular user profile to develop a “personality profile” for a user, and automatically generates supplemental programming in accordance with the generated personality profile. That is to say, supplemental programming provider  200  produces supplemental programming based on a “personality profile” identified in the user profile stored in supplemental programming database  210 . In one embodiment, for example, a teenager is viewing a television show with a considerable amount of action—explosions, gunfire, etc. Based on the user profile associated with the teenager stored in supplemental programming database  210 , supplemental programming provider  200  develops a personality profile for the teenager and identifies an affinity for such action. Consequently, based on the personality profile developed by supplemental programming provider  200 , commentary generator  216  generates a three-dimensional animated figure in a corner of the viewable screen of the television which providing the audio commentary “cool, man!”, in accordance with the personality index associated with the teenager. Thus, rather than relying on pre-programmed supplemental programming obtained from supplemental programming database  210 , supplemental programming provider  200  is able to analyze the personality of the user (based on the user profile) to develop and provide appropriate supplemental programming. In alternate embodiments, the user may influence the personality profile as programming preferences change. 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 2 , the supplemental programming generated by commentary generator  216  is supplied to a commentary delivery module (e.g., commentary delivery module  218 ). In one embodiment, commentary delivery module  218  synchronizes the supplemental programming with the primary programming for delivery to the appropriate system element (e.g., television, audio components, computer system, etc.). In one embodiment, commentary delivery module  218  supplies only the supplemental programming to the appropriate system element (e.g., television, audio component(s), computer system, etc.). In an alternate embodiment, commentary generator  216  supplies supplemental programming to the appropriate system element. 
     In an alternate embodiment of supplemental programming provider  200 , supplemental programming may be generated as a background process and supplied to commentary provider  206 , which stores it for subsequent use as dictated by keyword search engine  208  or content evaluator  214 . In this alternate embodiment, commentary provider  206  supplies the supplemental programming directly to commentary delivery module  218  without the intervening commentary generator module  216 . 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , flow charts illustrating one embodiment of the method steps for automatically providing personalized supplemental programming are provided. For ease of explanation, and not limitation, the method of  FIGS. 5 and 6  will be developed in the context of system  100  incorporating supplemental programming provider  200 , supplemental programming database  300  and primary programming database  400 . As illustrated, the method starts, step  500 , wherein a user (e.g., user — 1) begins using system  100 , thereby causing system  100  to begin to receive primary programming. Accordingly, supplemental program provider  104  receives the primary programming at commentary provider  206  via line  102 , step  502 . In step  504 , the primary programming is evaluated for predetermined content criteria. Greater detail of such evaluation will be discussed in greater detail below, with reference to  FIG. 6 . In step  506 , supplemental programming provider  104  determines whether the predetermined content criteria has been satisfied. If so, supplemental programming provider  104  provides the appropriate system component(s) with supplemental programming from supplemental programming database  210  that is associated with the predetermined content criteria satisfied, step  508 . In an alternate embodiment, upon satisfying the predetermined content criteria, supplemental programming provider  104  issues supplemental programming to the appropriate system component(s) that does not, necessarily, correspond to the primary programming, but is randomly generated. Having provided the supplemental programming in step  508  or, if the predetermined content criteria was not satisfied in step  506 , the process loops back to step  502 . The method continues until the system is turned off, or the user disables the supplemental program provider. 
     As alluded to above,  FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating the method steps for evaluating the primary programming and/or programming description information obtained from primary programming database  222  for predetermined content criteria (i.e., step  504 ), in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment, keyword search engine  208  accesses primary programming database  222  for description information corresponding to the time/source of the received primary programming, step  602 . In step  604 , commentary provider  206  accesses the predetermined content criteria of the supplemental programming database  210  for use by keyword search engine  208  and content evaluator  214 . Keyword search engine  208  evaluates the textual information from the received primary programming and/or the description information from primary programming database  222 , against the predetermined content criteria available in supplemental programming database  210 , step  606 . Similarly, content evaluator  214  evaluates the audio content and the video/graphical content of the received primary programming against the predetermined content criteria available in supplemental programming database  210 , step  608 . In one embodiment, the evaluation of criteria in the selection of content is dependent on the user profile and the content personality. That is, if the primary programming is in accordance with the “personality profile” for a current system user, supplemental programming provider  200  provides supplemental programming associated with the primary programming. In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment, if either keyword search engine  208  or content evaluator  214  identifies primary programming that satisfies the predetermined content criteria, it supplies commentary generator  216  with the appropriate supplemental programming, returning to step  506 . 
     In one embodiment, except for the incorporated teachings of the present invention (described above), supplemental programming provider  104  is intended to represent a broad category of computer systems known in the art. An example of such a computer system is a desktop computer system equipped with a high performance microprocessor(s), such as the Pentium® processor, Pentium® Pro processor, or Pentium® II processor manufactured by and commonly available from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif.; including any of a number of audio and video input and output peripherals/interfaces for receiving, digitizing, compressing and decompressing audio and video signals. It is to be appreciated that the housing size and design for supplemental programming provider  104  may be altered, allowing it to better visually fit within system  100 . Accordingly, supplemental programming provider  104  may well be embodied in a “set-top” box incorporated with the teachings of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  provides a block diagram of a computer system (e.g., system  700 ) incorporated with the teachings of the present invention. In one embodiment, system  700  is supplemental programming provider  104  of  FIG. 1 . In the illustrated embodiment, system  700  includes at least one processor (e.g., processor  702 ) and cache memory  704  coupled to each other as shown. Additionally, system  700  includes high performance input/output (I/O) bus  706  and standard I/O bus  708 , as shown. Host bridge  710  couples processor  702  to high performance I/O bus  706 , whereas I/O bus bridge  712  couples high performance I/O bus  706  to standard I/O bus  708 . Coupled to high performance I/O bus  706  are network/communication interface  724 , system memory  714 , audio/video interface board  730 , supplemental programming provider  732  and video memory  716 . In turn, display device  718  is coupled to video memory  716 . Coupled to standard I/O bus  708  are mass storage device  720  keyboard and pointing device  722 , and I/O ports  726 . In one embodiment, keyboard and pointing device are coupled to standard I/O bus  708  with a serial communication interface cable, while in alternate embodiments it may be communicatively coupled with an infrared (IR) interface or a radio-frequency (RF) interface. 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 7 , elements  702 - 730  perform their conventional functions as known in the art. In particular, network/communication interface  724  is used to provide communication between system  700  and any of a wide range of conventional networks, such as Ethernet, token ring, the Internet, etc. Similarly, audio/video interface board  730  is used to receive broadcast communications from any of a wide range of conventional broadcast media such as RF broadcasts, satellite broadcasts, cable broadcasts, etc. Mass storage device  720  is used to provide permanent storage for the data and programming instructions to implement the above described functions, whereas system memory  714  is used to provide temporary storage for the data and programming instructions when executed by processor  702 . I/O ports  726  are one or more serial and/or parallel communication ports used to provide communication between additional peripheral devices which may be coupled to system  700  (e.g., stereo, speakers, etc.). Collectively, the elements coupled to system  700  are intended to represent a broad category of hardware systems, including but not limited to general purpose computer systems based on the Pentium® processor, the Pentium® Pro processor, or the Pentium® II processor commonly available from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. 
     In one embodiment, supplemental programming provider  732  includes the elements of supplemental programming provider  200 , including the elements necessary for performing audio analysis and video/graphical analysis of received primary programming and/or program description information obtained from a primary programming database. In an alternate embodiment, supplemental programming provider  732  is comprised of commentary provider  206  and commentary generator module  216 , while the supplemental programming database  210  and primary programming database  222  are stored on mass storage  720 , or are remotely located and communicatively coupled to supplementary program provider  732  via network/communication interface  724 . In one embodiment, supplemental programming provider  732  receives primary programming from network/communication interface  724  and/or audio/video tuner interface  730 , evaluates the primary programming, and returns supplemental programming to the appropriate elements in accordance with the teachings above. In an alternate embodiment, supplemental programming provider  732  receives primary programming via an antennae (not shown) coupled to I/O ports  726 , supplying supplemental programming to network/communication interface  724  and/or audio/video tuner interface  730 . In an alternate embodiment, supplemental programming provider  732  receives primary programming via I/O ports  726  and supplies supplemental programming to network/communication interface  724  and/or audio/video tuner interface  730 , in accordance with the teachings above. 
     It is to be appreciated that various components of system  700  may be re-arranged. For example, cache  704  may be on-chip with processor  702 . Alternatively, cache  704  and processor  702  may be packed together as a “processor module”, with processor  702  being referred to as the “processor core”. Furthermore, mass storage device  720 , keyboard and pointing device  722 , and/or display device  718  and video memory  716  may not be included in system  700 . Additionally, the peripheral devices shown coupled to standard I/O bus  708  may, in alternate embodiments, be coupled to high performance I/O bus  706 ; in addition, in some implementations only a single bus may exist with the components of system  700  being coupled to the single bus. Furthermore, additional components may be included in system  700 , such as additional processors, storage devices, or memories. 
     In one embodiment, rather than including a separate supplemental programming provider  732 , the innovative features of the present invention discussed above may be implemented as a series of software routines run by system  700  of  FIG. 7 . These software routines run a plurality or series of instructions to be executed by a processor, such as processor  702  in system  700 . Initially, the series of instructions are stored on a storage device, such as mass storage device  720 . It is to be appreciated that the series of instructions may be stored on any conventional storage device, such as a diskette, CD ROM, magnetic tape, digital versatile disk (DVD) (also referred to as a digital video disk), laser disk, ROM, flash memory, etc. It is also to be appreciated that the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could be received from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network, via network/communication interface  724 . The instructions are copied from the storage device, such as mass storage device  720 , into system memory  714  and then accessed and executed by processor  702 . In one embodiment, these software routines are written in the C++ programming language. It is to be appreciated, however, that these routines may be implemented in any of a wide variety of programming languages. In alternate embodiments, the present invention may be implemented in discrete hardware or firmware. For example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) could be programmed with the above described functions of the present invention. 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating the software elements according to one embodiment of the present invention. In particular software architecture  800  is shown comprising supplemental programming application  802 , supplemental programming agent  804  with associated commentary provider  806  including keyword search engine  808  and content evaluator module  810 , commentary generator module  812  and commentary delivery module  814 , and an operating system  820  with associated drivers. In particular, supplemental programming application  802  interfaces with supplemental programming agent  804  and provides the user interface for supplemental programming provider  104  of  FIG. 1 . 
     In one embodiment, supplemental programming agent  804  is coupled to and able to obtain information from supplemental programming database  814 , and primary programming database  816 . In an alternate embodiment, supplemental programming database  814  and/or primary programming database  816  are integrated modules of supplemental programming agent  804 . In one embodiment, commentary provider  806  performs the steps of evaluating the primary programming, and the program description information obtained from primary programming database  816  against the predetermined content criteria stored in supplemental programming database  814 . In the illustrated example embodiment, keyword search engine  808  and content evaluator module  810  of commentary provider  806  perform such evaluation. In one embodiment, upon receiving a trigger from commentary provider  806  that the predetermined content criteria has been satisfied, commentary generator module  812  generates supplemental programming associated with the satisfied predetermined content criteria. In an alternate embodiment, commentary generator module  812  generates supplemental programming as a background process for use by commentary provider  806  when the predetermined content criteria has been satisfied. In either instance, supplemental programming is supplied to commentary delivery module  813  for delivery to supplemental programming application  802  and appropriate system elements via the operating system  820  and basic input/output system (BIOS)  822 , which will be discussed in greater detail below. In one embodiment, commentary delivery module  813  receives the supplemental programming as well as the primary programming for delivery to the appropriate system elements. 
     As alluded to above, BIOS  822  provides an interface between operating system  820  and the various I/O devices coupled to the hardware system. Operating system  820  is a software service which provides an interface between BIOS  822  and supplemental programming agent  804  as well as other software applications, if any, being executed by a computer system within which the present invention is practiced (e.g., system  700 ). Operating system  820  provides an interface, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), between the user and the system controller. According to one embodiment of the present invention, operating system  820  is the Windows™ 95 operating system, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. However, it is to be appreciated that the present invention may be used with any other conventional operating system, such as, for example, other versions of Microsoft Windows™ (for example, Windows™ 3.0, Windows™ 3.1, Windows™ NT, or Windows™ CE), Microsoft DOS, OS/2, available from International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y., the Apple Macintosh Operating System, available from Apple Computer Incorporated of Cupertino, Calif., the NeXTSTEP® operating system available from Apple Computer Incorporated, or the UNIX operating system, available from Santa Cruz Operations of Santa Cruz, Calif. 
     Thus, the present invention automatically provides personalized supplemental programming in response to primary programming that satisfies predetermined content criteria. As discussed above, the present invention advantageously monitors and evaluates received primary programming for predetermined content criteria, and automatically supplies personalized supplemental programming when such predetermined content criteria is satisfied. 
     While the method and apparatus of the present invention has been described in terms of the above illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments so described. The present invention can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, although depicted as separate components, supplemental program provider  104  may be incorporated into any number of system components (e.g., a television/monitor/video cassette recorder/playback device) within system  100 . Further, supplemental program provider  104  may not include all of the elements of  FIG. 2  or  5 , or may, alternatively, include additional elements. Accordingly, the description is to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive on the present invention. 
     Thus, a method and apparatus for providing supplemental programming has been described.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8