Source: http://www.google.de/patents/US8131648?hl=de&ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-03-12 18:11:42
Document Index: 316083248

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 03710648', 'Application No. 03802034', 'Application No. 200580039507', 'application No. 03802034', 'application No. 2003', 'Application No. 03802034', 'Application No. 2003', 'application No. 03710648', 'Application No. 03710648', 'application No. 03802034', 'Application No. 03802034', 'Application No. 200580039507', 'Application No. 03802034']

Patent US8131648 - Electronic content distribution and exchange system - Google PatenteSuche Bilder Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive Mehr »Anmelden Erweiterte Patentsuche PatenteAn electronic content distribution and exchange system provides authenticated, reliable content downloads and tracking capabilities. Content is distributed to users through the invention's architecture. A user registers for the purchase of content through an interface on a client system or via a Web...http://www.google.de/patents/US8131648?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8131648 - Electronic content distribution and exchange system Erweiterte Patentsuche Ver�ffentlichungsnummerUS8131648 B2PublikationstypErteilung AnmeldenummerUS 10/339,698 Ver�ffentlichungsdatum6. M�rz 2012Eingetragen8. Jan. 2003 Priorit�tsdatum20. Okt. 1999Auch ver�ffentlicht unterUS20030131252, US20110047601 Ver�ffentlichungsnummer10339698, 339698, US 8131648 B2, US 8131648B2, US-B2-8131648, US8131648 B2, US8131648B2 ErfinderJames M. BartonUrspr�nglich Bevollm�chtigterTivo Inc.Zitat exportierenBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatentzitate (35), Nichtpatentzitate (15), Referenziert von (3), Klassifizierungen (55), Juristische Ereignisse (4) Externe Links: USPTO, USPTO-Zuordnung, EspacenetElectronic content distribution and exchange systemUS 8131648 B2 Zusammenfassung An electronic content distribution and exchange system provides authenticated, reliable content downloads and tracking capabilities. Content is distributed to users through the invention's architecture. A user registers for the purchase of content through an interface on a client system or via a Web site. The purchase is for a license to the content, not for the content itself. A list of available content is displayed to the user through the client system or the Web site. The invention's central servers log the purchase of the content into a license database. The electronic copy of the song may be already resident on the client system in a hidden area, carouseled in a protected broadcast channel, in the central database ready to be sent out in slices, or resident on a secure server on the Internet. The user accesses content through the client system's user interface where the user plays the content and controls its playback. The invention's service provides an exchange capability similar to stock trading whereby owners offer licenses to various electronic for sale. A seller places his license for a particular content up for sale on the central server where a buyer that is interested in the license places a bid. When a price is agreed to, the invention's central server transfers license ownership in the license database to the new owner.
Bilder(17) Anspr�che(60)
The invention claimed is: 1. A method for protecting and distributing licensed electronic content, comprising the steps of:
registering a user as an owner of a license for an electronic content in a license database, the electronic content comprising one or more of: a digital media file or software;
offering the license for sale, by a server comprising a processor, based on instructions from the user;
receiving a bid from a buyer, by the server, for purchase of the license;
determining, by the server, that the user has accepted the bid from the buyer for the purchase of the license based, at least, on the instructions from the user;
responsive to determining that the user has accepted the bid:
the server transferring ownership of the license for the electronic content in the license database from the user to the buyer;
the server instructing the user's client system to delete the electronic content; and
the server delivering the electronic content to the buyer's client system.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said delivering step gathers the electronic content to be delivered to the buyer's client system into distribution packages called �slices�, and wherein said delivering step transmits slices to the buyer's client system via communication mediums such as broadcast mechanisms, modems, networks, or the Internet.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising registering the buyer as an owner of a device, and in response to the buyer requesting a copy of the electronic content be downloaded to the device,
checking that the device is registered to the buyer and that the buyer has a license to the electronic content; and
making the electronic content available to the device.
15. An apparatus for protecting and distributing licensed electronic content, comprising:
a license database; comprising a processor, and a memory;
a plurality of client systems wherein each client system comprises a processor, and a memory;
a server comprising a processor, a memory and licensing subsystem for registering a user as an owner of a license for an electronic content in the license database, the electronic content comprising one or more of a digital media file or software;
the server memory comprising instructions stored therein that when executed by the server processor causes the server process to perform the steps of:
offering the license for sale based on instructions from the user;
receiving a bid from a buyer for purchase of the license;
determining that the user has accepted the bid from the buyer for the purchase of the license based, at least, on the instructions from the user; and responsive to determining that the user has accepted the bid:
transferring ownership of the license for the electronic content in the license database from the user to the buyer; and
instructing the user's client system of the plurality of client systems to delete the electronic content; and delivery subsystem configured for delivering the electronic content to the buyer's client system of the plurality of client systems, responsive to determining that the user has accepted the bid.
a telephony server;
wherein registering the user as the owner of the license is responsive to the user's purchase of the license; and wherein said user's purchase is transmitted to the licensing subsystem through a log that is backhauled when the user's client system contacts the licensing subsystem through the telephony server.
21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said delivery subsystem gathers the electronic content to be delivered to the buyer's client system into distribution packages called �slices�, and wherein said delivery subsystem transmits slices to the buyer's client device via communication mediums such as broadcast mechanisms, modems, networks, or the Internet.
29. A program storage medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions, which when executed by a processor, perform method steps for protecting and distributing licensed electronic content, comprising the steps of:
registering a user as an owner of a license for an electronic content in a license database the electronic content comprising one or more of: a digital media file or software;
offering the license for sale, by the server, based on instructions from the user;
responsive to determining, by the server, that the user has accepted the bid:
transferring ownership, by the server, of the license for the electronic content in the license database from the user to the buyer;
instructing, by the server, the user's client system to delete the electronic content;
and delivering, by the server, the electronic content to the buyer's client system.
33. The program storage medium of claim 29,
wherein registering the user as the owner of the license is responsive to the user's purchase of the license; and wherein the user's purchase is transmitted to the server through a log that is backhauled when the user's client system contacts the server through a telephony server.
35. The program storage medium of claim 29, wherein said delivering step gathers the electronic content to be delivered to the buyer's client system into distribution packages called �slices�, and wherein said delivering step transmits slices to the buyer's client system via communication mediums such as broadcast mechanisms, modems, networks, or the Internet.
40. The program storage medium of claim 29, wherein the steps further comprising registering the buyer as an owner of a device, and in response to the buyer requesting a copy of the electronic content be downloaded to the device,
46. A process for protecting and distributing licensed electronic content, comprising the steps of:
registering a user, in a license database, as an owner of a license for an electronic content and as an owner of at least two client systems with the electronic content; wherein the license database contains client system identifications of a plurality of client systems and a list of licensed content associated with each client system, the electronic content comprising one or more of: a digital media file or software;
the server instructing the at least two client systems of the user to delete the electronic content; and
50. A program storage medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions, which when executed by a processor, perform method steps for protecting and distributing licensed electronic content, comprising the steps of:
transferring ownership of the license for the electronic content in the license database from the user to the buyer;
instructing the at least two client systems of the user to delete the electronic content; and
delivering the electronic content to the buyer's client system.
54. An apparatus for protecting and distributing licensed electronic content, comprising:
a license database;
a plurality of client systems;
a server comprising a processor and licensing subsystem for registering a user, in the license database, as an owner of a license for an electronic content and as an owner of at least two client systems, with the electronic content, of the plurality of client systems; wherein the license database contains client system identifications of a plurality of client systems and a list of licensed content associated with each client system the electronic content comprising one or more of: a digital media file or software;
the server configured for:
determining that the user has accepted the bid from the buyer for the purchase of the license based, at least, on the instructions from the user;
delivery subsystem configured for delivering the electronic content to the buyer's client system of the plurality of client systems, responsive to determining that the user has accepted the bid.
60. The program storage medium of claim 29, wherein the steps further comprising the user's client system deleting the electronic content. Beschreibung
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/422,139, filed on Oct. 20, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,713; and claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/347,181, filed on Jan. 8, 2002 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/434,767, filed on Dec. 18, 2002.
The file-sharing system of Napster, Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. and the Gnutella peer-to-peer file sharing system (originally developed by Nullsoft, Inc., of San Francisco, Calif.) are examples of primitive electronic distribution systems. Napster client systems must connect with a server to reach other clients systems. Gnutella, on the other hand, is a non-centralized peer-to-peer network approach where each client is directly connected to another client, thereby chaining all clients together to form a network. These types of distribution systems suffer from a number of weaknesses:
They are not automated, thereby requiring direct interaction to introduce content to the system or to retrieve content from the system. They are not reliable, i.e., long downloads may fail, no data integrity is established, etc. They are not secure�no authentication methods or data security methods are typically involved. It is difficult to enforce copyright restrictions for protected content in the systems. There are no payment or transaction systems to support the sales and exchange of protected content. It would be advantageous to provide an electronic content distribution and exchange system that provides reliable content downloads with tracking capabilities. It would further be advantageous to provide an electronic content distribution and exchange system that provides an authenticated, secure content distribution management system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an electronic content distribution and exchange system. The system provides reliable electronic content downloads to client systems with tracking capabilities. In addition, the invention provides a system that ensures authenticated, secure content distribution between a server and client.
A client device, typified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389, owned by the Applicant, provides functionality typically associated with central video servers, such as storage of a large amount of video content, ability to choose and play this content on demand, and full �VCR-like� control of the delivery of the content, as typified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,418, owned by the applicant.
If a protected broadcast channel is used, the slice(s) of the content is/are copied onto equipment co-resident with the station television transmitter from whence it is modulated onto the broadcast signal. In these and similar broadcast-oriented cases, the slice is �carouseled�, i.e., the data describing the slice is repeated continually until a new slice is provided for transmission.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of a distributed television viewing management system according to the invention;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention is embodied in an electronic content distribution and exchange system. A system according to the invention provides reliable electronic content downloads to client systems with tracking capabilities. In addition, the invention provides a system that that ensures authenticated, secure content distribution between a server and client.
Successful security requires that sender and receiver agree beforehand on the asymmetric key pair to be used for encryption. Such key distribution is the weakest link in any cryptographic system for protecting electronic data. U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,739, entitled �Self-Test Electronic Assembly and Test System,� filed Jul. 19, 1999, also owned by the Applicant, describes a mechanism whereby the client device generates the asymmetric key pair automatically as the final step in the manufacturing process. The private key thus generated is stored within a secure microprocessor embedded within the client device, such that the key is never presented to external devices. The public key thus generated is transmitted to a local manufacturing system, which records the key along with the client serial number in a secure database. This database is later securely transmitted to the central distribution system, where it is used to perform secure communications with the client.
The first step in preparing television viewing objects for transmission is recognizing the transmission mechanism to be used for this particular instance, and creating a slice of a subset of the database that is customized for that mechanism. For example, the database may contain television viewing objects relating to all programs in the country. However, if television viewing objects are to be sent using VBI modulation on a local television signal, only those television viewing objects relating to programs viewable within the footprint of the television broadcast being used to carry them should be contained within the relevant slice. Alternatively, if some of the television viewing objects contain promotional material related to a particular geographic region, those objects should not be transmitted to other geographic regions. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the speed and periodicity of traversing the database and generating slices for transmission is adjustable in an arbitrary fashion to allow useful cost/performance tradeoffs to be made. For instance, it may only be necessary to create slices for certain transmission methods every other day, or every hour. The final step in preparing each slice is to encrypt the slice using a short-lived symmetric key. Only client devices which have been authenticated using secure protocols will have a copy of this symmetric key, making them able to decrypt the slice and access the television viewing objects within it. 2. Once a slice is complete, it is copied to the point at which the transmission mechanism can take and send the data 110. For telephone connections, the slice is placed on a telephony server 111 which provides the data to each client as it calls in. If television broadcast is used, the slice is copied onto equipment co-resident with the station television transmitter, from whence it is modulated onto the signal. In these and similar broadcast-oriented cases, the slice is �carouseled�, i.e., the data describing the slice is repeated continually until a new slice is provided for transmission.
This repetitive broadcast of slices is required because there can be no assurance that the signal carrying the data arrives reliably at each client. The client device may be powered off, or there may be interference with reception of the signal. In order to achieve a high degree of probability that the transmitted slices are properly received at all client devices, they are continually rebroadcast until updated slices are available for transmission. A preferred embodiment of the invention uses broadcast mechanisms such as a television signal to transmit the slice. However, it is desirable to provide for download over a connection-based mechanism, such as a modem or Internet connection. Using a connection-based mechanism usually results in time-based usage fees, making it desirable to minimize the time spent transmitting the slice. This is accomplished using a two-step process. When the connection is established, the client system sends an inventory of previously received slices to telephony servers 111. The server compares this inventory with the list of slices that should have been processed by that client. Slices which were not processed are transmitted to the client system. 3. The slice is transmitted by breaking the encrypted slice into a succession of short numbered data packets. These packets are captured by client systems and held in a staging area until all packets in the sequence are present. The packets are reassembled into the slice, which is then decrypted. The television viewing objects within the slice are then filtered for applicability, possibly being added to the local television viewing object database. This process replicates a portion of the central database of television viewing objects reliably into the client.
The invention keeps track of the time at which data packets are received. Data packets which are older than a selected time period are purged from the staging area on a periodic basis; this avoids consuming space for an indefinite period while waiting for all parts of a slice to be transmitted. Especially when transmitting the objects over a broadcast medium, errors of various kinds may occur in the transmitted data. Each data packet is stamped with an error detecting code (a parity field or CRC code, for example). When an error is detected the data packet is simply discarded. The broadcast carousel will eventually retransmit the data packet, which is likely to be received properly. Slices of any size may thus be sent reliably; this is achieved at the cost of staging received portions of the object on the client until all portions are properly received. 4. There may be one or more �special� slices transmitted which communicate service related data to the client system, particularly service authorization information. It is important that the service provider be able to control the client system's access to premium services if the viewer has failed to pay his bill or for other operational reasons.
One particular type of special slice contains an �authorization� object. Authorization objects are generally encrypted using asymmetric key encryption based on the public/private key pair associated with a specific client. If the slice can be successfully decrypted by the security microprocessor using the embedded private key, the slice will contain an object indicating the allowable time delay before another authorization object is received, as well as one or more symmetric keys valid for a short time period. The delay value is used to reset a timestamp in the database indicating when the client system will stop providing services. The symmetric keys are stored in the local television viewing object database, to be used in decrypting new slices which may be received. If the client has not received a proper authentication object by the time set in the database, it will commence denial of most services to the viewer (as specified by the service provider). Also contained within an authentication object are one or more limited-lifetime download keys which are needed to decrypt the slices that are transmitted. Clearly, if a client system is unable to authenticate itself, it will not be able to decrypt any objects. Each authorization slice is individually generated and transmitted. If broadcast transmission is used for the slices, all relevant authorizations are treated identically to all other slices and carouseled along with all other data. If direct transmission is used, such as via a phone connection, only the authentication slice for that client is transmitted. 5. Once the client device has received a complete database slice, it uses the methods described earlier to add the new object contained within it to the database.
Additionally, the viewer may indicate interest in offers or promotions that are made available, or he may indicate a desire to purchase an item. This information is also recorded into a local television viewing object. Additionally, operation of the client device may result in important data that should be recorded into a television viewing object. For example, errors may occur when reading from the hard disk drive in the client, or the internal temperature of the device may exceed operational parameters. Other similar types of information might be failure to properly download an object, running out of space for various disk-based operations, or rapid power cycling. 2. At a certain time, which may be immediate or on a periodic basis, the client system contacts the central site via a direct connection 104 (normally via phone and/or an Internet connection). The client device sends a byte sequence identifying itself which is encrypted with its secret key. The server fetches the matching television viewing object for the client device from the database, and uses the key stored there to decrypt the byte sequence. At the same time, the server sends a byte sequence to the client, encrypted in its secret key, giving the client a new one-time encryption key for the session.
Both sides must successfully decrypt their authentication message in order to communicate. This two-way handshake is important, since it assures both client and server that the other is valid. Such authentication is necessary to avoid various attacks that may occur on the client system. For example, if communications were not authenticated in such a fashion, a malicious party might create an �alias� central site with a corrupt television viewing object database and provide bad information to a client system, causing improper operation. All further communication is encrypted using the one-time session key. Encrypted communication is necessary because the information may pass across a network, such as the Internet, where data traffic is open to inspection by all equipment it passes through. Viewing objects being collected may contain information that is considered private, so this information must be fully protected at all times. Assuming that the authentication phase is successful, the two parties treat the full-duplex phone line as two one-way broadcast channels. New slices are delivered to the client, and viewing data to be collected is sent back. The connection is ended when all data is delivered. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that this connection may take place over a network, such as the Internet running standard TCP/IP protocols, transparently to all other software in the system. 3. Uploaded information is handled similarly by the server; it is assumed to represent television viewing objects to be replicated into the central database. However, there may be many uploaded viewing objects, as there may be many clients of the service. Uploaded objects are therefore assigned a navigable attribute containing information about their source; the object is then indexed uniquely into the database namespace when it is added.
Uploaded viewing objects are not immediately added to the central database; instead they are queued for later insertion into the database. This step allows the processing of the queue to be independent of the connection pattern of client devices. For instance, many devices may connect at once, generating a large number of objects. If these objects were immediately added to the central database, the performance of all connections would suffer, and the connection time would increase. Phone calls are charged by duration, thus any system in which connection time increases as a function of load is not acceptable. Another advantage of this separation is that machine or network failures are easily tolerated. In addition, the speed at which viewing objects are processed and added to the central database may be controlled by the service provider by varying the computer systems and their configurations to meet cost or performance goals. Yet another advantage of this separation is that it provides a mechanism for separating data collected to improve service operations and data which might identify an individual viewer. It is important that such identifying data be kept private, both for legal reasons and to increase the trust individuals have in the service. For instance, the navigable attribute assigned to a viewing object containing the record of a viewer's viewing choices may contain only the viewer's zip code, meaning that further processing of those objects can construct no path back to the individual identity. Periodic tasks are invoked on the server to cull these objects from the database and dispose of them as appropriate. For example, objects indicating viewer behavior are aggregated into an overall viewer behavior model, and information that might identify an individual viewer is discarded. Objects containing operational information are forwarded to an analysis task, which may cause customer service personnel to be alerted to potential problems. Objects containing transactional information are forwarded to transaction or commerce systems for fulfillment. Any of these activities may result in new television viewing objects being added to the central database, or in existing objects being updated. These objects will eventually be transmitted to client devices. Thus, the television viewing management system is closed loop, creating a self-maintaining replicated database system 105 which can support any number of client systems.
1. In the simplest case, the viewer may wish to browse these objects to discern current or soon-to-be-available programming. The application software will map the object relationships described by the database to some form of visual and audible interface that is convenient and useful for the viewer. The viewer may indicate that a particular program is of interest, resulting in some application-specific action, such as recording the program to local storage when it is broadcast. 2. Application software may also directly process program guide objects to choose programs that may be of interest to the viewer. This process is typically based on an analysis of previously watched programming combined with statistical models, resulting in a priority ordering of all programs available. The highest priority programs may be processed in an application specific manner, such as recording the program to local storage when it is broadcast. Portions of the priority ordering so developed may be presented to the viewer for additional selection as in case 1.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that there is a great deal of prior art centered on methods for selecting programming for a viewer based on previous viewing history and explicit preferences, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,257. The methods described in this application are unique and novel over these techniques as they suggest priorities for the capture of programming, not the broadcast or transmission of programming, and there is no time constraint on when the programming may be broadcast. Further details on these methods are given later in this description. In general, explicit viewer choices of programming have the highest priority for capture, followed by programming chosen using the preference techniques described herein. 3. A client system will have a small number of inputs capable of receiving television broadcasts or accessing Web pages across a network such as an intranet or the Internet. A scheduling method is used to choose how each input is tuned, and what is done with the resulting captured television signal or Web page.
Referring to FIG. 6, generally, the programs of interest to the viewer may be broadcast at any time, on any channel, as described by the program guide objects. Additionally, the programs of interest may be Web page Universal Resource Locators (URL) across a network, such as an intranet or the Internet. The channel metaphor is used to also describe the location, or URL, of a particular Web site or page. A viewer, for example, can �tune� into a Web site by designating the Web site URL as a channel. Whenever that channel is selected, the Web site is displayed. A Web page may also be designated as a program of interest and a snapshot of the Web page will be taken and recorded at a predetermined time. The scheduler accepts as input a prioritized list of program viewing preferences 603, possibly generated as per the cases above. The scheduling method 601 then compares this list with the database of program guide objects 604, which indicate when programs of interest are actually broadcast. It then generates a schedule of time 607 versus available storage space 606 that is optimal for the viewer's explicit or derived preferred programs. Further details on these methods are given later in this description. 4. When a captured program is viewed, the matching program guide object is used to provide additional information about the program, overlaid on the display using any suitable technique, preferably an On Screen Display (OSD) of some form. Such information may include, but is not limited to: program name; time, channel or network of original broadcast; expiration time; running time or other information. 5. When live programming is viewed, the application uses the current time, channel, and channel map to find the matching program guide object. Information from this object is displayed using any suitable technique as described above. The information may be displayed automatically when the viewer changes channels, when a new program begins, on resumption of the program after a commercial break, on demand by the viewer, or based on other conditions. 6. Using techniques similar to those described in case 2, application software may also capture promotional material that may be of interest to the viewer. This information may be presented on viewer demand, or it may be automatically inserted into the output television signal at some convenient point. For example, an advertisement in the broadcast program might be replaced by a different advertisement which has a higher preference priority. Using the time-warping apparatus, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389, entitled �Multimedia Time Warping System,� filed Jul. 30, 1998, it is possible to insert any stored program into the output television signal at any point. The time-warping apparatus allows the overlaid program to be delayed while the stored program is inserted to make this work.
1. The type of the preference item, such as actor or director preference; 2. The weight of the preference given by the viewer, which might be indicated by multiple button presses or other means; 3. The statically assigned significance of the preference in relation to other preferences, for example, actor preference are more significant than director preferences; 4. The actual value of the preference item, for instance the name of the director. With respect to FIG. 5, preference objects are stored in the database as a hierarchy similar to that described for program guide objects, however this hierarchy is built incrementally as preferences are expressed 500. The hierarchy thus constructed is based on �direct� preferences, e.g., those derived from viewer actions or inferred preferences.
1. A table 504 is constructed which lists each possible program object attribute, and any preference objects for that attribute that are present are listed in that entry. 2. If the preference item is a string, such as an actor name, a 32-bit digital signature for that string is calculated using a 32-bit CRC algorithm and stored with the table item, rather than the string itself. This allows for much faster scanning of the table as string comparisons are avoided, at the slight risk of two different strings generating the same digital signature. 3. For each program object in the database, and for each attribute of that program, the attribute is looked up in the table. If present, the list of preference objects for that attribute is examined for a match with the attribute of the current program object. If a match occurs, the weight associated with that preference object is added to weighting associated with the program object to generate a single weight for the program. 4. Finally, the program objects are rank-ordered based on the overall weighting for each program, resulting in a list of most-preferred to least-preferred programs. Given this final prioritized list, a recording schedule is generated using the methods described below, resulting in a collection of recorded programs of most interest to the viewer.
1. A read-only or electrically programmable memory in the device holds an initial bootstrap sequence of instructions. These instructions initialize low-level parameters of the client device, initialize the disk storage system, and load a bootstrap loader from the disk into memory, to which execution is then passed. This initial bootstrap may be changed if it resides in an electrically programmable memory. 2. The second stage boot loader then locates the operating system on the disk drive, loads the operating system into memory, and passes execution to the operating system. This loader must exist at a specific location on the disk so as to be easily located by the initial loader. The operating system performs necessary hardware and software initialization. It then loads the viewing object database software from the disk drive, and begins execution of the application. Other application software, such as the time-warping software and viewer interaction software, are also loaded and started. This software is usually located in a separate area on the disk from the object database or captured television programs.
1. Viewer actions, primarily pressing buttons on a remote control device, are recorded. Each �button press� is recorded along with the current time, and any other contextual information, such as the current viewer context. Post-processing of this object at the central site results in a complete trace of viewer actions, including the context in which each action is taken. 2. Automatic actions, such as beginning or ending the recording of a program, or choosing a program to record based on viewer preferences, are recorded. In addition, deletion of captured programs is recorded. Post-processing of this object at the central site results in a complete trace of program capture actions taken by the client system, including the programs residing in the persistent store at any point in time. 3. Software installation actions, including reception, installation, and post-reboot results are recorded. 4. Hardware exceptions of various kinds, including but not limited to: power fail/restart, internal temperature profile of the device, persistent storage access errors, memory parity errors and primary partition failures. Since all actions are recorded along with a time stamp, it is possible to reconstruct the behavior of the client system using a linear time-based ordering. This allows manual or automatic methods to operate on the ordered list of events to correlate actions and behaviors. For instance, if an expected automatic action does not occur soon after rebooting with new software, it may be inferred that the new software was defective.
1. Program guide information obtained from outside sources is processed to produce a consistent set of program guide objects, indicating �programs�, �showings�, �channels�, �networks� and other related objects. This set of objects will have dependencies (�channels� depend on �networks�, �showings� depend on �programs�) and other interrelationships. When a complete, consistent set of objects is ready, it is added to the database as an atomic operation. 2. New software, including new applications or revisions of existing software, are first packaged into �software� viewing objects. As above, the software may have interdependencies, such as an application depending on a dynamically loaded library, which must be reflected in the interrelationships of the software objects involved. In another example, there may be two types of client systems in use, each of which requires different software objects; these software objects must have attributes present indicating the type of system they are targeted at. Once a consistent set of objects is available, it is added to the database as an atomic operation. 3. Each client system has a unique, secret key embedded within it. The public key matching this secret key is loaded into a �client� management object, along with other interesting information about the client, such as client type, amount of storage in the system, etc. These objects are used to generate authentication objects as necessary. 4. Aggregation program guide objects are added in a similar fashion. In this case, however, the aggregation object must refer to primitive program guide objects already present in the database. Also attached to the aggregation object are other objects, such as a textual description, a screen-based icon, and other informational attributes. Once a consistent set of ancillary objects to the aggregation is available, it is added to the database as an atomic operation. 5. Data Collected from Client Systems. It should be clear that there may be any number of sources of viewing objects, and this enumeration simply shows the most basic possible sources.
1.1. By examining large numbers of uploaded operations status objects, it is possible to perform extensive analysis of hardware reliability trends and failure modes. For instance, it is possible to correlate internal temperature with expected MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of client devices. 1.2. By examining large numbers of uploaded viewing information, it is possible to derive demographic or psychographic information about various populations of client devices. For example, it is possible to correlate TV programs most watched within specific zip codes in which the client devices reside. 1.3. Similarly, by examining large numbers of viewing information objects, it is possible to generate �rating� and �share� values for particular programs with fully automated methods, unlike existing program rating methods. 1.4. There are many other examples of statistical analysis tasks that might be performed on the viewing object database; these examples are not meant to limit the applicability of the invention, but to illustrate by example the spectrum of operations that might be performed. 2. Specialty aggregation objects may be automatically generated based on one or more attributes of all available viewing objects.
Such generation is typically performed by first extracting information of interest from each viewing object, such as program description, actor, director, etc., and constructing a simple table of programs and attributes. An aggregate viewing object is then generated by choosing one or more attributes, and adding to the aggregate those programs for which the chosen attributes match in some way. These objects are then included in the slices generated for transmission, possibly based on geographic or other information. Some example aggregates that might be created are: 2.1. Aggregates based on events, such as a major league football game in a large city. In this case, all programs viewable by client devices in or around that city are collected, and the program description searched for the names of the teams playing, coaches names, major player's names, the name of the ballpark, etc. Matching program objects are added to the aggregate, which is then sliced for transmission only to client devices in regions in and around the city. 2.2. Aggregates based on persons of common interest to a large number of viewers. For instance, an aggregate might be constructed of all �John Wayne� movies to be broadcast in the next week. 2.3. Aggregates based on viewing behavior can be produced. In this case, uploaded viewing objects are scanned for elements of common interest, such as types of programs viewed, actual programs viewed, etc. For example, a �top ten list� aggregate of programs viewed on all client devices in the last week might be generated containing the following week's showing of those programs. 2.4. Aggregates based on explicit selections by viewers. During viewing of a program, the viewer might be presented with an opportunity to �vote� on the current program, perhaps on the basis of four perceived attributes (storyline, acting, directing, cinematography), which generates viewing objects that are uploaded later. These votes are then scanned to determine an overall rating of the program, which is transmitted to those who voted for their perusal. 2.5. There are many other examples of how the basic facilities of this invention allow the service operator to provide pre-sorted and pre-selected groups of related programs to the user of the client device for perusal and selection.
These examples are not meant to limit the applicability of the invention, but to illustrate by example the spectrum of operations that might be performed. 3. Manual methods may also be used to generate aggregate objects, a process sometimes called �authoring�. In this case, the person creating the aggregate chooses programs for explicit addition to the aggregate. It is then transmitted in the same manner as above. Clearly, aggregation program objects may also permit the expression of preferences or recording of other information. These results may be uploaded to the central site to form a basis for the next round of aggregate generation or statistical analysis, and so on.
Electronic Content�Ownership, Commerce, and Protection
The distributed television viewing management system described above is an end-to-end system architecture and secure distribution management system that addresses many weaknesses of prior electronic distribution systems; some of these weaknesses are:
Prior electronic distribution systems are not automated, thereby requiring direct interaction to introduce content to the system or to retrieve content from the system. Prior electronic distribution systems are not reliable, i.e., long downloads may fail, no data integrity is established, etc. Prior electronic distribution systems are not secure�no authentication methods or data security methods are typically involved. It is difficult to enforce copyright restrictions for protected content in the systems. There are no payment or transaction systems to support the sales or exchange of protected content. Referring again to FIG. 1, the invention provides authenticated, reliable content downloads and tracking capabilities. As noted above, transmission of viewing objects from the distribution servers 110 to the client systems 101 is accomplished over communications medium such as: typical broadcast transmission methods (satellite, cable, aerial) and connection-based transmission methods that connect directly or across the Internet or an intranet (telephone modem, ethernet, ISDN, DSL, cable, etc.).
Television viewing objects can encompass a great many different types of data. For example, as described above, software viewing objects contain software that includes new applications or revisions of existing software. Other electronic content, such as that considered to be copyrighted material (e.g., pictures, video, music, ebooks, etc.), can also be contained in a television viewing object. A television viewing object may also contain �pointers� to digital content, such as a Web-oriented URL. These pointers would then be used by a client device to separately obtain the digital content.
The electronic copy of the song may be already resident on the client system 1104 in a hidden area, carouseled in a protected broadcast channel 1103, in the central database 1102 ready to be sent out in slices, or resident on a secure server 1107 on the Internet. If a protected broadcast channel 1103 is used, the slice(s) of the content is/are copied onto equipment co-resident with the station television transmitter from whence it is modulated onto the broadcast signal. In these and similar broadcast-oriented cases, the slice is �carouseled�, i.e., the data describing the slice is repeated continually until a new slice is provided for transmission. This is necessary to provide the appearance of reliable download to the end user.
Referring to FIG. 12, the song is �delivered� to the user once it is resident on the client system 1104 and available, for example, in a special music playlist 1201. The user accesses content through the client system's user interface. The client systems make the invention easy to use through a simplified user interface via a remote control or keyboard. The user is free to play licensed content from his client system as desired and to control how it is played back (e.g., pause, fast forward, reverse, etc.).
The licenses now represent a valuable commodity. A �song market� is then created. The invention's service provides an exchange capability similar to stock trading whereby owners offer licenses to various songs for sale. This service might be provided for a small transaction fee, or some other remuneration.
With respect to FIG. 15, imagine the invention's client system 1503 as a sort of �home base� for the owner's media assets. If the owner wishes to get a copy of a song on his portable MP3 player 1504, he has a number of methods. First, however, he needs to register ownership of the MP3 player 1504 with the invention's service 1501, much as he registers a client system 1503.
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