Abstract:
A method for offering at least one piece of content available for downloading to a viewer of a viewed program commences by first extracting from the viewed program information indicative of at least one piece of content associated with the viewed program available for downloading. Thereafter, a link established to a source of the content available for downloading. Lastly, both a portion of viewed program and the established link undergo display to the viewer so the viewer can actuate the link and download the at least one piece of content.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates to a method and apparatus for downloading content. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0002]    Providers of television programs, such television stations as well as cable and satellite television providers often offer programs with musical content. Examples of such television programs include Smash, Glee, and The Voice, among others. A viewer watching a television program show containing musical content may want to acquire one or more songs played during the television program for listening again at a later time. Currently, a viewer who wants to acquire songs played during a television program typically must visit a website maintained by a musical content provider, such as the I-tunes website operated by Apple 
         [0003]    Computer, to download the music performed during the television programs. Requiring the viewer to visit a web site to acquire the desired song(s) entails the use of a device separate from television set for this purpose. Thus, when a viewer makes use of a computer or smart phone to download the music he or she wants, the viewer&#39;s attention will shift from the viewed program. Even if the viewer can use the same device to both view the program and download the desired content, the viewer will typically need to exit the device mode allowing the user to view the program and enter a device mode allowing the user to download the desired song(s). 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Briefly, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present principles, a method for offering at least one piece of content available for downloading to a viewer of a viewed program commences by first extracting from the viewed program information indicative of at least one piece of content associated with the viewed program available for downloading. Thereafter, a link established to a source of the content available for downloading. Lastly, both a portion of viewed program and the established link undergo display to the viewer so the viewer can actuate the link and download the at least one piece of content. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts a block schematic diagram of a system for practicing the content downloading technique of the present principles; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  depicts a block schematic diagram of a program receiving device comprising part of the system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  depicts a screen-shot displayed in connection with content down-loading in accordance with the present principles. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]      FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram of an embodiment of a system  100  for delivering one or more programs to viewer (not shown). The program(s) typically comprise audio-visual files, for example movies or television programs, that originate from a content source  102  which can deliver programs in at least two forms. For example, the content source  102  can deliver programs in the form of “broadcast” programs of the type formatted for terrestrial broadcast by a broadcast affiliate manager  104 , typically a national television broadcast network operated by American Broadcasting Company (ABC), National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), etc. The broadcast affiliate manager  104  can collect and store the program, and can schedule delivery the program over a delivery network  106 , which can include a wired or wireless communications network or a combination of over-the-air (OTA), cable television and/or satellite communication networks. 
         [0009]    The content source  102  can also deliver programs in a special form, such as premium or pay-per-view programs otherwise not provided to the broadcast affiliate manager  104 . For example, such special programs can include first run movies offered to viewers in response to their request. The content source  102  provides such special programs to a program manager  110 , which can comprise a service provider, such as an Internet website, affiliated with a program provider, broadcast service, or network delivery service. The program manager  110  can also incorporate Internet files for delivery with one or more special programs. In practice, the program manager  110  delivers special programs (and associated Internet files) over a separate delivery network  112 , which can include a Wide-Area Network (WAN), Local-Area Network (LAN) and/or high-speed broadband communications network, including, but not limited to, the Internet. Note that the programs provided by the broadcast affiliate manager  104  could undergo delivery using all or part of delivery network  112  and programs from the program manager  110  could undergo delivery using all or part of delivery network  106 . In addition, the delivery of programs could occur directly via the network  112  without the need for the program manager  110 . 
         [0010]    At a local premise, such as a home or the like, a viewer will make use of a program receiving device  108 , described in greater detail with respect to  FIG. 2 , to receive programs via the networks  106  and  112  for processing and subsequent display on a display device  114 , such as a television set or the like. The program receiving device  108  can take many forms, such as a set-top box, gateway, modem or the like, the functionality of which can be embodied in devices such as a digital video recorder, personal computer, television set, etc. and may be embodied as a set top box/digital video recorder (DVR), a gateway, a modem, etc. Further, the program receiving device  108  may act as entry point, or gateway, for a home network system that includes additional devices configured as either client or peer devices in the home network (not shown). 
         [0011]    The program receiving device  108  processes the programs received via the networks  106  and  112  and separates the programs based on viewer preferences and commands The program receiving device  108  can include a storage device, such as a hard drive or optical disk drive (not shown), for program recording and playback. The program receiving device  108  can interface to a second screen in the form of a touch screen control device  116  to allow the viewer to control both the program receiving device  108  and the display device  114 . The touch screen control device  116  also has the capability displaying video content, including, but not limited to, viewer data entries as well as a portion of the video content delivered to the display device  114 . In accordance with an aspect of the present principles, the touch screen control device  116  also has the capability of displaying to the viewer information indicative of downloadable content associated with the program received by the program receiving device  108  and displayed by the display device  114 . Such content can include musical compositions for example comprising part of the program undergoing display. As described in greater detail below, the viewer can use the touch screen control device  116  to select the content for downloading, while still watching the portion of the program undergoing display on that device. 
         [0012]    In practice, the touch screen control device  116  can take a variety of forms. For example, the touch screen control device  116  could take the form of a tablet device, such as the Apple I-Pad, or Samsung Galaxy Note tablet. Alternatively, the touch screen control device  116  could take the form of a smart phone or lap-top computer or any other similar device that can send and receive data as well as provide a display of such data. The touch screen control device  116  typically interfaces to the program receiving device  108  which can include one or more of any well-known wireless transmission mechanisms including, but not limited to infra-red (IR) or frequency (RF) communications and can make use standard protocols such as infra-red data association (IRDA) standard, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth wireless protocols, as example. 
         [0013]    The system  100  can include a back end server  118  and a usage database  120 . The back end server  118  includes a personalization engine that analyzes the usage habits of viewers sand makes recommendations based on those habits. The usage database  120  stores viewer data indicative of habits and also stores viewer profiles generated by the server  118 . 
         [0014]      FIG. 2  depicts a block schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the receiving device  108  of  FIG. 1 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the receiving device  108  includes an input signal receiver  202  that receives programs via the networks  106  and  112  shown in  FIG. 1 . The input signal receiver  202  can comprise one of several known receiver circuits used for receiving, demodulating and decoding received program(s). An input stream processor  204  receives the decoded program(s) and performs the final signal selection and processing, including separation of video from audio in the decoded program(s). The input stream processor  204  supplies the audio to an audio processor  206 , which generates an audio signal for receipt by an audio interface  208  that provides the signal to the display device  114  of FIG. 
         [0015]      1 , or other device (not shown) for audio reproduction. Typically, the audio interface  208  generates an analog audio signal. Alternatively, the audio interface  208  could generate a digital signal. Additionally, the audio processor  206  supplies audio signals to a storage device  212  for storage. The input stream processor  204  also provides a video output signal to a video processor  210 , which undertakes signal conversion to provide a video signal of the appropriate format for storage in the storage device  212  and for display. A display interface  218  interfaces the video processor  210  to the display device  114  of  FIG. 1 . 
         [0016]    The storage device  212 , which stores program audio and video, allows later retrieval and playback of the program under the control of a controller  214  in accordance with commands received by the viewer through a viewer interface  216  and/or a touch panel interface  222  which provides an interface to a touch panel (not shown) separate from, or integrated with the display device  114  of  FIG. 1 . The viewer interface  216  provides the mechanism by which the touch screen control device  116  of  FIG. 1  interfaces to the controller  214 . 
         [0017]    The storage device  212  can comprise be a hard disk drive, one or more large capacity integrated electronic memories, such as static RAM (SRAM), or dynamic RAM (DRAM), or an interchangeable optical disk storage system such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digital video disk (DVD) drive. 
         [0018]    The controller  214  controls the operation of program receiving device  108  and to that end, the controller has bus interconnection to the input stream processor  202 , the audio processor  206 , the video processor  210 , the storage device  212 , the view user interface  216  and the touch panel interface  222 . The controller  214  manages the conversion process for converting the input stream signal into a signal for storage on the storage device  212  or for display. The controller  214  also manages the retrieval and playback of stored programs. 
         [0019]    The controller  214  also has a bus interconnection to a control memory  220  (e.g., a volatile or non-volatile memory, including RAM, SRAM, DRAM, ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), flash memory, electronically programmable ROM (EPROM) , electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), etc.) for storing information and instruction code for controller  214 . The control memory  220  can also store a database of elements, such as graphic elements for generating a graphical user interface for display to the viewer. 
         [0020]    In accordance with the present principles, the controller  214  has the capability of extracting the identification of downloadable content in the program(s) received at the input signal receiver  202 . Upon identification of such content, the controller  214  will establish and display a link for display to such content, either on the display device  114  or on the touch screen control device of  116 , both of  FIG. 1 , for actuation by a viewer to select such content. To enable identification of such downloadable content, the program(s) received at the input signal receiver  202  originating from the content source  202  of  FIG. 1  typically include metadata that describes such content and the sources where a viewer can download such content. In connection with processing of the incoming programs received at the input signal receiver  202 , the input stream processor  204  will extract such metadata for transmission to the controller  214  which will then establish a link to such content source. 
         [0021]    In the event that an incoming program includes metadata that identifies associated content available for downloading, the controller  214 , in response to such metadata, will launch an application stored in its control memory  220  to process the metadata to recover any display links to such content. Such links can be hyperlinks, URLs or other well-known mechanisms which a viewer can actuate to obtain content, e.g., musical compositions, corresponding to such link. Based on the extracted metadata, the controller  214  could also launch a search to other sources (not shown) for downloadable content related to, but not specifically identified by the received program. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  which depicts a screen display  300 , displayed either by the display device  114  or the touch screen control device  116 , both of  FIG. 2  which further illustrates the content downloading technique of the present principles. The screen  300  of  FIG. 3  includes first and second screen portions  302  and  304 . The first screen portion  302  provides a display of the received program, in this case a concert by the musical group “The Beatniks.” The second screen portion  304  includes a banner display that identification of the performing artist (i.e., “The Beatniks”) and includes a display of links to the content (the songs) identified in the program metadata extracted by the stream processor  204  of  FIG. 1  as available for downloading. As example, assume that the extracted metadata identifies the following musical compositions “Song #1,” “Song #2,” and “Song #3.,” as associated with the program and available for downloading. Thus, the screen portion  304  will include a listing of each musical composition, as well as a link (e.g., links to that song so that the viewer can watch the program and actuate the link(s) to download musical composition(s) of interest. 
         [0023]    As discussed above, the controller  214  can launch an application to search for content related to, but not specifically identified in metadata of the received program. For example, from knowledge of the name of the performing artist, the controller  214  can launch a search for other musical compositions for that artist. In the illustrated embodiment, knowing that the musical artist is “The Beatniks,” the controller  214  has identified the musical composition “Beakniks Anthology” as available for downloading and has included a link to that composition in the display appearing in the second screen portion  304  of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0024]    As noted above, the screen  300  can undergo display on either the display device  114  or the touch screen control device  116 . In the event that the touch screen control device displays the screen  300  of  FIG. 3 , the display device  114  can provide a full screen display of the program for viewing (not shown). 
         [0025]    The foregoing describes a technique for facilitating downloading of content associated with a program during viewing.