US008051450B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Robarts et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`(54) QUERY-BASED ELECTRONIC PROGRAM
`GUIDE
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: James O. Robarts, Redmond, WA (US);
`David S. Byrne, Seattle, WA (US); Steve
`Fluegel, Redmond, WA (US); Gabe
`Newell, Seattle, WA (US); Dan Newell,
`Seattle, WA (US); Kenneth Abbott,
`Marietta, GA (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
`(US)
`
`4,081,754 A
`4,203,130 A
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`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 1495 days.
`
`Notice of Rejection from Application No. 2006-174233, Mailed on
`Sep. 25, 2008, 6 pages.
`
`(Continued)
`
`(21) Appl.No.: 10/686,984
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Oct. 16, 2003
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2005/0278741 A1
`
`Dec. 15, 2005
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(63) Continuation of application No. 08/828,709, filed on
`Mar. 31, 1997, now abandoned.
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`H04N 7/16
`(2006.01)
`H04N 7/173
`(2006.01)
`G06F 15/00
`(2011.01)
`H04N 5/445
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`............ .. 725/53; 725/47; 725/58; 386/296;
`386/298
`
`(58) Field of Classification Search ................ .. 707/ 1—5;
`725/52, 53, 38, 47, 58; 715/369, 769; 348/734;
`386/296, 298
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`Primary Examiner — Pankaj Kumar
`Assistant Examiner — Reuben Brown
`
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Lee & Hayes, PLLC
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`An electronic program guide (EPG) organizes and presents
`programming information to the viewer and allows for cre-
`ation of queries to facilitate both simple and complex
`searches of the programming information. The EPG is con-
`figured to automatically identify programs that a viewer is
`likely to prefer. The EPG collects viewing preferences of a
`viewer and, using these preferences; automatically develops
`queries for identifying programs that the viewer is likely to
`watch. The EPG also enables multiple viewers to merge their
`individual queries into one composite query or to run queries
`in background to periodically check for programs and notify
`the viewer when a program is identified. Queries are saved in
`an EPG database in a hierarchic structure with directories and
`
`sub -directories to make it easy for a viewer for organizing and
`retrieval. Also the EPG creates queries for a charmel, network
`name or program using a 10-key keypad. The EPG is config-
`ured to interpret the data as representing all possible choices.
`
`8 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets
`
`r260
`
`Query Files
`Eile Edit yiew Qate §earch Editorial User flelp
`
`’|liJLiii
`IEEI Mom EB
`
`
`
`Comcast, Exhibit-1012
`
`Comcast, Exhibit-1012
`
`1
`
`

`

`US 8,051,450 B2
`Page 2
`
`,
`
`,
`,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,
`
`,
`
`707/3
`
`715/721
`
`348/734
`725/53
`
`715/846
`
`725/40
`
`715/847
`
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`,
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`,
`
`,
`,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,
`,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,
`
`,,,,,,,,,,, ,,
`
`,,,,,,,,,, ,,
`'
`
`,
`
`’
`
`2003/0084444 A1
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`
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`, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , N
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`'
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`
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`
`2
`
`

`

`US 8,051,450 B2
`Page 3
`
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`W0
`WO
`W0
`
`W0 96/17473
`W0 96/41470
`WO 97/02702
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`WO 97/48230
`WO982l877
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`
`6/1996
`12/1996
`1/1997
`8/1997
`12/1997
`12/1997
`5/1998
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`
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`
`* cited by examiner
`
`3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 1 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 1, 2011
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`Sheet 3 of 12
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`US 8,051,450 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 4 of 12
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`US 8,051,450 B2
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`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 5 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`DIGITAL DATA
`
`50
`
`122
`
`VIDEO
`
`PLAYER
`
`RECEIVER
`
`72
`
`12
`
`GAME
`
`MONITOR
`
`1 1 .
`
`EPG
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`113
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`116
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`114
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`
`160
`
`162
`
`164
`
`s____________________.....__
`
` 166
`
`13
`
`142
`
`TAPE
`DRIVE
`
`144
`
`FDD
`14
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`HDD
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 6 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
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`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 7 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
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`222
`230
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`G PG PG13 R NC
`
`
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`228
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`Last Action Hero
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`10
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 8 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`_S_ubi3§nm
`_n_Gere
`Program_Na_me
`Comedy
`Series
`Gil|igan'slsland
`Sci-Fi
`Movie
`Silent Running
`Sci-Fi
`Series
`Star Trek
`Gameshow
`The Price is Right Series
`Pale Rider
`Movie Western
`Deliverance
`Movie
`Sci-Fi
`Speed
`Movie
`Action
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`Movie
`Sci-Fi
`Maverick
`Movie Western
`Toy Story
`Movie
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`11
`
`11
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 9 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`260
`
`.7
`
`Query Files
`Eile Edit yiew Qate Search Editorial gser flelp
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`The Price is Right
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`Europe Today
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`US Open Golf
`Sound of Music
`Speed
`Vlfinnie the Pooh
`Europe Today
`Seinfeld
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`Genre
`Movie
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`Series
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`Movie
`Sports
`Musical
`Action
`Cartoon
`Travel
`Comedy
`
`12
`
`12
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 10 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 11 of 12
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`US 8,051,450 B2
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`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 1, 2011
`
`Sheet 12 of 12
`
`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`Quick Find
`Enter Network or Program Name
`
`Network
`
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`
`Orlando Magic v. Chicago Bulls
`Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic
`Magical World of Science
`Tour of the Magic Kingdom at Disney World
`
`15
`
`15
`
`

`

`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`1
`QUERY-BASED ELECTRONIC PROGRAM
`GUIDE
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent
`application Ser. No. 08/828,709, filed on Mar. 31, 1997 now
`abandoned and entitled “Query-Based Electronic Program
`Guide”.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`This invention relates to entertainment systems, such as
`interactive television or interactive computing network sys-
`tems, and to electronic program guides which operate in
`conjunction with these systems. More particularly, this inven-
`tion relates to methods for operating electronic program
`guides using auto-generated and viewer-generated queries to
`identify programs or other programming information.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Television viewers are very familiar with printed program-
`ming schedules that appear in daily newspapers or weekly
`magazines, such as TV Guide®. The printed program guide
`lists the various television shows in relation to their scheduled
`
`viewing time on a day-to-day basis.
`Cable TV systems often include a channel with a video
`broadcast of the printed program guide. The cable channel is
`dedicated to displaying listings of programs available on the
`different available charmels. The listings are commonly
`arranged in a grid. Each colunm of the grid represents a
`particular time slot, such as 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Each row
`represents a particular broadcast or cable channel, such as
`ABC, PBS, or ESPN. The various scheduled programs or
`shows are arranged within the rows and colunms, indicating
`the channels and times at which they can be found. The grid
`is continuously scrolled vertically so that a viewer watches a
`continuously refreshing set of programs within three or four
`time slots.
`
`Data for available programs is typically received by a cable
`system as a plurality of data records. Each available program
`has a single corresponding data record indicating a variety of
`information about the program such as its charmel, its starting
`and ending times, its title, names of starring actors, whether
`closed-captioning and stereo are available, and perhaps a
`brief description of the program. It is not difficult to format a
`grid such as described above from this type of data records.
`The grid is typically formatted once at the cable system’s
`headend and broadcast repeatedly and continuously to the
`thousands of homes served by the cable system.
`Newer, interactive cable distribution systems feature elec-
`tronic program guides (EPGs) which function somewhat
`similar to the broadcast program listing charmels described
`above. Rather than scrolling automatically, however, an EPG
`allows a viewer to use a remote control device or other input
`device to scroll as desired both horizontally and vertically
`through a program grid. This functionality utilizes the two-
`way communications capabilities of interactive cable sys-
`tems.
`
`The EPG is typically implemented in software which runs
`on a set-top box (STB) connected between a TV and a cable
`system home entry line. When scrolling to a new colunm or
`row, the set-top box inserts the appropriate programming
`information into each new row or column. This information is
`
`either cached at the STB, or requested from the cable sys-
`tem’s headend.
`
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`2
`
`Interactive systems permit viewers to control what pro-
`grams are shown on their TV and when. Movies-on-demand
`is one example ofthis interactive control. A viewer can peruse
`a list of available movies from the EPG, and then order a
`selected movie. The STB sends a request for the movie to the
`headend server. The movie is retrieved and transmitted to the
`
`requesting STB. Movies-on-demand thus enables viewers to
`shop, purchase, and watch a movie at their convenience, as
`opposed to being restricted to certain start times as is typical
`with conventional premium or pay-per-view channels.
`Many industry and commercial experts expect entertain-
`ment systems to evolve to the point of offering many other
`interactive services to the consumers. For instance, consum-
`ers will be able to use their TV or computer to shop for
`groceries or other goods, conduct banking and other financial
`transactions, play games, or attend educational courses and
`take exams.
`
`Conventional distribution networks support many chan-
`nels. It is common for a TV audience to have 50 to 100
`
`channels. However, as technology improves and program-
`ming content continues to expand, the number of charmels are
`expected to increase dramatically to many hundreds, or even
`thousands of charmels.
`
`One problem with the growth in the number of charmels is
`that vastly enlarged selection, while appealing to a viewer,
`will make it more difficult for a viewer to locate programs of
`their preference. Traditional methods of locating programs—
`such as memorizing channel numbers, scanning program
`grids, or random surfing—will become less effective as the
`number of channels increase. For example, imagine the dif-
`ficulty in trying to present hundreds or thousands ofprograms
`in a scrollable grid-like EPG user interface (UI), which might
`show only a few programs or channels at one time. This UI
`structure will most likely be unworkable for large program
`and channel offerings. Additionally, surfing through hun-
`dreds or thousands of channels will likely consume a large
`amount of time, causing the viewer to miss the programs
`he/she is attempting to find.
`It is also likely that the traditional practice of relating
`programs and networks to specific channels will become less
`meaningful as the number of channels increases. Suppose, for
`example, a viewer might be interested in watching football.
`Today, a viewer might remember that charmel 6 (NBC) and
`channel 3 (FOX) carry the football games and simply tune to
`one of these channels. In the future, however, there might be
`football games being broadcast on channels 78, 495, and
`1042. These charmels might be small local stations that are
`broadcasting their local football team, or one of many chan-
`nels used by a major network. Viewers are not likely to
`remember that charmels 78, 495, and 1042 are carrying foot-
`ball games at specific times.
`Moreover, the correlation of charmels to networks and
`programs vary from market to market. For instance, the sports
`network ESPN might be carried on channel 15 in one market
`and on channel 29 in another market. Memorizing program
`offerings in terms of charmel numbers will prove frustrating
`as a viewer travels from one market to the next.
`
`Accordingly, there is a need to develop operating methods
`which allow viewers to easily find programs or networks
`regardless of the channels on which they are carried. Addi-
`tionally, these operating methods should enable viewers to
`locate programs regardless of whether they remember the
`channel number, program name, or network name.
`Toward this end, a company named TVHost, Inc. has
`developed a software-based product “ETV” which assists a
`viewer in locating particular programs. The ETV system
`organizes the different program offerings according to differ-
`
`16
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`16
`
`

`

`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`3
`ent topical categorizes. FIG. 1 shows an example screen dis-
`play of a graphical user interface (UI) window 20 supported
`by the ETV system. The ETV window 20 has a first pane 22
`that lists alphabetically predefined types of programs, such as
`Business, Children, Educational, Game Shows, and so forth.
`The viewer can control a focus frame or highlight bar 24 to
`choose a type of program from the first pane 22. A second
`pane 26 contains a list of programs that are available for the
`program type highlighted in the first pane 22. In this example,
`the type “business” is highlighted, and hence business-related
`programs are shown in the second pane 26. The second pane
`26 also provides other programming information including
`start time, network or station, and duration.
`The ETV system thereby offers an alternative to a scrol-
`lable grid presentation which organizes programs according
`to type. This allows the viewer to select a program type, and
`then review the programs offered for this type. The ETV
`system also permits rudimentary “search” capabilities. FIG. 2
`shows another graphical UI window 30 which appears when
`performing a search. A first pane 32 contains a scrollable
`alphabetized list of stations, and allows a viewer to choose a
`station. A second pane 34 contains a scrollable alphabetized
`list of program types from which the viewer may select a
`program type. Other parameters, such as MPAA, rating, and
`start time, can also be selected by the viewer. Based upon
`these selections, the ETV system locates programs which are
`of a particular type, from the selected station, and satisfy the
`ratings and start times.
`The ETV system is limited in many respects. The ETV
`system does not permit searches on arbitrary fields. Instead,
`the categories are predefined for the viewer. The viewer is not
`able to define his/her own complex searches using, for
`example, Boolean logic of “OR,” “AND,” and “NOT.”
`Another limitation is that the ETV system does not provide
`any active controls which intelligently narrows selections
`based upon viewer selections. An “active” control is a control
`that does not require any other action on the part of the user.
`For instance, if a viewer selects a station in pane 32 of the
`search window 30 (FIG. 2), all program types will be listed in
`the second pane 34. In fact, the same lists will always occur in
`both the first and second panes 32, 34 regardless of what
`selections the viewer has previously made. The viewer is not
`able to see any results until the viewer activates a “Begin”
`search key 36.
`Accordingly, there remains a need to develop operating
`methods which decouple associations between the channel
`and network or program and also allow intelligent search
`procedures to better assist the viewer in locating preferred
`programs.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention concerns an electronic program guide
`(EPG) which enables creation of queries to facilitate simple
`and complex searches across predefined and arbitrary fields.
`The EPG organizes and presents programming information to
`a viewer. The EPG is implemented in software which
`executes on a processor resident in a viewer computing unit.
`As described herein, the viewer computing unit can be imple-
`mented as a set-top box (STB) connected to a television (TV),
`as a computer and monitor, or the like.
`According to one aspect of this invention, the EPG is
`configured to automatically identify programs that a viewer is
`likely to prefer. The EPG collects viewing preferences of a
`viewer by, for example, monitoring and logging viewing hab-
`its of the viewer or through creation of a viewer profile in
`which a viewer answers a series of questions designed to
`
`4
`
`discover the viewer’ s likes and dislikes. Based upon the these
`viewer preferences, the EPG automatically develops queries
`for identifying programs that the viewer is likely to watch and
`presents those programs to the viewer.
`The EPG can further be configured to merge the queries of
`individual viewers into a composite query which searches for
`programs on behalf of all viewers. Each viewer defines his/
`her own query. For instance, one family member might define
`a query for college basketball games, another family member
`might define a query for Civil War programs, and another
`family member might define a query for cartoons. The EPG
`then creates a unified query which combines the three queries
`to jointly identify programs which satisfy any one ofthe three
`quenes.
`The EPG saves queries in a hierarchic structure to make it
`easy for a viewer to organize and retrieve queries. The viewer
`can define directories and sub-directories to organize the
`queries. For instance, a viewer might arrange queries for
`different kinds of movies within a Movie directory and que-
`ries for sports within a Sports directory. Another example
`organization is to arrange queries within separate user direc-
`tories.
`
`10
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`
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`According to another aspect, the EPG is configured to run
`queries in background so that the queries are periodically
`executed unbeknownst to the viewer. When the EPG identi-
`
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`fies a particular program satisfying the background query, the
`EPG automatically notifies the viewer of the program and/or
`automatically initiates procedures to record the program. For
`example, suppose a viewer wants to watch shows on the Great
`Wall of China. The viewer can define a query for identify any
`programs mentioning the Great Wall and have the query
`execute in background, perhaps for a long duration of time.
`As the EPG identifies programs on the Great Wall, the EPG
`notifies the viewer of when the program is scheduled to be
`shown, and to initiate recording procedures.
`According to another aspect of this invention, the EPG
`assists a viewer in finding a program, channel number, or
`network by using a 10-key keypad as typically found on
`remote control handsets. The keypad has ten numerical keys,
`which also correspond to associated letters. When the viewer
`presses a key, the viewer might intend to be entering a number
`to find a channel, or one of the letters associated with the key
`for spelling the program or network name. Regardless of the
`viewer’s intent, the data generated when the key is depressed
`is the same. The EPG is configured to interpret the data as
`representing all possible choices, including the number and
`letters associated with the key. For instance, when a viewer
`depresses the number “S” key, the EPG interprets that data to
`mean “S” or “J” or “K” or “L.” The EPG then identifies
`
`programs, charmels, and networks which begin with or con-
`tains the number or letters. As the viewer continues to enter
`
`the list of programs, channel, and networks
`each digit,
`dynamically narrows. After a few button presses, the viewer is
`presented with a short list of possible choices.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is an exemplary screen illustration of a graphical
`user interface (UI) window presented by a prior art product
`which organizes programs into predefined categories.
`FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen illustration of a graphical
`user interface (UI) window presented by the prior art product
`which assists a viewer in searching the predefined categories
`to locate certain kinds of programs.
`FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of an entertainment
`system.
`
`17
`
`17
`
`

`

`US 8,051,450 B2
`
`5
`FIG. 4 is a simplified example of data fields in a data
`structure maintained by an electronic program guide (EPG).
`FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a viewer computing unit.
`FIG. 6 is an exemplary screen illustration of an EPG UI,
`and particularly, a screen having a scrollable grid with pro-
`gram listings.
`FIG. 7 is an exemplary screen illustration of an EPG UI,
`and particularly, a screen used to help create simple queries
`for searching the EPG.
`FIG. 8 is an exemplary screen illustration of an EPG UI,
`and particularly, a screen used to help create more advanced
`queries for searching the EPG.
`FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of how a query filters
`the program database of the EPG to identify programs satis-
`fying the parameters of the query.
`FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of how a restrictive
`query filters the program database of the EPG to identify and
`prevent programs satisfying the parameters of the query from
`being displayed.
`FIG. 11 is an exemplary screen illustration of an EPG UI,
`and particularly, a screen used to manage queries for multiple
`viewers.
`
`FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic illustration of how individual
`queries can be merged into a composite query used to search
`the program database of the EPG.
`FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic illustration of how program
`information is filtered through multiple queries to provide a
`short set of programs that are ultimately displayed to the
`viewer.
`
`FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic illustration of how program
`information in an EPG database and other content informa-
`
`tion in a Web cache are filtered using multiple queries to
`provide a short set of programs that are ultimately displayed
`to the viewer.
`
`FIG. 15 is an exemplary screen illustration of an EPG UI,
`and particularly, a screen used to locate a particular channel,
`network name, or program name and to create queries which
`search for them simultaneously.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`FIG. 3 shows an entertainment system 40 according to one
`implementation of this invention. System 40 includes a cen-
`tralized headend or content provider 42 which is configured to
`provide continuous video content programs to multiple sub-
`scribers. Programs provided by content provider 42 might
`include traditional broadcast TV shows, on-demand movies,
`games, and other services such as those commonly provided
`in the past by on-line computer services.
`The content provider 42 supplies video and other data over
`a distribution network 44 to the subscribers. In this imple-
`mentation, the network 44 is a satellite network which trans-
`mits the data in a digital format from the content provider
`directly to individual subscribers. The sa