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Advertisement filtering and storage for targeted advertisement systemsRelated Patent Categories: Interactive Video Distribution Systems, Program, Message, Or Commercial Insertion Or SubstitutionAdvertisement filtering and storage for targeted advertisement systems description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070089127, Advertisement filtering and storage for targeted advertisement systems. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/134,146, filed on May 5, 2005, and entitled "Advertisement Filtering and Storage for Targeted Advertisement Systems", which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/748,949, filed on Dec. 27, 2000, and entitled "Advertisement Filtering and Storage for Targeted Advertisement Systems", now abandoned, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. [0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/229,156 filed on Aug. 31, 2000, and entitled "Method and System for Addressable and Program Independent Advertising", the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Whether the television programming service is being provided by antenna broadcast, analog cable, digital broadcast satellite (DBS), digital cable, switched digital video (SDV) or any other means, generally all viewers (subscribers) of a particular program will see the same advertisements (ads) in the same order at the same times. In essence, each ad is "linked" to a particular point within a particular program. This traditional paradigm for delivering ads in the stream of television programming is herein termed linked advertising. If any particular subscriber is not viewing the particular program at the particular time, he or she will not see the ad. That is, in linked advertising, the ads are simply part of the data stream from the head end (HE), i.e., from the central office of the television service provider, to all subscribers of that service. [0004] However, with modern digital television service methods, including SDV systems (in which television service is received over the telephone lines via a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL)) and digital cable, both of which utilize the concept of addressable set-top boxes (STBs), more personalized service is now available. For instance, in both types of systems, two-way communication between the subscriber's STB and the service provider via the network is possible. Further, the service provider can send different data to different subscribers. [0005] In telephone based systems such as SDV, the service provider can actually send different information to any individual subscriber. In fact, in one embodiment, the VDSL television delivery standard essentially is an access network utilizing asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) protocol. In digital cable systems, different data can be sent to different groups of customers. [0006] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for delivering advertising via a network, such as a television service network. [0007] It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for ad filtering and storage of targeted ads. [0008] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus by which targeted ads can be inserted into the television program stream in a targeted fashion either by individual subscriber or group of subscribers on a network. [0009] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for providing targeted ads to individual subscribers or groups of subscribers on a network. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] The present invention is directed at a method and apparatus for providing targeted advertisements (ads) to the subscriber terminals, e.g., set-top boxes (STBs). In particular, the invention provides an ad storage and filtering system for selectively identifying targeted ads to be stored in memory of the STB. [0011] This storing of the selected ads can be accomplished in a number of ways. In one embodiment, the ads, in real-time and as they are received at the STB, are processed by the STB and only those ads with the appropriate characteristics are stored on the hard drive (HD). This may require some buffering of the ads in the STB memory as the STB processes and determines whether or not to store the ad. The information required to determine whether or not to store the ad can be sent in advance, e.g., as a data service in an ad channel. [0012] Alternatively, the STB may store incoming ads in a memory temporarily and subsequently determine whether or not to retain the stored ads. A determination step may be performed to determine whether each stored ad is appropriate or not, wherein the ads found to be inappropriate are deleted. [0013] In one embodiment, an ad channel that comprises ads to be delivered to the STBs as well as metadata relating to splice-timing and other instruction is generated. The metadata may be encoded on the ad channel via an encoder, e.g., a vertical blanking encoder. At the subscriber end, the STB decodes the ad channel, retrieves the associated timing and other instructional information, selects the appropriate ads and stores the selected ads in appropriate splice windows for subsequent ad insertion. [0014] While the invention is particularly suitable for inserting targeted ads into television programming, the invention is readily adaptable to inserting any particular data into any particular stream of other data transmitted via a communications system. Such systems can include targeted advertising in Electronic Program Guides (EPGs) or digital overlay/insertion systems. [0015] These and other features and objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which should be read in light of the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0016] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. [0017] In the drawings: [0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary television service communication network; [0019] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary set-top box of FIG. 1; [0020] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary advertisement queue; Continue reading about Advertisement filtering and storage for targeted advertisement systems... 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