Interactive video distribution systems inventions 08/09

20090217315 - Method and system for audience measurement and targeting media: An audience measurement and targeted media system and method provides media targeted to the attributes of a particular audience. The method and system may be undertaken as an anonymous process for detecting the presence of individuals in the vicinity of a display and detecting whether said individuals are viewing the... Agent: Miller Thompson, LLP

20090217318 - Ip-based stream splicing with content-specific splice points: A method and system for conditioning a media stream for splicing are disclosed. In an embodiment, content-specific splice points, which correspond to a possible playout splice point within an original media stream, are identified for both audio and video components of the original media stream. Once the audio bitstream and... Agent: Wilson & Ham

20090217317 - System and method for promoting marketable items: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to receive from a media communication system metadata describing one or more marketable items depicted in a media program supplied by the media communication system, present images of the media program... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090217316 - Systems and methods for advertising insertion notification in a real-time streaming media service: Aspects provide for an advertising insertion notification in real-time streaming media services, which provides for advertisement insertion at the wireless device level. The advertising insertion notification is generated at the broadcaster level and transmitted to the wireless devices in the real-time stream prior to the occurrence of an advertisement slot.... Agent: Qualcomm Incorporated

20090217319 - Method and system for providing targeted television advertising: Method and system for providing a TV viewer with personal advertisements, includes a TV set connected to a television channels provider via a set-top box for displaying TV channels contents. The set-top box is connected to the television channels provider for receiving the television channels contents and enabling them to... Agent: Merchant & Gould Pc

20090217320 - Method and apparatus for providing displayable applications: An approach is provided for presenting, via a set-top box, a displayable application providing content (e.g., community content) that is generated based on information corresponding to a user of the set-top box. The displayable application is overlay on video content of the set-top box.... Agent: Verizon Patent Management Group

20090217321 - System and method for conducting charitable activities: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set top box (STB) operating in an interactive television communication system having a controller to receive metadata describing a charitable media program associated with a charitable organization, present images of the charitable media program and a... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090217322 - Method and system for customizing metadata in tv network: A method for customizing metadata in a content delivery network, said method comprising: (a) storing customized metadata for a program, said customized metadata being inputted by a user; (b) modifying default metadata with said customized metadata and providing said modified metadata to said EPG; and (c) displaying program information based... Agent: Banner & Witcoff , Ltd Attorneys For Client Number 007412

20090217323 - Expanded playlist for tv video player: An Internet TV video guide shows thumbnails of video assets available from one or more providers, and one or more of the assets may represent a playlist with two or more associated video clips. When a viewer selects a playlist asset, the thumbnail is expanded to show the individual clips... Agent: Rogitz & Associates

20090217324 - System, method and program product for customizing presentation of television content to a specific viewer and location: A method, system and program product for customizing presentation of television content to a specific viewer. The method includes obtaining an Internet Protocol address for a set-top box provided for an interactive television system viewed by a viewer for establishing a physical location of the television system, authenticating, using a... Agent: Silvy Anna Murphy

20090217325 - Home network system and method: A home network, in one embodiment including a home wiring system; a demarcation point unit in electrical communication with the home wiring system; and a home network module in electrical communication with the home wiring system. The home network module is adapted for connection to a home electronic device. The... Agent: Weiss & Arons, LLP

20090217326 - Methods and apparatus for business-based network resource allocation: Methods and apparatus for optimizing the distribution and delivery of content within a content-based network based on e.g., business or revenue considerations. In one embodiment, the network comprises a cable television network that utilizes a Global Session Resource Manager (GSRM). The GSRM processes subscriber program viewing requests to identify options... Agent: Gazdzinski & Associates Suite 375

20090217327 - Video-on-demand system: A video-on-demand system in which the plurality of program televising time zones of an identical program is presented to a user beforehand, and the user registers his/her view desiring time zone beforehand. A price which is altered in accordance with the number of simultaneous viewers, and the number of view... Agent: Mattingly & Malur, P.c.

20090217328 - Method of sending a command to a digital data flow server and apparatus used to implement said method: The invention relates to a method of sending commands to a VOD server, e.g. using RTSP, which is local to the client, said commands comprising a reference to the relative current position. The current relative position is maintained by the receiver on the basis of PTS received in the MPEG... Agent: Thomson Licensing Llc

20090217329 - Methods and apparatus for enabling synchronized content presentations using dynamically updated playlists: Methods and apparatus for allowing parties, e.g., individuals, at different locations to participate in an on-demand content delivery session are described. Dynamically updateable playlists are used to control content delivery to the session participants in a synchronized manner. Content may be delivered to different session participants from different servers with... Agent: Straub & Pokotylo

20090217330 - Method and apparatus for scheduling broadcast information: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for efficiently scheduling incoming information objects so that timely objects from a variety of content classes are scheduled for broadcast. The incoming information objects are preferably received from one or more information sources, and are tagged with attributes that associate each object with one or... Agent: Vulcan, Inc. C/o Stoel Rives LLP

20090217331 - Efficient nvod service method for various client environments and apparatus there-for: An efficient near video on demand (NVOD) service for various client environments is provided. The NVOD service method for transmitting video data including moving pictures to a plurality of clients in a network includes identifying a relative network bandwidth “m” of a client with respect to a video playout bandwidth,... Agent: Cantor Colburn, LLP

20090217333 - Method and system for discovering vacant dtv channels using dhcp server location: A wireless client device (e.g. a WSD) discovers vacant DTV channels using location information acquired from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. In one aspect of the invention, a wireless client device discovers vacant DTV channels through direct communication with a local DHCP server and a remote primary user... Agent: Sharp Laboratories Of America, Inc.

20090217332 - Sharing video recording resources over a network: A method of sharing recording capability on a network, the network having a server supporting at least a recording DVR and a receiving DVR, the recording and receiving DVRs being in different households, the method comprising: (a) determining that the receiving DVR is unable to record the content at a... Agent: Banner & Witcoff , Ltd Attorneys For Client Number 007412

20090217334 - System and method for television signal demodulation and decoding: A modem for use with a computer having a demodulator and a decoder, the modem comprises a hardware interface; a demodulator front-end having a first input and a first output, the first output of the demodulator front-end being configured to interface with the demodulator of the computer and to provide... Agent: Farjami & Farjami LLP

20090217335 - Apparatus and methods for network access: This invention encompasses systems for network access. In particular, this invention encompasses systems comprising a set-top box and a two-way wireless remote control device. Methods of using the systems disclosed herein are also disclosed.... Agent: Kam Law Jones Day

20090217336 - Playback resume system and method for a media center: A playback resume system and method for a media center are described. This invention is applied to a scheme of the media center. Particularly, a personalized device capable of transmitting a proprietary identifier is used to be a controller of the media center. By means of the proprietary identifier, the... Agent: Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley, LLP

20090217337 - Time-shifting and chase-play for an iptv system: A system and method for time-shifting and chase-play for an IPTV system. A control channel is established between an originating user's set top box (STB) and an IPTV Application Server (IPTV-AS) utilizing SIP signaling over an IP Multimedia Subsystem. For time-shifting, the STB sends a start time-shifting command to the... Agent: Ericsson Inc.

20090217338 - Reception verification/non-reception verification of base/enhancement video layers: Operating a source device to transport video data to a destination device. The source device and destination device establish both a reception verified communication link and a non-reception verified communication link. The source device encodes the video data into a plurality of video layer streams including a base video layer... Agent: Garlick Harrison & Markison

20090217339 - Fast adaptive channel converting method and apparatus, and computer readable recording medium for executing the fast adaptive channel converting method: A fast adaptive channel converting method and apparatus, and a computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program to execute the fast adaptive channel converting method. The fast adaptive channel converting method includes generating adjacent channel data by pre-signal processing an adjacent channel signal of a reference channel, receiving... Agent: Stein Mcewen, LLP

20090210892 - Methods and apparatus to monitor advertisement exposure: Methods and apparatus to monitor advertisement exposure are disclosed. An example method includes determining via a meter that a media content segment was presented at a media content presentation device and determining via an activity monitor different than the meter that a computing resource related to the media content segment... Agent: Hanley, Flight & Zimmerman, LLC

20090210893 - Apparatus and method for managing programs in a digital television: The invention provides a program managing method for use in a digital television for managing programs by region rating tables (RRTs). The method includes receiving a channel switch signal; switching to a channel according to the channel switch signal; searching whether a local region rating table (RRT) of the channel... Agent: Edell, Shapiro & Finnan, LLC

20090210896 - Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving notification message in a digital video broadcasting system: An apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving a notification message in a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) system are provided, in which a terminal detects an Access Point (AP) from an Electronic Service Guide (ESG) bootstrapping session, queries the AP to request a notification message list or all or part of a... Agent: JeffersonIPLaw, LLP

20090210894 - Apparatus for and a method of providing content data: Advertising data is incorporated into predictively encoded, for example MPEG encoded, digital video representing a video feature such as a film or movie or television show or program or video game by re-encoding one or more sequences or groups of pictures of the video feature with reference to at least... Agent: Patent Department Macrovision Corporation

20090210895 - System and method for editing an advertisement in digital broadcasting: Disclosed herein is an advertisement editing system and method for digital broadcasting. The advertisement editing system includes a control unit, an advertisement storage unit, and an editor. When broadcast packets are decoded in digital broadcasting equipment that receives and outputs broadcast signals, the control unit detects a broadcast and an... Agent: Lowe Hauptman Ham & Berner, LLP

20090210899 - Methods and apparatus for enhanced advertising and promotional delivery in a network: Methods and apparatus for enhanced advertising selection and delivery in a communications network. In one embodiment, the network comprises a cable television network, and the methods and apparatus enable a viewer to individually select and view advertisements during real-time broadcast program settings, as well as during “trick mode” operation in... Agent: Gazdzinski & Associates Robert F. Gazdzinski

20090210898 - Methods and apparatuses for sharing user profiles: Embodiments include methods and apparatus for personalizing access to broadcast content items. One embodiment includes a method comprising detecting physical proximity of a mobile device, receiving data from the mobile device identifying a user of the mobile device, identifying at least one local profile based on the data identifying the... Agent: Qualcomm Incorporated

20090210900 - Out-of-band delivery of targeted advertising: A method and system to deliver targeted advertisements to a set-top box including a cable modem by causing the selection for presentation of a targeted advertisement received via the cable modem instead of a default advertisement received via an in-band digital television delivery channel.... Agent: Wall & Tong, LLP/ Alcatel-lucent Usa Inc.

20090210901 - Targeted content delivery system in an interactive television network: An “opt-in” based system for displaying targeted content (e.g., advertisements) to a viewer is described. Viewer profiles and content profiles are automatically generated from forms filled out by viewers and content providers, respectively. In a preferred client-based embodiment, content that best matches a viewer profile is downloaded from a server... Agent: Allen D. Brufsky Pa

20090210902 - Targeted television content display: The invention enables and/or facilitates the display of personalized content to content observers by content providers (e.g., advertisers) who disseminate content over a network. In particular, the invention can be used to enable the display of targeted content to television viewers and/or targeted product placements within a television program. The... Agent: Perkins Coie LLP Patent-sea

20090210904 - Control of multimedia content delivery: Disclosed herein is a computer implemented method and system for controlling delivery of multimedia content. A multimedia control console is provided to console operator for controlling the multimedia content. The multimedia content is acquired from providers, for example, presenters or performers. The acquired multimedia content is listed on the multimedia... Agent: Ashok Tankha

20090210903 - Method and system for presenting electronic programming guides: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to present a graphic user interface (GUI) for customizing an electronic programming guide (EPG), the GUI including a plurality of scrollable media channels, each media channel accompanied by an image, a... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090210905 - Information providing apparatus, information acquisition terminal, broadcast reception terminal, information providing system, information providing method and program: An ECG server, which provides program contents-related ECG information to a television terminal and a user terminal, comprises a storage unit that stores the program contents-related ECG information, a configuring unit that configures an ECG module in correspondence to the program contents, made up with a plurality of sets of... Agent: Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik

20090210906 - Video tape indexing system and method: A video tape indexing system in which program broadcast identification information is entered into the system for use in recording the program. When the program is recorded, the system stores indexing information in an index memory. The system monitors a broadcast channel for electronic program guide information that includes titles... Agent: Ropes & Gray LLP

20090210907 - Method and system for recommending multimedia content: A system and method are disclosed for providing recommendations of multimedia programs broadcast over a provider network using contact lists. For IPTV broadcast programs, recommendations by users may be for pay-per-view or on-demand programs. Upon ordering a multimedia program, a user may select from a contact list one or more... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Jw Attn: Patent Docketing

20090210908 - Portable communication device and associated method for sharing esg metadata: A portable communication device and method for sharing electronic program information from one mobile device to another device includes an electronic program guide (EPG) application and an EPG sharing application for transparently embedding metadata into communication that may be sent to a recipient via a communications network. The embedded metadata... Agent: Warren A. Sklar (soer) Renner, Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP

20090210909 - Internet media via an electronic programming guide: A set top box includes a processor configured to provide an electronic programming guide to available television programming, and list content available from the Internet within the electronic programming guide.... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090210910 - High densitiy interactive media guide: A high density interactive media guide interface provides for the selection of a source from a dense array of available sources by displaying an array of available sources in a dense format that illustrates the availability of a high number of sources and expanding the display of selected sources to... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090210911 - System and method for advertising the availability of a software upgrade: The disclosed embodiments relate to a system and method for advertising the availability of a software upgrade. More specifically, there is provided a method comprising determining a version of software that supports a set top box, adding information indicative of whether the set top box is running the supporting version... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090210912 - Multi-stream premises apparatus and methods for use in a content-based network: Apparatus and methods for enhanced tuner efficiency, wherein tuner resources function to permit multiple content streams to be demultiplexed and thus made available for subsequent display. In one embodiment, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) comprises a resource manager on which a guide application is run to control the tuning of an... Agent: Gazdzinski & Associates

20090210913 - Method of customer pvr to network-based dvr synchronization: A method for providing customer PVR to network-based DVR synchronization is described, wherein the said method generally comprises, obtaining cumulative statistics on the number of recordings scheduled for a multi-media broadcast during a period of time; determining the recording schedule for a centralized multi-media recording apparatus based on the said... Agent: Wall & Tong, LLP/ Alcatel-lucent Usa Inc.

20090210914 - Information process device, delivery information input device, information process method, and information processing program: m

20090210915 - Time-based digital content authorization: Methods and apparatuses for time-based access to digital content are provided. Access to a set of digital content is provided for a predetermined period of time. During the predetermined period of time, a user can access (e.g., download, play) any digital content in the set of digital content. At the... Agent: Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP

20090210916 - Technique for providing security measures for communications device connectable to a communications network: A user may purchase in a retail outlet a host device for receiving cable services. The cable operator needs to provide a point-of-deployment (POD) module for insertion into the host device to realize out-of-band communications, and provide conditional access to premium subscription channels. Security measures are implemented to detect removal... Agent: Ryan, Mason & Lewis, LLP

20090210897 - Method and user interface for downloading audio and video content filters to a media player: A client server arrangement for downloading media content filters from a server device to a client device. The media content filters define portions of a separate audio visual presentation containing potentially objectionable subject matter. Depending on user selections, identified portions of the audio/visual presentation may be skipped and/or muted during... Agent: Dorsey & Whitney, LLP Intellectual Property Department

20090210917 - System and method for remotely managing voicemail utilizing a set-top box: A system and method for managing a voicemail system through a set-top box. A call may be received from a caller. The call is intercepted utilizing a voicemail system available through a network. The voicemail system is operable to store one or more messages. A user selection is received to... Agent: Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP

20090210918 - Method for dynamically developing a programming schedule: A method for defining a programming schedule for constrained bandwidth network subscribers in response to time-bounded program recording statistics associated with high bandwidth network subscribers.... Agent: Wall & Tong, LLP/ Alcatel-lucent Usa Inc.

20090210919 - Point-reading device and method for obtaining the network audio/video files: A point-reading device for obtaining network audio/video files includes an image reading unit for obtaining image codes including information codes representing audio/video target files. A digital processing unit connected with the image reading unit receives the image codes sent from the image reading unit and decodes the image codes to... Agent: Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC

20090210920 - Transmitting/receiving system, transmission device, transmitting method, reception device, receiving method, presentation device, presentation method, program, and storage medium: A transmission/reception system includes: a transmission device configured to transmit data; and a reception device configured to receive the data; wherein the transmission device includes a transmitting unit to transmit a parameter for the purpose of identifying a physical model of an object used for content; and wherein the reception... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20090210921 - System and method for incremental implementation of new service capabilities: A system for gradually implementing network services to end users includes substantially redundant first and second control networks, connectable to the end users through a routable communications network. The first control network provides a first service capability to all the end users. The second control network provides a second service... Agent: Volentine & Whitt PLLC

20090210922 - System for configuring soft keys in a media communication system: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, set top box (STB) having a controller to record one or more soft key preferences associated with a user of the STB for each of a plurality of media presentation states of a media communication system, receive... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204984 - Contents viewing and listening management apparatus, contents viewing and listening management method, program, and contents viewing and listening management system: With a contents viewing and listening management method using a contents viewing and listening management apparatus, a viewing and listening request of a content is made for displaying a predetermined content. Information relating to users whose viewing and listening of the relevant predetermined content is restricted, and information relating to... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20090204985 - Device for transmission of signal units: An arrangement for transmission of signal units to at least one receiver may include a receiver being arranged to receive a number of signal units within a frequency range, by which each signal unit includes at least one signal, and a forwarding mechanism being arranged to make possible for at... Agent: Alston & Bird LLP

20090204986 - Method of performing parental control a channel and an iptv receiver: A method for performing parental control a channel for building a channel map in an internet protocol television (IPTV) receiver and the IPTV receiver thereof are provided. The method includes receiving a master service information (SI) table including a first element defining location of a virtual channel map table, parsing... Agent: Mckenna Long & Aldridge LLP

20090204987 - Secure time element: Apparatus comprising a secure time element comprising a timing device that outputs to a plurality of delay devices, wherein the delay devices have characteristic delay times which are alterable as a result of a tampering attempt to tamper therewith, and wherein a characteristic delay time of one of the delay... Agent: Ladas & Parry LLP

20090204988 - Announcement broadcasting system, announcement broadcasting optical receiver used for the announcement broadcasting system, cable television broadcasting system, and optical receiver used for the cable television broadcasting system: In a subscriber's facility of an announcement broadcasting system utilizing an optical fiber cable TV network, an announcement broadcasting optical receiver receiving an optical transmission signal of audio information and outputting an audio information electric signal for an announcement broadcasting terminal is provided. The announcement broadcasting optical receiver includes: a... Agent: Roberts Mlotkowski Safran & Cole, P.C. Intellectual Property Department

20090204989 - Method and apparatus for presenting media content: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set top box having a controller to obtain display parameters associated with a display device, adjust a format of media content at the set top box based at least in part on the display parameters where... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204990 - Method for switching digital tv program and digital tv device: A method for switching a digital TV program and a digital TV device are provided. The method includes: retrieving a prestored identifier of a target VOD program and a prestored presentation position associated with the identifier of the target VOD program when a program switching from a current live program... Agent: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. C/o Darby & Darby P.C.

20090204991 - Systems and methods for sorting programming search results: A set top box includes a processor. The processor is configured to identify first and second instances of a show, and retrieve feature information for the first and second instances. The processor is further configured to sort the first and second instances into a list based on the feature information... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204992 - Method, apparatus and system for personalized broadcast media reception: The present invention advantageously provides a method, apparatus and system for personalized broadcast media content including a user interface for enabling personalization, which provides efficient use of network bandwidth and minimizes receiver device battery usage. In one embodiment, a user profile is pre-defined on a receiving device to indicate the... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090204993 - System and method of applying user profiles at a set-top box device: A method of applying user profiles at a set-top box device includes receiving data associated with each of a plurality of user profiles at the set-top box device, the plurality of user profiles including a default profile and a supplemental profile. The method also includes automatically applying the supplemental profile... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204994 - Management of tv programs by their buffered lengths: Systems and methods are provided for managing a time-shift buffer (TSB) that is used for buffering video presentations. One such method includes receiving user input identifying a storage capacity for the TSB and modifying a storage capacity of the TSB such that it is at least substantially equal to the... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090204995 - System and method for filtering a television channel list based on channel characteristics: A system and method for automatically managing television channel lists is disclosed. Pixel resolutions characteristics of a plurality of televisions channels are analyzed. One or more high definition television (HDTV) channels having HD pixel resolutions from the plurality of available television channels are selected. The one or more selected HDTV... Agent: Knobbe, Martens, Olson, & Bear, LLP

20090204997 - Method and apparatus for supporting mobility in a mobile broadcasting system: A method and apparatus for supporting mobility in a mobile broadcasting system in which Electronic Service Guide (ESG) discovery is required. The mobility support is classified into three ways according to three different aspects. The first way is to provide roaming information for a local IPDC operator having a roaming... Agent: The Farrell Law Firm, LLP

20090204996 - Terminal and method of controlling broadcasting therein: A terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to receive broadcast guide information, and a control unit configured to determine whether or not broadcast information included in the received broadcast guide information corresponds to an actual broadcast operation for a corresponding broadcast program, and to update the broadcast guide information... Agent: Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch

20090204998 - Television channel list system and method: Example systems and methods of generating a television channel list involve scanning virtual channels contained in a transport stream supplied to a television and determining, for each scanned virtual channel, whether that channel contains decodable video or audio content. A ring list used for tuning channels in channel up/down tuning... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20090204999 - Broadcast receiving system: A reservation recording module registers program information in a reserved program EPG database and a restriction period in a restriction period setting information. A reserved program keyword extracting module extracts an associative keyword from the program information registered in the reserved program EPG database and registers the associative keyword in... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20090205000 - Systems, methods, and devices for scanning broadcasts: The various embodiments disclosed herein provide methods, systems, and devices for capturing broadcast streams, analyzing the broadcast streams to obtain information about the media content transmitted in the broadcast streams, obtaining additional information about the media content if available, and assigning a unique event identifier specific to the instance of... Agent: Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP

20090205001 - Intelligent disaster recovery for digital cinema multiplex theaters: A system for a digital multiplex theater having a plurality of auditoriums includes a central server, playout servers, and an intelligent selection module. The central server has a local storage device configured to store digital cinema movies. The playout servers are each configured to playout the movies at a respective... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090205002 - Video and audio content on demand according to time of broadcast: A system and method for providing a content downloading service to a user and charging the user for the content. The content consists of audio or video content that is being broadcasted on a radio or TV station. The content is downloaded by the content provider to the user upon... Agent: Fleit Gibbons Gutman Bongini & Bianco Pl

20090205003 - System and method for playing media obtained via the internet on a television: Systems for browsing media that is accessible via the Internet are described. In many embodiments, the system includes a browsing application that identifies media within pages retrieved via the Internet by performing document analysis. The document analysis identifies pieces of media referenced by the page and, in a number of... Agent: Kauth , Pomeroy , Peck & Bailey ,llp

20090205004 - Dynamic allocation of upstream channel resources among multiple rf domains: In one embodiment, an “upstream resource pool” may be defined, such that certain upstream resources may be utilized, or not, depending on current traffic demands. Such a pool may include a specified number of available upstream channels. A universe of “eligible” RF domains may be associated with the pool. To... Agent: Patent Capital Group - Cisco

20090205005 - Digital broadcast reception apparatus and method of providing additional content: Disclosed is a method of providing additional content in a digital broadcast reception apparatus, the method including receiving a locator of additional content from a broadcast server while a user watches a broadcast program, receiving an instruction to insert the additional content from the broadcast server, receiving and reproducing the... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20090205006 - Method, apparatus and system for generating and distributing rich digital bookmarks for digital content navigation: A method, apparatus and system provide a user with rich digital bookmarks to navigate digital content. According to an embodiment of the invention, rich digital bookmarks may be generated for digital content and provided to a user for use to perform sophisticated trick mode actions in a user friendly manner.... Agent: Intel Corporation C/o Cpa Global

20090205007 - Fiber-optic access network utilizing catv technology in an efficient manner: A system is provided for combining conventional HFC plants with fiber-optic access systems (e.g., fiber-to-the-home or fiber-to-the-curb) that share a head-end and other equipment. A robust modulation format, such as QPSK, having a sufficient SNR to transmit information (e.g., data, digital audio and digital video) downstream to users' premises via... Agent: At & T- Legal Department - Brendzel

20090205008 - Synchronizing presentations of multimedia programs: Synchronization is provided for set-top boxes that display multiple instances of a single multimedia program. Embodied set-top boxes request the transmission of a multimedia program and determine the play point of a remote set-top box. Embodied set-top boxes set a local play point to correspond to the remote set-top box's... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Jw Attn: Patent Docketing

20090205009 - Apparatus and method for displaying channel information in digital broadcasting receiver: An apparatus and method to display channel information in a digital broadcasting receiver. The apparatus includes a first tuner to receive a signal of one of the plurality of channels, a plurality of second tuners to extract channel information and a representative image for each of the plurality of channels... Agent: Mcneely Bodendorf LLP

20090205010 - Switched decoding and output of a video program from an encoder to decoder: Video processing systems and methods are disclosed. One system embodiment, among others, includes a video compression engine configured to provide reconstructed pictures corresponding to a real-time presentation of a video program and a compressed version of the real-time presentation, a display buffer of the video compression engine, the display buffer... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090204984 - Contents viewing and listening management apparatus, contents viewing and listening management method, program, and contents viewing and listening management system: With a contents viewing and listening management method using a contents viewing and listening management apparatus, a viewing and listening request of a content is made for displaying a predetermined content. Information relating to users whose viewing and listening of the relevant predetermined content is restricted, and information relating to... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20090204985 - Device for transmission of signal units: An arrangement for transmission of signal units to at least one receiver may include a receiver being arranged to receive a number of signal units within a frequency range, by which each signal unit includes at least one signal, and a forwarding mechanism being arranged to make possible for at... Agent: Alston & Bird LLP

20090204986 - Method of performing parental control a channel and an iptv receiver: A method for performing parental control a channel for building a channel map in an internet protocol television (IPTV) receiver and the IPTV receiver thereof are provided. The method includes receiving a master service information (SI) table including a first element defining location of a virtual channel map table, parsing... Agent: Mckenna Long & Aldridge LLP

20090204987 - Secure time element: Apparatus comprising a secure time element comprising a timing device that outputs to a plurality of delay devices, wherein the delay devices have characteristic delay times which are alterable as a result of a tampering attempt to tamper therewith, and wherein a characteristic delay time of one of the delay... Agent: Ladas & Parry LLP

20090204988 - Announcement broadcasting system, announcement broadcasting optical receiver used for the announcement broadcasting system, cable television broadcasting system, and optical receiver used for the cable television broadcasting system: In a subscriber's facility of an announcement broadcasting system utilizing an optical fiber cable TV network, an announcement broadcasting optical receiver receiving an optical transmission signal of audio information and outputting an audio information electric signal for an announcement broadcasting terminal is provided. The announcement broadcasting optical receiver includes: a... Agent: Roberts Mlotkowski Safran & Cole, P.C. Intellectual Property Department

20090204989 - Method and apparatus for presenting media content: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set top box having a controller to obtain display parameters associated with a display device, adjust a format of media content at the set top box based at least in part on the display parameters where... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204990 - Method for switching digital tv program and digital tv device: A method for switching a digital TV program and a digital TV device are provided. The method includes: retrieving a prestored identifier of a target VOD program and a prestored presentation position associated with the identifier of the target VOD program when a program switching from a current live program... Agent: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. C/o Darby & Darby P.C.

20090204991 - Systems and methods for sorting programming search results: A set top box includes a processor. The processor is configured to identify first and second instances of a show, and retrieve feature information for the first and second instances. The processor is further configured to sort the first and second instances into a list based on the feature information... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204992 - Method, apparatus and system for personalized broadcast media reception: The present invention advantageously provides a method, apparatus and system for personalized broadcast media content including a user interface for enabling personalization, which provides efficient use of network bandwidth and minimizes receiver device battery usage. In one embodiment, a user profile is pre-defined on a receiving device to indicate the... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090204993 - System and method of applying user profiles at a set-top box device: A method of applying user profiles at a set-top box device includes receiving data associated with each of a plurality of user profiles at the set-top box device, the plurality of user profiles including a default profile and a supplemental profile. The method also includes automatically applying the supplemental profile... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090204994 - Management of tv programs by their buffered lengths: Systems and methods are provided for managing a time-shift buffer (TSB) that is used for buffering video presentations. One such method includes receiving user input identifying a storage capacity for the TSB and modifying a storage capacity of the TSB such that it is at least substantially equal to the... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090204995 - System and method for filtering a television channel list based on channel characteristics: A system and method for automatically managing television channel lists is disclosed. Pixel resolutions characteristics of a plurality of televisions channels are analyzed. One or more high definition television (HDTV) channels having HD pixel resolutions from the plurality of available television channels are selected. The one or more selected HDTV... Agent: Knobbe, Martens, Olson, & Bear, LLP

20090204997 - Method and apparatus for supporting mobility in a mobile broadcasting system: A method and apparatus for supporting mobility in a mobile broadcasting system in which Electronic Service Guide (ESG) discovery is required. The mobility support is classified into three ways according to three different aspects. The first way is to provide roaming information for a local IPDC operator having a roaming... Agent: The Farrell Law Firm, LLP

20090204996 - Terminal and method of controlling broadcasting therein: A terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to receive broadcast guide information, and a control unit configured to determine whether or not broadcast information included in the received broadcast guide information corresponds to an actual broadcast operation for a corresponding broadcast program, and to update the broadcast guide information... Agent: Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch

20090204998 - Television channel list system and method: Example systems and methods of generating a television channel list involve scanning virtual channels contained in a transport stream supplied to a television and determining, for each scanned virtual channel, whether that channel contains decodable video or audio content. A ring list used for tuning channels in channel up/down tuning... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20090204999 - Broadcast receiving system: A reservation recording module registers program information in a reserved program EPG database and a restriction period in a restriction period setting information. A reserved program keyword extracting module extracts an associative keyword from the program information registered in the reserved program EPG database and registers the associative keyword in... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20090205000 - Systems, methods, and devices for scanning broadcasts: The various embodiments disclosed herein provide methods, systems, and devices for capturing broadcast streams, analyzing the broadcast streams to obtain information about the media content transmitted in the broadcast streams, obtaining additional information about the media content if available, and assigning a unique event identifier specific to the instance of... Agent: Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP

20090205001 - Intelligent disaster recovery for digital cinema multiplex theaters: A system for a digital multiplex theater having a plurality of auditoriums includes a central server, playout servers, and an intelligent selection module. The central server has a local storage device configured to store digital cinema movies. The playout servers are each configured to playout the movies at a respective... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090205002 - Video and audio content on demand according to time of broadcast: A system and method for providing a content downloading service to a user and charging the user for the content. The content consists of audio or video content that is being broadcasted on a radio or TV station. The content is downloaded by the content provider to the user upon... Agent: Fleit Gibbons Gutman Bongini & Bianco Pl

20090205003 - System and method for playing media obtained via the internet on a television: Systems for browsing media that is accessible via the Internet are described. In many embodiments, the system includes a browsing application that identifies media within pages retrieved via the Internet by performing document analysis. The document analysis identifies pieces of media referenced by the page and, in a number of... Agent: Kauth , Pomeroy , Peck & Bailey ,llp

20090205004 - Dynamic allocation of upstream channel resources among multiple rf domains: In one embodiment, an “upstream resource pool” may be defined, such that certain upstream resources may be utilized, or not, depending on current traffic demands. Such a pool may include a specified number of available upstream channels. A universe of “eligible” RF domains may be associated with the pool. To... Agent: Patent Capital Group - Cisco

20090205005 - Digital broadcast reception apparatus and method of providing additional content: Disclosed is a method of providing additional content in a digital broadcast reception apparatus, the method including receiving a locator of additional content from a broadcast server while a user watches a broadcast program, receiving an instruction to insert the additional content from the broadcast server, receiving and reproducing the... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20090205006 - Method, apparatus and system for generating and distributing rich digital bookmarks for digital content navigation: A method, apparatus and system provide a user with rich digital bookmarks to navigate digital content. According to an embodiment of the invention, rich digital bookmarks may be generated for digital content and provided to a user for use to perform sophisticated trick mode actions in a user friendly manner.... Agent: Intel Corporation C/o Cpa Global

20090205007 - Fiber-optic access network utilizing catv technology in an efficient manner: A system is provided for combining conventional HFC plants with fiber-optic access systems (e.g., fiber-to-the-home or fiber-to-the-curb) that share a head-end and other equipment. A robust modulation format, such as QPSK, having a sufficient SNR to transmit information (e.g., data, digital audio and digital video) downstream to users' premises via... Agent: At & T- Legal Department - Brendzel

20090205008 - Synchronizing presentations of multimedia programs: Synchronization is provided for set-top boxes that display multiple instances of a single multimedia program. Embodied set-top boxes request the transmission of a multimedia program and determine the play point of a remote set-top box. Embodied set-top boxes set a local play point to correspond to the remote set-top box's... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Jw Attn: Patent Docketing

20090205009 - Apparatus and method for displaying channel information in digital broadcasting receiver: An apparatus and method to display channel information in a digital broadcasting receiver. The apparatus includes a first tuner to receive a signal of one of the plurality of channels, a plurality of second tuners to extract channel information and a representative image for each of the plurality of channels... Agent: Mcneely Bodendorf LLP

20090205010 - Switched decoding and output of a video program from an encoder to decoder: Video processing systems and methods are disclosed. One system embodiment, among others, includes a video compression engine configured to provide reconstructed pictures corresponding to a real-time presentation of a video program and a compressed version of the real-time presentation, a display buffer of the video compression engine, the display buffer... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090199226 - Image display apparatus, display control method, and display control program: a display control section which detects an image to be displayed having the attention identifier from among the images to be displayed on the image display section, and performs a display control of the image display section so as to further increase the frequency at which the image to be... Agent: Mcginn Intellectual Property Law Group, PLLC

20090199227 - Systems and methods for providing content based upon consumer preferences: Systems and methods allow for the distribution of a requested program to a consumer device via a high-bandwidth connection. Consumers cast votes for requested programs via communications channels other than the high-bandwidth connection. A portion of the high-bandwidth connection is allocated to a number of programs, including the requested program.... Agent: Ingrassia Fisher & Lorenz, P.C. (dish)

20090199228 - System and method for screening video communications within an interactive television system: Outgoing video communication requests are intercepted and screened by one or more unauthorized recipient lists, authorized recipient lists, caller-specific authorized/unauthorized recipient lists, and/or various combinations of these. The video communication requests may be blocked or forwarded to the recipient depending on whether the recipient is included or not included in... Agent: Vulcan, Inc. C/o Stoel Rives LLP

20090199229 - System for providing advertisements across multiple channels: A system is described for providing advertisements across multiple channels. The system may include a processor, a memory and an interface. The memory may store advertisements and a request. The interface may be operatively connected to the memory and the processor and may communicate with a user. The processor may... Agent: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione / Yahoo! Overture

20090199230 - System, device, and method for delivering multimedia: A system and method for delivery of multimedia data includes a plurality of media devices coupled to each other via a network. Each of the media devices is configured to retrieve multimedia data and advertisement data from an external source such as a public and/or private network. The multimedia data... Agent: Barnes & Thornburg LLP

20090199231 - Time shifted interactive television: Methods and apparatus for managing, implementing and using interactive applications and content that are digitally recorded and viewed in real-time and/or a time-shifted moded are provided. The interactive applications may be associated with television programs or may be unrelated thereto, and may be transmitted together with television programs or separately... Agent: Husch Blackwell Sanders, LLP Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP Welsh & Katz

20090199232 - Recording and playing system, client terminal and server terminal: Provided is a recording and playing system that prevents, even when a client terminal having no recording function receives emergency information, missing out on a program viewed with the client terminal. The system includes a server terminal and a client terminal connected to each other via a network. From among... Agent: Greenblum & Bernstein, P.L.C

20090199233 - System and process for generating a selection model for use in personalized non-competitive advertising: A process for generating a selection model to be used in providing personalized non-competitive advertising including the steps of collecting data from advertising retail websites regarding product data, collecting data from the originating retail websites regarding user behavior, generating a selection model based on the product data and the transactional... Agent: Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP

20090199234 - System for presenting marketing content in a personal television channel: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to receive media content from a subscriber of a media communication system, receive marketing content from a marketing information source, and present the media content and the marketing content in a... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199235 - Video contextual advertisements using speech recognition: Embodiments of a computer-implemented advertisement display system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system includes a speech recognition component that processes a video clip and produces a corresponding collection of speech recognition data indicative of an audio portion of the video clip. The system also includes a collection of advertising... Agent: Microsoft Corporation

20090199236 - Advertisement insertion: Advertisement insertion techniques are described. In an implementation, a network operator decrypts a stream of content received from a content provider at a first server. The decrypted stream of content is communicated to an advertisement splicer, which locates one or more advertisement insertion points in the decrypted stream of content.... Agent: Microsoft Corporation

20090199239 - Broadcast receiving apparatus, broadcast receiving method and broadcast receiving system: According to one embodiment, a broadcast receiving apparatus is equipped with a server function so as to cause a client terminal to recognize the broadcast receiving apparatus as a server on a network and to select a channel for the broadcast receiving apparatus by way of a user operation. The... Agent: Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLP

20090199240 - Computer system capable of instantly showing electronic program guide and method for using the same: The invention relates to a method for showing an electronic program guide (EPG) on a computer screen. The computer has EPG data, a desktop application and a TV play program. The method includes the following steps. First, the desktop application program is launched, and an application window is displayed on... Agent: Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley, LLP

20090199237 - System and method of recording television content: A method of recording television content is disclosed and includes receiving one or more television program search criteria from a set-top box device at a recurrent searching system. The method also includes storing the one or more search criteria at the recurrent searching system. Further, the method includes performing a... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199238 - Systems and methods for providing information in response to electronic program guide usage: Systems and methods provide information to a user in response to usage of an electronic program guide provided by an appliance coupled to a display. Usage of the electronic program guide is observed from within the appliance, and any triggering events in the usage of the electronic program guide are... Agent: Ingrassia Fisher & Lorenz, P.C. (es)

20090199241 - Near real-time multiple thumbnail guide with single tuner: A method of presenting a video electronic program guide (EPG), consistent with certain embodiments involves establishing a sorting of television channels, with a selected channel having a highest sorting priority, and other channels being arranged in pairs in a hierarchy below the selected channel; displaying a plurality of windows representing... Agent: Miller Patent Services

20090199243 - Recommended program retrieval device, and recommended program retrieval method: According to one embodiment, a recommended program retrieval method includes receiving a broadcast signal and demodulating the broadcast signal to output a program signal, storing program data used for creating an electronic program guide, displaying content for which a display manner is specified by a markup language configured with a... Agent: Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLP

20090199242 - System and method for distributing video content via a packet based network: A method, product, and system for facilitating the searching of video content from a plurality of different websites is provided. In one embodiment the method includes storing a plurality of videos in a memory, and storing video guide data for a video guide that comprises executable program code that is... Agent: Capital Legal Group, LLC

20090199244 - Method for mobile acquisition of digital terrestrial television programs in the presence of multiple transmission areas: The mobile acquisition of digital terrestrial television programs in the presence of multiple transmission areas is performed by using a combination of static topology information and dynamic information within the digital stream. Static topology of the transmission cells in a particular geographic area is used to identify potential adjacent transmission... Agent: Thomson Licensing LLC

20090199245 - System and method of delivering television content: A computer-readable medium is disclosed and includes processor-readable instructions executable by a processor to perform a method. The method includes sending a request for television content from a first device that is not equipped with a television tuner to a second device that is equipped with at least one television... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199246 - Video data processing device and external transmitting or receiving device: a digital interface 41 adapted to be connected to the interface 2,2′ of the video data processing device 1,10,20 in order to forward video data received by said at least one antenna 44 to the video data processing device 1,10,20 or to transmit video data provided by said video data... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20090199247 - Video content distribution system and video content distribution reservation method: According to one embodiment, a content distribution reservation method includes causing a server to distribute program distribution data including video content and preview content of other video content to a terminal device as the program distribution data, causing the terminal device to reproduce the program distribution data the program distribution... Agent: Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP

20090199248 - System and method for the broadcast dissemination of time-ordered data: A stream of time-ordered data, such as a movie, is divided into multiple fragments of equal length, which are repetitively transmitted at different respective repetition rates. The fragments are reordered for transmission so that those which occur near the beginning of the original data stream are transmitted more frequently than... Agent: Perkins Coie LLP Patent-sea

20090199249 - Secondary video supplements during vod services: A method for providing media to a user via an interactive media services client device coupled to a programmable media services server device includes receiving user input requesting on-screen comments to be provided with a media presentation and providing the user with a media presentation along with comments related to... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090199250 - Methods and system for data transfer over hybrid fiber cable infrastructure: The invention is directed to a method comprising intercepting a download request, originally directed to an original destination, for content; processing the download request; searching for the content in a local cache; servicing the download request from the local cache if the content is found in the local cache; forwarding... Agent: Stevens Law Group

20090199252 - Method and system for accessing applications: According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing access to an application through a user terminal, comprising: executing an application and generating visual application output data; creating video data from the visual application output data, the video data being in a format of... Agent: Hewlett Packard Company

20090199251 - System and method for voting on popular video intervals: A system and method is provided for identifying popular intervals in online hosted videos. To determine popular intervals associated with a video, a plurality of votes for one or more intervals of the video are collected and organized into a plurality of groups. Each group includes votes for intervals of... Agent: Google / Fenwick

20090199253 - System and method for accessing internet via tv and pc connecting set and a tv connecting set: A system and method of television internet and interactive entertainment, as well as a computer PC box and a television TV box for realizing the television internet and interactive entertainment are provided. Via the computer interface module in the computer PC box and the television interface module in the television... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090199254 - Managing media content for a personal television channel: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor having a controller to categorize media content of a subscriber according to one or more image features, and present at least a portion of the categorized media content in a personal television channel procured... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199255 - Device and methods for customization of communication notification in a converged network: A method for customization of communication session request notifications based on user preference information includes receiving a communication session invitation at a service provider. The service provider determines the intended target of the invitation, and identifies preference information associated with the target. In an embodiment, the preference information is associated... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199257 - Method and apparatus for managing media content from an optical drive: A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a communication device having a controller to read media content from an optical storage medium inserted into an optical drive of the communication device, obtain one or more preferences of a set top box for presentation of... Agent: At&t Legal Department - As Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199256 - System and method of receiving over-the-air television content: A method of receiving over-the-air television content is disclosed and includes receiving input indicating a requested channel at a set-top box device. The set-top box device is coupled to a television via a first connection adapted to send television content to the television and via a second connection adapted to... Agent: At&t Legal Department - Lnap Attn: Patent Docketing

20090199258 - Method of setting mapping between channel number and program number: A method of setting at least a mapping between a channel number and a program number is provided. The method includes receiving a virtual channel table (VCT) and a program association table (PAT) transmitted via a communication channel, comparing the VCT and the PAT to generate a comparison result, and... Agent: North America Intellectual Property Corporation

20090199259 - Service gateway for interactive television: A service gateway provides a proxy between a client protocol and a plurality of standard communication protocols. The service gateway provides asymmetrical routing, data compression and encryption to optimize client processing power and communication link bandwidth. The service gateway enables content translation between clients and service providers. The service gateway... Agent: Optv/meyertons

20090199260 - Coordinated output of pictures of a video program from a decoder and an encoder: Video processing systems and methods are disclosed. One system embodiment, among others, includes a video compression engine configured to provide reconstructed pictures corresponding to a real-time presentation of a video program and a compressed version of the real-time presentation, a display buffer of the video compression engine, the display buffer... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090199263 - Mastering access to encoded picture buffer during video compression to display pictures: Video processing systems and methods are disclosed. One system embodiment, among others, includes a video compression engine configured to provide reconstructed pictures corresponding to a real-time presentation of a video program and a compressed version of the real-time presentation, a display buffer of the video compression engine, the display buffer... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090199262 - Signalling between encoder and decoder to effect video program output: Video processing systems and methods are disclosed. One system embodiment, among others, includes a video compression engine configured to provide reconstructed pictures corresponding to a real-time presentation of a video program and a compressed version of the real-time presentation, a display buffer of the video compression engine, the display buffer... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company

20090199261 - System and method for video encoder extension to a decoder: Video processing systems and methods are disclosed. One system embodiment, among others, includes a video compression engine configured to provide reconstructed pictures corresponding to a real-time presentation of a video program and a compressed version of the real-time presentation, a display buffer of the video compression engine, the display buffer... Agent: Merchant & Gould Scientific Atlanta, A Cisco Company