EP1573419A2 - Media device rental system - Google Patents
Media device rental systemInfo
- Publication number
- EP1573419A2 EP1573419A2 EP01994137A EP01994137A EP1573419A2 EP 1573419 A2 EP1573419 A2 EP 1573419A2 EP 01994137 A EP01994137 A EP 01994137A EP 01994137 A EP01994137 A EP 01994137A EP 1573419 A2 EP1573419 A2 EP 1573419A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- media
- user
- rental
- time
- translation system
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
- H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
- H04N21/231—Content storage operation, e.g. caching movies for short term storage, replicating data over plural servers, prioritizing data for deletion
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
- H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
- H04N21/254—Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server
- H04N21/2543—Billing, e.g. for subscription services
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
- H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
- H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
- H04N21/25866—Management of end-user data
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/47—End-user applications
- H04N21/472—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
- H04N21/47202—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client
- H04N21/65—Transmission of management data between client and server
- H04N21/658—Transmission by the client directed to the server
- H04N21/6587—Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N7/00—Television systems
- H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
- H04N7/173—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
- H04N7/17309—Transmission or handling of upstream communications
- H04N7/17336—Handling of requests in head-ends
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to telecommunications and, more particularly, to media device rental systems.
- Businesses in the form of media rental stores, are popular and satisfy a need among users for a way to enjoy media at relatively low cost.
- a user rents a videocassette or digital video disc (DVD) for a short period of time for viewing at a home or other location.
- DVD digital video disc
- the process offers several advantages.
- One advantage is flexibility afforded the user as to times of viewing, during the rental period.
- Another is control over the viewing process whereby the user can pause, or replay the media at will.
- the process typically requires a trip to the store for selection and rental of the product, and another trip to return it. At times, this can be a burden for the user, especially in cases where the product is not returned on time and overtime charges accrue.
- an on demand media device rental system which includes a plurality of rentable media devices that when rented respond to a user controlled remote control device that facilitates the accessing and controlling of the playback of a user selected media source that has been loaded into the individual media device rented by the user.
- a set top box coupled to a user controlled television device is responsive to the user controlled remote control device to cause a library of available media sources to be displayed for user selection purposes and transmits the remote command signals produced by the remote control device to the rented media device for a user selected rental period of time.
- FIG. 1 is block diagram of a media device rental system that is constructed in accordance with the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a translation system illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a set top box of FIG. 2;
- FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the steps performed by the media device rental system of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
- the media device rental system 10 is a "virtual rental" system that enables an individual to rent on-line, for a user selected period of time, a media device and a user selected digital video disc (DVD).
- DVD digital video disc
- the media device rental system 10 provides a user with the ability to access and control the playback of the user selected DVD during the user selected rental period.
- the media device rental system 10 includes a server system 12 that is coupled between a group 14 of media devices, such as media devices 15, 17 and 19 and a group 16 of translation systems, such as translation systems 18, 20, and 22.
- the server system 12 and the group 14 of media devices are located at a video on demand distribution center 30, while the individual translation systems, such as translation systems 18, 20 and 22, are located at individual user locations such as the home of a user, a hotel room, or a business conference room.
- the media device rental system 10 provides a user with the ability to access and control the playback of a user selected digital video disc, such as a digital video disc 21, from the comfort of a home, an office, or a hotel room, or wherever the user has access to a display device, such as a television 24 and a translation system, such as the translation system 18.
- a user selected digital video disc such as a digital video disc 21
- a display device such as a television 24
- a translation system such as the translation system 18.
- the translation system 18 is coupled to the server system 12 via an optical cable network 32 and cooperates with the server system 12 where they function together in the same manner as a switched digital network.
- the translation system 18 is a remote-control menu based system that generally includes a set top box 25 and a remote control device 27.
- the device 27 may be, for example, an infrared or a radio frequency control device.
- the translation system 18 enables a user to select a desired digital video disc (DVD) and to control the playback of the DVD using the remote control device 27.
- DVD digital video disc
- the DVD itself such as DVD 21, is in the exclusive domain of the user. That is, the user can playback the DVD 21, restart the DVD 21, jump to selected scenes, view credits, trailers, and control the DVD 21 using all of the operation options that are otherwise available on the media device 15.
- the set top box 25 includes a network interface module 33 that transmits and receives digital information via the optical cable network 32, a hard drive 35 that stores the titles of the various DVDs that are available for viewing, and a video driver circuit 37 that enables the signals from the hard drive 35 to be translated into video signals suitable for displaying the titles on a television or a video monitor.
- a remote control interface module indicated generally at 39 receives remote control signals from the remote control device 27 and converts the remote control signals into digital signals that are transmitted to the server system 12 via the network interface module 33 and the optical cable network 32.
- the hard drive 35 is also coupled to the network interface module 33 so that as new titles are made available on the media device rental system 10, the new titles can be uploaded to the hard drive 35 for user selection purposes.
- the network interface module 33, the hard drive 35, the video driver circuit 37 and the remote control interface module 39 are conventional in nature and well understood by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, they and their operation will not be described hereinafter in greater detail. It should suffice to indicate that only titles are stored on the hard drive 35, while the actual playback digital signals produced by the DVD are directly coupled to the television or the video monitor, whichever the case may be, via the network interface module 33 and the video driver circuit 37.
- the server system 12 includes the necessary firmware and software to control the media device selection operations and the generating of invoices for rental time selected by user.
- a media device operations program 400 begins at a start command 402 whenever the server system 12 is powered up.
- the server system 12 advances to a determination step 404 that seeks to query whether a user of any one of the translation systems 18, 20, or 22 has requested rental time on one of the media devices, such as the media devices 15, 17 and 19. If not, the program loops at step 404 until such a request is received.
- the program advances to a retrieval step 406 that causes the account information for the user to be retrieved.
- the rental request signal is encoded with sufficient information to enable the server system 12 to identify the source of the request for billing purposes and for enabling a desired video strea to be transmitted to the requesting translation system, such as the translation system 18.
- the program advances to a determination step 408 to determine whether the user has made a DVD selection from the available titles that have previously been stored on the hard drive 35. If a DVD selection signal has not been received the program advances to a query step 409 to determine whether the user of the requesting translation system 18 has requested to cancel the media device rental request. If so, the program returns to the start step 402 and proceeds as described previously. If the user has not cancelled the rental request the program returns to the rental request inquiry step 408 and proceeds as described previously.
- the program advances from the rental request step 408 to a command step 310 that acquires and dedicates an individual one of the media devices, such as the media device 15, that has been disposed thereon the desired DVD selection requested by the user.
- the program then advances to a command step 412 that causes a time request signal to be generated and sent to the requesting translation system.
- the server system 12 makes an inquiry as to the amount of time the user desired to rent the media device 15 with the user selected DVD. While the system imposes no time limits on the user, a typical rental period is between about 30 minutes and about 1440 minutes.
- the program then advances to a determination step 414 to determine whether the user of the requesting translation system 15 and provided the necessary rental time information. If not, the program returns to determination step 409 and proceeds as described previously. On the other hand, if the user of the requesting translation system 15 has provided the rental time information, the program proceeds to a command step 416 that connects the acquired media device, such as the media device 15 to the retrieved account set top box, such as the set top box 25 of translation system 18. In this regard, the user now has complete control of the acquired media device 15, and the selected DVD 21 for the period of time selected by the user.
- the program then goes to a determination step 418 to determine whether the rental time period has lapsed. If the rental time period has not lapsed, the program loops at the determination step 418 for the rental period to lapse. In this regard, when the rental time period lapses, the program proceeds to a command step 420 that causes the acquired media device 15 to be disconnected from the retrieved account set top box 25.
- the program then advances to a command step 422 that generates a customer invoice for the time the media device 15 and the selected DVD 21 were rented and supplies this information to the distribution center-billing department so that the incurred charges can be invoiced to the user.
- the rental charges can be deducted from a user provided credit card number, or added to room charges if the user is residing in a hotel room. In any event, the user is billed for the time the user rented the media device 15.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2001/045466 WO2003036414A2 (en) | 2001-10-25 | 2001-10-25 | Media device rental system |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1573419A2 true EP1573419A2 (en) | 2005-09-14 |
Family
ID=21743049
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP01994137A Withdrawn EP1573419A2 (en) | 2001-10-25 | 2001-10-25 | Media device rental system |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1573419A2 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2002246564A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2003036414A2 (en) |
Family Cites Families (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
AU5781599A (en) * | 1998-08-23 | 2000-03-14 | Open Entertainment, Inc. | Transaction system for transporting media files from content provider sources tohome entertainment devices |
-
2001
- 2001-10-25 WO PCT/US2001/045466 patent/WO2003036414A2/en active Application Filing
- 2001-10-25 EP EP01994137A patent/EP1573419A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2001-10-25 AU AU2002246564A patent/AU2002246564A1/en not_active Abandoned
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See references of WO03036414A3 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2003036414A3 (en) | 2012-02-02 |
WO2003036414A2 (en) | 2003-05-01 |
AU2002246564A8 (en) | 2012-02-23 |
AU2002246564A1 (en) | 2003-05-06 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
JP3804980B2 (en) | Video on demand system | |
US6732366B1 (en) | Stored program pay-per-play | |
US5619247A (en) | Stored program pay-per-play | |
US6256554B1 (en) | Multi-room entertainment system with in-room media player/dispenser | |
CA2488247C (en) | Content distribution service providing system and content distribution device and user terminal device thereof | |
ES2333211T3 (en) | INTERACTIVE TELEVISION PROGRAMMING GUIDE SYSTEM BASED ON A CUSTOMER-SERVER PROVISION, RECORDING ON A REMOTE SERVER. | |
US6330490B1 (en) | Data vending machine system and method thereof | |
CN1934862B (en) | Application controlled remote storage | |
AU4801893A (en) | Broadband services delivery system | |
US20040250282A1 (en) | Lodging entertainment system with payment options for guest-selected time shifting | |
US5734781A (en) | Videocassette device with digital storage and videotape loop for analog playback | |
WO2001061680A1 (en) | Video content distribution system including an interactive kiosk, a portable content storage device, and a set-top box | |
WO2002069088A2 (en) | Pc-based virtual set-top box for internet-based distribution of videos and other data | |
KR20020003388A (en) | Business model for leasing storage space on a digital recorder | |
EP1605416A1 (en) | Method and system for the distribution of multimedia contents | |
EP1418759B1 (en) | Process for distributing audiovisual documents using portable terminals. | |
US20030084454A1 (en) | Media device rental system | |
JP2002010234A (en) | Content distribution system and method, information providing device, information terminal, and recording medium | |
JP2003508974A (en) | Video and music distribution system | |
WO2003036414A2 (en) | Media device rental system | |
US20050078936A1 (en) | Memory card for digital television decoder and method of processing data using memory card and method of rental of memory cards | |
US20020083454A1 (en) | On-demand method and system for entertaining a user | |
US20040031057A1 (en) | Method and system for providing media content | |
JPH1198441A (en) | Reproduction charging system for video information | |
JP2002342672A (en) | Information rental system |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 20041007 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC NL PT SE TR |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: HK Ref legal event code: DE Ref document number: 1080588 Country of ref document: HK |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
|
18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 20090505 |
|
PUAK | Availability of information related to the publication of the international search report |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009015 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: HK Ref legal event code: WD Ref document number: 1080588 Country of ref document: HK |