MXPA06000834A - Mediadescription data structures for carrying descriptive content metadata and content acquisition data in multimedia systems - Google Patents

Abstract

A MediaDescription data structure that includes both descriptive metadata, such as EPG information, about a multimedia content item and instructions for acquiring the content item is assigned to each multimedia content item in a multimedia system. A MediaDescription data structure is transferable as a token for representing the content item. The acquisition information may also include information about presenting the content item in different view contexts, as well as information about relationships to other pieces of content, and information about how each different version of the content item is to be acquired and displayed. MediaDescription data structure tokens can be used to facilitate digital video recording (DVR) processes, Internet content rendering processes, multimedia search processes, search results aggregating processes, video-on-demand (VOD) processes, pay-per-view processes, and program guide rendering processes.

Description

MEDIA DESCRIPTION DATA STRUCTURE FOR TRANSPORT METADATOS OF DESCRIPTIVE CONTENT AND DATA OF ACQUISITION OF CONTENT IN SYSTEMS MULTIMEDIA TECHNICAL FIELD The object subject described here generally refers to multimedia systems and more specifically to Media Description data structures for conveying descriptive content metadata and content acquisition data in multimedia systems.

BACKGROUND In a multimedia system, the device that presents content to an end user must be provided with a technique to determine what services are available, and how to present individual services when they are selected. In the early days of television, the list of available services was predefined; there were twelve bands in which television signals could be communicated, and the customer could select any of them. The metadata about the content being actually transported on the channels was delivered "out of band", in the form of newspaper lists or television guide magazines. A similar configuration applied to radio transmissions. While television migrated to digital delivery, content delivery techniques become more complicated, while multiple services can be multiplied within an individual band. When MPEG transport streams were invented, the designers included an information standard for grouping and selecting the content of a multiplied stream, known as "system information" or simply SI. The MPEG SI describes which audio stream and video stream combine to create a service, and tells the client where each can be discovered. Even, the metadata that describe the content being actually presented in a particular service at a particular time that was delivered out of band. Even contemporary on-screen electronic program guides get their data from the outside of the band sources. Another example of a standard designed to carry acquisition information is the digital video transmission (DVB) family of standards, which describes a system for transporting MPEG transport streams over the air or from the satellite. Although these forms of MPEG SI are extremely useful for describing the contents and properties of an MPEG transport stream, they are not capable of conveying information about more general types of content (web pages, instant animations, and so on). The first generation of digital media devices must be built with specialized hardware, because it simply was not cost effective to use a general-purpose computer to perform multimedia tasks. As a result, cable TV boxes were generally designed for a particular purpose or mode of data delivery and a particular type of data content. For example, the first generation of the MOTOROLA DCT family of cable TV box was originally designed to present only analog and MPEG video content. Similarly, the original generation of digital satellite receivers simply consumed MPEG transport currents from a satellite and were presented in them. Both of these types of devices have extra user interfaces (Uls) to present guide metadata and offer pay-per-view content, but there is no provision for a more universal general scheme to direct the content of different types of service to the box , because so far there is no way to make use of other types of content besides analog and MPEG video. Some current multimedia systems use Internet protocols to distribute data. The number of different types of data that can potentially be acquired through the client are limited only by the client's ability to acquire, recognize, and properly process the content. In addition to being only able to decode different types of content (for example, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® media against MPEG media), some of the systems can use multimedia content delivered in several different ways (eg WINDOWS® stream media that carries live channels, WINDOWS® media transported on demand servers to provide movies, media reproduced from an attached local hard drive, etc. ). This flexibility requires a system different from those used in a conventional unidirectional approach. Another aspect of using Internet protocols to distribute multimedia data is that individual end users can contribute data to the network (for example, upload content or send content horizontally to end-user pairs), in addition to simply consuming programs in a current address down from the commercial service provider. In a model similar to those described above, if the Smiths create their own slide, digital music, or home movie and wish to deliver it to their friends for consumption in their home multimedia presentation system, the Smiths will require to provide SI data to the service provider. central, which would then be redistributed from the central provider to the friends. This is inefficient and is not patronizing to the user, and there is no vehicle for asocial metadata with the content loaded so that the final receivers can see a description before playing the content. That is, traditional metadata distribution techniques are also centralized and unidirectional, and typically focus on on-demand movie delivery descriptions. live television content. Consumers are increasingly able to produce and host their own content to deliver to known consumers. Additionally, a whole universe of third-party commercial content providers is opposed to providing content to consumers. A form is needed to signal metadata and transfer acquisition information so that content from many different sources can be integrated into a unified user experience that does not rely on centralized distribution, or be fixed with a stream of particular media.

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION A Media Description is a data structure associated with a content article that includes both descriptive metadata (i.e., user-readable metadata, e.g., EPG lists) about the content article and instructions for acquiring the content article. A Media Description data structure is transferable as a signal, which allows the recipients of the Media Description data structure to access the information, EPG and acquisition information. The acquisition information may include service collection information on the presentation of the content article in different viewing contexts, as well as information on relationships with other pieces of content, and information on how each different version of the content article is going to be acquired and presented. The Media Description data structure signals can be used to facilitate digital video recording (DVR) procedures, Internet content presentation procedures, multimedia search procedures, video on demand procedures (VOD) payment procedures per event, and program guide presentation procedures, and aggregation procedures for search results.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an illustrative multimedia system utilizing Media Description data structures. Figure 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative service information map structure. Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of illustrative Media Description data structures. Figure 4 is a diagrammatic representation of creating articles of illustrative video on demand (VOD) content. Figure 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an illustrative VOD purchase procedure using Media Description data structures. Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of a Illustrative account procedure in an income application that uses Media Description data structures. Figure 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the illustrative DVR content article creation using Media Description data structures. Figure 8 is a block diagram of illustrative DVR system initiation using Media Description data structures. Figure 9 is a diagrammatic representation of illustrative DVR remote management using Media Description data structures. Figure 10 is a diagrammatic representation of reproducing an illustrative ASF file utilizing Media Description data structures. Figure 11 is a diagrammatic representation of the reproduction of an illustrative Internet slide using Media Description data structure. Figure 12 is a diagrammatic representation of saving Internet content through restarts using Media Description data structures. Figure 13 is a diagrammatic representation of illustrative parent-child relationships between Media Description data structures in a VOD context. Figure 14 is a diagrammatic representation of the aggregation of search results using structures of Media Description data. Figure 15 is a diagrammatic representation of aggregation of search results using Media Description data structures, in schematic form. Figure 16 is a diagrammatic representation of an illustrative father-son media description relationship in a search result context. Figure 17 is a diagrammatic representation of an illustrative parent-child Media Description relationship in the context of the VOD segment. Figure 18 is a flow chart of an illustrative method of creating an illustrative Media Description data structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION General View In an illustrative multimedia system 100 as shown in Figure 1, one ("Media Description" 102 is a signal that provides at least two pieces of information about each multimedia "content item") in the multimedia system 100. A content article can be a program or a program segment. First, a Media Description 102 provides a description of the content article, and second, it provides acquisition information to obtain the content article. He Descriptive aspect of a Media Description 102 can usually be immediately integrated into an electronic program guide (EPG) in the multimedia system 100, while the purchasing aspect of a Media Description 102 can usually be executed through a client device for Quickly get the content. The Media Descriptions 102 provide a universal language for the component of an illustrative multimedia system 100. It should be noted that here the "descriptive metadata", which a Media Description 102 can convey or refer to to be EPG data (including, for example, suggested prices) and / or can be other user-readable metadata, program guide information, etc. An important feature of Media Description 102 which is the aforementioned acquisition data is not limited to certain types of media. From this a Media Description 102 can inform a client device how to acquire a commercial TV program, digital music, a slide of a uniform Internet resource locator (URL), a fixed ..JPEG image, home videos , etc., and simultaneous combinations thereof. Similarly, the descriptive data is also not limited to "recorded" commercial EPG data. That is, the format of a Media Description 102 may be responsive to EPG data that has been created outside of the usual commercial service provider sources. Media Descriptions 102, after, are typically elementary brief data structures, each agent associated with your given piece of multimedia content. Each Media Description 102 can be used as a "building block" or signal to describe and obtain its associated program or segment, as mentioned. A Media Description 102 is a "dual source" signal and in some implementations it can often also have additional origins. In that way, the first Media Descriptions 102 provide a new scheme for providing service information (SI) to client devices that is more open at the ends and allows dealing with the present and future proliferation of types of service. In another (or the same) implementation, instead of containing actual descriptive EPG data and acquisition data, some Media Descriptions 102 can be transmitted in a compressed form to the point outside of them to the EPG and acquisition data through identifiers, such such as numbers, rows, or globally unique identifier (GUIDs). The first Media Descriptions 102 can also refer to each other. The fact that the Media Description 102 is digitally reproducible, digitally transferable, and can autonomously transport EPG and acquisition data for an individual piece of content has far-reaching implications. As an example, a Media Description 102 may also soften the presentation of arbitrary Internet content through Ul of a client device 106 in a way that integrates with commercial channels. received from a service provider 104. Media Descriptions 102 can also result in a dramatic decrease in network traffic. An illustrative multimedia system 100 utilizing Media Descriptions 102 can be saved when attempting to send all possible data to all clients by default, or requiring clients to access multiple servers in a network (e.g., EPG, SI, and servers) security) each time a new content article is delivered. When using Media Descriptions 102, not all the content article that is to be presented on a client device 106 has to be known by the servers of an illustrative multimedia system 100. The first Media Descriptions 102 have additional implications for illustrative models that they use them On-demand video, content account payment applications, and many other activities and functions of a multimedia system occur with additional features and flexibility that are not possible with conventional multimedia systems that do not have the benefit of a Media Description infrastructure.

Illustrative Multimedia System In the illustrative multimedia system 100 shown in Figure 1, a multimedia service provider 104 provides commercial multimedia content to customers. Each client typically controls a client device (e.g., 106, 108, 110). The provider of Service 104 can send content digitally over Internet 112 or over another means of transfer. The service provider 104 adapts the programming of a storage of programs or channels 114 (the content) and related EPG data 116. For each program or individual channel to be offered to the customers, the associated EPG data and acquisition data can be formatted in a first Media Description 102. The descriptive metadata and acquisition data that are ubiquitously recognized through the multimedia system 100, or at least reused many times through the clients, can be stored somewhere in the multimedia system 100 and point to the identifiers, as described above. The Media Descriptions 102 in a compressed format can be partially, or completely, composed of these identifiers. In that way, a compressed Media Description 102 may include identifiers instead of explicit EPG data and / or explicit acquisition data. For example, such compressed form of a Media Description 102b can be all the GUIDs. In compressed form, the information associated with a Media Description 102b does not have to be in a prevailing formal language structure (e.g., XML) as much as is obtainable in a form in which the client device can be used. On the other hand, the descriptive metadata and acquisition data can always be included in an explicit form in a Media Description 102, that is, the use of identifiers is flexible or optional.

The Media Descriptions 102 and / or its various parts may also be "named" or "anonymous". A named Media Description 102 (or named part) provides a feature that the name is unique through a complete multimedia system, i.e., the name given to the named content is unique through the system. The names are known as "media descriptors". If the Media Description is anonymous, then there is no need for an associated media descriptor. Additionally, for internal purposes, an individual customer may choose to provide temporary names to anonymous Media Descriptions, only for internal management purposes. But, because these temporary names are not universal through the system, their first respective Media Descriptions are not "Named" Media Descriptions. Unlike conventional multimedia distribution techniques, a client in the illustrative multimedia system 100 can also create a Media Description, for example, the Media Description 122 shown. In one implementation, a new Media Description 122 is created each time a client creates its own content that is capable of entering the illustrative multimedia system 100. Accordingly, a Media Description 102 is created each time a video recording occurs. digital (DVR). For example, if the Joneses, who control the client device. 106 decide to send the images of your baby to the Smiths Through an illustrative multimedia system 100, the Joneses can create a Media Description 122 which describes for its support a positive way 118 (or other means) available, for example, for the Jones Internet web page. In one implementation, the Jones create descriptive material for the slide 118 and also select digital music 120, available in a music channel, for example, as provided through the multimedia service provider 104 to accompany the presentation of the slides. The music channel provider could be an Internet radio station. Then they can encapsulate URLs, descriptive material, and information to acquire the music channel in a Media Description 122 of the musical baby's slide. (The "URL" can be a URL, real or can only be an entity named for the slide music). The Media Description 122 can be reproduced digitally for distribution to anyone they wish. Compared to the Jones creation description of its own Media Description 122 only provided, a conventional commercial content provider often links EPG data to individual programs or content streams and provides programming / EPG to consumers in a monolithic, unidirectional, and inflexible. Conventional programming usually comprises one or a limited number of service types, and there is no vehicle, much less a universal vehicle, to transfer multimedia content and metadata from a single source. consumer to another, except perhaps through first charging this central service provider. In this way, there is no participation of cross-content between end users. The first Media Descriptions 102, on the other hand, can be moved horizontally between pairs. If it is not important that one or more of the contents of a Media Description 102 be uniquely named through a complete multimedia system then an "Anonymous" or unnamed Media Description 102 can be used. For example, aggregate search results can be sent to multiple downstream clients, but none of them needs to match one another, so there is no point in naming them. An anonymous Media Description 102 typically includes explicit content metadata and explicit acquisition data, i.e., implicit identifiers for these data are generally not used., but they can be. In that way, for example when the content is exchanged between two private entities, an anonymous Media Description 102 can often be used. The Jons can send directly to the Smiths who have the client device 110, an anonymous first Media Description 122 of the baby slide through the illustrative multimedia system 100 without having to deal with the multimedia service provider 104 other entities in the system for which they would have to import a name from the Jones Media Description that refers to the content of the baby's slides.

When the Joneses send the Smiths, their first newly created Media Description 122, the Smith 110 client device integrates a new channel into the Smiths program guide that has the baby's slide, music, and description that the Joneses have composed. The EPG content and data are integrated into the Smith alignment in a way that is indistinguishable from other channels provided through a commercial service provider 104. Figure 1 also illustrates numerous third-party commercial service providers (e.g., commercial independent and / or Internet vendors) 124. Each third-party provider 124 has content 126 and descriptive metadata, such as EPG 128 data, represented by Media Descriptions, eg, 102z. When a consumer purchases a particular content 126 from the third-party vendor 124, the vendor 124 can transfer a Media Description 102z to the client device 108 of the consumer. The Media Description 102z of the third-party vendor 124 is indistinguishable from other Media Descriptions 102e received from a regular service provider 104. Similarly, the descriptive metadata 128 of the Third-Party Media Description 102z as well as a channel for present this content 126, they are integrated into the customer's program guide and the user experience in a uniform manner.

Map Structure for Illustrative Multimedia System Figure 2 shows an illustrative service information map (SI) structure 200 which provides an example of how the information can be organized into an illustrative multimedia system 100 using Media Descriptions 102. The structure Illustrative SI map 200 is provided in order to show how the Media Descriptions 102 refer to a system data structure. The internal data structure of the Media Descriptions 102 will be discussed later. In one implementation, an illustrative channel map 202 has effect or at least exemplify a fundamental beneficial separation in the illustrative multimedia system 100 between EPG data and acquisition data to obtain program content. Conventionally, EPG data are often difficult to link to a stream of individual content. In an implementation of a Media Descriptions model, however, an illustrative channel map 202 refers to an identifier for a channel number to an identifier for acquisition data and an identifier for associated EPG data. One of the identifiers, of course, can be updated without changing the others, providing new flexibility. The identifiers then point to the acquisition data 204 and the EPG 206 data respectively. This individual delineation of EPG data 206 and acquisition data 204 allows the illustrative multimedia system 100 to perform some new functions.

In one implementation, the acquisition data 204 includes "a service collection map, as described in a patent application E. U A. No. of Smith et al., Entitled "Collections of Services of Mixed Media for Multimedia Platforms", presented on December 15, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A "collection of services", as described herein and in the aforementioned patent application may be, and typically is, a dynamic group of services that may be of different types of services, i.e., video, audio, slide,. jpeg, etc., and combinations thereof. A collection of services can be accessed through being associated with a conventional channel number, or it can be accessed in a number of different ways. For example, a video on demand (VOD) console can allow a user to access a service collection directly through a button or a remote control. The various services of the same or different types of media in a collection of services are used and combined depending on the current conditions in a given client device, according to pre-established presentation contexts. In this way, a client can receive a presentation of the requested programming content if the client has a set of conditions, such as a hardware type, presentation resolution, and level of authorization to view the content, but can receive another presentation of the content. programming content under a different group of client conditions, such as different hardware, presentation resolution, and / or a different level of authorization. Thus, a service collection allows a client to react with the current client conditions by working with the alternate content and present techniques of this group if, for example, the conditions do not allow the presentation of "first option" content or mode of presentation. Another benefit of using a service collection for acquisition data 204 is that multiple services, including services of different types of media, can be received and presented simultaneously, i.e., combined. While multimedia devices become more generic and less linked to a particular code or delivery method, service providers and customers may wish to completely combine the different types of service into a coherent presentation. For example, an application type can present a slide of images that have been downloaded on the Internet, while at the same time playing the content of an Internet radio station. In addition to presenting multiple types of service simultaneously, the client may wish to use different types of service for the authorized and unauthorized versions of the same piece of content. For example, a VOD movie can simply use the promotional poster encoded as a static image, such as the scheduled service. There are thousands of other interesting ways to present multimedia content using a service collection that techniques conventional can not. If a service collection is used as the acquisition data 204, then a service map 208 may also be included in the illustrative multimedia system 100 in order to link services to their respective subsystems.

Media Description Data Structure Figure 3 shows illustrative data structures of two variations of Media Description, 102a and 102b. Each transports different types of descriptive and acquisition information about its associated program in an individual data packet having a "universal" format ("universal" here means that the Media Description 102 is usable with various services that can provide various types of multimedia content, and with EPG data created variously). Each Media Description 102 is compact, digitally reproducible, and portable joined (i.e., transferable via conventional digital transmission). In practice, a Media Description data structure 102 can be implemented in an extensible markup language (XML) format or a similar language format, or it can be implemented partly or completely in identifiers that point to the digital data , whose data, if not self contained in the Media Description 102, do not have to be in the same format as the data that is "on board" a Media Description 102 in an explicit manner.

A description of "home" Media 102a is more likely to be an anonymous Media Description 102 because a name that only refers to the content is not necessary through the multimedia system. On the other hand, a Media Description 102b for which multiple entities have to be sure that the content referred to is the same, is given a unique name. For example, a less-watched video-on-demand movie, which is not widely distributed to many customers, but which even needs to have a unique identifier through the system, uses a Media Description named 102. It should be noted that a Media Description It does not necessarily have to have explicit information within it. An anonymous Media Description can have all the referential content. Except for the expiration data 312 and relationship data 314, all the contents of the Media Description 102 (including the same Media Description 102) may be named or anonymous. The named entities are labeled with an identifier, which is then consistently used through an illustrative multimedia system 100 (this may be useful for applications such as digital rights management / content protection). In summary, when an identifier uses the content of such a named entity it can be left out of the Media Description 102b. But the data of anonymous entities are self-contained in the Media Description 102a, and therefore must be fully described.

A "media descriptor" 316 is an individual identifier or label that refers to a complete Media Description (102a or 102b). That way if two components in an illustrative multimedia system 100 have a shared understanding of a particular Media Description identity, instead of having to be sent around the complete Media Description 102, including any explicit XML, the components can simply send the identifier that names the Media Description 102. First among the types of information conveyed, a compressed form of a Media Description 102 may include a link 304 or flag for the descriptive metadata (e.g., EPG data) about the program, or, they may include the same list 302 (for example, the actual EPG data), including contents of the navigation bars, EPG bars, and labels for the EPG data program, for the purpose of being in a search. Second, the Media Description 102 may include a link 306 for information on how to acquire the content of the program, that is, the acquisition data 308. A Description of 'Anonymous means 102 may include acquisition data 308 on its own 308, for example in the form of a service collection, as described above. A service collection can have services of different types of media grouped for simultaneous potential use according to potential presentation contexts. The services, in turn, may have flags to the subsystems. In this way, the acquisition data 308, by For example, a service collection can be more sophisticated than just a simple link to the content article. In a service collection, the item (s) of actual content (or more precisely, services) delivered, while it is one or more appropriate objects of an acquisition executed through the acquisition data 308, may even vary because the Content and / or services to be delivered are tuned to current customer conditions, such as available hardware and available permissions to view one or more articles of simultaneous content. As another example of how the service collection works, if the client has the satisfactory equipment and the appropriate permissions, the client can receive services that have been predetermined for a "primary full screen" presentation of the requested content item, a preferred package of services. With the lack of permits, the client can receive instead a planned or only a poster. If the client only has a cell phone screen, the client can automatically receive a presentation of secondary union of the content, etc. In addition to the two primary capabilities described immediately above, a Media Description 102 may optionally include different other types of information. For example, a Media Description 102 may include service data 310 that tells the client device how to present the content from various services. In addition, a Media Description 102 may include expiration data 312 indicating a multimedia system 100 or client devices 106 when the Media Description 102 will no longer be valid. In addition, a Media Description 102 may also include relationship information 314 which indicates how the content refers to other pieces of content (for example, a single TV episode may have a Media Description 102 having a "child" relationship to a Media Description 102 for the "parent" TV series, and, descriptive attributes of the parent). In that way, a Media Description data structure 102, for example, in XML, provides a very general and adaptable scheme, a universal vehicle, to enable a customer to acquire a program and its related list information through a wide variety of media types, including types of provider media without service that are controlled by the Internet. For example, the home slide available through the URL of the example described above can be acquired as easily as the latest Hollywood movie from a commercial service provider. In that way, a Media Description 102 is a universal carrier that is relatively self-contained in information used to describe, acquire, and present a piece of multimedia content that can be used across different platforms, through client types, through of types of multimedia program, and through types of service. Since a Media Description data structure 102 is compact, portable, and exists as a separate entity from the program that describes and allows, a Media Description 102 it comprises a type of signal that allows a client to procure and execute the associated multimedia program. In that way, Media Descriptions 102 can be used as a generic vehicle to acquire many different types of multimedia content and join relevant EPG data. Media Descriptions 102 can be exchanged between multimedia consumers without involving the central commercial service provider, analogous to the way in which the Web is publicized, rather than a publication of the book, allows peers and multiple commercial providers to exchange content without Go through a central dealer center. This is different from conventional multimedia models.

The flexibility and extensibility of an illustrative multimedia system 100 using Media Descriptions 102 is further enhanced by another feature of naming each Media Description 102 as an identifier, such as a globally unique identifier (eg, a GUID), called here as a "media descriptor" 316. In such a system, the liquidity of the content exchange and EPG data transfer is further increased due to the transfer of a media descriptor 316, eg, an individual name or number, may allow to a wide variety of different clients access a Media Description 102 in a very compact form. In another comparison, the data structure of a Media Description 102 allows Media Description 102 to function much like a card in a "library card catalog" conventional. A card in a card catalog contains metadata about a piece of content and information and how to retrieve the piece of the same content (for example, from a library shelf, which uses the Dewey decimal number, etc.). Similarly, a Media Description 102 contains metadata that relates to a piece of content, as well as instructions for retrieving that piece of content. Similar to the way in which a card in a card catalog can refer to different types of media (magazines, books, recordings, encyclopedias) a Media Description 102 can refer to different types of media. However, a Media Description 102 is more than just an electronic version of a catalog card. As will be discussed below, an illustrative multimedia system 100 utilizing Media Descriptions 102 may provide multiple content service connectors through the "service collection" mechanism described above. An illustrative multimedia system 100 that uses Media Descriptions 102 may also associate different Media Descriptions 102 with one another in a relationship system that may be stored as part of a Media Description data structure. In this way, a group of Media Descriptions 102 can transport within their own structure a collective network or hierarchy among themselves. This same data structure can be used to pack, add, search results.

Media Descriptions 102 can be created and used in various ways. In an implementation that used an implicit form of creation, each content article that is provided in a predetermined channel map 202 may have an associated Media Description 102 created therefor, by default, as a matter of course routine. In an implementation that uses an explicit form of creation, a VOD hutch can adapt and / or provide a Media Description 102 to allow a customer to tune into an item of content that has already been purchased. The system may also use named Media Descriptions 102b to track which VOD content a user has purchased. The DVR recordings created in a local client device 106 can also be stored in a Media Description 102a created at the same time as the recording. In an inferred form of creation, a client can create a Media Description 102a of some basic data (for example, URL of a WINDOWS® MEDIA® file, 9 (WM9) in advanced systems (ASF) format on a Web site, or a directory that contains images for a slide). The EPG data created by the client for the Media Description 102a may not be particularly descriptive, and if a predicted capability is to be built in the Media Description 102a the intended one may be generic, but the experience of a receiving client that uses Media Description 102a will be consistent with the rest of the Ul of receipt, that is, the content article that will be present in the usual manner of the client device 106 and the receipt program guide which will integrate in the content article acquired by the Media Description 102a the same if the Media Description 102a it was received from the service provider 104.

Examples of Use of Media Description An illustrative multimedia system 100 using Media Descriptions 102 is more flexible and extremely open than conventional multimedia systems. Accordingly, there is a variety of tools, methods, and implementations interpreted around Media Descriptions 102 that allow Media Descriptions 102 to solve various problems that arise in multimedia systems.

VOD Sideboard Implementation Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a VOD sideboard implementation in which the less popular content items that, in a conventional system, would rarely or never be placed on predetermined channel maps 202 for customers, are they can lead to] use with ease using Media Descriptions 102. With respect to Figure 4, in an illustrative multimedia system 100, to make the less popular content appear on a channel map 202 a content item 402 can be imported through the VOD 404 import tools, which create a Media Description 102 to be stored in a database of the back of the VOD 406. The data of the general quantity of the client 408 is stored in a VOD 410 content server. The media descriptor, predetermined permissions, prices, and acquirable permits are sent to an account system 412. In this way, servers such as SI and EPG servers can be involved in the procedure. In Figure 5, for the purchase trace, the media descriptor 316 of the Media Description 102 can be used, for example, through a security server and through a VOD 502 sideboard application, as a label for coordinate which content articles have been purchased, allowing the client 106 to efficiently retrieve information about purchased programs. In Figure 6, to track a "last seen" content article, the VOD channel application in a client 106 can configure the first entry in that channel to point to the media descriptor 316 of the VOD Media Description viewed by last time 102. The Media Description 102 can not be anonymous, because later this media descriptor 306 would not persist through the reboots.

DVR Implementation Figures 7, 8, and .9 show a DVR implementation using Media Descriptions 102. As shown in the Figure 7, the DVR system of client 702 uses Media Descriptions 102 to maintain all the required information about a program recorded in a consistent individual format. All relevant information about a DVR program must be stored, for example, in a hard drive of clients 704 and / or in a remote DVR programmer 706, because there is no guarantee that the program channel was originally recorded still exists ( and therefore, the station data must also be saved for the program data). The client DVR system 702 is also capable of delivering these Media Descriptions 102 to the Ul code so that the DVR programs can be presented in a manner consistent with other content articles. In Figures 8 and 9, the client DVR system 702 and the remote server DVR programmer 706 also use named Media Descriptions 102 to coordinate among themselves. Thus, in Figure 9, an illustrative multimedia system 100 can easily implement a scheme in which a remote web interface 902 can view DVR information for a client through a DVR 904 management application, while the client 702 and the The server that has the DVR 706 programmer can indicate individual recorded programs with a signal. These Media Descriptions 102 are also named so that a last-seen variable DVR program can be easily maintained through the reboots. In Figure 8, copies of Media Description 102 can be maintained in the same unit It lasts 704 than the DVR content on the client, as well as on the remote DVR 706 programmer's server.

Implementation for Playing Internet Content Figures 10, 11, and 12 show two implementations for presenting Internet content using Media Descriptions 102. In a first implementation shown in Figure 10, a movie in Advanced Systems Format (ASF) of a website will be seen. A 1002 email entry can send a notification with the URL that points to the ASF movie. A generic URL driver 1004 in the client receives and reviews the URL extension, and passes the URL to a handler for ASF 1006 URLs in the client. The ASF URL handler of client 1006 can connect to the URL and validate the type of Multipurpose Internet Mail (MIME) extension. If the MIME type does not match, the ASF URL controller 1006 may pass the return URL to the generic URL controller 1004. Otherwise, the ASF URL controller 1006 generates an anonymous Media Description 102 to be used by the Ul. 1008. If, for some reason, you want to have persistent Internet content ugh restarts (perhaps for a "last viewed movie" application), the customer can choose the name of the Media Description 102 , to be stored in the user data storage. If the illustrative multimedia system 100 using the above scheme uses service collections (as described above) as the acquisition data 308 in Media Descriptions 102, then in an illustrative implementation, only the "primary full screen" member of the service collection (i.e., the preferred primary preferred group of services is to be used). , if client conditions allow it) is filled with the real data behind the URL. The data to be placed in an image-in-picture (PIP) window can be a type-specific image, for example, and the "secondary" members of the service collection (and are included in all) can be generic error messages, for example. If the collections of services are used and none of the predefined presentation types match the content, the generic URL driver 1004 may refuse to analyze the data, or may choose to present the destination as text on the screen. Associated list data, ie, EPG 302 data, can be created in a specific form of type of values such as the identity of the hosting machine, the file name of the Internet content, and other data, if any. some, provided when the URL was initially provided to the client. Figure 11 shows an implementation for playing an Internet slide using Media Descriptions 102. An Internet slide can be run from a directory containing images. In that way, a 1002 email entry can send a notification with a capitalization URL to a directory, or it can send a list of uppercase URLs, each pointing to an individual image file. In the first case, a URL driver 1004 in the client receives and reviews the URL extension to see what a directory is, and passes the URL to a slide controller 1102 in the client. The client slide controller 1102 can connect to the URL and, using FTP uppercase or other protocol, validate that there are images in the directory. In the second case, the client slide controller 1102 can be connected to each listed URL and verify that it is a type of image. If the content satisfies the slide requirements, the client slide driver 1102 generates an Anonymous Media Description 102 to be used by the client Ul 1008. Again, if it is desirable to have the persistent Internet content ugh the restarts ( for example, for a "slide or view last" application), the client can choose to name the Media Description 102, to be stored in the user data storage. Figure 12 shows the saved 1202 and the recovery 1204 of Internet content through reboots using Media Descriptions 102. When the Internet content will persist through the restarts the client can use Descriptions of named Means 102 storable in the storage of user data 1206. Thus, during saving 1202, client 106 stores a Media Description 102 including its media descriptor 316 and its associated application data for user storage 1206.

During restore 1204, when the client 106 reaches a restore point, the media descriptor 316 of the Media Description 102 of the last content being used before the restart can be summoned through the client 106. Then the Media Description 102 for the most recent content can be requested and the same content and / or EPG 302 data for the content can be reacquired.

Media Description Relationship Data Figures 13-17 show implementations of Media Descriptions 102 that have relationships with one another. Figures 13-15 emphasize data on the child relationship, and Figures 16-17 emphasize data on the parent relationship. In Figure 13, a child tag 1302 may have multiple instances (e.g., 1304, 1306) within the relationship data 314, and may be used to describe multiple pieces of content with identities to be grouped under the current Media Description 1308 This grouping technique can be used in several ways, for example, in multimedia search to add a larger number of matches in an individual line item in the list of search results. That is, many different chapters of an individual piece of multimedia content can generate a large number of search hits, but this is undesirable when the large number of hits all refer to the same individual multimedia content.

The grouping of the child tags (eg, 1302) in relationship data of an individual Media Description 314 can also be used in VOD or pay-per-event packages, to describe all the multiple pieces of content contained within that packet. The presence of the child tag does not result in the Media Description 102 that has no service collection and service data; more than that, you can create a generic service collection to control aggregate search results. Figure 13 shows a VOD or pay-per-view pack implementation using Media Descriptions 1308. The Media Description 1308 for the VOD or pay-per-event case may be acquired in any desired way (e.g. you can assign to an item in the program guide, delivered from the VOD sideboard, or sent directly as a promotion). Importantly, the descriptive data 302 of the Media Description 1308 may be presented as an individual content item in the client UI and therefore must have suitable lists and service collection data 308 (the collection of service must be a group of different adjusted images to be selected from a presentation, or it may be a video especially referring to this package content article). In summary, a Media Description 1308 that includes child relationship data (e.g., 1302) is an individual entity representing multiple other entities, i.e., "child" content article.

Figure 14 shows the aggregation of search results using the child relation aspect of Media Descriptions 1308. A search server 1402 returns a series of Media Descriptions 1308, some are labeled for presentation, others are kept in reserve for Endorse the search return values presented. For example, if the client 106 receives back a search description that says "Gourmet Kitchen Series Show (30 items)", then the Media Description 1308 represents an aggregate search result, which will be presented as an article of individual line in the list of search results. Currently, the search results also include the 30 individual episodes of the Kitchen Series results, but are not marked for current presentation. In one implementation, when a user clicks on the aggregated search result, the client can then refer to the Related Media Descriptions (1310, 1312, ... 1314) and be presented with more specific EPG data 302 for each episode and also acquire each episode, if desired. It should be noted that the Media Descriptions 102 can also be used as a way to fill the index data of the search server 1402. That is, the Media Descriptions 102 can be used as the basic building blocks of information at any time. in which the program metadata is reproduced, including Media Descriptions (by example, 1310) to have a child relationship with other Media Descriptions 1308. Figure 15 shows the aggregation of search results schematically, using the child tags (eg, 1302) described above. In an illustrative search, an aggregate search that returns a large number of hits (for example, 1504, 1506, 1508) is presented to the user as the individual title, "Nocturnal News (3 articles)" 1510. This metadata presentation EPG 302 for the individual line result "Nocturnal News (3 articles)" added 1510 is obtained by finding what is common among all the large number of hits and creating the individual title "Nocturnal News (3 articles)" as part of the data of EPG of the "Search-Results" Media Description 302. The relationship data 314 contains the media writers 316 for the individual results that can be accessed through these media writers 316 to obtain more detail, as necessary. An important feature to note is that the returned content articles do not have to be of the same type of media. Thus, a VOD content article entitled "Nocturnal News" can be returned along with "Nocturnal News" content articles for the daily stream of programming provided by a commercial service provider 104. Figure 16 shows how the first Media Description 1602 can supplement its EPG 302 'data with the EPG data 302 of another Media Description 1604, using the parent relationship aspect of the Media Descriptions 1604. A parent tag 1606 may be used in the relationship data 314 of a Child Media Description 1602 in a manner similar to the use of the child tags. , described above. A parent tag 1606 is generally used alone in the relationship data section 314 of a Child Media Description 1602. The parent tag may act as a flag only for signaling a Parent Media Description 1604 that is associated with a parent channel or article of content that the child content article associated with the Media Description child 1604 covers. In other words, a Media Description 1602 for a chapter of a movie may indicate a Parent Media Description 1604, which describes the movie as a whole. Or, a Media Description 1602 for an individual transmission may point to a Parent Media Description 1604, which describes the channel as a whole. The corresponding Parent Media Description 1604 may or may not have the child listed. While this is often desired, there are cases (such as Media Descriptions for a live TV channel) where the lists of each possible Child Media Description are inefficient. For example, a live TV channel does not necessarily want to list each program that starts as a "separate child," even though those individual programs can be returned as separate Media Descriptions (as is the case for aggregate search results).

Using the parent tags can save data space and avoid some complexity in an illustrative multimedia system 100. For example, a particular program or individual transmission in a live channel can be described in an abbreviated Media Description 1602 that has just a minimum of Descriptive and programming data specific to the individual transmission. Such Media Description 1602 omits a collection of service 308 and service data 310, but instead uses the parent tag 1606, including a media writer 316 of the Parent Media Description 1604, to access EPG data 302, data from service collection 308, and service data 310 of the Parent Media Description 1604. Thus, instead of redundantly placing the same general descriptive information for a total channel repeatedly in each Child Media Description 1602, each abbreviated child simply indicates the Parent Media Description 1604 for general metadata, such as EPG data 302 related to the channel in general, and for a collection of service 308 and service data 310. In the case of a multimedia search, a Media Description "transmit station" parent 1604 is generally returned in line with individual program media descriptions (for example, 1602). However, other than a case in which a Media Description of transmission station 1604 is downloaded for general use in a program guide, the Media Description of transmission station 1604 returned in the search does not it includes no additional programming data program guide, only "always true" skeletal data such as call sign and bitmap. In Figure 17, the parent relationship aspect can be used to describe chapters or other segments of content articles, such as VOD movies, which refer to an episode of a series for its station, etc. A Media Description 1702 with a parent tag 1706 may not have a collection of services 308 and service data 310. In this case, as described above, service collection 308 and service data 310 are used from the Media Description parent 1704. A Media Description 1702 that relies on a Parent Media Description 1704 for some of its data, however, may have a fully developed program description in order to provide start and end times that are equivalent to a start time of the Parent Media Description 1704.

Illustrative Method Figure 18 shows an illustrative method 1800 of creating an illustrative Media Description data structure. In the flow diagram, the operations are summarized in individual blocks. The illustrative method 1800 can be performed through hardware, software or. combinations of both, for example, through a component of a multimedia system 100. In block 1802, the EPG information is created for a multimedia content article. EPG information, such as title, description, program, actors, producers, credits, etc., can be created through a client of a multimedia system or through a commercial service provider of the multimedia system, or even through a procedure in the multimedia system that controls content articles. In block 1804, the acquisition information is created for the multimedia content article. In one implementation, the acquisition information is a relatively simple link for the content article to be acquired through a multimedia client. In another implementation, the acquisition information may be a collection of service, as described above and in the aforementioned patent application. A service collection can be a dynamic group of services divided into groups that are deployed conditionally. The services in a service collection can be of different types of service, that is, video, audio, slides, .jpeg, etc., and services that are of different types of services can be processed in a group. A collection of services can be accessed by being associated with a conventional channel number, or it can be accessed in a number of different ways, for example, through a VOD sideboard that can allow a customer to access a service collection directly. through a button on a remote control. The various services of the same or different type of media in a service collection are used and combined depending on the current conditions in a given client device, according to pre-established presentation contexts. In this way, a client can choose, acquire and present a first group (of services) if the client has a group of conditions, and can choose to acquire and present a second group of different services under a different group of client conditions, such as different hardware and / or different level of authorization than the first group. In block 1806, EPG data and acquisition data are stored together in a data structure (assigned to the content article) that is transferable as a signal to allow recipients of the data structure of the Media Description to access to EPG information and acquisition data. Identifying the links for the EPG data and / or for the acquisition data can be used in a Media Description instead of the EPG data itself and / or the acquisition data itself. Media Descriptions can be named, as described above, with an identifier called a common media descriptor. A media descriptor is a signal for a Media Description, which in turn is a signal for the multimedia content article and associated EPG data it represents. As illustrated in the descriptions of the preceding figure, a Media Description can be used as a signal in many multimedia procedures, such as digital video recording (DVR) procedures, Internet content, multimedia search procedures, video on demand (VOD) procedures, payment by event procedures, and program guide presentation procedures. The step in block 1806 of storing EPG and acquisition information together in a data structure to make a Media Description may also include storing relationship data pointing to other Media Description data structures allocated for other media content articles in son-to-parent relationships. In that way a Media Description that represents an episode of a TV series has to be lost including all the general information about the parent series and instead only included link for the Media Description of the parent series. Then the information from the Parent Media Description is acquired, for example, to fill in the EPG information about the child episode in a program guide. Parent-child relationships between Media Descriptions can be used to facilitate many other multimedia tasks, such as representing parts of multiple VOD content articles as an individual package, and adding search results that all refer to the same content article as a Individual line item in a list of search results.

Conclusion The above discussion describes illustrative Media Description data structures for transporting lists and data from acquisition in multimedia systems. Although the subject matter is described in specific language for structural characteristics and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the subject matter described in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. More than that, the specific features and acts described above are described as illustrative ways to implement the claims.

Claims (20)

1. - A method comprising: creating descriptive metadata for an article of multimedia content; create acquisition information to acquire the content article; storing an access for the descriptive metadata and an access for the acquisition information in a data structure assigned to the content article, wherein the data structure is digitally transferred as a signal to allow the recipients of the data structure to access Descriptive metadata and acquisition information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the storage comprises including the same descriptive metadata in the data structure and including the acquisition information itself data structure.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein storing an access for the acquisition information further comprises storing a collection of service to be the acquisition information.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising executing the acquisition information, wherein the service connection acquires the content article when determining one or more current conditions of receipt of the data structure and provide one or more services selected in response to the conditions.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the one or more current conditions to determine include one of a hardware availability to present a service or a permit to receive a service.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising digitally transferring the data structure as a signal representing the content article and the descriptive metadata for a component of a multimedia system.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising digitally transferring the data structure as a signal of the content article and the descriptive metadata between clients in a multimedia system, where the transfer between the clients passes over the suppliers of the multimedia system service.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising naming the data structure with a media descriptor and transferring the media descriptor as an identifier of the data structure in a multimedia system.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising using the data structure as a signal for the content article in one of a recording method of digital video (DVR), a procedure for presenting Internet content, a search procedure, an aggregation procedure to list search results, a video-on-demand (VOD) procedure, a pay-per-event procedure, or a procedure of presentation of program guide.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising storing zero or more instances of service data, expiration data, and relationship data in the data structure, wherein the relationship data indicates a relationship of the data structure for a second data structure assigned to a second content article.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein storing the relationship data includes storing a media descriptor for the information stored in the second data structure.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the content article is a segment of the second content article.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the second content article is a segment of the content article.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising creating the multimedia content article, the descriptive metadata, and the acquisition information in a client device and storing the access for the descriptive metadata and the access for the acquisition information in the data structure on the client device.

15. A storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions that, when executed, implement a method according to claim 1.

16. A data structure comprising a Media Description.

17. The data structure according to claim 16, wherein the identifiers in the Media Description provide links to the data outside of the data structure to represent a part of the descriptive metadata of the Media Description and a part of acquisition data of the Media Description.

18. The data structure according to claim 16, wherein a part of the acquisition data of the Media Description comprises a service collection.

19. The data structure according to claim 18, wherein the service collection is capable of providing multiple service groups, each group ordered to provide service variations to a multimedia client based on one or more conditions of the multimedia client . 20.- A system, comprising: communicatively coupled multimedia clients; multimedia content articles; a Media Description data structure individualized data assigned to each content article as a transferable token to represent the content article, wherein each Media Description data structure includes at least one access for the descriptive metadata of the content article and wherein each data structure of Description of Media includes at least one access to the acquisition data to obtain the content article and wherein the acquisition data is capable of comprising a collection of service.