RU2299523C2 - System and method for identification and insertion of advertisement into broadcast programs - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: broadcast program translation systems, and, in particular, systems for identification and insertion of advertisement into broadcast programs.

SUBSTANCE: in accordance to method, broadcasting data stream is received, advertisement is identified in broadcast data stream and schedule of advertisements is renewed, including information, identifying advertisement and position of advertisement in program for broadcast data stream. During reproduction, advertisement or substituting advertisement are inserted into program in aforementioned position or different position in program.

EFFECT: creation of secondary broadcasting service for increasing efficiency of advertisements.

2 cl, 10 dwg

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to broadcast programs. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems, methods, computer program code, and means for identifying and inserting advertisements into broadcast programs.

State of the art

Television viewers can receive a television signal in a variety of ways, including: a VHF / UHF (VHF / UHF) antenna; cable; satellite receiver plate and copper wires (telephone, power lines). Viewers can receive television content directly from the content provider, for example by receiving UHF television signals or indirectly from a secondary broadcasting company, for example from a cable service provider. Secondary broadcasters that receive output content from content providers redistribute it.

In broadcast television, advertisements are inserted by the broadcast company between parts of the main programs. Advertisements are often planned in order to go on air at a specific time in order to coincide with the scheduled broadcasting of a particular main program, for example sportswear should be advertised during the broadcast of a television program about sports events. Wide regional differences can be reflected in the broadcast products of one television channel by providing different sets of advertisements to the respective television transmitters. Such regional differences are somewhat limited in that each advertising time interval has a predetermined duration.

Advertisements, therefore, can be broadcast with reference to the context of the corresponding program event and to the demographic nature of the audience of viewers served by any given transmitter, but with very little correlation with the personal context of each specific viewer.

When a viewer uses a video cassette recorder (VCR) to “time shift” (that is, to delay playback), advertisements are recorded along with the main program. The latest technological advances, including personal video recorders (PVRs) and digital video recorders (DVRs), give viewers greater flexibility in recording programs. Such so-called “super-video” devices can provide personalized functionality by creating a TV usage profile and applying it to recording similar programs.

“Super-video” devices are also known for providing “time shift” functionality by which a video broadcast stream is recorded at the same time that it is played back, so that this video stream of the main program can be stopped at any desired point and resumed later, even when broadcasting later parts of the same main program.

Moreover, certain PVR devices can be configured to allow viewers to fast-forward advertisements so that the main program can be viewed without intermediate advertisements. While such “super-video” functionality may be attractive to the viewer, it creates problems in generating revenue for broadcasters from advertisements. If a viewer uses such a “super-video” device to play commercial television broadcasts, then it can be expected that a significant portion of such viewers will prefer never to watch advertisements at all. Television advertising will accordingly become less effective for advertisers, and advertisements will be placed elsewhere. Consequently, broadcasters and secondary broadcasters will receive less and less revenue from advertising.

In addition to broadcast television programs, some television companies provide their subscribers with additional equipment for “on-demand viewing” (including systems providing “similar video on demand” or NVOD, and systems providing “video on demand” or VOD). Typically, a broadcaster often broadcasts a limited number of selected events (such as films) at regular intervals. Viewers can subscribe to receive a specific broadcast of an event. After subscribing, the event will be broadcast directly to the TV channel decoder using, for example, satellite or cable distribution methods. The broadcasting time of events alone cannot, however, be controlled by the viewer.

Broadcasters often broadcast on-demand viewing events without advertisements. Basically, “on-demand viewing” events set a higher price, which compensates for some losses in advertising revenue. Nevertheless, when the on-demand viewing mode is provided by the secondary broadcaster with the possibility of time shift, the suppression or absence of advertisements means a loss of potential revenue, because viewers watching the broadcasts of a secondary broadcasting company can watch programs without paying the original cost and without advertising.

In many copyright jurisdictions, a “client” device, such as a VCR or a super-video device, is treated in a different way than the “server” device. As a result, a viewer with a client device can effectively record television programs for personal use without copyright infringement. Any broadcasting service provider that uses a server device that provides services to a subscriber can just as easily violate copyright in both cases: when recording a broadcasting program and when broadcasting the same program later. Broadcast service providers who want to provide a time shift mode to their subscribers using server devices must therefore have licenses from content providers. Since advertising has become an important source of revenue for the vast majority of content providers, it is likely that any potential decrease in advertising performance will result in either a corresponding increase in license fees or a complete rejection of licensing.

It would be desirable to provide a secondary broadcast service that supports advertisements provided by content providers. It would also be desirable to provide a secondary broadcasting service, which, in general, would increase the effectiveness of advertisements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a broadcast method comprises the steps of:

receive a broadcast data stream;

identify the advertisement in the broadcast data stream and

updating the schedule of advertisements, including information identifying the advertisement and placement of the advertisement within the program in the broadcast data stream.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the broadcast system comprises

means for receiving a broadcast data stream;

means for identifying an advertisement in a broadcast data stream and

means for updating the schedule of advertisements, including information identifying the advertisement and placement of the advertisement within the program in the broadcast data stream.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, a broadcasting system includes:

a head station connected to receive an incoming data stream of a broadcast channel including a program containing an advertisement;

service information processor communicating with the parent station and restoring service information associated with the program and the advertisement and including information identifying the location of the advertisement in the program;

a storage server associated with the host station and the service information processor, storing a copy of the program and linking the storage location of said copy with service information associated with the program;

an advertising server associated with the service information processor, storing a copy of the advertisement and further storing a replacement advertisement and service information associated with the advertisement; and

a distribution system associated with the storage server and the advertisement server for transmitting said copy of the program to the subscriber and for inserting the selected replacement advertisement in the said location.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, a subscriber-initiated method for viewing programs comprises the steps of:

interact with the program schedule displayed on the display device to select the desired program stored in the archive;

transmitting information identifying the subscriber and information identifying the desired program;

accept the unidirectional transmission of the desired program and

accepting the unidirectional transmission of a replacement advertisement inserted in said program, wherein the replacement advertisement is different from the advertisement included in the live broadcast of said program.

In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, the broadcast method comprises the steps of:

receive a request from a subscriber to play an archive copy of the program;

identify the location of the archived copy of the program;

selecting at least a first advertisement based at least in part on program related information; and

at least the first advertisement is inserted into the program.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Examples of the present invention are described below in more detail with reference to the drawings, which represent the following:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example broadcast system;

Figure 2 is a more detailed block diagram showing the number of different components that can be controlled by the broadcast service provider (by the supplier or on his behalf) to enable the subscriber to view both live broadcast programs and archive programs on television;

Figure 3 is an even more detailed block diagram of a broadcast system;

4A-4D are diagrams depicting data structures in a broadcast data channel stream;

5 is a flowchart showing a process for identifying and processing advertisements;

6 is a flowchart showing a process of reproducing a program and inserting advertisements; and

7 is a block diagram of another example of a broadcast system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems, methods, computer program code, and means for identifying and inserting advertisements into broadcast programs. The present invention can be implemented in a broadcast system, for example, in a broadcast system described in co-filed PCT application No. 2004158858 US with the same filing date as the present application (Attorney case number PJF01633WO). For example, as described below, the present invention enables the identification and insertion of advertisements in programs broadcast by a broadcasting service provider, including live broadcast programs, programs broadcast in recordings (including short-term and long-term archives). From the present description, specialists in the art should understand that the features of the invention can be implemented in other broadcasting systems.

For convenience and simplicity of description, a number of terms are used here. For example, the term “subscriber” is used to refer to an individual or entity that has a subscription relationship with a broadcast service provider in order to receive and view broadcast data (either live broadcast data or archived broadcast data, or both). A subscriber, for example, may be associated with a particular television channel decoder identifying the subscriber. “Subscribers” may also be referred to herein as “users” or “viewers”. As used herein, the term “television channel decoder” is generally used to refer to devices associated with subscribers that receive broadcast data from a data broadcast service provider. The television channel decoder may be a dedicated device configured to receive broadcast data, or it may be implemented as a component or function associated with a personal computer or other computing device.

The term “broadcast service provider” or “service provider” can be used to refer to an entity (or entities) that operates broadcast components or systems in accordance with the embodiments described herein to deliver live broadcast data or archived broadcast data to subscribers. For example, a “broadcast service provider” may be an entity that operates (or is connected) one or more systems configured to transmit programs to subscribers. Broadcast service providers operate systems that include switches or central stations that are capable of delivering digital data to subscribers over twisted-pair communication lines that are present in residential and office buildings around the world (for example, telephone or copper wires). Broadcast service providers deliver this data using Digital Subscriber Line (“DSL”) technologies. In the illustrative embodiment described herein, a broadcast service provider delivers digital data using Asymmetric DSL ("ADSL") technology, although it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that other DSL technologies can also be used (generally in they are referred to as "xDSL"). In addition, although wired communication technologies are contemplated, those skilled in the art should understand that features of the embodiments may also be implemented using wireless technologies.

As used herein, the term “live data” or “live program” refers to broadcast data viewed at a time scheduled for transmission by the broadcast object. As used herein, the term “archived broadcast data” or “archived programs” refers to broadcast data or programs that are saved for viewing at a later time than the “live broadcast” time. A broadcast system can provide two different types of data archives: short-term archives (for example, where programs are stored for a relatively short period of time, 24-72 hours) and long-term archives (for example, where programs can be stored for a long period of time). For example, long-term archives can provide the ability to store programs indefinitely. As another example, a broadcast service provider may store programs for a specific period (for example, one month or one year). As another example, a broadcast service provider may periodically interrogate subscribers in order to determine which archive program should be removed from the archive.

As used herein, the term “advertisement” is generally used to refer to promotion or promotion, which, in general, includes video and audio data (but which may include teletext, video or audio data), which nested or inserted into the broadcast data stream. Advertisements can be positioned at multiple locations within the broadcast data stream, including the beginning of a program, many moments during a program, end of programs, etc.

First, an example embodiment of the present invention is explained with reference to FIG. 1, where a broadcast system 50 is shown. The broadcasting system 50 includes one or more broadcasting service providers 51 delivering content to one or more subscribers 54a-n. Delivered content includes broadcast programs (live or archived) and advertisements.

Subscribers can receive broadcast program data in several ways. For example, subscribers (such as subscriber 54n) may receive live broadcast programs; that is, the subscriber can watch the programs while they are being broadcast. As an illustrative example, the live coverage of the program may be “Evening News” broadcast every week evening and starting at 6 p.m. local time. Broadcast system 50 allows subscribers, such as subscriber 54n, to watch programs at their intended time (at 6 p.m. local time). When used in this document (and as further defined below), the term "live broadcast" is used, generally, in relation to the real or planned broadcast time of a broadcast program (and does not have to refer to programs that are filmed and viewed in one and the same time). To minimize traffic through the transit connection to the central station or the ASDL switch, such “live” broadcasts are transmitted to subscribers 54 via multicast transmissions to avoid duplication of traffic. This increases the ability of the system to transmit video and audio data of the program to a large number of subscribers without affecting the throughput of the transit transmission (and thus allowing a large number of subscribers to interact with the system to selectively view archived programs, as described below).

Subscribers can be added to group broadcasts using methods similar to those described in the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), IETF RFC 3376 (October 2002) (description available at www.ietf.org), the contents of which are incorporated into this document by links for any purpose.

Such live broadcasts may include advertisements in addition to the programs. For example, the Evening News program may include groups of two or three (or more) advertisements placed at the beginning of the program, every 15 minutes during the program and at the end of the program. Broadcast service provider 51 may receive and identify such advertisements during the broadcast process, and, in some embodiments, may replace some or all advertisements with advertisements specifically forwarded to one or more subscribers 54.

Broadcast system 50 allows subscribers (such as subscriber 54b) to watch programs at a different time after the “live” broadcast time. The system can generate and save short-term archival copies of all broadcast programs received by the broadcast service provider 51. In general, a broadcast service provider 51 comprises a storage device 53 (or group of devices) adapted to store copies of broadcast programs for a number of different broadcast channels. Sufficient storage space is provided for storing 24-72 hours of broadcast programs for a number of different channels. Together with the generation and storage of such short-term archival copies, a program schedule is created. Subscribers who want to view a program within 24-72 hours from the time at which the original program was broadcast (that is, after a “live” broadcast) can interact with the program schedule to select a program and transfer the program to the subscriber. These programs are saved in such a way as to enable the subscriber to fast forward, pause, rewind while watching the program. As an example, subscriber 54b may choose to watch “Evening News” at 6:15 pm instead of the “live” broadcast time at 6 pm. Additionally, subscriber 54b can quickly scroll forward, backward, or pause as desired while watching a program.

The broadcasting system 50 further allows subscribers (such as subscriber 54a) to select specific programs for long-term archiving. For example, a broadcast service provider 51 or subscriber (such as subscriber 54a shown in FIG. 1) may create a long-term copy of a specific Evening News broadcast. The subscriber can indicate his wish by contacting the broadcasting service provider 51 (for example, through a television channel decoder or other devices, as described below). A copy of the broadcast can then be stored in a storage device 52 used for long-term storage of programs. A copy of the program is associated with information that uniquely identifies the subscriber 54a, so that the subscriber 54a can access the program as desired. Subscriber 54a may then view the program as desired. For example, subscriber 54a can watch a single episode of "Evening News" a week after they are aired. Subscriber 54a can repeatedly watch the same episode until this episode is deleted from the archive (for example, at the request of the subscriber or after the expiration of the archive storage period). To reduce storage requirements, many subscribers may have access to a copy of the program stored in a long-term archive. For example, the information that identifies each client who requested a copy of the program might be permission to access the archive.

Broadcast system 50 enables the delivery of each of these types of transmissions to subscribers, providing subscribers with greater choice, control, and viewing flexibility. Subscribers can access such transmissions via telephone wire lines, such as copper telephone wire lines currently installed in many homes. The system delivers broadcast and archive programs to subscribers using asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) technologies (although it should be clear to those skilled in the art that other technologies that are now well known or developed later can be used to deliver programs that correspond to the options for implementation disclosed herein). Programs are delivered using coding algorithms, such as the widely used Moving Picture Experts Group version 2 (MPEG-2) algorithm, although it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other coding algorithms may be used.

Broadcast data can be delivered from the broadcast service provider 51 to the subscriber 54 using constant bit rate coding (CBR) technologies, thereby providing the maximum bit rate that is used for both video and audio data. Applicants have found that the use of CBR coding provides reliable and consistent delivery of content over ASDL networks, despite problems with the distance from the ADSL switch (or “central station”) and despite the high bit rate requirements for providing high-quality video services. If the bit rate of the video data varies, in the proposed embodiments, encoders are used to fill in the additional (empty) video data in order to create a real constant bit rate. Additionally, the backhaul to the central station or the ASDL switch is “reserved” taking into account the specific level of competition, which guarantees sufficient bandwidth available to subscribers. For example, a transit transmission can be designed under the assumption that 33% of all subscribers served by a transit transmission are active at any time. This can be achieved by reducing the number of subscribers associated with each digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) associated with a single switch or central station.

Broadcast service provider 51 provides identification and capture of advertisements in conjunction with archiving of broadcast programs. Various types of advertisement information may be intercepted. For example, when transmitting a program, the broadcast service provider 51 may generate information identifying the location of each advertisement in the program, as well as information identifying details of the advertisement and the audio and video data of the advertisement. This information may be stored in long-term or short-term archives 52, 53, or may be stored in separate databases of advertisements (not shown). This information is used when the program is transmitted to the subscriber for viewing, and allows the broadcast service provider 51 to identify the moments in the transmission where the advertisement should be inserted. This information also enables the broadcasting service provider 51 to select a suitable advertisement for insertion (for example, by targeting a specific audience of subscribers). That is, the broadcast service provider 51 may select various advertisements for insertion into the program. Different subscribers may be presented with various advertisements. If the program is viewed at different times, different advertisements may be inserted. For example, if the program is viewed in July, an advertisement of the amusement park may be displayed, if the program is viewed in December, the advertisement of the ski area may be displayed. The present invention allows greater control over the selection and insertion of advertisements in programs that are broadcast to subscribers, thereby increasing the income of advertisers and ensuring that time-shift programs can provide advertisers with income.

Broadcast service provider 51 provides a selection of suitable advertisements for insertion into programs that are transmitted to subscribers. Such selected advertisements may be inserted at the location where the original advertisements were inserted during the initial broadcast of the program, or they may be inserted at other locations. For example, a movie that originally contained advertisements every 20 minutes can be broadcast with advertisements every 30 minutes. As another example, a film that was originally broadcast on demand and which did not include any advertisements may be transmitted by a broadcast service provider 51 with a number of advertisements inserted. The advertisements inserted by the broadcast service provider 51 include service information that has a pointer to additional promotional information that is presented to the subscriber while viewing the advertisement. The broadcasting system 50 of the present invention may be configured to allow subscribers to skip some or all of the advertisements. For example, a broadcast service provider 51 may use a “premium” service for which subscribers can pay an additional participation fee and which allows participating subscribers to skip or fast forward advertisements.

Further details of the present invention are described below with reference to FIG. 2. The system of FIG. 2 depicts a number of components that can be used by a broadcast service provider (or on its behalf) to enable a subscriber to view both live programs and archive programs on television 9. A number of system components shown in FIG. 2, can be used by the service provider itself (or on its behalf), offering broadcast programs and archive programs to subscribers. Some or all of the components may be implemented on one or more computing devices configured to implement the functions described herein. Although some components are shown as separate devices, some or all of their functions described herein can be implemented on one or more computing devices or a network of computing devices.

2, a broadcast channel source 1 generates a broadcast channel data stream that is provided to a broadcast broadcast head station (BDHE). For example, the broadcast channel source 1 may be any of a number of different types of broadcast data sources, such as, for example, television, video, audio and other data sources. Each data stream includes video and audio information for each channel, as well as service information (SI) for each program transmitted on each channel. The overhead information includes information about each program, including the start time and duration, and a brief overview of the program.

As used herein, the term “service information” (SI) or “program specification information” (PSI) refers to information embedded in an MPEG-2 transport stream as additional transport packets having unique packet identifiers. For example, an SI may include information from an electronic program guide, such as the nature of the program, the time and channel on which it is placed, and other information identifying the type, contents, and time of an individual program. SI may include additional information, such as a “service description table” (SDT) providing information identifying a service provider that provides the program, and an “event information table” (EIT) containing the program name, start time, duration, t .P. and other time and event information.

Broadcast data may be transmitted using various transmission media. For example, broadcast channel source 1 can provide a number of broadcast data channels in the form of digital or analog television transmitted by digital satellite, digital terrestrial, cable, digital subscriber lines, or as analog or direct streams through a network. Broadcast data can be received from a digital source (or otherwise converted to digital broadcast data before being received by the BDHE 2 headend). In addition, digital broadcast data may be encoded using an encoding algorithm such as the MPEG-2 encoding algorithm, although other encoding algorithms may also be used. The use of a coding algorithm, such as MPEG-2, enables the reception of digital broadcast data that contains the encapsulated overhead information of an MPEG-2 transport stream associated with digital broadcast data. Such overhead information, as described below, ensures accurate program synchronization.

A number of broadcast channel sources 1 can be used in the system shown in FIG. 2. For example, a system can receive tens or even hundreds of different channel data streams from various broadcast channel sources. Each channel data stream consists of several programs. Such channel data streams are received by the BDHE 2 headend. BDHE 2 includes video acquisition equipment and may also include encoders for compressing the channel data into a form suitable for decoder decoding of broadcast channels and display on a television screen. BDHE 2 may also include multiplexing equipment for multiplexing data. Broadcast data is encoded in accordance with the digital video broadcasting (DVB) standard, for example, MPEG-2 video and audio, and encapsulated in an MPEG-2 transport stream. Additional details of the BDHE 2 headend are described below with reference to FIG. 3.

After receiving, encoding and multiplexing, each of the broadcast channels is directed and encapsulated in the MPEG-2 transport stream, the time shift server 3 and the broadcast schedule server 4 by commands from the video server control device 5. The same output signals can be transmitted to each server. Alternatively, individual data is transmitted to the overhead information processor (not shown, but can be configured either as part of BDHE 2 or as a separate component) and then used to create the schedule information on the broadcast schedule server 4. The use of an overhead server is described below with reference to FIG. 3.

The time shift server 3 is typically a computing system (or a network of computing systems) with a storage capacity that allows it to store data locally from broadcast streams. All programs from each of the broadcast channels are stored for at least a certain period of time. For example, the time shift server 3 can store 24-72 hours of the program for each of the broadcast channels, allowing subscribers to view the programs of the broadcast channels after a certain period of time (for example, 24-72 hours) after the time when the program was broadcast in the original. As described below, the time shift server 3 also allows subscribers to selectively archive broadcast programs for viewing at the time they choose. Such long-term archives can be stored on (and be accessible through) the content server 10.

In general, the time shift server 3 receives a series of encoded channels of broadcast data from BDHE 2 and stores the video and audio data for each channel on disk as a continuous stream. The time shift server 3 provides an unmistakable identification of the beginning and end of each program and the location where each program is stored on disk. This information allows the time shift server 3 to quickly and accurately find programs when they are requested by subscribers. Additionally, the time shift server 3 stores the data of the broadcast channel with the possibility of efficient and error-free rewinding or fast-forward upon the request of subscribers. Additional details of these features are explained below.

The broadcast schedule server 4 interacts with the time shift server 3 (and other sources of schedule information) to create an accurate chronological program schedule. This schedule information is presented to subscribers who can interact with the schedule to select the desired program for viewing or archiving. The broadcast schedule server 4, as explained below, can create and maintain various types of schedules (for example, including a long form or a detailed schedule and a short form or a short schedule). Such schedules can be presented to subscribers and used by subscribers to interactively identify programs for viewing or archiving (for example, a subscriber can interact with a schedule to select one or more programs for viewing from a short-term archive or to select one or more programs to save in a long-term archive for later viewing )

The video server administrator 5 controls the distribution of digital broadcast data to viewers for the live broadcast of each channel. The video server administrator 5 also stores (or has access to) client information. For example, client information may include information linking an individual client or subscriber to a unique identifier assigned to a client decoder of 8 television channels. Client information may also include information used to track client’s viewing preferences, demographic information, etc. The video server administrator 5 also stores (or has access to) advertisement information, including advertisement information that identifies the location of time intervals for advertisements in the program that has been archived, and data identifying the advertisement that was originally broadcast from every program. In addition, the video server administrator 5 may also save (and have access to) new or replacement advertisements including video and audio data associated with the advertisement.

The video server administrator 5 uses this advertisement data to select a replacement advertisement and issue a replacement advertisement to the switching and routing network 6 for transmission to a subscriber at a specific location within the program. An advertisement may be selected to transmit, based at least in part, information related to the subscriber (e.g., customer demographic information obtained from the customer database), information related to the initial advertisement (e.g., a rule may be implemented that guarantees that if the original advertising time interval was paid by Coca-Cola, Inc., the replacement advertisement must be a Coca-Cola advertisement), and information related to the program (for example, may be ovano rule which ensures that if the program is a cartoon, intended for young children, a replacement advertisement may not be an advertisement, aimed at an audience of older, such as beer ads).

Other information may also be provided as described below. The video server administrator 5 provides control of the switching and routing equipment 6, including unidirectional broadcasting, multicasting and broadcasting of each channel. Each broadcast channel is transmitted through a network 7 to a decoder 8 of broadcast channels that send data to a television 9. Network 7 can be any number of different types of networks or combinations of networks. For example, network 7 may be a global distribution network to local switches and delivery systems via local links using ADSL. Network 7 provides the ability to deliver broadcast data to decoders of 8 television channels of subscribers, and also allows the transmission of data from decoder 8 television channels to equipment 6 switching and routing (for example, in order to select programs for archiving, for playing programs, etc. .). Subscribers can also access service information or program information related to the current program through decoder 8 of the television channels.

The decoder 8 of the television channels may be any device configured to receive digital broadcast data in the home of the subscriber. If digital broadcast data is delivered to subscribers via ADSL methods, the television channel decoder 8 includes a modem or receiver that allows receiving and transmitting data over telephone wires. If the broadcast data is delivered in MPEG formats, the television channel decoder 8 includes means for decoding the received MPEG data. The decoder 8 channels contains information that uniquely identifies the subscriber associated with the decoder of the television channels. For example, television decoder 8 may contain a unique identifier, such as a digital signature or other cryptographic identifier. An identifier may be provided on a device protected from unauthorized interference, such as, for example, a smart card. This unique subscriber identifier may be associated with messages transmitted from the TV channel decoder 8 to the broadcast service provider, allowing the broadcast service provider to identify the subscriber. Additionally, a unique identifier can be used in training sessions of unidirectional transmission between the switch and router 6 and the individual decoder 8 of the television channels. The television channel decoder 8 may be equipped with an infrared or other sensor, allowing the subscriber to interact with the television channel decoder 8 using a remote control device.

The system provides subscribers with the ability to view live broadcast programs, view archive broadcast programs some time after the initial direct broadcast (for example, within 24-72 hours after the initial broadcast), or save and view specific programs from a long-term archive for later viewing. For programs that are viewed after the initial live broadcast, subscribers can interactively control the playback of programs (for example, subscribers can pause playback, fast-forward or rewind as desired). Additionally, since the system creates an accurate chronological schedule of programs based on actual broadcast data received by the broadcast service provider, subscribers can view and interact with a detailed and accurate schedule in order to select programs for viewing or archiving. The system also makes it possible to create an accurate chronological database of advertisements, which includes information identifying the location or position of each advertisement in each program. Such a database of advertisements can be used to control the insertion and (if applicable) replacement of advertisements in programs broadcast to subscribers. Additionally, each of these viewing options is provided using methods with relatively low bandwidth, such as ADSL, allowing subscribers to view and interact with a variety of broadcast programs transmitted over existing home telephone wire lines.

Additional details of the present invention are described below with reference to FIG. 3, where a more detailed example of broadcast system 50 is shown. Broadcast system 50 includes one or more broadcast channel providers / copyright holders 12 that generate (or condition the generation of) broadcast data that is provided to the BDHE 2 headend for distribution to subscribers through a number of television channel decoders 8. In this example, the digital data of the broadcast channel is received by the BDHE 2 through one or more digital channel sources 30 (for example, digital terrestrial, digital satellite or digital cable sources). Such digital data of broadcast channels is received encoded in MPEG (or the like) formats. As shown, the digital data of broadcast channels received in MPEG-2 format from a digital channel source 30 is typically received in a “multi-program transport stream” (or MPTS) (i.e., in a transport stream of packets including a plurality of encoded programs).

Such a channel information MPTS stream is provided to a decoder 31, which decodes the digital data of the broadcast channel into serial digital information for each channel. The operation of the decoder 31 causes loss of overhead associated with individual programs. Such overhead information (or at least part of it) is protected by passing the digital data of the broadcast channel, received in the digital source 30 of the channel, to the processor 19 service information ("SI"). Such an SI processor 19 may be implemented as part of the BDHE 2 or may be implemented as a separate component in connection with the BDHE 2.

The SI processor 19 receives the digital data of the broadcast channel in MPTS format, and then analyzes the information of each broadcast channel to obtain detailed program information associated with each channel. For example, SI processor 19 analyzes incoming data to obtain a “Service Description Table” (SDT) and an “Event Information Table” (EIT) for each broadcast channel. These tables provide information about each program as well as about incoming programs on each channel. For example, tables provide information identifying the name of the program, a description of the program, the duration of the program, the start and end times (planned and actual), and information about the program genre.

SI processor 19 returns information to the BDHE 2 headend for multiplexing with video and audio information for each channel. BDHE 2 transcodes each channel into “single-program transport streams” (or SPTS) using encoding device 32. This encoded audio and video information is associated with SI information from SI processor 19 using multiplexer 33. SI processor 19 returns an MPEG transport stream containing service information of a program access table (PAT) and program allocation table (PMT), as well and confidential data supplemented by multi-program identifiers (PIDs) for each channel. Multiplexer 33 inserts these confidential PIDs near the audio and video data for each channel. In order to guarantee playback integrity, the total bandwidth used by each PID of confidential data corresponds to a constant bit rate (CBR). In general, the total bandwidth allocated for each PID of confidential data, which is re-associated with the audio and video data of the multiplexer 33, is maintained relatively small compared to the bandwidth of the video and audio data.

Each of the MPTS transport streams is then divided into a plurality of individual single-program transport streams (including SI data for each program) using the network interface 34. The network interface 34 is an MPEG-2 transport stream aware interface. Many single-program transport streams go to switching and routing devices 6 for routing (under the control of the administrator 5 of the video server) as direct broadcast data to the corresponding decoders of 8 television channels.

SI processor 19 also analyzes broadcast data streams in order to identify and obtain information related to advertisements. Examples of broadcast data streams analyzed to retrieve information about advertisements are presented below with brief links to FIGS. 4A-4D. As shown in FIG. 4A, a broadcast data stream (eg, a stream received by the BDHE 2) may include a number of programs without advertisements (eg, programs received from a channel that does not profit from advertisements). Such a broadcast data stream may include EIT information (shown as “E1”, “E2” and “E3”) separating each program. The EIT information “E1” occurs during “t1” and has a duration equal to the difference “d” between “t1” and “t2” (program end time). This information is extracted by the SI processor 19 for use in creating an accurate chronological schedule of programs (for example, broadcast schedules stored on the server 4) and program archives.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the broadcast data stream may include a number of programs, each of which has advertisements placed within the program. As shown, the program starts at time t1 indicated by the EIT information "E1". Three advertisements are placed in the program, which are indicated by the EIT information "Ea1", "Ea2" and "Ea3" and have time instants "ta1", etc. This information is extracted by the SI processor 19 to create an accurate chronological schedule of programs and to create information about advertisements (for example, which can be stored (or accessible) in the video server administrator 5). This advertisement information is used to select and insert advertisements during program playback. In particular, during playback, advertisement information extracted by the SI processor 19 is used to identify the corresponding point in time in the program at which to insert the advertisement (for example, a substituted advertisement targeted at the subscriber).

In particular, in the data stream of FIG. 4B, during playback, the playback timer will identify a point in time (“ta1”) during the playback process when the advertisement was originally placed when the program was broadcast. Program playback may be paused, and the advertisement may be inserted at time ta1 and played. A second advertisement may be inserted at time ta2, and a third at ta3. Program playback will resume at the point in time equal to “ta1 + da1 + da2 + da3”. Additional advertisements may be inserted at time points “ta4” and “ta5”. For each of the types of data streams in FIG. 4, advertisement information retrieved by the SI processor 19 may also include information that identifies the content of the advertisement. For example, the EIT information may include information identifying the advertiser, information identifying the particular advertising plot, information identifying the target audience, information identifying the duration in days of the advertisement playing, and the like. Such information, together with information about the playing time and duration, is stored and used to enable the selection and insertion of advertisements when playing programs.

As shown in FIG. 4C, the broadcast data stream may include a number of programs, each of which has an ad unit embedded in the program. For example, as shown, the program starts at time t1 indicated by the EIT information “E1”. A “commercial break” is located inside the program and is identified by the Ea1 EIT information at the time point “ta1”. A commercial break may be large enough to insert more than one advertisement. Unlike the data stream in FIG. 4B, the data stream in FIG. 4C does not use separate EIT information for each individual advertisement.

As shown in FIG. 4D, the broadcast data stream may include a number of programs that have embedded advertisements that are not identified by EIT information. For the SI processor 19, it may not be possible to analyze and identify such advertisements. Alternatively, the system may use other features in order to identify such advertisements. For example, an operator can manually view the channel data stream and identify the beginning and end of each advertisement or block of advertisements.

3, SI processor 19 may be configured to save additional bandwidth by selectively parsing and using certain types of overhead information. For example, subtitle information can be manipulated to reduce bandwidth. As a specific example, SI processor 19 extracts teletext from MPTS data received from BDHE 2 by analyzing the full teletext stream and extracting only subtitle information from the stream. For example, some broadcast systems include teletext subtitles in a separate “page” of teletext information related to broadcasting. In some systems, subtitles are included in Teletext “page 888”. In such systems, SI processor 19 is configured to modify the “page 888” packets and optionally insert new packets (for example, such as the “page 100” packet) into a stream using a different confidential data PID (again in CBR).

The omitted teletext pages can be stored on the teletext server or in a database (not shown in FIG. 3), which can later be requested by the subscriber's television decoder 8 while watching the broadcast program. As another example, DVB subtitles (if present) can also be extracted by the SI processor 19 to reduce bandwidth. For example, SI processor 19 can analyze subtitle information and translate the subtitles into a form that reduces bandwidth (for example, information can be stored on the server and displayed only in response to certain requests from decoders 8 of the television channels). In the same way, the SI processor 19 may function in conjunction with the BDHE 2 to remove certain types of overhead information from the transport stream, ensuring that the desired overhead information remains associated with the correct programs.

The SI processor 19 may also be configured to monitor the radio channels (for example, identifying the radio channels as having only an audio PID). Audio PIDs can be passed directly to multiplexer 33 without the need for transcoding. Additionally, the SI processor 19 may also be configured to retrieve interactive applications (which may be stored by the video server administrator 5 for on-demand use), thereby avoiding the need to use the carousel systems typically used in broadcast equipment. In some broadcast equipment, such as traditional satellite and cable systems, often there is no return channel that can be used to request interactive applications and related useful properties. Previous systems overcome this drawback of the return channel by using a carousel. For example, a channel provider periodically transmits (or cyclically repeats) interactive applications and related useful properties on a separate MPEG PID. Such previous systems use a television channel decoder to identify, extract, and cache this information. This can lead to problems. For example, if a viewer moves inside an application or moves from one application to another, the required information may not be cached, and the TV channel decoder must wait until the channel provider retransmits the data (or until the data reappears in the “carousel”).

One protocol that is used to implement such carousel technologies is specified by the Digital Storage Media Command and Control (DSM-CC) extensions of MPEG-2 format, Part 6. The present invention enables broadcast systems to broadcast interactive applications without the need for such carousel technologies. Additionally, alternative versions of interactive applications can be delivered to subscribers based on access rules or access permissions established by channel providers or content owners (for example, to ensure that only the latest version of a specific interactive application is provided to subscribers, etc.)

In addition to providing processed overhead information to the headend for recombination with audio and video data for each program, the SI processor 19 also provides processed overhead information to the broadcast schedule server 4 for use in generating accurate schedule data 15. Using overhead information based on the digital data of the broadcast channel, as soon as they are actually received by BDHE 2, embodiments can create a chronological schedule with accurate information about the actual start and end time for broadcast programs on each of the broadcast channels received by BDHE 2. This information can be combined with published schedule data (for example, broadcast schedule data published by the broadcast channel provider / owners of 12 channels) in order to create schedule data 15, having significantly more complete and accurate program information.

As an example, many programs, such as live sporting events, have a scheduled broadcast time, which is the estimated time. This estimated time is used by the broadcast channel provider / owner of 2 rights to schedule the programs. Often, however, such programs may end earlier (or later). Embodiments provide the ability to create schedule data 15 that accurately identifies the actual schedule for the program. This information can be used to accurately and efficiently archive programs for subsequent playback (for example, a sporting event that lasted 47 minutes would preferably be identified as lasting 47 minutes than some approximate time of about one hour).

The BDHE 2 head network interface 34 also provides demultiplexed SPTS data to the time shift server 3. As shown, the time shift server 3 has a number of different functional components. In particular, each of the demultiplexed SPTS data channels is provided to a receive and store channel 42, which operates to read the received transport stream and store it in the correct storage location in the next available storage device. The acquisition and storage channel 42 also functions to effect a cyclic transition at the end of each storage device and to support a cyclic buffer. The transport stream received from BDHE 2 is stored in an unchanged format (i.e., it is saved in the format in which it was received). As shown, data is stored in separate storage devices 43, 44 (or storage areas) for each channel. Each storage device (or storage area) is configured to operate as a cyclic buffer or buffer with a cyclic transition having a size sufficient to store a certain amount of broadcast data (for example, if the operation of the short-term archive is designed to provide 24 hours of short-term archived programs , then each buffer is large enough to hold data for 24 hours). When the end of the buffer is reached, the oldest programs in the buffer are overwritten with more recent broadcast programs of each channel.

The receiving and storing channel 42 also functions to analyze confidential SI data packets from the transport stream. Confidential SI data packets go to schedule table 41 along with storage information identifying where programs associated with specific SI data are stored. For example, schedule table 41 may include an information record for each program, which includes SI information about the program, together with disk location information that partially identifies the location in the disk storage where the program is stored (for example, the location of the buffer in a particular store broadcast data such as storage 43 or 44). The SPTS stream received by the receive and store channel 42 is CBR, which allows the receive and store channel 42 to reliably predict the size of the storage required for each program and to ensure the timely reading of data from the disk during playback. CBR ensures that the output bit rate during playback is equal to the incoming bit rate.

Schedule table 41 may be configured to include information identifying a list of channels, each of which is associated with entries containing an identifier of an event or program, the time of the event, and the position of the disk on which the program is stored. This makes it possible to accurately place the start and end times of programs to play. Start and end positions are located at the program boundaries. For example, the start and end positions can always be located at the boundary of the “program group” (GOP) video data or the “packetized elementary stream” (PES) audio data in order to ensure that program playback starts from a reliable point. The program information in schedule table 41 is deleted when the circular program buffer passes through the program.

The time shift server 3 also includes a video and audio stream analyzer 45. The video and audio stream analyzer 45 functions to uniquely identify each GOP boundary. The streams received by the receive and store channel 42 are analyzed to identify these boundaries. The disk position of each GOP on each channel is stored in the 46 GOP list. A GOP may span many packets of an MPEG transport stream (and may typically include about 12 video frames, including intra-frames or I-frames, predicted frames or P-frames, and bidirectional frames or B-frames). According to the MPEG-2 standard, a GOP always starts with an I-frame. The video and audio stream analyzer 45 is configured to identify these boundaries and associate them with locations in the repository. The analyzer 45 further analyzes the streams in order to identify the location of the PES audio packets. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments may also be used with other standards (for example, by analyzing flows to identify boundaries established by such other standards).

The time shift server 3 also includes a fast forward (“FF”) / rewind (“REW”) frame selector 47, which is configured to retrieve I frames from the video streams as they were saved by the time shift server 3. Similarly, costly and time-consuming I-frame searches in response to subscriber requests are avoided. Both FF and REW streams are created by extracting I-frames and composing them into an MPEG transport stream. Temporary transport stream information, including PTS / DTS and PCR synchronization information, is generated by the time shift server 3.

The system may use the location of the I-frames at the beginning of each GOP in order to identify boundaries. GOP groups do not have to contain the same number of frames; for example, encoders can sometimes terminate the GOP to insert an I-frame into scene changes. The system guarantees the corresponding FF / REW playback speed due to the control (and settings, if necessary) of the speed with which I-frames are saved on disk. Unlike normal program playback, the output FF / REW playback speed is not determined by the input speed (i.e., FF / REW information is not required to be stored at the same transfer rate at which it will be played). Instead, the playback speed is adjustable by indicating the desired interval between I-frames. When writing FF / REW information to the database 46, the FF / REW fast-forward frame selector 47 may eject certain I-frames in a stream received from the receive and store channel 42. Similarly, the playback speed can be configured to ensure consistency.

The ratio of time and storage location between the FF / REW streams and the original content stream is stored (for example, in the data store 46) in order to enable the time shift server 3 to locate the correct FF / REW point upon request and to ensure that after FF rewinding is completed / REW will locate the correct point of the program to resume playback. The control of the playback step is controlled by the time shift server 3 using the switch and router 6 (or other output devices) as a source of accurate synchronization (for example, in an ATM environment, an ATM switch can be used as a source of synchronization).

The time shift server 3 also includes a playback module 49 for controlling reproduction of archived programs. Playback includes determining the location of the beginning of the desired program and streaming content from the corresponding storage device to a specific decoder 8 of the television channels associated with the subscriber who requested the content. The request message transmitted from the television channel decoder 8 will include information identifying the particular subscriber who made the request (and information enabling the switching and routing devices 6 to establish a unidirectional transmission session with the television channel decoder). When the subscriber requests the program, the request is routed to the time shift server 3 through the playback module 49, which calls up the schedule table 41 in order to identify the starting point of the requested program. The start point of each program is aligned with the GOP or PES audio packet in order to guarantee a clean start to playback. Playback continues until the end of the program is reached or until other commands are accepted, such as, for example, a request to stop playback, a request to skip, or a request to view another program.

If a program is skipped or another program is selected, the current program continues to play until the end of the GOP video (or PES audio packets) is reached. After reaching the decoder 8 television channels using a PID packet of confidential data, a message is transmitted warning the decoder 8 television channels about the upcoming break. Playback continues from the start point of the next program or the nearest GOP (or audio PES) frame to the skip point. The time shift server 3 can be configured to play from the nearest GOP frame (or PES audio packet), making it possible to use different types of television channel decoders with the system (since different television channel decoders can respond differently to playback gaps).

As noted above, the present invention allows subscribers to selectively request the creation of an archived copy of a program for storage in a long-term archive. The time shift server 3, under the control of the video server administrator 5, can function to ensure that one or more programs are stored by the archive content server 10. This request is transmitted from the decoder 8 television channels of the subscriber to the administrator 5 of the video server, which causes the transmission of the request to the server 3 time shift. When the SPTS packets including the requested program are received by the time shift server 3, it initiates the transfer of a copy of the program to the archive content server 10 for storing the archive data in the storage 17.

Such archiving capabilities can ensure the preservation of at least two copies of the program: one copy in the archive 17 of the archive data (“long-term” archive, for subsequent search by the subscriber (s) requesting the archive programs) and the second in the server 3 time shift (“Short-term” archive, for viewing by any subscriber who wants to view the program during the period in which the system saves the broadcast program). As a result, the system provides higher durability and the ability to choose when watching programs. The version stored by the time shift server 3 can be considered as corresponding to a less durable storage providing a viewing window in, for example, several days after broadcasting the program, while the version saved by the archive content server 10 can provide longer-term storage and viewing of the program . That is, the time shift server 3 provides a circular archive program buffer for each channel, while the archive content server 10 provides dedicated long-term storage of selected programs.

Various storage configurations can be used to store program information. For example, hard drives or tape drives can be used. Full disks or segmented disks can be used. RAID partitions can be used as additional protection against failures. Many discs per channel can be used. Multiple backup disks can be used to store identical content, which reduces the likelihood of a failure and potentially provides automatic recovery from failures. Additionally, such a configuration can provide improved overall performance by distributing downloads in very popular channels across multiple disks. Similarly, live data can be delivered to authorized subscribers during the generation of service information data, archiving programs, and generating an accurate chronological schedule.

Not all channels require a time shift to all servers. For example, the distribution of channels across time shift servers may depend on the popularity of the programs available on that channel. The distribution of channels across time shift servers is carried out to obtain a set of time shift servers that can satisfy the requirements of simultaneous viewing during peak hours.

Reproduction of the program (for example, from either a long-term or short-term archive) may also include the selection and insertion of advertisements into the program for transmission to the subscriber. Such selection and insertion are performed under the control of the administrator 5 of the video server, which has access to information identifying the location of advertisements in each program and channel (for example, based on information extracted by the SI processor 19). The video server administrator 5 may also have access to a database of advertisements (for example, such as a database of advertisements 20). The video server administrator 5 may select a replacement advertisement for inclusion in the program transmitted to the subscriber. Additional details are explained below with reference to Figure 5, which presents a flow diagram of a method corresponding to the present invention. The flowchart of FIG. 5 (and other flowcharts provided herein) includes a number of process steps. These process steps need not be performed in the indicated sequence, so it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various sequences may be used that are not inconsistent with the described embodiments.

5 depicts a process 300 for identifying advertisements in a broadcast data stream. Process 300 may be implemented using the broadcasting system of FIGS. 1-3, although it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that other systems and configurations may also be used. The process 300 begins at block 302 where a broadcast data stream is received. For example, in the system of FIG. 3, the broadcast data stream is a digital data stream received by a BDHE-2 headend.

Processing continues at block 304 where advertisements are identified. Advertisements may be identified by the SI processor 19. The BDHE 2 transmits the data stream to the SI processor 19, where service information is analyzed and identified. If advertisements are identified by EIT information (such as the data streams in FIG. 4B or 4C described above), SI processor 19 identifies the location of each advertisement based on EIT information. If EIT information is not provided for advertisements, an operator can be used to control the flow of broadcast data in order to identify the location of advertisements in the stream.

Processing continues to block 306, where EIT information or other location information is used to create or update a schedule table including advertisement and location information. EIT information (or manually recorded location information) is provided from the SI processor 19 to the broadcast schedule server 4 to generate a schedule of advertisements associated with the broadcast schedule created by the broadcast schedule server 4. For example, an advertisement event schedule is created for each program, indicating the position of each advertisement in the program. Information can also be captured with identifying details associated with the advertisement (for example, such as the advertiser, genre, target audience, description or identifier, estimated dates of reproduction, etc.). A copy of the advertisement may also be saved. The broadcast schedule server 4 stores the schedule information, and the video server administrator 5 stores the advertisement data 20. When a program is playing (as described below), both sets of information are used to insert advertisements into programs.

The system can be configured to insert targeted offers and advertisements targeted at specific subscribers. For example, such an advertisement may be inserted at the beginning, end, or at any other point in the reproduction of a program from any of the short-term or long-term archives (or during multidirectional transmission of programs of direct broadcast to subscribers). Positioning can be archived taking into account the customer database 14 for information including (but not limited to) subscriber preferences, subscriber viewing history, age, gender and demographic information.

6, a process 400 for selecting and inserting an advertisement in a program (eg, such as a live broadcast program or an archive program) is shown. Process 400 is performed using the system of FIGS. 1-3, although it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other systems may use features of the present invention to select and insert advertisements into programs. The process 400 begins at step 402, where a request is received from a subscriber to play a program.

For example, the request received at 402 may be a request to play back an archive copy of a program (such as, for example, a recent broadcast program stored in a short-term archive associated with a time shift server 3, or a program stored in a long-term archive, such as an archive associated with the subscriber served by the archive content server 10). The request received at step 402 includes information identifying the program. The request also includes information identifying the subscriber (for example, such as a subscriber identifier or an identifier associated with a television channel decoder assigned to the subscriber).

Processing continues at block 404, where the broadcast system is operable to identify the location of the desired program and advertising information associated with the program. For example, the processing in step 404 may include determining whether the requested program is a program from a short-term archive associated with the time shift server 3, or is it a program stored in a long-term archive associated with the archive content server 10. The processing in step 404 may also include identifying a program storage location, for example, taking into account schedule table 41 or other resources indicating a specific program storage location. Information about advertisements associated with the program is also identified at 404. Such information about advertisements is information extracted by the SI processor 19 during the initial broadcast of the program. For example, advertisement information may include information identifying the place where advertisements are located in the program, as well as information identifying the length of each advertisement pause, and information identifying advertisements (including the advertiser, name or identifier of the advertisement, target audience, dates when the advertisement should be reproduced, etc.).

If the requested program does not include any advertisements (for example, the program was broadcast on a non-commercial channel), processing may continue at step 410, where the requested program is reproduced without inserting any advertisements. Advertisements can be selected for insertion at step 408, even if the program in the initial broadcast was without advertisements (for example, a movie could initially be broadcast as video on demand without advertisements, but will be relayed from the archive with one or more advertisements inserted).

If the requested program includes advertising, processing continues to step 406, where information associated with the subscriber requesting the program is retrieved. For example, the processing in step 406 may include retrieving information from the customer database 14 to identify demographic or other information associated with the subscriber, as well as any name information necessary to confirm that the subscriber is authorized to view the requested program.

Processing continues at block 408, where the advertisement (s) are selected for insertion. This selection is performed under the control of the administrator 5 of the video server in connection with the time shift server 3 and / or in connection with the archive content server 10. The advertisements selected for insertion are the same advertisements that were extracted from the program when the program was originally broadcast (for example, in step 304 of the process of FIG. 5). The advertisements selected for insertion are other advertisements than the advertisements that were originally broadcast with the program. For example, substitute advertisements are selected that best match the demographics or genre of the subscriber’s program. Additionally, a substitute advertisement can be selected to fit the pause size as in the initial broadcast (for example, a 30-second advertisement is used in a 30-second pause). Other considerations in the selection of advertisements may be used. Replacing advertisements can be inserted into the program at various locations. For example, a program can be broadcast with commercial breaks every 20 minutes. A broadcast service provider may determine that it is best to place ad breaks every 30 minutes. During playback (at 410), new pauses may be used.

Processing continues at block 410, where the program is played back to the subscriber with selected advertisements set in the program breaks. If the program is an archive program requested from a short-term or long-term archive, the program is transmitted to the subscriber through a unidirectional transmission session established with the subscriber's television channel decoder. The video and audio data associated with each advertisement can be multiplexed into the data stream while the program is being broadcast. The advertisement data is inserted at the position indicated by the EIT information originally extracted from the program. For example, when it is time to play an advertisement (that is, the playback has reached the point where the time of the advertisement corresponds to the time of playback), the playback of the archive program temporarily stops and the administrator 5 of the video server causes the archive content server (or other server that stores the advertising content) plays the advertisement selected in step 408. If the program is played back in a unidirectional transfer session, the selected advertisement is also in It is produced in the same unicast session. When the playback of the advertisement is completed, the video server administrator 5 returns control of the playback to the time shift server 3 to restart the program. The time shift server 3 restarts playback from the point where the initial advertisement ends.

An advertisement may be associated with additional promotional material (for example, a promotional offer). For example, an advertisement (including the advertisement identified in step 304 of FIG. 5 and the advertisement selected in step 408) may include an SI associated with the advertisement, which may include information identifying one or more promotions link. For example, a program sponsor may provide promotional information or products in association with the program or in connection with a particular advertisement. The advertisement may have an SI, which includes a link (for example, such as an Internet URL or the like) to a promotional offer. When a similar advertisement is reproduced in step 410, the subscriber’s television decoder displays a pointer that associates the promotional material with the advertisement. The subscriber can view the promotional information by selecting the promotional material through the remote control device. If the subscriber chooses to view promotional information, the television channel decoder is traced to the link included in the SI, and the promotional information is displayed. The subscriber can then view the promotional information (which can be, for example, a product offer, product description, promotional video, purchase offer, link to an operator to make a purchase, etc.). When the subscriber finishes viewing the promotional information, he can return to the point where he left the original advertisement at the end of the advertisement, or at the end of the commercial break.

This play and paste process is repeated until the program ends. If it is necessary to reproduce a plurality of advertisements sequentially, control will be returned to the time shift server 3 after each advertisement that has been reproduced. Such sequences of advertisements can be combined into a separate package or file for insertion into the broadcast data stream, thereby minimizing the need for switching control between the video server administrator 5 and the time shift server 3. The video server administrator 5 may also control the selection of the playback order of advertisements in sequence.

The video and audio data associated with each advertisement is also stored on the server 3 time shift or available to him, which makes it possible to rationally insert advertisements during playback. Some advertisements in the program are substitute, and some are reproduced as they were originally broadcast. The ability to quickly rewind FF or REW through an advertisement may be blocked to prevent subscribers from skipping advertisements.

As described above, the embodiments make it possible to insert predetermined advertisements into programs transmitted to subscribers. This ad job can be done in a number of different ways. 7 shows an example of a broadcasting system 50 in which the broadcasting service provider 51 maintains or has access to customer data and advertising data that are used to assign advertisements and promotional materials to subscribers 54. For convenience, only selected system components 50 broadcast depicted in Fig.7.

In the illustrated example, the broadcast service provider 51 operates to provide live data to subscribers 54. The broadcast service provider 51 further provides archive programs to subscribers 54, including programs from the short-term archive 53 and the long-term archive 52. The transfer of such programs to specific subscribers is controlled, in particular, by the administrator 5 video server. For example, the video server administrator 5 may take into account the client database 14 in order to determine whether the subscriber is authorized to view a particular program or a specific archive copy or whether the subscriber is authorized to save a long-term copy of the program. Broadcasting service provider 51 can also use this user data to monitor subscriber viewing habits, identify trends, and select and target advertisements and promotional materials to specific subscribers.

The customer database 14 includes data identifying individual individuals having a subscriber relationship with the broadcast service provider 51. Such data may also include, for example: a unique identifier of a subscriber (which may be the same or associated with a unique identifier of a television channel decoder allocated to a subscriber), demographic information about subscribers (for example, including the age of the subscriber, gender, marital status, size family, etc.), geographical information (for example, including the subscriber’s address) and subscription information (for example, including information identifying certain channels and names associated with each subscriber). This information can be used by the administrator 5 of the video server to control subscriber access to live and archive programs. Subscription information may also include information that determines whether the user is authorized to make copies of programs from a television channel decoder or subscriber’s television device. For example, a subscriber can connect a VCR or rewritable CD-ROM or DVR recorder to his television device or television decoder and make copies of some programs broadcast using embodiments of the present invention. A subscriber’s ability to make copies may be limited by including copy protection measures in certain programs that are transmitted to the subscriber. Copy protection measures can be defined for specific programs.

The customer database 14 also includes information about the subscriber’s viewing preferences related to the live broadcast. For example, the video server administrator 5 monitors and identifies each request received from the subscriber to become a participant in the multidirectional transmission of the live broadcast. The video server administrator 5 then captures (and stores in the client database 14) information identifying the name, genre, channel and broadcast time of each program requested by each subscriber. Similarly, a broadcast service provider 51 can capture, hold, and track detailed live view viewing information for each subscriber.

Database 14 of customer data also includes information on subscriber’s viewing preferences related to programs stored in short-term and long-term archives. For example, the video server administrator 5 monitors and identifies each request received from the subscriber to view programs stored in the short-term archive 53 (for example, including information identifying the program name, genre, channel and time of each request). The video server administrator 5 also monitors and identifies each request received from the subscriber to create a copy of the program for storage in the long-term archive 52, as well as each request to view the program from the long-term archive 52 (for example, including information identifying the name of the program, genre, channel and viewing request time). Similarly, a broadcasting service provider 51 can create, maintain and update a customer database 14 of relevant and timely information about the viewing preferences and habits of each subscriber.

This customer database information associated with each subscriber can be used in conjunction with an advertisement and promotional data stored at or available to the broadcast service provider 51. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the video server administrator 5 is in communication with the advertisement database 20. The database 20 of advertisements includes information on the number of different types of advertisements or promotional materials and can transmit it to the subscriber. For example, the advertisement database 20 may include standard broadcast advertisements, such as 30 or 60 second advertisements. The advertisement database 20 may also include banner advertisements created to be displayed on top or bottom of a television screen. The advertisement database 20 may store video and audio portions of advertisements in MPEG or other formats. Other types of advertisements or promotional materials may also be provided.

Database 20 of advertisements data may include identifying information associated with each advertisement or promotional material. For example, each advertisement is identified by a unique identifier. This unique identifier is used by the broadcasting service provider 51 to track and manage advertisements and promotional materials. For example, the video server administrator 5 may request that a particular advertisement be played with reference to this unique identifier. The advertisement database 20 may also include other information associated with each advertisement, including information identifying the audience to whom the advertisement should be targeted. For example, a brewing company may create a beer advertisement that is intended to be displayed to men aged 21-35. This demographic information identifying the target audience of the targeted advertisement is stored in the advertisement database 20 in a record associated with the advertisement itself. The video server administrator 5 uses this information in conjunction with information from the client database 14 to provide targeted advertisements to subscribers in conjunction with the transmission of live data or archive broadcasts.

For example, when a subscriber joins a multidirectional transmission of a live broadcast program, the subscriber submits a program selection request to a broadcast service provider 51 through a television channel decoder. This program selection request message includes information identifying the subscriber (or information identifying the television decoder associated with the subscriber). The video server administrator 5 uses this identifying information to determine whether the subscriber has access rights to view the requested program and, if so, adds the subscriber to the multidirectional transfer of the program.

The video server administrator 5 may also condition the selective transmission of one or more advertisements or promotional materials to the subscriber. These advertisements or promotional materials may be selected based on information related to the subscriber, information related to the program requested by the subscriber, and / or information related to the advertisement that was originally broadcast with the program. For example, if a subscriber is a young man of 25 years old and presents a request to watch a live broadcast of a sporting event, the video server administrator 5 can identify one or more advertisements that are aimed at the subscriber (based on the demographic information of the subscriber, the genre of the requested program, or a combination of both sets of information) . For example, a beer advertisement described above may be selected (since the subscriber’s demographic information corresponds to the target audience information associated with the beer advertisement) for broadcast to the subscriber. The video server administrator 5 can cause the broadcast of the selected advertisement (or advertisements) to the subscriber in conjunction with the broadcast program, providing the insertion of the advertisement in the location identified by the EIT information extracted by the SI processor 19 (shown in Figure 3).

Similar targeting can be done in conjunction with broadcasting programs from a short-term or long-term archive. Similarly, the system allows precise targeting of advertisements or promotional materials to subscribers based on subscriber information, program information, information about an advertisement or promotional material, or a combination of this information. Additionally, advertisements or promotional materials can be transmitted to subscribers in a way that does not allow skipping or fast-forward the advertisement by the subscriber. For example, advertisements may be conveyed as banner advertisements that appear at the top or bottom of the screen during a program.

As another example, advertisements may be transmitted for display during a period when a subscriber has paused reproduction of a program. As another example, advertisements may be transmitted for playback at the beginning of the requested program and must be viewed before viewing the program. Similarly, advertisers can precisely select the target audience, increasing the effectiveness of existing television advertising technologies.

When a subscriber views an archive program (for example, from either short-term or long-term archives), some or all of the advertisements that were originally broadcast along with the program’s live broadcast are replaced with one or more targeted advertisements that are specifically targeted to the subscriber.

Although embodiments have been described above with reference to the MPEG-2 standard, those skilled in the art will understand from the above description that other encoding methods may be used. For example, other currently applicable standards (such as MPEG-4 and / or H.264, etc.) may be used.

Claims (18)

1. The method of transmitting advertisements, which is that they accept the stream of broadcast data, including the broadcast program and the first advertisement; identify the first advertisement in the broadcast data stream; updating the schedule of advertisements to include information identifying the location of the first advertisement within the broadcast program and transmitting the broadcast program to the subscriber, wherein the transmission step includes transmitting the second advertisement at the location determined by the updated schedule of advertisements. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of extracting service information associated with said broadcast program from a broadcast data stream, and generating a schedule of broadcast programs using service information associated with said broadcast program. 3. The method according to claim 2, in which the identification of the first advertisement comprises extracting service information associated with the first advertisement from the broadcast data stream, the information identifying the first advertisement and said location being based on said service information. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising linking the schedule of advertisements with said broadcast program. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said information identifying the location of the first advertisement includes information identifying the location of the first advertisement within the broadcast program and the duration of the first advertisement. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said information identifying the first advertisement includes information identifying at least one of the following: advertiser, target audience, and time period for reproduction. 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising creating an archive copy of the broadcast program, wherein the archive copy is stored in a location identified by the schedule of the broadcast programs. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the step of transmitting the broadcast program is performed in response to a request from a subscriber. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second advertisement is a modified version of the first advertisement. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the second advertisement is different from the first advertisement, wherein the second advertisement is selected in accordance with at least one of the following: a broadcast program, a requesting subscriber, and advertisement information. 11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, in which the second advertisement has the same duration as the identified advertisement. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, 9, 10, in which the second advertisement includes a link to additional promotional materials. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of transmitting the second advertisement includes an indication of the presence of additional promotional materials for the subscriber. 14. A system for transmitting advertisements comprising: means for receiving a stream of broadcast data; means for identifying a first advertisement in a broadcast data stream; means for generating a schedule of advertisements including information identifying the first advertisement and the location of the first advertisement within the broadcast program in the broadcast data stream; means for transmitting the program to the subscriber, said means for transmitting transmitting the second advertisement at said location within the broadcast program, as determined by the schedule of advertisements. 15. The system of claim 14, further comprising means for retrieving service information associated with said broadcast program from a broadcast data stream, means for retrieving service information associated with a first advertisement from a broadcast data stream, said information identifying a first advertisement the announcement and location of the first advertisement based on service information, and means for updating the schedule of broadcast programs using service information associated with the broadcast program, wherein the schedule of broadcast programs identifies the location of the repository copy of said broadcast program. 16. The system of claim 15, further comprising means for unidirectional transmission of said broadcast program to a subscriber. 17. The system according to any one of paragraphs.14-16, comprising a headend connected to receive an incoming data stream of a broadcast channel, including a broadcast program containing a first advertisement; an overhead information processor communicating with the headend and extracting overhead information associated with the broadcast program and the first advertisement from the broadcast data stream and including information identifying the location of the first advertisement within the broadcast program; a storage server communicating with the parent station and the service information processor, storing a copy of said broadcast program and linking the storage location of the said copy with service information related to the broadcast program; an advertising server communicating with the service information processor, storing a copy of the first advertisement and further storing the second advertisement and service information associated with the first advertisement; a distribution system associated with the storage server and the advertising server for transmitting said copy of the broadcast program to the subscriber and for inserting the second advertisement into the mentioned location. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the second advertisement is selected based at least in part on the identification of the subscriber and the identification of the broadcast program.

Images