Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/845—Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments
  • H04N21/8456—Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/70—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of video data
  • G06F16/78—Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/433—Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
  • H04N21/4334—Recording operations
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/462—Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
  • H04N21/4622—Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/478—Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
  • H04N21/4782—Web browsing, e.g. WebTV
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/482—End-user interface for program selection
  • H04N21/4828—End-user interface for program selection for searching program descriptors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/84—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/454—Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/472—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
  • H04N21/47214—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/475—End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
  • H04N21/4753—End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to a method for searching for text within a database, and more particularly to a method for matching program guide listings and descriptions to text.
• the present invention is a method using a computer of selecting search text and conducting a database search.
• the method is a program that provides a selection pointer to a user that is visible on a page of text. The user moves the pointer over the area of text that they wish to select. Once the user selects the text by moving the selection pointer, the text is provided to the program.
• the program creates search strings from the text selected with the pointer, and searches a database for any information correlating to the search strings. Once information in the database has been found that correlates to the search strings, the information is retrieved, placed in a memory, and then communicated by the program to the user.
• the text selected by a user can be from a World Wide Web page or a document being viewed in another type of wordprocessor or document viewer.
• the text selected is from the entire page where the pointer is placed.
• the text can be selected from the entire paragraph or sentence where the pointer is located.
• the text selected consists of text that is a specific number of words behind and in front of where the pointer is located.
• the text is selected from a first position of the pointer to a second position of the pointer.
• the search strings are created by dividing the text selected by the user into pieces based upon punctuation, word type, and grammar rules.
• the retrieved information is ranked according to which search strings the information correlates to and how many search strings the information correlates to.
• the database to be searches contains television program information including: a description of the show, the people involved in the show, the date and time that the show is to be broadcast, and the channel on which the show is to be broadcast.
• television program information including: a description of the show, the people involved in the show, the date and time that the show is to be broadcast, and the channel on which the show is to be broadcast.
• the user can select a program to view and the system automatically tunes a television to the proper channel at the proper time.
• the user can select a program to record and the system automatically tunes a video recording device to the proper channel, commences recording at the start of the program, and finishes recording at the end of the program.
• the program information in the database corresponds to segments of shows rather than complete shows, and a user can select various segments of shows to be viewed and recorded.
• FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a search process according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• the invention is a computer program that includes a search program.
• the computer program takes text as input and uses that text to search a database.
• An overview of a process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1.
• text is selected to use for the search.
• the text is taken from a text containing document being viewed by the user either on the world wide web, or in another software application.
• the text is parsed into search strings for use in a search.
• the parsing step selects specific sub-components of the text as a whole to search for.
• the search is conducted.
• the search may be confined to one specific database, or conducted in multiple databases simultaneously.
• the results are conveyed to the user.
• the results can then be used to conduct additional searches, and the same search can be performed in a different database.
• the results of the search can also be used to facilitate the viewing and recording of desirable content.
• the text to be used in the search is gleaned from the text of content being viewed by the user.
• the content the user is viewing may be via the world wide web, or in a software program either running locally on the user's system or over a network.
• a pointer on a display is used to activate the computer program.
• the user places the pointer over text displayed on a screen and the computer program is activated.
• the pointer may be a predefined icon or a user-defined icon.
• An example of a predefined icon is an arrow that moves as a mouse is moved.
• a user-defined icon may be created for example by using a drawing program.
• the pointer is a floating button.
• the computer program is a computer program local to a user or set of users.
• the computer program is activated and the text is selected and processed to be used in a database search.
• a specified amount of text such as an entire document, a page, a visible portion of a page, a paragraph, or a sentence in which the pointer is located is selected to be parsed.
• a specified number of words before and after the location of the pointer are selected.
• the user places the pointer at a first location of text to be selected and then moves the pointer to a second location of text to be selected and the portion of text between the two points is selected to be processed.
• the process takes advantage of a clipboard function.
• a portion of a document is selected, stripped of any special or program specific formatting information surrounding the text, and the text is placed in a buffer for future use.
• the user drags the pointer over the area that is to be used for search text and that area is copied into a clipboard.
• the text can be accessed and process as explained below.
• the input text is parsed into lexical units, i.e., search strings.
• the search strings include whole sentences and the individual words that compose the sentences.
• a sentence can be selected because a sentence is a set of words delimited by a delimiter such as a period. For example, the sentence, "The cat is black and white” is itself a search string and is separated into the search strings, "The”, “cat”, “is”, “black”, “and”, and "white”.
• search strings may be created from multiple words of a sentence, based on the semantics of the individual words. For example, from the above sentence the search strings, “black and white cat' “ , “black cat", and “white cat” may be created because the parser recognizes that "black” and ⁇ white” are adjectives modifying the subject, "cat".
• the generated search strings are collected within the search program. The generated search strings are filtered to produce a collection of search strings that are useful for searching the database. Search strings that have little use in searching a database are purged. For example, search strings such as the articles, "a” and “an” are purged. However, the articles, "a” and “an” within a sentence are not purged because a sentence is itself a usable search string.
• the search strings remaining after purging useless search strings are used to search a database to generate search results.
• the database can either reside on the user's machine or on an accessible machine elsewhere. If a search string consisting of an entire sentence is found in the database, then the text, including the sentence, is stored in a search result queue. Likewise, if a non-sentence search string is found in the database, then the text including the non-sentence search string is stored in the search result queue.
• the text within the search result queue is prioritized.
• the database entries are prioritized based upon the number and specificity of the search strings contained within each entry in order to rank the relevance of the matches found in the database. For example, a database entry containing a search string consisting of an entire sentence may be given higher priority because the database entry is very likely to be relevant.
• the texts may be prioritized by ordering them within the search result queue. In another embodiment of the invention, the texts may be prioritized by giving them a ranking or number value reflecting their priority. The texts within the search result queue are displayed in the order of their priority.
• search result text can be used as the input text to search the database.
• search result text which is the input text, may be longer than the result of applying an additional search to the search result text.
• searches such as on the Internet
• database elements containing the searched words are returned from the search and the data elements usually include much text.
• the input text usually includes many words
• the output of the search usually includes fewer words than the input text. This is particularly true when the database searched is a listing of television programs and descriptions.
• further functionality may be activated based on the results of the database search.
• a designated portion of text information on the world wide web is compared with television listing information stored either locally or on a central server.
• the computer program displays a list of information, including television schedule information, that correlates with the selected text.
• the computer program is identified by a "floating button/' which resides in the memory of the local computer unit or client unit.
• the "floating button” may be programmed in ActiveX, Java, C, any derivative thereof, or any other
• the "button" can be dragged to reside on a portion of web text on the screen. A click of the button activates the computer program. The button is used to select a portion of web text to compare with a database of television program listings and descriptions.
• the computer program parses the web text and creates search strings. The search strings are compared to the program listings and program descriptions. If any of the program listings or program descriptions contain the generated search strings, then the program listings are placed into elements of a search result queue. The elements are then ranked or evaluated for their relevance to the input text. The search result queue elements are then displayed according to their relevance to the input text. Thus, the most relevant program listings and descriptions will be displayed first. In addition to displaying relevant matches, additional functionality may be triggered.
• the local computer unit is contained within a television or attached to a television.
• the local computer unit is a computer with a tuner card.
• the local computer unit is contained within a consumer electronics device such as a
• NCR set-top box
• STB satellite receiver
• other television compatible electronic device any television compatible electronic device.
• the database information will include the channel and time of each matching program.
• a user can tune to the specified channel at the specified time to watch the program.
• a television user may select multiple television programs from the displayed results. The multiple television programs may be tuned in the order that the programs were selected or the programs may be tuned at a user- specified time.
• the selected program or programs may be selected via remote, wired-link or store and forward methods.
• a selected program may be tuned instantly or scheduled in the future for automatic recording.
• parental control may be exerted over which programs will be displayed.
• the television user may cause a selected program to be displayed subject to a password being entered.
• the parental control may work so that only those programs that are selected after a search will be displayed. This allows a parent to, for example, conduct a search for all shows containing specific content and limit a child to viewing those programs.
• the computer program does not parse the input text, but passes the input text to a web site, which has its own search engine for searching program listings and descriptions.
• the computer program may not run the search, but parses the selected text and passes the search strings to a web site, which has its own search engine for searching program listings and descriptions.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Library & Information Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)

Priority Applications (7)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22474072

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2000
  • 2000-05-30 KR KR1020017015292A patent/KR20020007423A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-05-30 CN CN00809519A patent/CN1358389A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-05-30 AU AU51749/00A patent/AU769098B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-05-30 CA CA002375833A patent/CA2375833A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-05-30 JP JP2001511328A patent/JP2003505756A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-05-30 MX MXPA01012341A patent/MXPA01012341A/es unknown
  • 2000-05-30 WO PCT/US2000/014952 patent/WO2000074377A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-05-30 BR BR0011560-6A patent/BR0011560A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-05-30 EP EP00936434A patent/EP1188310A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (6)

Non-Patent Citations (6)

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