WO2012093403A1

WO2012093403A1 - Method and system for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast

Info

Publication number: WO2012093403A1
Application number: PCT/IN2011/000835
Authority: WO
Inventors: Avik GHOSE; Chirabrata BHAUMIK
Original assignee: Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Priority date: 2011-01-04
Filing date: 2011-12-07
Publication date: 2012-07-12

Abstract

A method and apparatus for accurate billing based on actual view-time in broadcast television. The invention provides a method and system for billing a television subscriber. The invention further provides a method and system for billing a television subscriber on actual view time of the television broadcast.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BILLING A SUBSCRIBER, BASED ON ACTUAL VIEW TIME OF THE TELEVISION BROADCAST

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of broadcasting. Particularly the invention relates to billing a television subscriber. More particularly, the invention relates to billing a television subscriber on actual view time of the television broadcast.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recent years have witnessed major changes in broadcasting, particularly digital broadcasting through television. In the current scenario of digital television broadcast, the subscriber has to subscribe a bundle of television channels, which forms a unit of sale for commercial broadcasting. The subscription may be on a monthly or yearly basis. Though the subscribers have the liberty to add or delete channels in the bundle according to their interest.

There is literally no flexibility for subscriber in monthly or yearly subscription. In a scenario where subscriber watch desired program only for the limited time out of 24 hours broadcast, still the subscriber has to pay for the whole bundle of channels or a particular channel.

Though there are other instant billing mechanisms that exist such as "Pay-per-View" or "Video-on-Demand", but such mechanisms are limited to a small group of users or individual users and cannot be applied to a wider spectrum of broadcast TV scenario, So far there is no such mechanism available to subscriber that enables billing only for their exact and accurate viewing time. Moreover from the broadcaster's point of view, the flexibility in the pricing of broadcast for different time slots is also not possible currently. In order to develop a mechanism for accurate billing for the exact view time, there is a need to have a method and system that can determine the exact viewing time and billing based on actual usage rather than subscription based billing.

Some of the existing method and systems related to billing of the television broadcast to a television subscriber known to us are as follows:

US5289271A to Watson discloses a cable-television usage system that enables subscribers to be charged based upon their actual usage of the cable channels offered. The problem addressed particularly relates to the analog cable televisions only. Further this invention relies on the analog tuning frequency detection for determination of view- time. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

US4878245A to Bradley, et al. discloses an improved control and metering system for pay television distribution over a cable network. The problem addressed particularly relates to the cable systems only. Further the apparatus consists of "control unit located near each receiver on a subscribers premises and a secure filter, switching and metering unit which are located external to the subscriber's home". The current solution does not require any such external setup. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

US4163254A to Block, et al. discloses a subscription television system and method in which billing information regarding programs actually viewed by a subscriber of the system is accumulated over non-dedicated telephone lines. Block, et al. brings out a method which uses a telephone line as back-channel and a "program identification code" to identify a block of program being viewed by the user. This patent does not address about handling the digital television transmissions. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. US2010138330A to Hans, et al. discloses about variable billing information for content stored in a storage module in the communications network, which is formed in accordance with specified criteria. These criteria can be, for example, the age of the content, the distance of the subscriber terminal from the relevant location of location- related content, or the number of subscriber terminals to which the content is transmitted. The problem addressed particularly relates to delivering stored contents to a terminal and billing related to the same. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

EP1469679A1 to Lee et al. discloses a technique for billing viewers for use of pay TV based on duration of viewing rather than a flat fee. The problem addressed particularly relates to the encoding a programming signal, to be broadcast by a pay TV program signal source with a code signal. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast wherein the actual view time is calculated by television channel and broadcast detection.

DE3819582A1 to Ruoto et al. discloses about building in a storage device for the receiving period of television into each television set, the actual receiving period of television is recorded and correspondingly accounted for with the GEZ (charge collection centre). Charges are paid only for actually used "goods". The problem addressed particularly relates to charge the user for as long as he watches TV rather than a standard "GEZ" tax for TV. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

Fu-Kuan Tu et al. in "On key distribution management for conditional access system on pay- TV system" discloses a conditional access system (CAS) which is essential in a pay- TV system to charge the subscriber the subscription fee, and key management is also important. The paper proposes a hierarchy of key scheme for CAS. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. Hung-Min Sun et al. in "Flexible-Pay-Per-Channel: A New Model for Content Access Control in Pay-TV Broadcasting Systems" discloses two models, pay-per-channel (PPC) and pay-per-view (PPV), for content access control in pay-TV broadcasting systems. The problem addressed in this paper particularly relates to a key mechanism for CAS which will allow users to subscribe/ unsubscribe a particular channel rapidly. It doesn't teach about billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

The above mentioned prior arts fail to disclose an efficient method and system that can bill a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. Yet another technical problem which is unaddressed by the prior art is the flexibility in the pricing of broadcast for different time slots.

Thus, in the light of the above mentioned background art, it is evident that, there is a need for a solution that can provide a method and system for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. There is also a need for providing flexibility to broadcaster in the pricing of broadcast for different time slots.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, the primary objective is to provide a method and system for billing a subscriber based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for determining the channel and the corresponding broadcast being viewed by the subscriber by detecting subscriber's input.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for automatic obtaining of the pricing details of the real time television broadcast. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Before the present methods, systems, and hardware enablement are described, it is to be understood that this invention in not limited to the particular systems, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments of the present invention which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention which will be limited only by the appended claims.

The present invention provides a method and system for billing a subscriber based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

In one aspect of the invention the channel and the corresponding broadcast being viewed by the subscriber is determined by detecting subscriber's input.

In another aspect the descrambling of the channel is initiated upon authorization of subscriber by the billing module.

Yet another aspect of the invention is to utilize the channel and the corresponding broadcast information and associated pricing details of the said broadcast in real time to calculate the bill amount based on the actual view time of the subscriber.

The above said method and system are preferably to bill a subscriber based on actual view time of the television broadcast but also can be used for many other applications, obvious to a person skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, are better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings exemplary constructions of the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and system disclosed. In the drawings:

Figure 1 Block diagram showing various modules that need to interact in the system.

Figure 2 Block diagram showing sequence of events on channel change

Figure 3 Block diagram showing the system with smart card Interface

Figure 4 Block diagram showing the system with network interface

Figure 5 Flow diagram showing the process of billing a subscriber based on actual view time of the television broadcast

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Some embodiments of this invention, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail.

The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.

It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present invention, the preferred, systems and methods are now described.

The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The present invention enables a method and system billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

The present invention provides a method for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast, wherein the said method comprises processor implemented steps of: a. identifying the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information using channel and the broadcast identification field from the program map table (PMT) upon detecting subscriber's input;

b. obtaining the pricing details of the broadcast in real time by using event information table (EIT); and

c. triggering a query signal for billing actual view time of the identified broadcast on the basis of real time pricing.

The present invention also provides a system for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast, wherein the said system comprises: a. means for identifying the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information using channel and the broadcast identification field from the current program map table (PMT) section upon detecting subscriber's input; b. means for obtaining the pricing details of the broadcast in real time by using event information table (EIT); and

c. means for triggering a query signal for billing actual view time of the identified broadcast on the basis of real time pricing.

The present invention provides a method and system for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. The invention relates to a method and system for allowing subscriber to pay only for the time they are viewing the television and thus allowing for more granularities in the television billing structure for the subscribers. Referring to Figure 1 is a flow diagram showing the process of billing a subscriber based on actual view time of the television broadcast.

The process starts at the step 1000, the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information is identified using channel and the broadcast identification field from the current program map table (PMT) upon detecting subscriber's input. At the step 2000, the pricing details of the broadcast in real time are obtained by using event information table (EIT). The process ends at the step 3000, a query signal is triggered for billing actual view time of the identified broadcast on the basis of real time pricing.

Referring to Figure 2 is a block diagram showing various modules that need to interact in the system.

The system for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast comprises a channel navigator module (101), a billing module (102), a SI database (103), a subscriber account module (104) and a conditional access module (105).

In one embodiment of the invention, the channel navigator module (101 ) is responsible for tuning to a particular channel. When a subscriber tunes to a channel for viewing, the channel navigator module (101) notifies the billing module (102) with the program identification field from the current program map table (PMT), which is mapped to the service identification field of the current service description table (SDT) section. This service description table (SDT) is containing descriptors corresponding to the current channel. The current event information table (EIT) section provides the pricing details of the current broadcast in real time as extended information.

In another embodiment of the invention, the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information and the pricing details of the current broadcast in real time are used to query either the smart card or the back-end subscriber account depending on the customer premises equipments design. The account is checked for sufficient balance for subsequent billing. The billing module (102) upon billing authorizes the conditional access module (105) to start de-scrambling the television channel and the corresponding broadcast for the subscriber.

Referring to Figure 3 is a block diagram showing sequence of events on channel change.

In another embodiment of the invention, when a subscriber switches to a new channel, a well defined sequence of events take place wherein the television channel and corresponding broadcast is detected. The channel service and broadcast information is queried using the digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and event information table (EIT). Using information from the digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and event information table (EIT), the channel and associated broadcast information is retrieved. This information is also used to understand the subscriber context and determine the service being used. For analogue television broadcast, where this information is not available to the customer premises equipment (CPE), the channel viewer-ship can be detected from channel logo.

In another embodiment of the invention, the actual view time is calculated for a television broadcast. A customer premises equipment (CPE) which can be a direct to home (DTH) set top box (STB) with a pluggable smart card which handles subscriber account information and can store the current amount of money available in subscriber account. The billing details regarding channel pricing along with time slot details comes embedded within the SI sections as private descriptors of the service description table (SDT). The descriptor indicates the pricing information for the channel in the real time. The customer premises equipment (CPE) uses the channel viewer-ship information from the service description table (SDT); time-slot based pricing information from service description table (SDT) private descriptors and the account information from the smart card to calculate the price for each specific view of a channel and corresponding broadcast. As long as subscriber has sufficient money available in the account, all channel views desired by the subscriber are allowed. Referring to Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the system with smart card Interface.

In another embodiment of the invention, the smart card based billing is provided to a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. Smart card based billing is possible only where a smart card device is plugged with customer premises equipment (CPE), which can hold subscriber account information for the service provider. In the current scenario, whenever the channel navigator module (305) gets the notification of subscriber input to change the channel, further calling the billing module (306) for authorization of subscriber for the desired channel and corresponding broadcast. A query is triggered to the SI database (307). The SI database (307) is pre-populated with the service information input via the broadcast stream from the demodulator (302) via the de-mux (303) for billing information. The billing information is verified against the smart card plugged to the smart card interface (301) of customer premises equipment (CPE). Upon authorization of the subscriber the broadcast is passed through to the A/V decoders (304) by the channel navigator module (305).

Referring to Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the system with network interface.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the back-end integration based solution is provided for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast. Internet connectivity based return-path is used to provide information about current subscriber channel and corresponding broadcast, which is integrated with service provider's payment gateway for recording of channel and corresponding broadcast usage, for further billing. The back-end integration based solution for billing is used when the customer premises equipment (CPE) is not having a pluggable smart card. In the current scenario, whenever the channel navigator module (305) gets the notification of subscriber input to change the channel, further calling the billing module (306) for authorization of subscriber for the desired channel and corresponding broadcast. A query is triggered to the SI database (307). The SI database (307) is pre-populated with the service information input via the broadcast stream from the demodulator (302) via the de-mux (303) for billing information. The billing information is verified against the back-end authorization server over the network interface (401 ). The network interface (401) sends the billing details and the channel identification to the back-end authorization server. Upon authorization of the subscriber the broadcast is passed through to the A/V decoders (304) by the channel navigator module (305).

In still another embodiment of the invention, the data sent upstream by back-end integration based solution may be used for television viewer-ship Analytics.

The preceding description has been presented with reference to various embodiments of the invention. Persons skilled in the art and technology to which this invention pertains will appreciate that alterations and changes in the described process and methods of operation can be practiced without meaningfully departing from the principle, spirit and scope of this invention

Claims

WE CLAIM

1. A method for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast, wherein the said method comprises processor implemented steps of: a. identifying the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information using channel and the broadcast identification field from the program map table (PMT) upon detecting subscriber's input;

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information is identified by querying and retrieving the information using the digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and the event information table (EIT).

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and the event information table (EIT) are stored in SI database.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein further the subscriber context information is determined using digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and event information table (EIT) stored in SI database.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the SI database is pre-populated with the service description information input via broadcast stream.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the subscriber account is accessed for ensuring fund availability and upon verification, subscriber is billed based on the actual view time of the television broadcast and corresponding pricing details of the broadcast in real time.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein subscriber's account is either a smart card based account or a back-end subscriber account.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the smart card is pluggable in a customer premises equipment (CPE) for recording of the usage of television broadcast and billing

9. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the back-end subscriber account is accessed using internet connectivity based return-path, integrated with service provider's payment gateway for recording of the usage of television broadcast and billing thereof.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said television broadcast is de- scrambled and allowed to pass through an A/V decoder only upon subscriber's authorization after billing.

1 1. A system for billing a subscriber, based on actual view time of the television broadcast, wherein the said system comprises: a. means for identifying the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information using channel and the broadcast identification field from the current program map table (PMT) section upon detecting subscriber's input; b. means for obtaining the pricing details of the broadcast in real time by using event information table (EIT); and

12. A system as claimed in claim 1 1 , wherein the television channel and the corresponding broadcast information is identified by querying and retrieving the information using the digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and the event information table (EIT).

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and the event information table (EIT) are stored in a SI database.

14. A system as claimed in claim 1 1, wherein one or more descriptors corresponding to the said television channel provides the pricing details of the broadcast in real time.

15. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein further the subscriber context information is determined using digital video broadcasting (DVB) service description table (SDT) and event information table (EIT) stored in SI database.

16. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein demodulator pre-populates the SI database with the service description information input from the broadcast stream via the de-mux.

17. A system as claimed in claim 1 1 , wherein the subscriber account is accessed for ensuring fund availability and upon verification, subscriber is billed based on the actual view time of the television broadcast and corresponding pricing details of the broadcast in real time.

18. A system as claimed in claim 1 1, wherein subscriber's account is either a smart card based account or a back-end subscriber account.

19. A system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the smart card is pluggable in a customer premises equipment (CPE) for recording of the usage of television broadcast and billing

20. A system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the back-end subscriber account is accessed using internet connectivity based return-path, integrated with service provider's payment gateway for recording of the usage of television broadcast and billing thereof.

21. A system as claimed in claim 1 1, further comprising a de-scrambler for de- scrambling the said television broadcast and an A/V decoder that allows said television broadcast to decode upon subscriber's authorization.