U.S. patent application number 12/773022 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-07 for prioritized content recording and storage management.
This patent application is currently assigned to GATEWAY, INC.. Invention is credited to JON MICHEL GREENWOOD.
Application Number | 20100254683 12/773022 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 28790947 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100254683 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GREENWOOD; JON MICHEL |
October 7, 2010 |
PRIORITIZED CONTENT RECORDING AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT
Abstract
A storage management system selectively reduces a quality level
of previously stored content. When storage in the system is
becoming full, selected content is converted to a lower quality or
lower storage size, based at least one of priority or age. Such
conversion is performed in a computing background to minimize
interference with programs being currently viewed. A user interface
provides a list of programs that are candidates for conversion. The
user selects programs to be converted or deleted to create
additional storage for the new programs.
Inventors: |
GREENWOOD; JON MICHEL;
(CORONA, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WPAT, PC;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ATTORNEYS
2030 MAIN STREET, SUITE 1300
IRVINE
CA
92614
US
|
Assignee: |
GATEWAY, INC.
POWAY
CA
|
Family ID: |
28790947 |
Appl. No.: |
12/773022 |
Filed: |
May 4, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10127889 |
Apr 23, 2002 |
|
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12773022 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
386/294 ;
386/248; 386/295; 386/E5.001 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 5/85 20130101; H04N
5/781 20130101; H04N 9/8042 20130101; H04N 5/76 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
386/124 ;
386/E05.001 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/00 20060101
H04N007/00 |
Claims
1. A system for managing storage of content in a storage device,
the system comprising: a determining module tangibly embodied in a
non-transitory recording medium that determines when the storage
medium is approaching insufficient capacity; an identifier module
tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium that
identifies content stored on the storage medium for conversion to a
format requiring less storage space; a user interface facilitating
identification of the content for conversion; and a conversion
module tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium
that converts the identified content to the format requiring less
storage space; wherein said determining module is configured to
determine that the stored medium is approaching insufficient
capacity upon detecting content to be added to said storage device
that requires more storage space than is available; and wherein
said determining module is configured to determine that sufficient
storage is available to perform the conversion.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the identifier module identifies
further content and the conversion module converts the further
content until storage space exists for additional content.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the identifier module identifies
content for conversion based on priority.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein identifier module identifies
content for conversion based on a combination of age and user
identified priority.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the conversion module converts
high quality format content to medium or low quality format
content, and medium quality format content to low quality format
content.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein the high quality format requires
the highest amount of storage space, and the low quality format
requires the least amount of storage.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the determining module tracks
available storage space and compares the amount available storage
space with space required to store additional content.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the user interface is configured
to display modifiable information about user-defined priority level
for conversion and quality of the content stored on the storage
medium; and wherein the user interface is configured to display
user-selectable inputs for the content for conversion.
9. A non-transitory recording medium having instructions stored
thereon for causing a computer to execute a method comprising:
determining when the storage medium is approaching insufficient
capacity; identifying content stored on the storage medium for
conversion to a format requiring less storage space; converting the
identified content to the format requiring less storage space;
wherein a determination of insufficient capacity is reached upon
detecting content to be added to said storage device that requires
more storage space than is available; and wherein said determining
includes determining that sufficient storage is available to
perform the conversion.
10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein further content
is identified and converted until storage space exists for
additional content.
11. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the content for
conversion is identified based on priority.
12. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the content for
conversion is identified by a user.
13. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the content for
conversion is identified by a combination of age and user
identified priority.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the user
interface is configured to accept user inputs to select the
identified content for the conversion, to specify a quality level
which determines the format requiring less storage space and to
specify a priority for said content in the storage device.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the user
interface is configured to display modifiable information about
user-defined priority level for conversion and quality of the
content stored on the storage medium; and wherein the user
interface is configured to display user-selectable inputs for the
content for conversion.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein said
conversion uses a known conversion routine to perform the
conversion, the computer readable medium further comprising:
determining that said sufficient storage is available to perform
the conversion based on a given amount of storage required by the
known conversion routine for the conversion.
17. A system for managing storage of content in a storage device,
the system comprising: a determining module tangibly embodied in a
non-transitory recording medium that determines when the storage
medium is approaching insufficient capacity; an identifier module
tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium that
identifies content stored on the storage medium for conversion to a
format requiring less storage space; a user interface to facilitate
identification of the content for conversion; a conversion module
tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium that
converts the identified content to the format requiring less
storage space; a playback module tangibly embodied in the
non-transitory recording medium for displaying content for viewing
by a user of the system.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the conversion module operates
in a background mode to minimize affect on content currently being
viewed.
19. The system of claim 17 wherein the user interface is configured
to accept user inputs to select the identified content for the
conversion to specify a quality level which determines the format
requiring less storage space and to specify a priority for said
content in the storage device.
20. The system of claim 17 wherein said determining module is
configured to determine that the stored medium is approaching
insufficient capacity upon detecting content to be added to said
storage device that requires more storage space than is
available.
21. A system for managing storage of content in a storage device,
the system comprising: a determining module tangibly embodied in a
non-transitory recording medium that determines when the storage
medium is approaching insufficient capacity; an identifier module
tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium that
identities content stored on the storage medium for conversion to a
format requiring less storage space; a user interface facilitating
identification of the content for conversion; and a conversion
module tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium
that converts the identified content to the format requiring less
storage space; wherein said determining module is configured to
determine that the stored medium is approaching insufficient
capacity upon detecting content to be added to said storage device
that requires more storage space than is available; wherein said
determining module is configured to determine that sufficient
storage is available to perform the conversion; and wherein the
user interface is configured to accept user inputs to select the
identified content for the conversion, to specify a quality level
which determines the format requiring less storage space, and to
specify a user-defined priority level for conversion for said
content in the storage device.
22. A system for managing storage of content in a storage device,
the system comprising: a determining module tangibly embodied in a
non-transitory recording medium that determines when the storage
medium is approaching insufficient capacity; an identifier module
tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium that
identifies content stored on the storage medium for conversion to a
format requiring less storage space; a user interface facilitating
identification of the content for conversion; and a conversion
module tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium
that converts the identified content to the format requiring less
storage space; wherein said determining module is configured to
determine that the stored medium is approaching insufficient
capacity upon detecting content to be added to said storage device
that requires more storage space than is available; wherein said
determining module is configured to determine that sufficient
storage is available to perform the conversion; wherein said
conversion module uses a known conversion routine that requires a
given amount of available storage to perform the conversion; and
wherein said determining module is configured to determine that
said sufficient storage is available to perform the conversion
based on the given amount of storage required by the known
conversion routine to perform the conversion and a minimum space
requirement set to handle a largest size video.
23. A system for managing storage of content in a storage device,
the system comprising: a determining module tangibly embodied in a
non-transitory recording medium that determines when the storage
medium is approaching insufficient capacity; an identifier module
tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium that
identifies content stored on the storage medium for conversion to a
format requiring less storage space; a user interface facilitating
identification of the content for conversion; and a conversion
module tangibly embodied in the non-transitory recording medium
that converts the identified content to the format requiring less
storage space; wherein said determining module is configured to
determine that the stored medium is approaching insufficient
capacity upon detecting content to be added to said storage device
that requires more storage space than is available; wherein said
determining module is configured to determine that sufficient
storage is available to perform the conversion; wherein the user
interface is configured to display an estimate of an amount of time
available for high quality video to be recorded based upon the
identified content for conversion and a specified quality level;
and wherein the user interface is further configured to accept user
inputs to specify a different quality level for the identified
content for conversion requiring a different amount of storage
space to provide a different amount of time available for high
quality video to be recorded.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/127,889, filed on Apr. 23, 2002, the
disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to storage of content for
later viewing by a user, and in particular to prioritizing content
recording and storage management.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Recording systems for recording content, such as video
programs received in the home are becoming more prevalent. Such
systems allow a user in the home to select programs to record for
later playback. Some of the systems provide for automated recording
of a currently viewed program, allowing the user to stop viewing of
the program, and resuming viewing of the program at a later time,
from minutes to hours later. A user may delay viewing a program for
several minutes, and then begin viewing the program. A sufficient
amount of the program is recorded, allowing the user to skip
portions of the program or advertising, yet continue viewing the
program without delay.
[0006] The popularity of such systems is increasing. Storage space
on these systems is an issue. Invariably, users find that they do
not have sufficient storage space to record all the programming
desired. Some systems offer methods to prioritize programming for
storage. The system uses the priorities and optionally the length
of time programming is stored to make decisions regarding deleting
programs to free storage space for higher priority programming.
Without deleting such programs, some of the functions for delayed
viewing may not operate properly.
[0007] One problem with such storage management is that programming
that may be important to someone in the user's household or
business may be deleted. There is a need for a better way to manage
storage of content to reduce or delay the deletion of desired
programs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] A storage management system for programming content
selectively reduces a quality level of previously stored content.
When storage in the system is becoming full, selected content is
converted to a lower quality based at least one of priority or
age.
[0009] In one embodiment, three levels of content or video program
quality levels are provided; low, medium and high. The low level
requires the least amount of storage, while the high quality level
provides the highest quality and also requires the most amount of
storage, as it is compressed the least.
[0010] As storage is becoming full, a selected video program
identified as the least likely to be used, is converted to one or
more lower quality levels. Such conversion is performed in a
computing background to minimize interference with programs being
currently viewed. In further embodiments, conversion is performed
when the system is not in use, or upon initiation of the user. In
yet further embodiments, a user directly identifies programs to be
converted, and the level of quality desired.
[0011] In still further embodiments, the system provides the user
with a list of programs that are candidates for conversion. The
user selects programs to be converted or deleted to create
additional storage for the new programs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a block representation a computer system
implementing the storage management method of the present
invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system for managing storage
in accordance with the method shown in FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a computer implemented
method of converting content to obtain storage space for new
content.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a text representation of a user interface for
selecting programs for quality reduction.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] In the following description, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is
shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the
invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in
sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice
the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments
may be utilized and that structural, logical and electrical changes
may be made without departing from the scope of the present
invention. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken
in a limited sense, and the scope of the present invention is
defined by the appended claims.
[0017] An entertainment system is shown generally at 110, in FIG.
1, and includes a display device 120 for viewing video programs,
and other content. The entertainment system 110 comprises a
processor 130 such as a microprocessor or other electronic
circuitry capable of being programmed or executing program
instructions stored on a memory 140. A personal computer provides
such a processor and memory in one embodiment. A set top box for
television is used in a further embodiment.
[0018] Video programs are stored on a storage device 150. Storage
device 150 comprises one or more devices utilizing tape, magnetic
disk, optical disk, semiconductor storage, or other type of storage
having a large enough capacity and high enough retrieval rate for
providing video programs to be displayed. A network module 160
provides a connection to one or more sources of video programming
or other content. Such sources include broadcast, satellite, cable,
Ethernet or other high speed data services. In operation, video
programming is stored in storage device 150 and played back via
display 120 under control of the processor.
[0019] A bus system, comprising one or more busses couples the
processor 130, memory 140, storage 150 and network 160 in a known
manner. Other elements in common personal computers and set top
boxes are not shown as they are well known in the art.
[0020] A storage management system 200 in FIG. 2 selectively
reduces a quality level of previously stored content to free
storage space for new content. When storage in the system is
becoming full, selected content is converted to a lower quality
based at least one of priority or age.
[0021] At 210, new content in the form of a video program is
received by the system. A determining module 215 monitors storage
levels in a storage 220 to determine if there is sufficient storage
space for the video program. In some embodiments, the video program
indicates how much storage space it requires. In further
embodiments, the determining module has a minimum space requirement
set to handle a largest size video.
[0022] If the determining module determines that there is
insufficient storage space available, an identifier module is used
to determine which videos qualify for quality reduction. This is
based on the length of time a video has been stored, frequency of
viewing of the video, when it was last viewed, or based on a user
defined priority for the video. Users may specify one of various
rating systems to indicate the importance of keeping each video,
such as a scale of 1, 2 or 3, with 1 being videos that are never
converted to lower quality, and 3 being the videos that are first
converted to lower quality as needed.
[0023] Once it is determined that additional storage space is
required for a currently identified or, optionally, yet to be
identified video, and a video for quality reduction is identified,
a decoder 230 and encoder 235 are used to convert the quality of
the video and restore it to storage. The higher quality copy of the
video is then deleted from storage. The determining module ensures
that sufficient storage is available to perform the conversion.
Different known conversion routines may require varying amounts of
available storage to perform a conversion. The decoder and encoder
operate together in one embodiment, or the encoder directly
performs the conversion without need for decoding in a further
embodiment. The decoder is also used to decode programs in storage
220, or programs received, to permit a display-I/O controller 240
to display the video programs on display 250.
[0024] In a further embodiment, the display-I/O controller is used
to provide a user interface to the storage management system. The
display-I/O controller 240 passes user selections back to the
identifier module 225 for identification of video programs to be
converted as needed, or as specified by the user.
[0025] In one embodiment, three levels of content or video program
quality levels are provided; low, medium and high. The low level
requires the least amount of storage, while the high quality level
provides the highest quality and also requires the most amount of
storage, as it is compressed the least. One such compression scheme
is well known and set forth in MPEG/2 standards for video
compression. Further compression schemes will also operate with the
present invention.
[0026] A flowchart illustrating video program storage management is
provided in FIG. 3. Available storage is monitored at 310. If the
space available is less than a threshold, T, a next low priority
video program is identified, along with a desired compression or
quality level. T is derived from the length of time a video has
been stored, frequency of viewing of the video, when it was last
viewed, or based on a user defined priority for the video. It is
also directly specified as a time or space indication corresponding
approximately to a desired length of recording time a user desires.
Since different video programs may compress at different
compression ratios for a specified quality, there may be a desire
to select T larger than thought to be required.
[0027] At 340, the next low priority video is converted to lower
quality, normally corresponding to a higher compression rate and
therefore less storage. Such conversion is performed in a computing
background to minimize interference with programs being currently
viewed. In further embodiments, conversion is performed when the
system is not in use, or upon initiation of the user. In yet
further embodiments, a user directly identifies programs to be
converted, and the level of quality desired.
[0028] In still further embodiments, the system provides the user
with a list of programs that are candidates for conversion. The
user selects programs to be converted or deleted to create
additional storage for the new programs.
[0029] After conversion of a video program, space is monitored
again at 310, and a second check is performed at 320 to determine
if enough space was freed up. If it was, processing returns to
monitoring and checking at periodic intervals, or when a request to
receive new content is received. If insufficient space was freed
up, the next low priority video content is identified, and
converted. This process is repeated until sufficient space is
available.
[0030] The functions described herein are implemented in software
in one embodiment, where the software comprises computer executable
instructions stored on computer readable media such as memory or
other type of storage devices. The term "computer readable media"
is also used to represent carrier waves on which the software is
transmitted. Further, such functions correspond to modules, which
are software, hardware, firmware of any combination thereof.
Multiple functions are performed in one or more modules as desired,
and the embodiments described are merely examples.
[0031] FIG. 4 shows a representation of a user interface 410 that
provide users with the ability to control the storage management
system in a desired manner. Multiple columns of information are
provided to the user, such as a content column 415, priority column
420 and current and new quality level columns, 425 and 430
respectively. These columns provide users with the ability to
select a video by use of a check box, or other common user
interface construct, and to specify both a priority and a quality
level for conversion. For example, video 1 at 435 currently has a
quality level of 1, the highest. A default new quality level is set
at a medium level, 2. Video 2 at 440 is set to decrease in quality
from 2 to 3, a low level. The user has modified the quality level
of video 450 from 1 to 3, a two levels down in quality. The
priority column is optional, and provides an indication of
previously identified value of the video program by the user or
another user in this manual mode of video selection, or the ability
to set a new priority level.
[0032] Once a user selects videos to be converted, they have the
option of beginning the conversion immediately at 455, or later at
a time specified at 460. Further options provided to the user
include asking the system to provide the list of videos in
prioritized order 465, alphabetical order 470, or to just
automatically apply the prioritization and conversion processes as
needed.
[0033] An optional estimate of the amount of time freed for high
quality video to be recorded is shown at 485. The user may select
other quality levels. The time increases with lower quality levels.
This estimate enables the user to make better decisions about how
many video programs need conversion and the levels of conversion
required to obtain sufficient space for a new video program or
programs. Yet further embodiments provide the user the ability to
select that a program be deleted.
* * * * *