U.S. patent application number 13/299511 was filed with the patent office on 2012-05-17 for method and system for targeted content distribution using tagged data streams.
This patent application is currently assigned to AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.. Invention is credited to William R. Matz, Scott R. Swix.
Application Number | 20120124090 13/299511 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 21903457 |
Filed Date | 2012-05-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120124090 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Matz; William R. ; et
al. |
May 17, 2012 |
Method and System for Targeted Content Distribution Using Tagged
Data Streams
Abstract
Methods, systems, and products target content based on profiles.
A content tag associated with a content item is received and
compared to a profile tag. When no match occurs, and the user
profile contains no more profile tags, then another content tag is
retrieved and successively compared to the profile tags until a
match occurs. A score is incremented when the match occurs, and the
score is compared to a threshold value. When the score satisfies
the threshold value, then the content item is appropriate for
presentation.
Inventors: |
Matz; William R.; (Atlanta,
GA) ; Swix; Scott R.; (Duluth, GA) |
Assignee: |
AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I,
L.P.
Atlanta
GA
|
Family ID: |
21903457 |
Appl. No.: |
13/299511 |
Filed: |
November 18, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10039062 |
Dec 31, 2001 |
8086491 |
|
|
13299511 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
707/780 ;
707/E17.014 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 30/0269 20130101; G06Q 30/0251 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/780 ;
707/E17.014 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A method, comprising: receiving content tags associated with a
content item; storing the content tags in memory; retrieving
profile tags from a user profile stored in the memory; successively
comparing the content tag to the profile tags until a match occurs;
when no match occurs and the user profile contains no more profile
tags, then retrieving another content tag and successively
comparing the another content tag to the profile tags until the
match occurs; incrementing a score when the match occurs; comparing
the score to a threshold value; and when the score satisfies the
threshold value, then determining the content item is appropriate
for presentation.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising setting an
initial value of the score to zero.
3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising storing the
content item in the memory.
4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising retrieving
multiple identifiers of the content tag from the memory.
5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising retrieving
multiple identifiers of a profile tag from the user profile.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein successively comparing
the content tag to the profile tags comprises successively
comparing each identifier of the content tag to each identifier of
the profile tag.
7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining
the content item is inappropriate for presentation when the score
is less than the threshold value.
8. A system for targeting content, comprising: a processor; memory;
and code stored in the memory that when executed causes the
processor to: receive content tags associated with a content item;
store the content tags in memory; retrieve profile tags from a user
profile stored in the memory; successively compare a content tag to
the profile tags until a match occurs; when no match occurs and the
user profile contains no more profile tags, then retrieve another
content tag and successively compare the another content tag to the
profile tags until the match occurs; increment a score when the
match occurs; compare the score to a threshold value; and when the
score satisfies the threshold value, then determine the content
item is appropriate for presentation.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the code further causes the
processor to set an initial value of the score to zero.
10. The system of claim 8, wherein the code further causes the
processor to store the content item in the memory.
11. The system of claim 8, wherein the code further causes the
processor to retrieve multiple identifiers of the content tag from
the memory.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the code further causes the
processor to retrieve multiple identifiers of a profile tag from
the user profile.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the code further causes the
processor to successively compare each identifier of the content
tag to each identifier of the profile tag.
14. The system of claim 8, wherein the code further causes the
processor to determine the content item is inappropriate for
presentation when the score is less than the threshold value.
15. A computer readable storage medium storing processor executable
instructions for performing a method of targeting content, the
method comprising: receiving content tags associated with a content
item; storing the content tags in memory; retrieving profile tags
from a user profile stored in the memory; successively comparing
the content tag to the profile tags until a match occurs; when no
match occurs and the user profile contains no more profile tags,
then retrieving another content tag and successively comparing the
another content tag to the profile tags until the match occurs;
incrementing a score when the match occurs; comparing the score to
a threshold value; and when the score satisfies the threshold
value, then determining the content item is appropriate for
presentation.
16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further
comprising instructions for setting an initial value of the score
to zero.
17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further
comprising instructions for storing the content item in the
memory.
18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further
comprising instructions for: retrieving multiple identifiers of the
content tag; retrieving multiple identifiers of a profile tag; and
successively comparing each identifier of the content tag to each
identifier of the profile tag.
19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further
comprising instructions for determining the content item is
inappropriate for presentation when the score is less than the
threshold value.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Application No.
10/039,062, filed Dec. 31, 2001 (Attorney Docket 01376), now issued
as U.S. Patent No. ______, and incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention generally relates to networked media
delivery systems. More particularly, the present invention relates
to a method and system for targeting content to specific users.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Computer and television networks have become the predominant
communications means by which product vendors communicate
information about products to users. Such information may involve
advertising, as well as other content such as titles, descriptions,
and prices of products such as movies, games, and books for
presentation to a user. For example, an on-line mall may provide a
list of such content items (e.g., books) that is presented to the
user so that the user may select items in the list to purchase. In
this case, the book titles, authors, and brief descriptions are the
content items. Advertisements relate to another type of content
that may be transmitted to users. A server device typically
transmits the content to a client device where the content is
presented to the user. Examples of server devices are the
"head-end" of a cable service provider or a server computer on the
Internet. The client device may be a television set-top-box (STB)
or a client computer. Regardless of the particular communications
environment, a primary goal of product vendors in providing content
to users is to reach or target those users who are most likely to
purchase the products.
[0004] With respect to targeting advertisements, traditional
targeting techniques focus on reaching as large an audience as
possible; i.e., mass media advertising. This mass media advertising
strategy seeks to reach the most number of viewers to increase the
odds of contacting the ones most likely to purchase the advertised
product or service. Since mass media targeting is expensive, other
techniques have been developed in an attempt to not only narrow the
audience but also target specific users based on an evaluation of
related items. For instance, targeting techniques focus on an
analysis of the readers of a particular magazine or viewers of a
particular television (TV) program. Then advertisers choose whether
or not to advertise in conjunction with the related item; i.e., the
magazine or the TV program. Inherent in these traditional content
distribution techniques are the problems of overinclusion
(targeting viewers who have no desire to purchase the product or
service) and underinclusion (excluding potential consumers).
Because these techniques assess consumer interest on the larger
scale of program audiences instead of on an individual viewer
basis, the techniques will always suffer from the squandered
advertising dollars associated with overinclusion and
underinclusion.
[0005] Additionally, traditional targeting techniques leave
consumers inadequately informed about products that they might want
to purchase. Because of overinclusion, consumers are inundated with
advertisements for unwanted products. Due to the inundation, the
consumers may miss advertisements for products they actually might
want. Similarly, as a result of underinclusion, consumers are
simply not informed about products they might want. Thus,
overinclusion and underinclusion result in consumers' wasted time
and energy in becoming informed about products they are not
interested in.
[0006] More recent methods of targeting content to users have
typically involved the server device keeping track of what content
a client device uses most and transmitting that type of content to
the client device. For example, on the Internet, various mechanisms
are used to record the viewing habits of a user at a particular
client computer. The content of the pages viewed is typically
analyzed by a server computer to determine what topics are of
interest to the user. The server places content, such as
advertisements or links to other web sites, on the pages viewed by
the user based on these particular topics of interest. These
advertisements or links are often placed around the primary text or
image in a web page and are commonly referred to as "banner ads."
As another example, in a cable television network using a STB, the
STB records content that is viewed by the user. Later, the head-end
of the cable service provider polls the STB to determine what
topics are of interest to the user of the STB. Based on these
topics, the head-end transmits related content; e.g., specific
advertisements and the like.
[0007] Unfortunately, these methods involve the client device
providing the server device with information about the user of the
client device. For instance, in the television environment, STBs
provide personal user information to the head-end of the cable
service provider. Moreover, in order to target the most likely
consumer, the server device should be given as much information
about the user as possible. Requiring the user's private
information to be sent across a network to the server device
renders the private information vulnerable to theft and resale to
unknown third parties. The moment a user's private information is
sent from the client device, how the information is used is
essentially out of the user's control. As a result, in typical
advertising systems, in order for the user to receive
advertisements appropriate for the user, the user must give up some
portion of his/her privacy, which is not acceptable to many
users.
[0008] Additionally, with respect to many server devices, the
personal information is gleaned via a two-way data communication
method that involves multiple polling events. These polling events
consume significant server resources and processing time, as well
as bandwidth over the communications network. Consequently, the
server interaction with the client in order to provide the user
with appropriate content is inefficient.
[0009] It is with respect to these and other considerations that
the present invention has been developed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention relates to a system and method of
targeting content, such as advertisements and other content items,
to particular types of users without the users divulging any
private information over a network server system. The system and
method involves a server device that tags content based on
predetermined criteria and then sends the tagged content to a
client device. The client device receives the tagged content and
uses the tags to filter the content locally based on a
predetermined user profile.
[0011] In one embodiment, the invention relates to a method of
targeting content to a user based on a user profile and content
tags. Content is delivered to the user's client device. Each
content item has a tag identifying a classification of the content.
The client device recognizes and evaluates the tags to score each
content item based on a local user profile. The content that has a
score meeting a predetermined threshold is identified as being
appropriate for presentation to the user. Appropriate content may
then be selected and presented to the user. Generally, the user
profile is a set of tags describing the classifications of content
that are most appropriate for the user. The profile may be
developed based on usage history or demographic information. The
client device may also have a tag dictionary that may be updated to
correspond to a common set of tags utilized by advertisers and/or
server devices.
[0012] The invention may be implemented as a computer process, a
computing system or as an article of manufacture such as a computer
program product. The computer program product may be a computer
storage medium readable by a computer system and encoding a
computer program of instructions for executing a computer process.
The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a
carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer
program of instructions for executing a computer process.
[0013] A more complete appreciation of the present invention and
its improvements can be obtained by reference to the accompanying
drawings, which are briefly summarized below, and to the following
detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the
invention, and to the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is an exemplary operating environment implementing an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a computer system suitable for implementing an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 3 is module diagram illustrating exemplary software,
hardware, or firmware modules running in the computer system of
FIG. 2.
[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary tagged data stream that may
be received and processed by the computer system of FIG. 2 and
modules of FIG. 3.
[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary portion of tagged content
that may be used in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates another exemplary portion of tagged
advertisement content that may be used in an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating operations carried out
in a targeted content distribution system in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary user interface that may be
presented to a user of a client device in an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0022] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary operations
that may be employed by a profile generator for maintaining a user
profile, such as the profile shown in FIG. 4.
[0023] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary operations
that may be implemented by a filtering module, such as the
filtering module shown in FIG. 4.
[0024] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a particular
embodiment of correlating, selecting, and notifying operations,
such as those shown in FIG. 10.
[0025] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process
of scoring or correlating tags in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] The invention is described in detail below with reference to
the figures. When referring to the figures, like structures and
elements shown throughout are indicated with like reference
numerals.
[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary operating environment 100
employing an embodiment of the present invention. A server device
102 communicates with one or more client devices, such as client
device 104 and/or client device 105, via a communication network
106. Server device 102 transmits media content, such as, but not
limited to, video, audio, text, or executable programs, over the
communication network 106 to be used by the client devices 104
and/or 105. Each of the client devices 104 and/or 105 has an output
device, such as a computer monitor 114, or a television screen 116,
for presenting user-appropriate media content to the user.
[0028] The server device 102 has memory 108 that stores media
content in the form of data streams 110, 134, and 136. The server
device 102 also stores an associated tag, such as tags 112, 130,
and 132, with each data stream 110, 134, and 136, respectively.
Each of the tags 112, 130, and 132 may be unique from the others
and may further be associated with user classifications such as
user demographics or usage patterns. The tags are used by client
devices 104 and 105 to filter content; i.e., to determine which
data stream to provide to users at the client devices, such as 104
and 105. In an embodiment, two or more data streams are transmitted
with the tags to the client devices. Client devices determine which
of the received data streams are appropriate for the user of the
client device 104 by analyzing the tag information. The client
devices 104 and 105 have access to a user profile, such as user
profile 118 and 120 that is further used to analyze the tag
information to determine which content should be presented.
[0029] In one embodiment, the client device 104 is a computer
system. In this embodiment, the communication network 106 may be
the Internet communicating Extensible Markup Language (XML) or
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) data to the client device 104. In
this embodiment the server device 102 is a web server or an
e-commerce application server. The user profile 118 comprises tags
corresponding to user preferences for content received from the
Internet. Upon receipt of a data stream 110 and its associated tag
112, the desktop computer client 104 evaluates the tag 112 and the
user profile 118 to determine which data stream 110, 134, or 136 is
most appropriate for the user. In one embodiment, if the tag 112 is
highly correlated with or matches a tag in the user profile 118,
the associated data stream 110 is identified as being appropriate
for presentation to the user of the desktop computer client device
104.
[0030] In another embodiment, the client device 105 is a
set-top-box (STB). In this embodiment, the communication network
106 may be a satellite television broadcast network and the server
102 may be a head-end of a cable service provider. The cable
service provider generally broadcasts programming, advertising,
"walled garden" merchandising offers, and other content. As
mentioned above, the media content is broadcasted in the form of
data streams 110, 134, and 136 and associated tags 112, 130, and
132 to the STB 105. The STB 105 evaluates the tags 112, 130, and
132 and the STB user profile 120 to determine which of the data
streams 110,134, or 136 is most appropriate for the user of the STB
105. The STB 105 presents to the user the data stream(s) that are
appropriate to the user based on the user profile 120.
[0031] While FIG. 1 depicts two types of client devices 104, a
personal desktop computer, and 105, a television set top box (STB),
it is to be understood that the client devices 104 and 105 may be
any device operable to communicate via the communications network
106, and operable to receive data streams 110 and tags 112. By way
of example, and not limitation, the client device 104 may be a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, or a cellular
telephone, among others. By way of further example, and not
limitation, the communication network 106 may be wireless network,
an Ethernet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN),
or a television broadcast network, among others.
[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary system for implementing the
invention with a computing device 200. In its most basic
configuration, computing device 200 typically includes at least one
processing unit 202 and memory 204. Depending on the exact
configuration and type of computing device, memory 204 may be
volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory,
etc.) or some combination of the two. This most basic configuration
is illustrated in FIG. 2 by dashed line 206. Additionally, device
200 may also have additional features/functionality. For example,
device 200 may also include additional storage (removable and/or
non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical
disks or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 2 by
removable storage 208 and non-removable storage 210.
[0033] Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile,
removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or
technology for storage of information such as computer readable
instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. The
memory 204, removable storage 208 and non-removable storage 210 are
all examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media
includes, but is not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read
Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM),
flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile
disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic
tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or
any other medium which can be used to store the desired information
and which can be accessed by device 200. Any such computer storage
media may be part of device 200.
[0034] Device 200 may also contain communications connection(s) 212
that allow the device to communicate with other devices.
Communications connection(s) 212 is an example of communication
media. Communication media typically embodies computer readable
instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a
modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport
mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term
"modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its
characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode
information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,
communication media includes any information delivery media. The
term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of
its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode
information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,
communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or
direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio
frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media. The term
computer readable media as used herein includes both storage media
and communication media.
[0035] Device 200 may also have input device(s) 214 such as
keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device,
remote control unit, etc. Output device(s) 216 such as a display,
speakers, printer, etc. may also be included. All these devices are
well known in the art and need not be discussed at length here.
[0036] In one embodiment, the computing device 200 is the set-top
box 105. In this particular embodiment, the set-top box 105
provides a control interface through which a subscriber makes
viewing selections by, e.g., using a remote control unit, a
keyboard, or a control panel. In providing this interface, the
set-top box 105 performs the following functions: (1) routes
traditional broadcast signals to the connected viewing device; (2)
converts media content to a selected video format (e.g., NTSC or
PAL) and presents the content to the subscriber; (3) for
interactive systems, exchanges messages (including display data)
with the server device 102 over distribution network 106; (4)
receives messages from a subscriber input device, such as a remote
control unit; (5) translates video signals from a network-native
format into a format that can be used by the viewing device; (6)
inserts alphanumeric or graphical information (e.g., program
guides, menus, etc.) into the video stream to overlay that
information on the video image; and (7) provides graphic or audio
feedback to the subscriber. Examples of commercially available
set-top boxes 105 that satisfy these functions include an SA
Explorer 2000 set-top box by Scientific Atlanta, a DCT-5000 set-top
box by Motorola/General Instruments, and a Z12C set-top box by
Zenith.
[0037] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a client-server
system 300 employing an embodiment of the present invention. As
discussed in more detail below, the client-server system 300
provides targeted content to users of the system 300. The content
may include advertising and non-advertising content, including, but
not limited to, news, games, programming, books, and sports. A
server 302 transmits media content to a client 304. Media content
sent by the server 302 is in a tagged data stream format. Data
streams at the server 302 are tagged with tags corresponding to
classifications of users. Classifications include, but are not
limited to, demographics, such as viewing preferences, age, gender,
location, and income. The tags allow the client device 304 to
select among all data received by the client device so that the
most appropriate content is provided to the user of the client
device 304.
[0038] In one embodiment, the server device 302 includes a
retrieving module 306, a receive module 308, and a send module 310.
The receive module 308 receives requests from the client. An
example of a request from the client 304 is a Hypertext Transport
Protocol Request for an Internet page in on the server 302. In the
response to the request, the server 302 uses a send module 310 to
send multiple, tagged data streams of content to the client 304.
The available tagged content is retrieved from a tagged data memory
307 by the retrieving module 306. The tagged data memory 307
contains tagged content items. Tagged content items are generally
data streams with tags describing predetermined classifications
such as demographics categories associated with the data streams.
The server device 302 may obtain the tagged content items from
content providers (e.g., advertisers) that tag the content based on
the type of user targeted by the content providers or the server
may tag the items itself The send module 310 receives the tagged
content items from the retrieving module 306 and transmits the
tagged content items to the client 304.
[0039] In another embodiment, the server device 302 does not have a
receive module 308, for instance, in some cases, the server device
302 primarily broadcasts content onto a broadcast network (e.g.,
satellite TV). In this embodiment, an STB 105 connected to the
broadcast network receives the broadcasted content, but does not
need to send information back to the server device 302. Thus, as is
discussed below, the send module of the client device 302 is not
necessary in the broadcast TV/STB implementation. In this
embodiment, the STB 105 simply receives multiple, tagged data
streams of content sent by the server device 302 and filters the
content locally.
[0040] The client device 304 includes a receive module 312, which
receives the transmitted tagged data streams from the server device
302. The receive module 312 performs all tasks associated with
receiving data from the server 302, including detecting incoming
data, and synchronizing to receive the data. The receive module 312
sends the tagged data to a storage module 314, which stores the
received tagged data in a tagged data memory 316. The storage
module 314 may store the tagged data in any arrangement in the
tagged data memory 316 that is suitable for the particular
implementation. For example, the storage module 314 may group
certain types of content together. The storage module 314 may group
advertising content together, games content together, movies
content together, etc. Preferably, the tagged data will be
organized in the tagged data memory 316 in a way to facilitate
quick and efficient access but such organization is not necessary.
The storage module 314 may also pass certain content straight
through, without storage, to a user input/output module 318.
[0041] The user input/output module 318 performs tasks associated
with conducting media content to an output device such as a display
monitor, speakers, or a printer. The user input/output module 318
also performs tasks associated with receiving input from a user,
such as mouse clicks, keyboard entry, or remote control entry.
While a user inputs data, the user input/output module 318 detects
the user input and may transmit the user input to an analysis
module 320 for analysis. The analysis module 320 evaluates user
input to detect patterns in the user input. Based on the detected
usage patterns, the analysis module 320 updates a user profile
322.
[0042] For one embodiment, the analysis module 320 also detects
events that prompt output of media content. Events that prompt
output of media content are generally referred to as insertion
events. The analysis module 320 may receive these events from the
storage module 314 or the user input/output module 320. An event
from the storage module 314 may be an advertisement insertion
event, which indicates that an ad should be displayed to the user
at a predetermined time. One example of an advertisement insertion
event is a cue tone contained within the network TV broadcast,
which may be transmitted along with other media content from the
server 302. In general, insertion events that are received from the
server 302 may be referred to as external or predetermined events
because they arise externally from the client and indicate a
predetermined time for display.
[0043] Another type of insertion event that the analysis module 320
may detect is an internal event that arises on the client side. One
example of an internal insertion event is a user initiated menu
selection from a STB navigator, such as the user requesting a list
of available television shows, a list of games that are available
to play online or the books available via the online bookstore.
Each list of respective items offered may be tagged by the server
system and filtered by the client device so as to optimize the
presentation order to the user that would present the item with the
highest probability of interest. Furthermore, the initial navigator
menu presented on the display may be customized automatically by
the client device based upon prior user behavior and profile so as
to order the list of available activities or actions (e.g.,
preferences for television program, games, shopping, news, mail,
etc), thereby presenting the user with a list best matching their
probable activities. Additionally, such prior user behavior can be
implemented by the client device to exhibit content in a
predetermined sequence (e.g., preferred content type displayed
first upon user initiation of the device).
[0044] As a specific example, when a user turns on the user's
television set and STB, the user immediately is presented with
content, advertising, programming, etc which matches the user's
profile. The user may then select a list of options of a certain
type of media content. For example, the user may select that a list
of games be shown from which the user can choose. The analysis
module 320 would detect the user's selection of a list of games as
an insertion event. A menu of a list of games may then be displayed
so the user may select the game that he/she wants to play. The
analysis module 320 again will receive an insertion event to insert
the selected game into the output module. The analysis module 320,
upon receiving an insertion event, accesses the storage module 314
to identify the most appropriate media content that should be
displayed to the user.
[0045] The storage module 314 transmits tagged data to the analysis
module 320, which filters the tagged data using tag information
stored in the user profile 322. The analysis module 320 determines
which tagged data in the tagged data memory 316 most closely
matches tags or tag information in the user profile 322. The tagged
data that most closely matches the information in the profile 322
is transmitted to the user input/output module 318 for presentation
to the user. Thus, the content that is presented to the user is the
content from the server 302 that most closely matches the user
profile 322, and is thereby the most appropriate for the user's
preferences. Advantageously, the selection of the most appropriate
media content to present to the user is made without transmitting
to the server device 302 any or substantially little private user
information. Thus, unlike other systems, the media content can be
targeted to a user without the user giving up his or her
privacy.
[0046] In one embodiment, the client device 304 has a send module
324 for sending data, such as requests, to the server device 302.
An example of this embodiment is a client computer communicating to
a server computer over the Internet, wherein the client computer
sends Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) requests to the server
computer to browse web pages.
[0047] In another embodiment, the client device 304 need not have a
send module 324. As discussed above, an example of this embodiment
is a STB 105 receiving content from a broadcast TV network. In this
embodiment, the STB 105 does not send requests for data. Rather,
the server device 302 (e.g., head-end of a cable service provider)
is constantly broadcasting content on a number of channels that the
STB 105 can switch to.
[0048] With specific reference to an embodiment employing the STB
105, the STB 105 employs modules such as those depicted in FIG. 3
to complete many intelligent functions, including the collection,
storage, exchange, and display of data. To satisfy these functions,
the STB 105 has a navigator, an operating system, and a memory
buffer. The operating system is a computer program that, after
being initially loaded into the STB 105 by a bootstrap program,
manages the other programs, or applications, running on the STB
105. The navigator is a software application running on top of the
operating system. The navigator is provided by the user I/O module
318 and generates menu screens and accepts viewer menu selections
such as movie orders, preview orders, or requests to enter an
interactive "walled-garden" environment that may supply news, offer
products, etc. Based on these selections, the navigator directs the
storage module 314 to deliver the selected program, e.g., the
storage module 314 plays the selected movie. In addition, the
navigator records viewer selections or event data in memory, such
as memory 204. As is discussed below, the recorded viewer
selections or event data may be analyzed by the analysis module 320
to detect usage patterns.
[0049] FIG. 4 is a more detailed functional block diagram of an
analysis module such as the analysis module 320 in accordance with
aspects of a particular embodiment of the invention. The analysis
module 320 includes a content insertion engine 402, a filtering
module 404, and a profile generator 406. The content insertion
engine 402 receives data from the storage module 314 and the user
I/O module 318, and determines whether an insertion event occurs.
By way of example, for video advertising, the insertion event may
be a network cue-tone. If an insertion event does occur, the
content insertion engine 402 transmits an insert command to the
filtering module 404 to indicate that media content is to be
inserted (i.e., presented to the user). In response to receiving
the insert command, the filtering module 404 accesses tagged data
from the storage module 314 and tags from the profile 322 to filter
out inappropriate media content stored in the tagged data memory
316. The filtering module 404 determines which data in the tagged
data memory 316 is appropriate for presentation to the user based
upon the tagged data's level of similarity to the tags in the
profile 322. Determining the tagged data's level of similarity may
be done by scoring each of the tags stored in the tagged data
memory 316. As is discussed below in more detail, scoring the tags
in the tagged data memory may involve determining the tags'
relative correlation to the tags in the user profile 322. The
filtering module 404 transmits a command to the user I/O module 318
to output the appropriate media content. The filtering module 404
may send a message to either the user I/O module 318 to get the
appropriate content from the storage module 314. Alternatively, the
filtering module 404 may transmit a message to the storage module
314 to instruct the storage module 314 to transmit the appropriate
content to the user I/O module 318.
[0050] The profile generator 406 receives data from the user i/o
module 318 and updates the profile 322 according to inputs from the
user. The profile generator 406 dynamically updates the profile 322
based on a history of user inputs so that when the filtering module
404 accesses the profile 322, the filtering module 404 will filter
the tagged data memory 316 based on the most recent user
preferences indicated by the profile 322. Alternatively profiles
are static, and/or predetermined Alternatively, the information is
not organized. The profile generator 406 preferably organizes tags
in the profile 322 for fast and efficient access.
[0051] The user profile 322 is preferably stored in memory
accessible by one or more microprocessors of the client device 304.
The memory that stores the user profile 322 can be any memory
medium known in the art, including, but not limited to, Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) memory,
Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically
Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), or hard disc drive memory. It
should be understood that the user profile 322 need not be stored
contiguously in memory and may be separated in a memory medium
accessible through a file system that maps memory locations to
data. In practice, one or more of the modules shown in FIGS. 3-4
may be integrated on a single integrated circuit in any
combination. Alternatively, they may be separately implemented in
software or hardware.
[0052] FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of tagged content 500 that may
be used in an embodiment of the present invention. The portion of
tagged content 500 includes tag/content pairs such as pair 504
including a tag, such as tag 506, and associated content, such as
content 508. As discussed above, the content may be any type of
content, including, but not limited to, advertisements, and content
items containing descriptions (e.g., title, author, price, theme,
etc) of content such as books, movies, games, etc. Each tag
describes its associated content with predefined information. In
one embodiment, the tags 506, 510, and 514 have a type identifier
516, a title identifier 518, an age identifier 520, a gender
identifier 522, an income identifier 524, a location identifier
526, and a family identifier 528. The identifiers relate to 518,
520, 522, 524, 526 and 528 what type of viewer the content is
appropriate for.
[0053] For example, the tag 510 indicates that the content 512
associated with the tag 510 is an advertisement about
Budweiser.RTM. beer. The tag 510 further indicates that the content
512 is targeted for males from the ages 21-55. Additionally, the
tag 510 indicates that the viewer who is targeted may be in any
income level, at any location, and have any family characteristics
(e.g., kids, married, etc.). The tags 506, 510, and 514, are
appended to the content 508, 512, and 515, respectively by the
server 302. The client 304 uses the tags to determine whether the
content 508, 512, and 515 is appropriate for the user at the client
device 304. The client 304 and server 302 utilize a common tag
format.
[0054] In one embodiment, providers of content to the server device
304 tag the content before making it available to the server 304.
The content providers fill in the identifiers, such as type, title,
age, gender, income, location, and family, with the identifying
data that the provider determines is the best target audience. In
another embodiment, the server device 302 appends the tags to the
content. In this embodiment the server device 302 is operable to
determine what identifying information is most appropriate to the
content and fill in each of the identifiers accordingly. The server
device 302 has a dictionary of identifiers (e.g., type, title, age,
gender, etc.) to select from. The tags that the client device 304
uses in the user profile 322 have the identifiers (e.g., type,
title, age, gender, etc) selected from a common set of identifiers.
Thus, the client device 304 and the server device 302 utilize a
common tag format having common identifiers.
[0055] Over time, identifiers may change. For example, another
identifier, such as "Education Level", may be added to the tag
format. When the tag format changes, the switch to the new tag
format at the server device 302 is preferably synchronized with the
switch to the new tag format at the client device 304. While FIG. 5
illustrates exemplary identifiers in an exemplary format, it is to
be understood that any identifiers may be used that effectively
target users. It is envisioned, for example, that the "type"
identifier may have "subtypes." This may occur when the type is
"movie." A subtype further classifies the movie into genres such
as, but not limited to, westerns, comedy, horror, drama, action,
etc. Another example of subtyping is when the type is "sports."
Subtypes of sports may be football, basketball, baseball, hockey,
etc. Subtyping further targets users based on narrower
classifications because the user profile 322 may be dynamically
updated to track a user's selections of subtypes. Additionally, as
is discussed in more detail below, tags may include a weight value
associated with each identifier, indicating the relative importance
of that identifier to the targeting of the content to users.
[0056] FIG. 6 illustrates another exemplary portion of tagged
advertisement content that may be used in an embodiment of the
present invention. Three advertisements 608, 612, and 615 are shown
with associated tags 606, 610, and 614, respectively. Advertisement
608 is identified by its associated tag 606 to be an advertisement
for Clinique.RTM. products and is directed to females of a middle
income and from ages 21-50. Advertisement 612 is identified by its
associated tag 610 as being an advertisement for Budweiser.RTM.
products and is directed to males of from ages 21-55, of any
income, location, or family arrangement. The advertisement 615 is
identified by its associated tag 614 as being an advertisement for
Blue's Clues.RTM. program for children ages 2-7, and a family
arrangement with kids.
[0057] In embodiments described herein, the logical operations of
the client device 304 and the server device 302 may be implemented
as a sequence of computer implemented steps or program modules
running on a microprocessor, such as, without limitation, a
processor in a personal computer or a computer workstation. It will
be understood to those skilled in the art that the client device
304 and the server device 302 of the present invention may also be
implemented as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit
modules within a computing system. The implementation is a matter
of choice dependent on the performance requirements of the
computing system implementing the client device 304 and the server
device 302. The operation, structural devices, acts, and/or modules
described herein may be implemented in software, in firmware, in
special purpose digital logic, and/or any combination thereof
without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present
invention as recited within the claims attached hereto.
Furthermore, the various software routines or software modules
described herein may be implemented by any means known in the art.
For example, any number of computer programming languages, such as
"C", "C++", Pascal, FORTRAN, assembly language, Java, etc., may be
used. By way of further example, and not limitation, any scripting
language known in the art may be used, such as Korn shell script.
Furthermore, various programming approaches such as procedural,
object oriented or artificial intelligence techniques may be
employed.
[0058] The client device 304 and the server device 302 may be
implemented as software modules executed by one or more general
purpose computers, such as the general purpose computer 200
illustrated in FIG. 2. As described in greater detail below, the
client device 304 may be employed to receive, store, filter, and
present media content, such as movies, games, and/or
advertisements. The client device 304 employs computer-readable
media for carrying out the various tasks associated with targeting
content to the user of the client device 304.
[0059] FIG. 7 is a chart illustrating operations carried out in a
targeted content distribution system in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. Initially, a tagging operation
704 tags content items that will be transmitted to the user of the
client device 304. The server device 302 may perform the tagging
operation. Alternatively, an advertiser that provides content to
the server device 302 may perform the tagging operation 302. The
tagging operation 704 involves associating tags describing relevant
classifications with content items. As discussed with respect to
FIG. 5, a tag includes identifier information for various
classifications, such as demographics. The tagging operation 704
may involve assigning weighting values to tag identifiers, which
indicate a relative importance of each identifier. Thus, for
example, in the tagging operation 704, a tag for a beer ad may
include age identification information of 21-55, with a relative
weight of 1, and an income identification range of
$30,000-$100,000, with a relative weight of 0.5. In this example,
the tag indicates that targeting users in the identified income
range is of less importance than targeting users in the identified
age range.
[0060] After the content items are tagged, an establishing
operation 708 establishes a communication connection between a
client device 304 and a server device 302. Establishing a
communication connection may be carried out using any means known
in the art. By way of example, and not limitation, in an Internet
environment a client computer typically send a request (e.g., a
Hypertext Transport Protocol request) to a server computer to
request a particular web page identified by a Universal Resource
Locator (URL). As a further example, a connection may be
established in a cable television environment by a set-top-box
switching to a channel or transport frequency. Many other methods
of establishing a communication connection are known in the art and
will fall within the scope of the establishing operation 708.
[0061] The server device 302 then sends data to the client device
304 in a sending operation 712. The data includes more than one of
the tagged content items that were tagged in the tagging operation
704. The server may send content items using any transmission
protocol known in the art, including, but not limited to, a
proprietary protocol. Sending the tagged content may include
encoding the tagged content items, packetizing and/or formatting
the encoded tagged content items, and modulating a carrier
frequency with the packetized data. In the sending operation 712,
the server may also append a unique client device identifier to the
tagged content data such that a particular client device 304 is
associated with the tagged content items. In a computer Internet
environment, the client computer typically has a unique Internet
Protocol (IP) address. In a cable television environment, each STB
has a unique identifier. In general, each client device 304 may be
uniquely identified on the network so that the server device 302
may send tagged content items directly to each client device in the
sending operation 712.
[0062] As discussed above, the tagged content items that are sent
in the sending operation 712 may be any content, including
advertising. The server device 302 may send the content items in
any order applicable to the implementation. For example, in one
implementation it may be most efficient for the server device 302
to send all advertisements in a group; i.e., sequentially, and then
all video content items sequentially, followed by all book content
items sequentially, and so on.
[0063] In a receiving operation 716, the client device 304 receives
the tagged content items that were sent in the sending operation
712. Generally, the client device 304 is detecting data on the
communication network 106. In the receiving operation 716, the
client device 304 detects tagged content items that are directed at
the client device 304, demodulate, and decode packetized or
formatted tagged content items. Depending on the particular
implementation, the receiving operation 716 may involve
synchronizing to a data signal from the server device 302. After
the client device 304 receives the tagged content items in the
receiving operation 716, the client device 304 may present one or
more of the tagged content items to the user. The client device 304
may also cache the tagged content items in a caching operation
720.
[0064] In the caching operation 720, the tagged content items are
stored in memory that is accessible by the client device 304 for
possible later presentation to the user. The tagged content items
may be logically stored in memory in any arrangement in the caching
operation 720. For instance, the caching operation 720 may involve
logically storing the tagged content items contiguously in memory
as they are received. Alternatively, the caching operation 720 may
logically group certain types of content (e.g., video content)
together in memory. However the content items are arranged
logically in memory, it is to be understood that the physical
locations in the memory may not follow the logical arrangement.
[0065] During operation, the client device 304 may recognize an
indication to insert one or more content items from the cache in a
recognizing operation 724. Inserting a content item generally
refers to presenting the content item to the user. The manner in
which the content item is presented to the user is generally
related either spatially (e.g., on a display monitor) or temporally
(e.g., synchronized in time) to other content that is sent to the
client device 304. In the recognizing operation 714, in a STB/TV
environment, the client device 304 may receive a cue tone from the
head-end, which indicates that an advertisement is to be displayed
at a designated time. Also in the STB/TV environment, the client
device 304 may receive input from the user to display a menu of
content items (e.g., games). In this case, the input from the user
is an indication to insert one or more content items (e.g., game
content items) in a menu to the user.
[0066] After the client device 304 recognizes an indication to
insert content, the client device 304 performs a selecting
operation 728. In the selecting operation 728, the client device
304 evaluates the tags that were stored in the caching operation
720 based on a user profile (e.g., user profile 322), to determine
whether one or more of the stored content items is appropriate for
presentation to the user. Any method of evaluation may be employed
by the client device 304 in the selecting operation 728 to select
one or more appropriate content items. In one embodiment, if none
of the stored content items are determined to be appropriate in the
selecting operation 728, a default content item may be presented.
An exemplary method of evaluation is discussed in detail below in
reference to FIGS. 10-12. In a presenting operation 732, the client
device 304 presents to the user the one or more content items that
were identified as appropriate in the selecting operation 728.
[0067] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary user interface 800 that may
be presented to a user of a client device 304 in an embodiment of
the present invention. The user interface 800 includes two menus
presented to the user allowing the user to make selections. A
content type menu 804 presents the user with four types of content
from which to choose: movie content 806, games content 808, books
content 810, and children's programming content 812. The user may
select any of the items listed in the content type menu 804 to
obtain a list of content items of the selected content type. As
illustrated, the user chooses 816 the games content 808. When the
user chooses 816 the games content 808, a games menu 818 is
displayed with a list of five available and appropriate games:
"Warlords" 820, "BattleZone" 822, "BMX Rally" 824, "Indy Racer"
826, and "Madden NFL" 828. The user may then select one of the
games listed on the games menu 818 to get more information about a
particular game. Most relevant to the present invention is the
process that occurs when the user chooses, at choose operation, 816
one of the games content item 808.
[0068] When the user chooses 816 the games content item 808, a
content insertion event arises from the user I/O module 318. The
user I/O module 318 sends a message to the content insertion module
402 (FIG. 4) indicating that a list of appropriate games is to be
presented to the user. Additionally, the list of games will
preferably be sorted in order of user preference. The content
insertion engine 402 responds by sending a message to the filtering
module 404 notifying the filtering module 404 to filter games
content items and provide the most appropriate or preferred game.
In one embodiment, the content insertion engine 402 employs the
filtering module 404 five times to obtain the five most appropriate
game content items available in the tagged data memory 316. The
content insertion engine 402 then sends the list of five game
content items to the user I/O module 318 for presentation to the
user on the games content menu 818.
[0069] Generally, prior to filtering content in response to
insertion events, a user profile 322 is established for targeting
purposes. FIG. 9 describes one exemplary process for establishing
the user profile 322. However, it is to be understood that in other
embodiments, content may be targeted to all users, or all users in
a particular category. This is particularly relevant to broadcast
TV in which the head-end of the cable service provider may send
content to everyone within a particular zip code. Thus, regardless
of the user profile 322, everyone in the zip code would be
targeted.
[0070] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram 900 illustrating exemplary steps or
operations that may be employed by the profile generator 406 for
generating and updating the profile 322 to correspond to user
preferences. In the embodiment, the user upon initial power-up may
be prompted to fill out a survey to provide information about the
user to the client device 304. In a querying operation 902, it is
determined whether a survey mode has been entered. The survey mode
may be entered any number of ways, including a determination that a
survey has not yet been filled out, or the user manually selecting
a survey mode. If it is determined in the querying operation 902
that the survey mode has been entered, an administering operation
904 administers a survey to the user. During the administering
operation 904, the user enters demographic or other data that
correspond to the user and his/her preferences for content.
Importantly, the data entered by the user in the survey is not
released from the client device 304. Rather, the client device 304
uses the survey data to maintain the user profile 322 to provide
future content to the user.
[0071] Using the demographic data entered during the administering
operation 904, a building operation 906 generates tags
corresponding to the user's selections in the administering
operation 904. As discussed above, the tags have identifier
information. The identifier information generated in the building
operation 906 associates the user's survey data with categories of
common identifiers discussed in FIG. 5. An updating operation 908,
updates the profile 322 with tags that were generated in the
building operation 906.
[0072] If it is determined that the survey mode has not been
entered in the querying operation 902, flow branches NO to query
operation 910, which determines whether a manual tag input mode has
been entered. Querying operation 910, determines whether the user
has selected an option for manually entering specific tags
associated with media content that the user prefers (or does not
prefer) to be presented. If it is determined in the querying
operation 910 that a manual tag input mode has been entered, flow
branches YES to presenting operation 912 which presents tag options
to the user that the user may select. The presenting operation 912
may present tags that have been previously compiled based on tags
received from the server device 302, or the presenting operation
912 may access a directory of tags that is periodically updated in
the client device 304. After the presenting operation presents tag
options to the user, the updating operation 908 updates the user
profile 322 with the tags selected by the user in the presenting
operation 912.
[0073] If, in the querying operation 910, it is determined that the
manual tag input mode has not been entered, flow branches NO to
detect operation 914 which begins to detect user selections. The
detecting operation 914 may detect any selections, such as, but not
limited to, mouse clicks, keyboard entry, or remote control data
entry. The detecting operation 914 may record the user selections
along with other related information such as time of entry, or
duration of viewing particular content. For example, in a set-top
box implementation, the detecting operation 914 may detect a user
selecting a Home Box Office.RTM. (HBO.RTM.) movie "Band of
Brothers".RTM.. The detecting operation 914 records when the user
begins watching "Band of Brothers".RTM. as well as when the user
changes the channel to another channel, such as a football game on
CBS.RTM.. The collection, over time, of viewing patterns and
preferences builds a user profile indicating the relative interest
in different genres of content programming, such as sports, movies,
dramas, education, children, etc. Multiple levels of detail (e.g.,
subtypes) can be derived, such as specific types of sports.
[0074] After the detecting operation 914 detects a user selection,
a storing operation stores a tag associated with the user
selection. As discussed, all media content, including programming,
from the server device 302 includes a tag descriptive of the type
of content. The tag may be stored for analysis, such as determining
a pattern in the user's selections. The user profile 322 is then
updated in an updating operation 918. The updating operation 918
involves storing the tags of most viewed content in the user
profile 322, preferably in such a way that the tags are quickly
accessible. After the user profile 322 is updated by the updating
operation 918, operation loops back to the detecting operation 914
wherein subsequent user selections are detected. The detecting
operation 914, the storing operation 916, and the updating
operation 918 may be iterated indefinitely until the user turns off
the client device 304.
[0075] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram 1000 illustrating exemplary steps
or operations that may be implemented by the filtering module 404
to filter out media content received from the server device 302
that is less preferred by the user. A receiving operation 1002
receives a command to insert media content from the content
insertion engine 402. A correlating operation 1004 then correlates
tags in the user profile 322 with tags from the storage module 314
to determine which tagged data from the storage module is most
preferred by the user. In the correlating operation 1004 it is
determined whether tags in the storage module 314 are similar to
tags in the user profile 322. In one embodiment, the correlating
operation 1004 may determine a level of correlation or matching for
each data stream in the storage module 314. For example, the
correlating operation 1004 may determine that two tags sufficiently
match if at least three identifiers in the tags are the same, even
if some other identifiers are different between the tags. If the
level of matching is above a predetermined threshold, the data
stream may be presented to the user.
[0076] A selecting operation 1006 then selects the media content
that most closely matches the user profile 322. If the insertion
command received in the receiving operation 1002 is an ad insertion
command, the selecting operation 1006 preferably selects one
advertisement from the storage module to be presented to the user.
If more than one advertisement sufficiently matches a tag in the
user profile 322, the selecting operation 1006 may select an
advertisement that has not been presented to the user recently. In
a notifying operation 1008 the user I/O module 318 is notified of
the media content to be presented to the user that was selected in
the selecting operation 1006.
[0077] FIG. 11 illustrates a detailed embodiment of the
correlating, selecting, and notifying operations 1004, 1006, and
1008. Upon receipt of an insertion event, the analysis module 320
searches the content in the tagged data memory 316 to determine if
content is available that is appropriate for the user of the client
device 304. In a retrieving operation 1104, the filter module 404
retrieves a tag from the storage module 314. In this particular
embodiment, the storage module 314 reads a tag out of the tagged
data memory 316 and keeps track of the order of dispensing tags to
the filter module 404. The filter module 404 retrieves a tag out of
the user profile 322 in another retrieving operation 1108. In a
comparing operation 1110, the filter module 404 compares the tag
from the storage module 314 to the tag from the user profile 322 to
determine if the two tags meet a predetermined correlation
threshold. Comparing the two tags may be accomplished using any
method known in the art and depends on how the tags are encoded in
the particular implementation. For example, identifiers in the tags
may be encoded as single bits (either on or off). In this example,
the comparing operation 1110 may perform a bit-masking operation,
which is a computationally efficient way of comparing bits.
[0078] If it is determined that the two tags retrieved in
operations 1104 and 1108 meet the predetermined correlation
threshold, the filter module 404 selects the tag retrieved from the
storage module 314 in a selecting operation 1114. In the selecting
operation 1114, the filter module requests the content associated
with the selected tag from the storage module 314 and delivers the
content to the user I/O module 318. However, if the two tags
compared in the comparing operation 1110 do not meet the
predetermined correlation threshold, the filter module 404
determines whether anymore tags exist in the user profile. In a
determining operation 1118, the filter module 404 reads the user
profile 322 to determine if another tag is available for
comparison. If so, the filter module 404 retrieves the next tag
from the user profile 322 in a retrieving operation 1122. After the
next tag is retrieved from the user profile 322, the comparing
operation 1110 compares the next user profile tag with the tag
retrieved from the storage module 314.
[0079] If, on the other hand, it is determined that no other tags
are in the user profile 322, flow branches NO to determine
operation 1126. The determining operation 1126 determines whether
another tag exists in the tagged data memory 316 for comparison. In
the determining operation 1126, the filter module 404 may request
another tag from the storage module 314. If no more tags are in the
tagged data memory 316, the storage module 314 sends back an error
message to the filter module 404. If the storage module 314
identifies another tag in tagged data memory 316, the storage
module 314 sends the tag to the filter module 404. The filter
module 404 thereby retrieves the next tag in a retrieving operation
1130. After the next tag is retrieved from the storage module 314,
operation returns to the retrieving operation 1108 wherein the
first tag in the user profile is again retrieved, and the sequence
of comparison and retrieval begins again.
[0080] If it is determined that no more tags are available in the
tagged data memory 316 in the determining operation 1126, or after
appropriate content is selected in the selecting operation 1114,
the correlating operation 1004 ends. If the correlating operation
1004 ends without any tags in the tagged data memory 316 meeting
the correlation threshold, an error message may be sent to the user
I/O module 318. The user I/O module 318 can either display a
message that content is not available, or the user I/O module 318
can display predetermined default content.
[0081] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
operations that may be employed in the comparing operation 1110 of
FIG. 11. Input to the operation is a tag from the tagged content
memory 316 and a tag from the user profile 322. In general, the
operational flow of FIG. 12 iterates through identifiers in the tag
from the tagged data memory 316 and associated identifiers in the
tag from the user profile 322, determining if the identifying data
for the tags matches. After all the identifiers are iterated
through, a score is generated that may be used to filter the tag
and/or rank the tag in terms of user preference and/or filter the
content. In an initializing operation 1202, a weighted average
value is set equal to zero. The weighted average value is used to
keep track of the score associated with the tag.
[0082] In a retrieving operation 1204, an identifier (e.g., type
identifier 516 of FIG. 5) and its identifying data (e.g., "Game")
is retrieved from the tag from the tagged data memory 316. In
another retrieving operation 1208, an associated type identifier
and its identifying data are retrieved from the user profile tag.
In a comparing operation 1210 it is determined whether the
identifying data for the two associated identifiers match. For
example, if the type identifying data is "Game" in both the tags,
the identifiers match. When the identifier data matches, a scoring
operation 1214 accumulates a running score associated with the tag
from the tagged data memory 316. In one embodiment, the scoring
operation 1214 involves calculating a weighted average of the
identifiers. If, in the comparing operation 1210, the identifier
data of the tagged data memory tag does not match that of the user
profile tag, and after the scoring operation 1214, a determining
operation 1226 determines if another identifier remains in the tags
to be compared.
[0083] If another identifier (e.g., title identifier 518 of FIG. 5)
remains for comparison, the retrieving operation 1204 retrieves the
identifier and its identifying data from the tagged data memory
tag. Processing continues as before to compare the corresponding
identifier data of the user profile tag. If no more identifiers
remain to be processed in the determining operation 1226, another
determining operation 1230 determines if the score computed in the
scoring operation 1214 is above a predetermined threshold value. If
the score is not above the predetermined threshold value, a return
no operation 1234 returns an indicator that the tag from the tagged
data memory 316 is not sufficiently correlated to the user profile
tag. If the score is above the predetermined threshold value, a
return yes operation 1238 returns an indication that the tag from
the tagged data memory 316 is sufficiently correlated to the user
profile tag. In both the return operations 1234 and 1238, the score
may be returned along with the indicator. The score may be used by
the calling module to sort tagged data memory tags according to
preference.
[0084] The method steps illustrated in FIGS. 7-12 may be
implemented in firm ware in the disc drive or in a computer
connected to a disc drive. Additionally, the logical operations of
the various embodiments of the present invention are implemented
(1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules
running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine
logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The
implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance
requirements of the computing system implementing the invention.
Accordingly, the logical operations making up the embodiments of
the present invention described herein are referred to variously as
operations, structural devices, acts or modules. It will be
recognized by one skilled in the art that these operations,
structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in
software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any
combination thereof without deviating from the spirit and scope of
the present invention as recited within the claims attached
hereto.
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