U.S. patent application number 13/862780 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-29 for system and method for delivering geographically restricted content, such as over-air broadcast programming, to a recipient over a network, namely the internet.
The applicant listed for this patent is John E. Clark, James F. Goodmon, James F. Goodmon, JR., John L. Greene, Peter A. Sockett. Invention is credited to John E. Clark, James F. Goodmon, James F. Goodmon, JR., John L. Greene, Peter A. Sockett.
Application Number | 20130227708 13/862780 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39742980 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130227708 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Goodmon; James F. ; et
al. |
August 29, 2013 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELIVERING GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED CONTENT,
SUCH AS OVER-AIR BROADCAST PROGRAMMING, TO A RECIPIENT OVER A
NETWORK, NAMELY THE INTERNET
Abstract
A system and method for delivering geographically restricted
content, including but not limited to over-air broadcast
programming, to a recipient over a computer network, namely the
Internet. The content is only delivered over the computer network
if the recipient's computer or network device requesting the
content over the network is verified to be located in the
geographically restricted area. A conventional tuner is employed by
the recipient's computer to receive one or more over-air signals
having a broadcast range deemed to be synonymous with the
geographically restricted area for the requested content. If the
tuner is able to receive such over-air signal(s), the requested
content is delivered over the network to the recipient's computer.
This is because the recipient is known to be physically located in
the geographically restricted area by the ability of the tuner to
receive the over-air signal(s).
Inventors: |
Goodmon; James F.; (Raleigh,
NC) ; Goodmon, JR.; James F.; (Durham, NC) ;
Clark; John E.; (Angier, NC) ; Sockett; Peter A.;
(Cary, NC) ; Greene; John L.; (Raleigh,
NC) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Goodmon; James F.
Goodmon, JR.; James F.
Clark; John E.
Sockett; Peter A.
Greene; John L. |
Raleigh
Durham
Angier
Cary
Raleigh |
NC
NC
NC
NC
NC |
US
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
39742980 |
Appl. No.: |
13/862780 |
Filed: |
April 15, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11682600 |
Mar 6, 2007 |
8346230 |
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13862780 |
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13093069 |
Apr 25, 2011 |
8423004 |
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11682600 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
726/27 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 4/029 20180201;
H04L 67/18 20130101; H04H 60/82 20130101; H04W 4/02 20130101; G06F
21/10 20130101; H04L 63/107 20130101; H04H 60/51 20130101; H04H
60/58 20130101; H04W 12/08 20130101; H04H 2201/13 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/27 |
International
Class: |
G06F 21/10 20060101
G06F021/10 |
Claims
1. A method of delivering geographically restricted content over a
network to a recipient device in response to a content server,
coupled to the network, receiving a request for the geographically
restricted content, comprising: receiving a request for delivery of
geographically restricted content from a recipient device over a
network at a content server; continued receiving of global
positioning system (GPS) coordinates from the recipient device
indicative of a physical location of the recipient device;
determining if the GPS coordinates indicate a location of the
recipient device as being within a geographically restricted area
for the requested geographically restricted content as a condition
for continued delivery of the requested geographically restricted
content; wherein the geographically restricted area is defined as a
geographic area where the recipient device is only permitted to
receive the geographically restricted content; and delivering the
requested geographically restricted content to the recipient device
over the network only if the GPS coordinates indicate a location
within the geographically restricted area for the requested
geographically restricted content.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient device is comprised
from the group consisting of a personal computer, a network device,
a television set top box, a mobile device, a cellular phone, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), and a personal messaging device
(PMD).
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the content server is comprised
from the group consisting of a broadcast station server, a
corporate server, an audio server, a video server, an audio/video
server, and a music server.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is a network
comprised from the group consisting of a TCP/IP-based network, a
dedicated line network, a public network, a private network, a
communications network, and a public switched telephone network
(PSTN).
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographically restricted
content is comprised from the group consisting of broadcast
programming, audio programming, songs, video programming, datacast,
and video presentations.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering the requested
geographically restricted content comprises streaming the requested
geographically restricted content to the recipient device over the
network until a connection between the recipient device and the
content server is terminated.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering the requested
geographically restricted content comprises downloading the
requested geographically restricted content to the recipient device
over the network.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a flag
indicating that the recipient device is authorized to receive the
requested geographically restricted content over the network if the
GPS coordinates indicate that the recipient device is located in
the geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if a user
account has been previously established on the content server for
the recipient device after receiving the request for the delivery
of the geographically restricted content from the recipient device
over the network at the content server, and before delivering the
requested geographically restricted content to the recipient device
over the network if the GPS coordinates indicate a location within
the geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending information
to the recipient device over the network necessary for the
recipient device to provide to the content server to establish the
user account on the content server, if the user account has not
been previously established on the content server for the recipient
device.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving user
account information from the recipient device over the network to
establish the user account for the recipient device on the content
server.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user account information is
comprised from the group consisting of a user identification (ID),
a password, a name, an address, and billing account
information.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a
connection between the content server and the recipient device
before receiving the request for the delivery of the geographically
restricted content from the recipient device over the network at
the content server.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the connection is comprised
from the group consisting of a web-based services connection, and
an Application Programming Interface (API)-based services
connection.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising downloading an
Application Programming Interface (API) software application to the
recipient device, wherein establishing the connection further
comprises the API software application establishing the connection
between the content server and the recipient device.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving billing
account information from the recipient device; determining a
billing address associated with the billing account information;
and determining if the billing address is located within the
geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content; wherein delivering the requested geographically
restricted content comprises delivering the requested
geographically restricted content to the recipient device over the
network if: the GPS coordinates indicate a location within the
geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content; and the billing address is located within the
geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining if the billing
address is located within the geographically restricted area for
the requested geographically restricted content comprises
determining if a zip code associated with the billing address is
for an area located within the geographically restricted area for
the requested geographically restricted content.
18. The method of claim 16, further comprising charging a billing
account associated with the billing account information for
delivering the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the billing account information
is comprised from the group consisting of credit card account
information, debit card account information, and bank account
information.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an
Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the recipient device;
accessing a database to determine an address associated with the IP
address; and determining if the address associated with the IP
address is located within the geographically restricted area for
the requested geographically restricted content; wherein delivering
the requested geographically restricted content comprises
delivering the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network if: the GPS coordinates indicate
a location within the geographically restricted area for the
requested geographically restricted content; and the address
associated with the IP address is located within the geographically
restricted area for the requested geographically restricted
content.
21. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving billing
account information from the recipient device; and charging a
billing account associated with the billing account information for
delivering the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network.
22. The method of claim 1, further comprising: accessing a database
to determine an Automated Number Identifier (ANI) associated with
the recipient device; and determining if a physical address
associated with the ANI is located within the geographically
restricted area for the requested geographically restricted
content; wherein delivering the requested geographically restricted
content comprises delivering the requested geographically
restricted content to the recipient device over the network if: the
GPS coordinates indicate a location within the geographically
restricted area for the requested geographically restricted
content; and the physical address associated with the ANI is
located within the geographically restricted area for the requested
geographically restricted content.
23. The method of claim 1, wherein the GPS coordinates are derived
from at least one over-air signal.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one over-air
signal corresponds to at least one GPS signal.
25. A system for delivering geographically restricted content over
a network to a recipient device, comprising: a content server;
wherein the content server is configured to: receive a request for
delivery of geographically restricted content from a recipient
device over a network; continue to receive GPS coordinates from the
recipient device indicative of a physical location of the recipient
device; and determine if the GPS coordinates indicate a location
within a geographically restricted area for the requested
geographically restricted content as a condition for continued
delivery of the requested geographically restricted content,
wherein the geographically restricted area is defined as a
geographic area where the recipient device is only permitted to
receive the geographically restricted content; and deliver the
requested geographically restricted content to the recipient device
over the network only if the content server determines that the GPS
coordinates indicate a location within the geographically
restricted area for the requested geographically restricted
content.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein the recipient device is
comprised from the group consisting of a personal computer, a
network device, a television set top box, a mobile device, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), and a personal message device
(PMD).
27. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is comprised
from the group consisting of a broadcast station server, a
corporate server, an audio server, a video server, an audio/video
server, datacast, and a music server.
28. The system of claim 25, wherein delivering the requested
geographically restricted content to the recipient device comprises
streaming the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network until a connection between the
recipient device and the content server is terminated.
29. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is
configured to deliver the requested geographically restricted
content by downloading the requested geographically restricted
content to the recipient device over the network.
30. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is further
configured to determine if a user account has been previously
established on the content server for the recipient device after
the content server receives the request for the delivery of the
geographically restricted content from the recipient device over
the network at the content server, and before the content server
delivers the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network if the GPS coordinates indicate a
location within the geographically restricted area for the
requested geographically restricted content.
31. The system of claim 30, wherein the content server is further
configured to send information to the recipient device over the
network necessary for the recipient device to establish the user
account on the content server if the user account has not been
previously established on the content server for the recipient
device.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein the content server is further
configured to receive user account information from the recipient
device over the network to establish the user account for the
recipient device on the content server.
33. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is further
configured to establish a connection between the content server and
the recipient device before the content server receives the request
for the delivery of geographically restricted content from the
recipient device over the network.
34. The system of claim 33, wherein the connection is comprised
from the group consisting of a web-based services connection, and
an Application Programming Interface (API)-based services
connection.
35. The system of claim 33, wherein the content server is further
configured to download an Application Programming Interface (API)
software application to the recipient device, wherein the content
server is further configured to establish the connection between
the content server and the recipient device by receiving a
connection request from the API software application at the
recipient device.
36. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is further
configured to: receive billing account information from the
recipient device; determine a billing address associated with the
billing account information; and determine if the billing address
is located within the geographically restricted area for the
requested geographically restricted content; wherein delivering the
requested geographically restricted content to the recipient device
comprises delivering the requested geographically restricted
content to the recipient device over the network if the content
server determines that: the GPS coordinates indicate a location
within the geographically restricted area for the requested
geographically restricted content; and the billing address is
located within the geographically restricted area for the requested
geographically restricted content.
37. The system of claim 36, wherein the content server is
configured to determine if the billing address is located within
the geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content by determining if a zip code associated with the
billing address is for an area located within the geographically
restricted area for the requested geographically restricted
content.
38. The system of claim 36, wherein the content server is further
configured to charge a billing account associated with the billing
account information when the content server delivers the requested
geographically restricted content to the recipient device over the
network.
39. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is further
configured to: receive an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned
to the recipient device; access a database to determine an address
associated with the IP address; and determine if the address
associated with the IP address is located within the geographically
restricted area for the requested geographically restricted
content; wherein the content server is further configured to
deliver the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network if the content server determines
that: the GPS coordinates indicate a location within the
geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content; and the address associated with the IP address
is located within the geographically restricted area for the
requested geographically restricted content.
40. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is further
configured to: receive billing account information from the
recipient device; and charge a billing account associated with the
billing account information for delivering the requested
geographically restricted content to the recipient device over the
network.
41. The system of claim 25, wherein the content server is further
configured to: access a database to determine an Automated Number
Identifier (ANI) associated with the recipient device; and
determine if a physical address associated with the ANI is located
within the geographically restricted area for the requested
geographically restricted content; wherein delivering the requested
geographically restricted content to the recipient device comprises
delivering the requested geographically restricted content to the
recipient device over the network if: the GPS coordinates indicate
a location within the geographically restricted area for the
requested geographically restricted content; and the physical
address associated with the ANI is located within the
geographically restricted area for the requested geographically
restricted content.
42. The system of claim 25, wherein the GPS coordinates are derived
from at least one over-air signal.
43. The system of claim 25, wherein the at least one over-air
signal corresponds to at least one GPS signal.
Description
PRIORITY APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation patent application
of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/093,069, filed Apr.
25, 2011, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELIVERING GEOGRAPHICALLY
RESTRICTED CONTENT, SUCH AS OVER-AIR BROADCAST PROGRAMMING, TO A
RECIPIENT OVER A NETWORK, NAMELY THE INTERNET," which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/682,600, filed
Mar. 6, 2007, now patented, and entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR
DELIVERING GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED CONTENT, SUCH AS OVER-AIR
BROADCAST PROGRAMMING, TO A RECIPIENT OVER A COMPUTER NETWORK,
NAMELY THE INTERNET," the disclosures of which are incorporated by
reference herein in their entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a system and method for
delivering geographically restricted content, including but not
limited to over-air broadcast programming, to a recipient computing
device over a computer network, namely the Internet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Television and radio broadcasting is regulated in the United
States and abroad due to the limited frequencies available for
transmission. As a result, any person or entity that wishes to
operate a television or radio broadcast station in the United
States must apply for and receive a government-issued license in
order to reserve a transmission frequency for its broadcast signal.
Broadcast licenses granted by the FCC provide a geographic scope or
area that limits the permissible range of each station's broadcast
signal. The broadcast station must configure its broadcast signal
to limit the broadcast signal range to the geographic scope of the
license. A recipient's tuner must typically be within the
geographic scope of the broadcaster's license to properly receive
the over-air broadcast signal from the local broadcast station.
[0004] From a technology standpoint, cable providers can retransmit
local broadcast programming over a physical line such as coaxial
cable having a known geographic reach or area. This method of
controlling distribution of a cable signal enables the cable
provider to meet the geographic restrictions on local broadcast
programming. Satellite providers are able to retransmit broadcast
signals to dedicated receivers pre-programmed with a particular
customer billing address. In this way, technology is used to limit
customer access to program within geographic restrictions in place
on such local broadcast programming.
[0005] Today, consumers often receive digital content via the
Internet rather than using tuners to receive over-air signals.
Content and programming information such as national or local news,
weather, financial information, sports information and
entertainment programming can be obtained by visiting any number of
websites. Songs and movies are commonly ordered and either
downloaded or streamed over the Internet to a recipient's computer
for playing or viewing. Currently a local broadcast station does
not have available technology to supply over-air broadcasts over
the Internet and restrict such Internet viewing to a limited
geographic area. This is because Internet access is not
geographically limiting like over-air reception, and therefore, an
Internet user physically located in the local broadcast station's
area of license cannot be distinguished from a recipient physically
located outside such area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention is a system and method for delivering
geographically restricted content, including but not limited to
over-air broadcast programming content, to a recipient computing
device over a computer network, namely the Internet. The content is
only delivered over the computer network if the recipient's
computer or network device requesting the content over the network
is verified to be located in the geographically restricted area for
the requested content. A conventional tuner is employed by the
recipient's computer to receive one or more over-air signals having
a broadcast range deemed to be synonymous with or sufficiently
proximate to the geographically restricted area for the requested
content. If the tuner is able to receive such over-air signal(s),
the requested content is delivered over the network to the
recipient's computer. This is because the recipient is known to be
physically located in the geographically restricted area by the
ability of the tuner to receive the over-air signal(s). If a
recipient is not located in the geographically restricted area for
the requested content, the tuner will not be able to receive the
over-air signal(s) representative of the recipient being located in
the geographically restricted area for the requested content. Thus,
a recipient's computing device that is not able to receive the
over-air signal confirming the recipient is within the
geographically restricted area will not receive the requested
content over the computer network.
[0007] One or more content servers are employed to distribute the
geographically restricted content to a requesting recipient over
the computer network. A broadcast station may actually provide the
content server. In this regard, the broadcast station provides one
or more servers coupled to a computer network to host requests for
streaming and/or downloading the requested content to requesting
recipients over the computer network. The server(s) may be
accessible by Internet Protocol (IP) addressing. The distributed
content may be over-air broadcast programming from a broadcast
station, or any other type content, such as audio files and video
presentations as examples. The content requested for delivery over
the computer network may be the same content broadcasted by the
broadcast station over the air within the geographic limitations of
the broadcast station's FCC license. If permitted, the content is
packaged by the content server into data packets and sent out over
the computer network to the requesting recipient. Receiving
over-air broadcast programming content over a computer network will
not typically suffer from broadcast reception related issues, which
may be caused by interference or less than optimal broadcast signal
coverage from the broadcast station's antennas.
[0008] The recipient employs a computer or other network device
coupled to the computer network to request access to the content
from the content servers(s). The recipient's computer may employ a
browser that accesses the content server(s) via a uniform resource
location (URL) web address translated into the IP address of the
content server. Information about over-air signals received by the
tuner coupled to the recipient computer is used to determine
whether or not the recipient is physically located in the area
represented by the geographic restriction for the requested
content.
[0009] The tuner associated with the recipient computer may be
adapted to receiver over-air broadcast signals from a broadcast
station as the particular type of over-air signal(s). The present
invention and tuner are not limited to receiving an over-air
broadcast signal(s) as the particular type of over-air signal(s)
used to determine if a recipient is located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content. If the tuner is adapted
to receiver over-air broadcast signal(s) as the method of
determining if the recipient is located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content, the tuner may be a radio
tuner (e.g. FM (i.e. 88-108 Mhz) or AM (i.e. 500-1500 kHz), a
television signal tuner (e.g. UHF (i.e. 470 to 806 MHz), VHF (i.e.
54-72, MHz, 76-88 MHz, and 174-216 MHz)), or both, in one
embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, "Radio
Broadcasting Data Service" (RBDS) information is extracted from a
received over-air FM radio broadcast signal to determine if the
recipient computer is physically located within the geographically
restricted area for the requested content. Station information
Service" (SIS) data embedded in a high-definition (HD) radio
broadcast signal may also be used to identify the broadcast station
and determine if the recipient computer is physically located
within the geographically restricted area for the requested
content. In another embodiment, the tuner or recipient computer
extracts "Program and System Information Protocol" (PSIP)
information, and more specifically the transport stream identifier
(TSID) information, or the broadcast station call letters (for
digital television), identifying the broadcast station from an
over-air television broadcast signal to determine if the recipient
computer is physically located within the geographically restricted
area for the requested content. The television broadcast signal may
be an analog or digital signal. Using RBDS, SIS, or PSIP data to
determine a broadcast station identification may be a preferred
method to determine the physical location of the recipient
computer, because this information is typically already included by
the broadcast station in radio and television broadcast signals
without having to employ modifications to existing broadcasting
equipment. However, the broadcast station can also purposefully
insert an analog or digital signal or flag in over-air broadcast
signals that can be extracted by the tuner to identify the
broadcasting station and thus the location of the recipient
computer in lieu of using embedded RBDS, SIS, and/or PSIP
information.
[0010] The tuner associated with the recipient computer may also or
alternatively be adapted to receiver over-air signals having
transmission frequencies outside AM/FM/UHF/VHF broadcast signal
frequencies. For example, "Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access" (WiMAX) is a standard to enable the delivery of "last mile"
wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable or DSL
broadband access. WiMAX has a range of up to thirty miles with a
typical cell radius of four to six miles. Either receipt of a WiMAX
signal, or a special coding or signal embedded into a WiMAX signal,
may be received over-air by a tuner associated with the recipient
computer to determine if the recipient computer is located in the
geographically restricted area for the requested content. Other
examples include signals in the 700 MHz spectrum, which may be
utilized to deliver content to mobile phones. The 700 MHZ spectrum
includes signals that can be broadcast by television broadcast
stations like UHF and VHF signals, but is a spectrum that may
television broadcast stations have vacated or no longer use for
programming broadcasts. The present invention is not limited to any
particular type of over-air signal to determine if the recipient's
computer is located in the geographically restricted area for the
requested content.
[0011] The tuner may be embedded within a recipient computer, or
provided in the form of a peripheral device coupled to the
recipient computer. For example, the tuner may contain a universal
serial bus (USB) connection that plugs into a USB port on the
recipient computer. The tuner may be configured to constantly
receive and provide information about receipt of over-air
broadcasting signal(s) for verification of the recipient's physical
location within the geographically restricted area of the requested
content. Over-air signal criteria is provided to the tuner to
determine which over-air signal(s) to "tune in to" consistent with
the geographically restricted area of the requested content.
Over-air information, based on receipt of information embedded in a
tuned over-air signal, is used for verification of the recipient's
physical location and may be constantly provided by the recipient's
computer to the content server(s) as a condition for continued
streaming of content to the recipient's computer.
[0012] Other optional methods may be employed to ensure a recipient
is located in the geographically restricted area of the requested
content. These methods include, but are not limited to, requiring a
recipient to enter credit or debit card information for accessing
and/or verification of the recipient's billing address, determining
the recipient's location using a GPS receiver coupled to the
recipient computer, and/or using reverse IP address lookup on the
IP address assigned to the recipient computer.
[0013] The recipient's computer may access content, including but
not limited to over-air broadcast programming, from the content
server(s) using browser-based web services, or using an application
programming interface (API) software application downloaded from
the content server(s) to the recipient computer. The recipient may
also be required to first establish a user account with the content
server before geographically restricted content can be accessed
over the network. The account information may include user
identification and/or billing information. Identification and
billing information may be used to bill the recipient for access to
content over the network and/or to provide user specific
advertising to fund, either wholly or partially, the business model
and expenses of the broadcasting station providing the content
and/or over-air broadcast programming over the computer
network.
[0014] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the
present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing
figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming
a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the
invention, and together with the description serve to explain the
principles of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a broadcast content network
delivery system in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating verification that a
recipient is located in the geographically restricted area of the
requested content as a condition of receiving content over a
network;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating communications between
a receiver, a local tuner, and a broadcast station content server,
for delivery of content over a network, wherein the broadcast
station server initially provides the over-air signal acquisition
criteria to be acquired by the tuner for verification that the
recipient is physically located within the geographically
restricted area for the requested content;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic of a typical tuner for receiving radio
(i.e. AM, FM) and/or television (i.e. UHF, VHF) broadcasts signals
as one embodiment of a received over-air signal to verify if a
recipient is located within the geographically restricted area of
the requested content;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating extraction of embedded
broadcast station identification information within an over-air
broadcast signal received by a tuner to verify if a recipient is
located within the geographically restricted area of the requested
content;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating "Radio Broadcast Data
System" (RBDS) information embedded in the FM subcarrier spectrum
of an over-air FM broadcast signal;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a table illustrating data groups present within
RBDS data;
[0023] FIG. 8 illustrates a data format for a RBDS data group type
within RBDS data embedded in an over-air broadcast signal, wherein
program identification (PI) information is included to uniquely
identify the FM broadcast station transmitting the over-air FM
broadcast signal;
[0024] FIG. 9 illustrates "Program and System Information Protocol"
(PSIP) data embedded within an over-air television (TV) broadcast
signal;
[0025] FIG. 10 illustrates information included within PSIP data,
including identification information that uniquely identifies a TV
broadcast station;
[0026] FIG. 11 is an alternative flow diagram to the flow diagram
illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein the recipient's computer obtains the
over-air signal acquisition information from a local tuner before
requesting content from a content server;
[0027] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating communications
between a receiver, a local tuner, and a content server, for
establishing a recipient account at the content server before
requested content is delivered over a computer network;
[0028] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating additionally verifying a
recipient's credit or debit card billing address information to
verify if a recipient is within the geographically restricted area
of the requested content;
[0029] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating additionally verifying a
recipient's physical location via a GPS receiver to verify if a
recipient is located within the geographically restricted area of
the requested content;
[0030] FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating additionally verifying a
recipient's physical location via a reverse Internet Protocol (IP)
address lookup to verify if a recipient is located within the
geographically restricted area of the requested content; and
[0031] FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating additionally verifying a
recipient's physical location via an Automated Number Identifier
(ANI) lookup of the recipient to verify if a recipient is located
within the geographically restricted area of the requested
content
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0032] The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary
information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the
invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention.
Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying
drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the
concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these
concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood
that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the
disclosure and the accompanying claims.
[0033] The present invention is a system and method for delivering
geographically restricted content, including but not limited to
over-air broadcast programming content, to a recipient computing
device over a computer network, namely the Internet. The content is
only delivered over the computer network if the recipient's
computer or network device requesting the content over the network
is verified to be located in the geographically restricted area for
the requested content. A conventional tuner is employed by the
recipient's computer to receive one or more over-air signals having
a broadcast range deemed to be synonymous with or sufficiently
proximate to the geographically restricted area for the requested
content. If the tuner is able to receive such over-air signal(s),
the requested content is delivered over the network to the
recipient's computer. This is because the recipient is known to be
physically located in the geographically restricted area by the
ability of the tuner to receive the over-air signal(s). If a
recipient is not located in the geographically restricted area for
the requested content, the tuner will not be able to receive the
over-air signal(s) representative of the recipient being located in
the geographically restricted area for the requested content. Thus,
a recipient's computing device that is not able to receive the
over-air signal confirming the recipient is within the
geographically restricted area will not receive the requested
content over the computer network.
[0034] The geographically restricted area for the requested content
may be a "Designated Market Area" (DMA) for the content. In other
words, the requested content may have a DMA by regulation,
geographic restrictions in accordance with compulsory license
restrictions, and/or geographic restrictions according to rights
content owners. The geographically restricted area may also be
called or known as a "signal area." The term "geographically
restricted area" is used throughout this application to include,
but not limited to, a DMA or a signal area.
[0035] Broadcast Content Network Delivery System
[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates a broadcast content network delivery
system 10 for an example of one embodiment of the present
invention. In this embodiment, the content server(s) is provided by
a broadcast station, and the over-air signal(s) received is an
over-air broadcast signal(s). Receipt of the over-air broadcast
signal(s) is used to determine if the recipient is in the
geographically restricted area of the requested content is an
over-air broadcast signal. Again, the present invention is not
limited to the content being provided by a broadcast station, the
broadcast station providing the content server(s), or the over-air
signal(s) being an over-air broadcast signal(s). A broadcast
station providing the content server, and an over-air broadcast
signal being used to determine if the recipient is within the
geographically restricted area for the requested content, are
simply variations or specific examples for possible embodiments of
the present invention.
[0037] A recipient 12, also called a "user," can remotely request
content, including but not limited to an over-air broadcast signal
14 containing programming, via a communication/computer network 20,
such as the Internet, from a broadcast station 16. The broadcast
station 16 may be any type of broadcast station that broadcasts
over-air signals, including but not limited to FM radio and
television. The recipient 12 employs a networked computing device
18, such as but not limited to a personal computer, a user
computer, and a television set top box, to request content. The
user 12 controls the computing device 18 to request content over
the computer network 20. In a preferred embodiment, the networked
computer device 18 is a user personal computer 18, also referred to
as "user computer" 18, and the computer network 20 is the Internet,
which may be a TCP/IP-based network. The user computer 18 may also
take the form of a mobile device, a cellular phone, a personal
digital assistant, (PDA), and a personal messaging device (PMP) as
other examples. The network 20 may be a remote communication link
or any type of network, and may include any type of communication
protocol, including but not limited to telephone dial-up, wireless,
digital subscribe line (DSL), cable modem, etc. The user computer
18 employs TCP/IP-based communications to send and receive messages
over the network 20.
[0038] The user computer 18 either includes a local tuner 22 to
receive over-air broadcast signals 14. The tuner 22 is either
internal to the user computer 18 or coupled via an external
connection to the user computer 18. When the user 12 requests
network access to geographically restricted content from the
broadcast station 16, the user computer 18 establishes a network
connection to the network 20 via an Internet Service Provider (ISP)
24. The user computer 18 communicates data packet messages using a
IP address established for a broadcast station server 28 as the
destination address. The ISP 24 communicates data packet messages
from the user computer 18 over the network 20 to an ISP 26 used by
the broadcast station 16, which is turn relays the messages to one
or more content or broadcast station servers 28 "sitting" on the
broadcast station's 16 IP address. The broadcast station server 28
establishes connections or sessions, using services such as web
services or an application program interface (API) software, with
user computers 18 to receive requests and provide access to content
provided by the broadcast station 16, including but not limited to
over-air programming. The broadcast station server(s) 28 is adapted
to provide content-based programming and/or services to the user
12, as will be discussed throughout this application. This content
may be streamed from a delivery network, or may be accessed from a
memory database if the content was previously recorded and
stored.
[0039] Note that the present invention is not limited to broadcast
programming content in particular. The present invention may be
employed to distribute other types of content, including but not
limited to audio programming, songs, video programming, and video
presentations, as examples. Further note that the present invention
is not limited to the content server 28 being provided by a
broadcast station 16. The content server 28 could include a
corporate server, an audio server, a video server, an audio/video
server, and a music server as other examples. The computer network
20 is not limited to a TCP/IP-based network. The computer network
20 may be a content delivery network, a dedicated line network, a
public network, a private network, a corporate network or a public
switched telephone network (PSTN), as examples.
[0040] In the preferred embodiment, the broadcast station server 28
is coupled to over-air programming content 32 transmitted over-air
by the broadcast station 16. In this manner, the broadcast station
server 28 can either store the over-air programming content 32 in
the database 30 to provide to the user 12 at a later time, or
provide streaming of over-air broadcast programming content 32 in
real-time to the user computer 18 over the network 20. The
broadcast station server 28 can be programmed, via a local terminal
34, by broadcast station personnel to set various options and
features regarding performance and delivery options for providing
content to user computers 18 over the network 20.
[0041] Prior to the present invention, the broadcast station 16
typically only communicated over-air programming content 32 to a
control system 38. The control system 38 passed the content 32 to a
modulator 40 to modulate the content 32 onto a carrier signal
having the desired frequency to form a modulated broadcast signal.
The modulated broadcast signal is amplified by a power amplifier
42. The amplified over-air broadcast signal 14 is communicated to
an antenna tower 44 that broadcasts the amplified over-air
broadcast signal 14 over-air in the vicinity of the broadcast
station 16 according to the power output levels of the power
amplifier 42 and the antenna tower 44 design. For some broadcast
stations, where obstructions such as mountains may be located in
the broadcast area, one or more translators 46, which include
receivers 48 for receiving the over-air broadcast signal 14 and
power amplifiers 50 for amplifying the received over-air broadcast
signal 14, may be employed to carry the over-air broadcast signal
14 further out from the broadcast station 16 according to the
geographically restricted area permitted under the broadcast
station's FCC license.
[0042] Note that translators 46 are separately licensed by the FCC
and thus carry their own unique identifier. This unique identifier
can still be employed to determine if the user computer 18 is
located in the geographically restricted area for the required
content. For the remainder of this application, reference to
identifying the broadcast station 16 is used to either refer to
identification of the broadcast station 16, or the identifier of
the translator 46, without distinction. Both are included methods
of the present invention.
[0043] With the present invention, a user 12 can also receive this
same over-air programming content 32 broadcast by the broadcast
station 16, over the computer network 20 in addition to receiving
the programming content 32 by over-air reception via the over-air
broadcast signal 14. The tuner 22 is coupled to the user computer
18 and receives the over-air broadcast signal 14. The over-air
broadcast signal 14 contains information that identifies the
broadcast station 16 transmitting the over-air broadcast signal 14.
Thus, the area where the tuner 22 and user computer 18 are
physically located can be determined by identifying the broadcast
station 16. If the tuner 22 can receive the over-air broadcast
signal 14, this is an indication that the tuner 22 and the user
computer 18 are geographically located in the broadcast range of
the broadcast station 16. In response, the broadcast station server
28 authorizes the over-air broadcast programming content 32 to be
provided over the network 20 to the user computer 18.
[0044] Because the broadcast range of the broadcast station 16 is
controlled to be within a designated geographic licensing range
permitted by the FCC, the tuner 22, by its receipt of the over-air
broadcast signal 14, and the user computer 18 are likewise known to
be in the licensing range of the broadcast station 16. The user
computer 18 is permitted to receive over-air broadcast programming
content 32 from the broadcast station 16 in this instance. Receipt
of over-air broadcast programming content 32 via the computer
network 20 may be more desirable. For example, poor signal
reception, which may be caused by interference or less than optimal
broadcast signal coverage from the broadcast station's antennas 44,
may prevent less than optimal reception using a traditional tuner.
Receiving over-air broadcast programming content 32 over the
computer network 20 will not suffer from broadcast reception
related issues if sufficient bandwidth exists on the computer
network 20.
[0045] Note the broadcast station 16 and broadcast station server
28 embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 is an exemplary embodiment. The
present invention is applicable to any content server that desires
to communicate geographically restricted content over a computer
network. The content may be broadcast programming or any other type
of content or programming.
[0046] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the high level operation
of the present invention. That is, verification of the user's 12
geographic location as a condition of receiving geographically
restricted content from the broadcast station 16 over the network
20. The content may be over-air broadcast programming content 32 or
other programming content. The process starts (step 60), and the
user 12 directs the user computer 18 to request content from the
broadcast station server 28 (step 62). The content may be
geographically restricted by the broadcast station 16 and/or by its
FCC license. The user computer 18 sends a data packet message to
the broadcast station server 28 using the URL address of the
broadcast station server 28. The broadcast station server 28
receives the request over the network 20 and determines if the
requested content is geographically restricted (decision 64). If
not, the broadcast station server 28 permits the downloading or
streaming of the content over the network 20 to the user computer
18 (step 66).
[0047] If the requested content is geographically restricted, it is
determined if the user computer 18 is located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content (decision 68). This is
determined based on the ability of the user computer 18, employing
the tuner 22, to receive an over-air broadcast signal 14
transmitted within the geographically restricted area. If the user
computer 18 is not located in the geographically restricted area
for the requested content, access is denied (step 70), and the
process ends (step 74). If the user computer 18 is located in the
geographically restricted area for the requested content, the
broadcast station server 28 downloads or streams the requested
content over the computer network 20 to the user computer 18 (step
66) until the request is fully performed and/or the session
established by the user computer 18 is no longer active (decision
72).
[0048] The remainder of the description of this application
explains the various methods by which the user computer 18 and
broadcast station 16 interact to access geographically restricted
content from the broadcast station 16 over the network 20. The
content may be over-air broadcast programming content 32 broadcast
by the broadcast station 16 as the over-air broadcast signal 14, or
other content generated either locally at the broadcast station 16
or retrieved from external sources. Various methods may be employed
to analyze over-air broadcast signals 14 received by the tuner 22
to determine the physical location of the tuner 22 and thus the
user computer 18. Additional methods may be employed in addition to
analyzing over-air broadcast signal(s) 14 received by the tuner 22
to ensure that the user 12 and the user computer 18 are physically
located in the geographically restricted area of the broadcast
station's 16 license from which the requested geographically
restricted content is obtained over the network 20, as opposed to
over-air reception.
[0049] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating more detailed
communications between the user computer 18, the tuner 22, and the
broadcast station server 28, for delivery of content over the
network 20. In this embodiment, the broadcast station server 28
initially provides over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria.
The over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria are instructions
for the tuner 22 to receive one or certain over-air broadcast
signal(s) 14 deemed to be synonymous with the area geographic
restriction for the requested content. The tuner 22 provides
over-air broadcast signal acquisition information in response to
attempting to tune in the over-air broadcast signal(s) 14 according
to the instructions provided in the over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria. If the tuner 22 successful receives the
over-air broadcast signal(s) 14 according to the over-air broadcast
signal acquisition criteria, the user 12 and the user computer 18
are verified as being physically located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content. This verification is
required for the broadcast station server 28 to provide the content
to the user computer 18 over the network 20.
[0050] The user computer 18 first makes a download request for the
programming content to the broadcast station server 28 over the
network 20, typically using either web-based services or API
software previously downloaded to the user computer 18, from the
broadcast station server 28 (step 80). The broadcast station server
28 determines whether the requested content is geographically
restricted (step 82). If so, the broadcast station server 28
retrieves the over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria from
the database 30, which is information about one or more over-air
broadcast signals 14 to be acquired by the tuner 22 having the same
or equivalent broadcast range as the geographically restricted area
for the requested content (step 84). The over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria is provided to the user computer 18, so that
tuner 22 can be controlled to tune in to the designated over-air
broadcast signal(s) 14 to determine if the user computer 18 is
physically located in the licensing area of the requested
programming content (step 86). Note that the over-air broadcast
signal acquisition criteria does not have to include the same
broadcast signal that carries the requested content; it may or may
not.
[0051] Next, the user computer 18 communicates an over-air
broadcast acquisition request to the tuner 22 using the over-air
broadcast signal acquisition criteria received from the broadcast
station server 28 (step 88). The tuner 22 returns over-air
broadcast signal acquisition information back to the user computer
18 indicating whether the over-air broadcast signal(s) 14 provided
by the broadcast station server 28 in the over-air broadcast
acquisition criteria could be accessed (step 90). The user computer
18 processes over-air broadcast signal acquisition information
received from the tuner 22 (step 92). A flag within the user
computer 18 may be set or updated to indicate successful reception
of the over-air broadcast signal 14 or identifying information
embedded therein by the tuner 22 to prove the user computer 18 is
within the geographically restricted area for the requested
content. This is because the system may use information embedded
within the over-air broadcast signal 14 received by the tuner 22
rather than reception of the signal 14 itself. Various methods of
obtaining embedded information within the over-air broadcast signal
14 can be used to provide identifying information to determine the
geographic location of the tuner 22 and thus the user computer 18,
and will be discussed in more detail below.
[0052] The over-air broadcast signal acquisition information
received from the tuner 22 is communicated to the broadcast station
server 28 for processing (step 94). The broadcast station server 28
determines if the over-air broadcast acquisition information was
obtained for the geographically restricted area for the requested
content (step 96). If so, the requested content is downloaded or
streamed over the network 20 to the user computer 18 (step 98).
From there, the process iterates by repeating steps 88 through 98
to continue receiving over-air broadcast acquisition information
from the tuner 22, and providing this information to the broadcast
station server 28 as a condition of continued receipt of requested
content. This continues until the user computer's 18 session with
the broadcast station server 28 is terminated (steps 102, 104).
[0053] FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a local tuner 22 that
may be employed to receive over-air broadcast signals 14 as a
method of obtaining identifying information about the broadcaster
sufficient to determine if the user computer's 18 is located in a
geographically restricted area for the requested content. The tuner
22 may be an AM, FM, UHF, or VHF tuner as examples, or any
combination of such. The tuner 22 includes a receiver 110 that is
coupled to an antenna 112 to receive the over-air broadcast signal
14. The received signal 14 is a multiplexed signal containing
digital data and the programming content within the subcarrier
frequency. The received signal is split into two paths. If the
signal is to be viewed or is a stereo audio signal for example, the
signal is decoded using a stereo decoder 118 and provided to output
amplifiers 120 to amplify the signal and provide it to speakers
122A, 122B.
[0054] The received signal is also coupled to a data decoder 124 to
extract digital data embedded within the over-air broadcast signal
14. This digital data may include identifying information about the
broadcast station that is responsible for the over-air broadcast
signal 14 transmission, such as identifying information embedded in
"Radio Broadcast Data Service" (RBDS), "Station Information
Service" (SIS), or "Program and System Information Protocol" (PSIP)
data for example. The digital data is provided to a microprocessor
126 via data lines 128. From there, the digital data can be
communicated to an optional display 136. The digital data can be
also stored in memory 130 and is communicated externally from the
tuner 22, through an input/output buffer 132, to the user computer
18 in the form of over-air broadcast signal acquisition information
134. This over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134 is
information noted in the flow diagram of FIG. 3 that may be
communicated to the broadcast station server 28 to determine if the
user computer 18 is physically located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content.
[0055] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the steps used to verify
the user computer 18 being located in the geographically restricted
area of the requested content based on the over-air broadcast
signal acquisition criteria and receipt of over-air broadcast
signal acquisition information 134 in response thereto, from the
tuner 22. The process is employed as part of the decision in step
68 in FIG. 2. First, the over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 is received from the tuner 22, such as described in
FIG. 4 above (step 140). The over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 may be the actual broadcast signal, or other analog
or digital data embedded in the over-air broadcast signal 14 in the
subcarrier frequency. Whatever type of over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria is employed, geographic-based information is
extracted from the over-air broadcast signal 14 based on the
over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria sought for analysis
(step 142). The geographically-based information may be the
identification of the broadcast station 16 responsible for
broadcasting the received over-air broadcast signal(s) 14.
[0056] Next, it is determined if the extracted geographic
information indicates that the tuner 22, and thus the user computer
18, is located in the geographically restricted area for the
requested content. If so, a flag may be set to indicate that the
user computer 18 and/or the session with the broadcast station
server 28 is authorized to receive the requested content over the
network 20 (step 146). If not, the process goes to step 70 of FIG.
2, where access to the requested content is denied, since the
geographic location of the user computer 18 could not be verified
as being physically located in the geographically restricted area
for the requested content.
[0057] "Radio Broadcasting Data Server" (RBDS) Station
Identification
[0058] The standard for the "Radio Broadcast Data System" (RBDS)
adopted by the National Radio Systems Committee in NRSC-4 requires
FM radio broadcasters to provide their unique FCC call sign in the
form of a hexadecimal Program Identification (PI) code. Thus,
extraction of the PI code from an over-air FM broadcast signal can
be used to identify the broadcast station 16 band thus determine
the location of the user computer 18 to control granting access to
geographically restricted content. The PI code is transmitted as
the first block in every data group of the RBDS data, making it the
most frequently repeated data. This allows for shorter and more
reliable acquisition of the PI code.
[0059] FIG. 6 illustrates RBDS data 154 embedded in a FM broadcast
signal 150 carried at a carrier station frequency 152. Receipt of a
FM broadcast signal by a RBDS compatible tuner 22 is one method to
determine if the user computer 18 is located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content as a condition of
delivering such content over the computer network 20. The RBDS data
154 is included in a 57 kHz subcarrier frequency at 1187.5 bits per
second. The 57 kHz frequency was chosen for being the third
harmonic of the pilot tone for FM stereo so that the RBDS data 154
would not cause interference or intermodulation with the pilot
tone, or the stereo difference signal at 38 KHz (e.g. second
harmonic of pilot tone). In the example of RBDS, RBDS data 154
contains digital data that includes the broadcast station's
identification call letters. Thus, the originating broadcaster of
an over-air broadcast signal 14 can be determined by analyzing the
RBDS data 154.
[0060] FIG. 7 illustrates a RBDS table 156 providing the various
RBDS data group types 158 with the RBDS and a description of their
use 160. The RBDS data group types 158 are digital data structures
containing information embedded in the RBDS data 154 within the FM
broadcast signal 150. While each RBDS data group 158 has its own
specific purpose and data format, it is important to note that each
data group message contains program identification (PI), which is
the uniquely assigned call letters for the broadcast station 16
transmitting the FM broadcast signal 150 (e.g. WRAL-FM).
[0061] An example of this is shown in FIG. 8, which is the data
format for RBDS group type 10A, or a program type name (PTYN) 162.
There, it is shown that a PI field 164 is the header of the data
for the PTYN data 162. The PI field 164 contains the "PI code."
This information can be extracted by the tuner 22 and/or the user
computer 18 to identify the broadcast station 16. For example, if
the PI field 164 contains the call letters "WRAL-FM," this means
that the originator of the received FM broadcast signal 150 is the
WRAL broadcast station 16 located in Raleigh, N.C. A database can
be accessed to correlate the broadcast station 16 identification
information in the PI field 164 with the FCC mandated broadcast
area of broadcast station 16. This information can be used, such as
by the tuner 22, the user computer 18, and/or the broadcast station
server 28, to determine the physical location of the user computer
18 (i.e. Raleigh, N.C. area for PI information "WRAL-FM"). This is
because the tuner 22 must be physically located in the broadcast
area of the broadcast station 16 to receive its over-air FM
broadcast signal 150.
[0062] More information on RBDS can be found at "The Radio Data
System "RDS" in Europe and the Radio Broadcast Data System "RBDS"
in the USA--What are the differences and how can receivers cope
with both systems," at http://www.rds.org.uk/rdsfrdsrbds.html, and
the definition of Radio Data System in Wikipedia.RTM. at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Data_System, both of which are
incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
[0063] "Station Information Service" (SIS)
[0064] A high definition (HD) over-air radio broadcast signal may
also be used to identify the broadcast station 16. The standard for
In-band/On-channel Digital Radio Broadcasting adopted by the
National Radio Systems Committee in NRSC-5-A, commonly referred to
as "HD Radio," allows for AM/FM radio station broadcasters to
provide their unique FCC call sign, FCC facility number, and
three-dimensional geographic station location within "Station
Information Service" (SIS) data. SIS data is transmitted via a
dedicated logical channel within the RF/transmission subsystem. The
standard specifically states that "SIS can be considered a built-in
service that is readily available on all IBOC digital radio
stations." For more information on SIS, see the National Radio
Systems Committee document, NRSC-5-A 5.1.2 September 2005,
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[0065] "Nielsen's Audio Encoding Technique" (NAVE) Coding
[0066] Other audio encoding techniques may be embedded FM radio
broadcast signals by broadcast stations 16 to determine the
location of the user 12 and the user computer 18, and thus whether
the user computer 18 is located in the geographically restricted
area for the requested content. For example, the Nielsen's Audio
Video
[0067] Encoding Technique (NAVE), which is more fully disclosed in
"The Nielsen Audio Video Encoder (NAVE) Questions & Answers,"
at http://www.nielsenmedia.com/forclients/APMeter/file/NAVEQA.pdf
and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, embeds a very
small amount of audio energy in louder portions of an audio signal
to ensure the non-audibility of the code. The tuner 22 can decode a
received audio broadcast signal to retrieve the NAVE code, if
present, if the NAVE code is used as the over-air broadcast
acquisition criteria. The NAVE coding survives AC-3 and MPEG-2
compression encoding.
[0068] "Program and System Information Protocol" (PSIP) Station
Identification
[0069] In a similar manner, a television broadcast over-air signal
(e.g. high definition signal), or information embedded therein, may
be used as the over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria to
determine if the user computer 18 is located in the geographically
restricted area for the requested content. Similar to radio
broadcast signals, data may be included or embedded in television
broadcast signals. In particular, "Program and System Information
Protocol" (PSIP) data 170 is embedded in a digital television
broadcast signal, and may also be embedded in an analog television
signal. Within PSIP data 170 a transport stream identifier (TSID)
is an included number that is unique to each broadcast station
(e.g. WRAL is 1850). PSIP 170 data embedded in a digital television
broadcast signal also includes the unique "call letters" of the
broadcast station (e.g. "WRAL"). FIG. 9 illustrates the various
types of information within the PSIP data 170 that is embedded in
either an analog or digital television broadcast signal, and the
various cycle times in which the PSIP data 170 is included.
[0070] Master Guide Table (MGT) data 172 is included in the PSIP
data 170 which provides information on all the other PSIP tables,
including table sizes and version numbers of updatable tables. The
Virtual Channel Table (TVCT) data 174 provides information on all
the channels that are or will be on line, including such items as
channel name, navigation identifier, stream components and types.
Event Information Table (EIT) data 176 is included for each event
or TV program associated with each of the virtual channels. Each
EIT covers a period of three hours. The total number of EITs
available is one hundred twenty eight. EIT-0 data 174 covers the
current programs, EIT-1 covers the next three hours, and so on.
System Time Table (STT) data 178 fits in one MPEG packet, and
provides time-of-day information. Rating Region Table (RRT) data
180 is designed to transmit program rating information for any
country that may adopt the standard.
[0071] FIG. 10 illustrates information from the PSIP data 170 that
can be displayed on a tuner display as an example of the
information contained in the PSIP data 170 for digital television.
The short name for the television broadcast station (e.g. WRAL) is
contained within the TVCT data 174. The major and minor digital
television channel being received is also contained within the TVCT
data 174. The television program name, called an "event title," is
contained within the EIT data 176. The rating for the television
program is contained within the RRT data 180. The event or
television program descriptor providing information about the
program is contained within the EIT data 176. The current time and
date information is contained within the STT data 178. This data is
extracted and used by the television tuner to provide time-based
functions and programming for the user 12.
[0072] More information on PSIP is disclosed in "ATSC Recommended
Practice: Program and System Information Protocol Implementation
Guidelines for Broadcasters," found at
http://www.atsc.org/standards/a.sub.--69.pdf, which is incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety. Note that for embodiment of
the present invention that use an over-air broadcast signal 14 as
the particular type of signal to determine if the user computer 18
is in the geographically restricted area of the requested content,
the present invention is not limited to a particular type of
over-air broadcast signal being used. Also note that the present
invention is not limited to retrieval of embedded RBDS data, SIS
data, PSIP data, or NAVE coding data. Any type of special coding or
data may be included in the over-air broadcast signal to by
received by the tuner 22 associated with the user computer 18,
including but not limited to audio coding data, video coding data,
analog coding data, and digital coding data.
[0073] In summary for the over-air signal being an over-air
broadcast signal 14 embodiment, the tuner 22 coupled to the user
computer 18 can be provided with over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria. The over-air broadcast signal acquisition
criteria provide instructions on which over-air broadcast signal(s)
14 for the tuner 22 to access, to confirm the user computer 18 is
physically located in the geographically restricted area for the
requested content, before requested content is transmitted by a
broadcast station server 28 over the network 20, such as the
Internet. The tuner 22 is able to obtain information within the
received over-air broadcast signal 14 that identifies the
broadcasting station 16 and provides the identification information
in the form of over-air broadcast signal acquisition information
134. If the broadcast station 16 is identified as having a
broadcast range within or synonymous to the geographically
restricted area for the requested content, it is known that the
user computer 18 is physically located in the geographically
restricted area for the restricted content sufficient for the
content to be communicated over the network 20 to the user computer
18.
[0074] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative
embodiment to the flow diagram illustrated in FIG. 3 for delivery
of requested content over the network 20. In this embodiment, the
user computer 18 requests over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information from the tuner 22, using the over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria, before requesting content from the broadcast
station server 28. The over-air broadcast signal acquisition
criteria may be stored in the memory of the user computer 18. In
this manner, the user computer 18 can provide the over-air
broadcast signal acquisition criteria, which identifies the
location of the user computer 18 by broadcast area, to the
broadcast station server 28 on the initial content request rather
than the broadcast station server 28 having to first provide the
over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria to the user computer
18, as provided in the flow diagram in FIG. 3.
[0075] The process starts by the user computer 18 requesting
over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134 from the
tuner 22 based on the over-air broadcast signal acquisition
criteria. The over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134
is used to verify the user computer 18 location as previously
discussed (step 200). The tuner 22 returns the over-air broadcast
signal acquisition information 134 obtained, based on the over-air
broadcast acquisition criteria sought (step 202). The over-air
broadcast acquisition criteria may be stored in memory of the user
computer 18, and may be generated based on the user's 12 physical
address information known by the user computer 18. The user
computer 18 can look up the correct over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria to be used by the tuner 22 based on the user's
address or location information. The user computer 18 may process
the over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134 and/or
set flags in memory to indicate the physical location or broadcast
area where the user computer 18 is verified to be located,
according to the tuner 22 reception of the over-air broadcast
signal 14 (step 204). Again, note that the over-air broadcast
signal acquisition criteria does not have to include an over-air
broadcast signal that carries the same content as the user 12
requested content over the network 20 from the broadcast station
server 28.
[0076] Thereafter, the user computer 18 makes a download or stream
request for the content to the broadcast station server 28 over the
network 20, typically using either web-based services or API
software previously downloaded to the user computer 18 from the
broadcast station server 28 (step 206). Included within the request
is the over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134
obtained from the tuner 22. The broadcast station server 28
determines whether the requested content is geographically
restricted (step 208). If so, the broadcast station server 28
reviews the over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134
to determine if the tuner 22 is able to obtain information that
could only be obtained by a tuner located in the same or equivalent
geographically restricted areas for the requested content (step
210). The requested content is then downloaded or streamed over the
network 20 to the user computer 18 (step 212). The user computer 18
continues to obtain over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 from the tuner 22 (steps 214, 216, 218) and
communicate this information to the broadcast station server 28
(step 220) (step 224, returning back to step 210) to determine if
the user computer 18 remains in the geographically restricted area
for receiving the requested content over the network 20 as opposed
to over-air reception (step 212). The process continues until the
user computer 18 session with the broadcast station server 28 is
terminated (steps 224, 226).
[0077] It may be desired by the broadcast station server 28 to
require the user 12 to first establish a user account on the server
28 before content will be provided to the user computer 18 over the
network 20. A user account may be used for various reasons,
including but not limited to, identifying the user 12, providing
special services to the user 12, obtaining billing information if
the user 12 is charged for receiving content over the network 20,
and/or providing more target advertising to the user 12 based on
demographic information. FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating one
example of the user 12 requesting and establishing a new user
account on the broadcast station server 28 when a request is made
for content over the computer network 20.
[0078] The process starts by the user computer 18 requesting
content from the broadcast station server 28 over the network 20
(step 230). Because the user computer 18 does not return
identifying information about the user 12 that indicates the user
12 already has an established account on the broadcast station
server 28 (step 232), the broadcast station server 28 generates and
sends a new account registration web page to the user computer 18
(step 234). The user 12 inputs new account information requested in
the fields and various prompts in the registration web page. At
this point, the user computer 18 may also request to receive
over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134 from the
tuner 22 based on over-air broadcast signal acquisition criteria
using information, such as the user's 12 physical address entered
by the user 12, or other location information for example (steps
240, 242). The user's location information may come from answers
provided by the user 12 in the registration web page. The user 12
may provide their desired user id and password for subsequent
access to the broadcast station server 28 so the server 28 can
access the user's 12 account. The user computer 18 can then
determine initially if the user 12 is authorized to receive content
from the broadcast station server 28 over the network 20. If not,
the process can be discontinued without a user account being
established.
[0079] If the user computer 18 determines that a user account can
be established for the user 12 based on verification of the user's
12 location, as determined from the over-air broadcast acquisition
information 134, the user computer 18 transmits the new user
account information to the broadcast station server 28 to establish
a user account for the user 12 (step 244). The broadcast station
server 28 creates the user account (step 246) and sends an
acknowledgement of the user account creation to the user computer
18 (step 248).
[0080] The broadcast station server 28 may provide content download
and/or streaming services via an API software package downloaded to
the user computer 18, in lieu of web-based services. The broadcast
station server 28 may be configured to only allow downloading of an
API software package for content requests over the network 20 after
the user 12 has successfully established a user account and has
logged in. When the user 12 first establishes a user account, the
user 12 will be logged in automatically after receiving the new
account establishment acknowledgement (step 248). In this regard,
after a user 12 sends a content request to the broadcast station
server 28 (step 250), the broadcast station server 28 verifies the
validity of the user account (step 252). The broadcast station
server 28 sends an API software download request prompt to the user
12 to first download the API software to the user computer 18 (step
260). The user computer 18 then returns a download request (step
262), and the broadcast station server 28 downloads the API
software to the user computer 18 (step 264). The user 12 will then
execute the API software resident on the user computer 18 to
communicate with the broadcast station server 28 to request content
over the network 20 as previously discussed (steps 266-270).
[0081] It may also be desired to use additional information
indicative of the user's 12 and the user computer's 18 location in
conjunction with over-air broadcast signal acquisition information
134 to determine if the user 12 is within the geographically
restricted area of the requested content. Over-air broadcast signal
acquisition information 134 may still be received by the tuner 22
even if the user computer 18 is slightly outside the exact
geographic boundaries of the broadcast station's 16 broadcast area.
Broadcasting areas provided in an FCC license may include sharp
boundaries and borders that cannot be perfectly matched with
broadcast signal transmission equipment and repeaters 46. Thus, the
tuner 22 may still receive the proper over-air broadcast signal
acquisition information 134 even though the user computer 18 is
technically outside the permitted broadcast area. In this regard,
one method of additionally verifying that the user 12 is authorized
to access the geographically restricted content from the broadcast
station 16 over the network 20 is to verify the user's billing
address using the user's credit or debit card account
information.
[0082] Over-Air Signals Outside AM/FM/UHF/VHF Broadcasting
Frequencies
[0083] The tuner 22 associated with the recipient computer 18 may
also or alternatively be adapted to receiver over-air signals
having transmission frequencies outside AM/FM/UHF/VHF broadcast
signal frequencies. In this regard, the over-air broadcast signal
acquisition criteria and the over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 would simply be over-air acquisition criteria and
over-air signal acquisition information, respectively. The
operation of the present invention, when using a non-broadcast
range over-air signal based on air acquisition criteria, and
producing over-air signal acquisition information, may be as or
similar described above for an over-air broadcast signal 14 in
particular. The present invention and its examples disclosed herein
are applicable for any over-air signal that can be used to indicate
whether a recipient is located in a geographically restricted area
for the requested content.
[0084] For example, "Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access" (WiMAX). WiMAx is a standard being developed to enable the
delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative
to cable or DSL broadband access. WiMAX has a range of up to 30
miles with a typical cell radius of four to six miles. WiMAX covers
a couple of different frequency ranges. The IEEE 802.16 standard
addresses frequencies from 10GHz to 66GHz. The IEEE 802.16a
specification, which is an extension of IEEE 802.16, covers bands
in the 2GHz-to-11GHz range. Either receipt of a WiMAX signal, or a
special coding or signal embedded into a WiMAX signal, may be
received over-air by a tuner associated with the recipient computer
to determine if the recipient computer is located in the
geographically restricted area for the requested content.
[0085] Other examples include signals in the 700 MHz spectrum,
which may be utilized to deliver content to mobile phones. The 700
MHZ spectrum includes signals that can be broadcast by television
broadcast stations like UHF and VHF signals, but is a spectrum that
may television broadcast stations have vacated or no longer use for
programming broadcasts. The present invention is not limited to any
particular type of over-air signal to determine if the recipient's
computer is located in the geographically restricted area for the
requested content
[0086] Credit/Debit Card Account Billing Address
Look-up/Verification
[0087] The flowchart illustrated in FIG. 13 provides additional
user 12 address determination and/or verification in conjunction
with the over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134
checking provided in the flowchart of FIGS. 2 and/or 5. In one
embodiment, after the over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 obtained by the tuner 22 is verified as being
proper for geographic restrictions for the requested content (in
decision 144 in FIG. 5), the user 12 may also be prompted for their
credit or debit card account information to verify the user's 12
billing address. The billing address can be used to determine if
the user's 12 residence is located within the geographically
restricted area for the content requested over the network 20. The
user 12 may have already been required to associate a credit or
debit card account to establish their user account, or the
credit/debit card account information may simply be requested from
the user for billing address verification after content is
requested over the network 20. Note that the broadcast station
server 28 can be configured to use the user's credit/debit card
account information solely for address determination/verification
without billing the user 12.
[0088] The user's 12 credit or debit card account information, such
as account number, expiration date, and/or billing address
information, is received from the user computer 18 (step 300). The
information may be checked locally at the user computer 18 or sent
over the network 20 to the broadcast station server 28 for
checking. The checking may consist of verification of the billing
address provided by the user 12 when creating their user account,
or may consist of using the card account information to look up the
user's 12 actual billing address via a database access. Before the
user's card account information is checked against a database, the
zip code provided by the user 12 may be checked (decision 302). If
the zip code is outside of geographically restricted areas for the
requested content (decision 302), the user's 12 request can be
denied without having to access a card account database (by
returning to step 70 in FIG. 2). If the user 12 provided a zip code
that is within the geographically restricted area for the requested
content, the account number and expiration date are used to access
a third party database to verify or obtain the user's 12 billing
address (step 304). Third parties provide subscription-based
services for obtaining and/or verifying a user's 12 billing address
based on providing a credit/debit card account information. If the
credit/debit card billing address and/or zip code can be verified
as being in the geographically restricted area of the requested
content (decision 306), the broadcast station server 28 provides
the requested geographically restricted content to the user
computer 18 over the network 20 (step 140 of FIG. 5). If not, the
request is denied (step 70 of FIG. 2). Note that the credit/debit
card billing address verification method may be used in addition
to, or in lieu of the over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 verification method (see, e.g., FIG. 5).
[0089] GPS Receiver
[0090] Other methods may be used to determine if the user 12 is
located in the geographically restricted area of the requested
content for content delivery over the network 20. For example, a
global positioning system (GPS) receiver (not shown) may be coupled
to the user computer 18, similar to the tuner 22, to determine the
exact geographic coordinates of the user computer 18, in
conjunction with or in lieu of receiving and checking over-air
broadcast signal acquisition information 134. In one embodiment,
after the over-air broadcast acquisition information 134 obtained
by the tuner 22 is verified as being proper for the geographically
restricted area for the requested content (e.g. decision 144 in
FIG. 5), the GPS coordinates of the user computer's 18 are obtained
using a GPS receiver (step 308). If the GPS coordinates of the user
computer 18 are outside the geographically restricted area for the
requested content 20 (decision 310), access to the requested
content over the network 20 is denied (step 70 of FIG. 2). If the
GPS coordinates of the user computer 18 are inside the
geographically restricted area for the requested content, the
broadcast station server 28 provides the requested content over the
network 20 to the user computer 18 (step 140 of FIG. 5). Note that
the GPS coordinates may be used in addition to or in lieu of
receiving the over-air broadcast signal acquisition information 134
verification method (see, e.g., FIG. 5).
[0091] Reverse IP Address Lookup
[0092] Another example of technology that may be used, in
conjunction with or in lieu of the over-air broadcast signal
acquisition information 134 checking (provided in the flowchart of
FIGS. 2 and/or 5) to determine if the user computer 18 is located
in the geographically restricted area for the requested content, is
use of reverse IP address lookup. When the user computer 18
accesses the network 20, in the example of an Internet network, the
user computer 18 is assigned a unique IP address by the ISP 24. The
IP address is associated with the physical address of the company
that purchased the particular IP address or block of IP addresses.
Thus, by accessing a reverse IP database, address to look up the
associated physical address, location information regarding the
user computer 18 can be determined. Although reverse IP address
lookup is not as accurate as other methods, because the ISP 24 may
be located in a different area from the user computer 18, it is
another method that can be used to control access to geographically
restricted content if desired.
[0093] In one embodiment, as illustrated in flowchart of FIG. 15,
after the over-air broadcast acquisition information 134 obtained
by the tuner 22 is verified as being proper for the licensing area
in decision 144 in FIG. 5, the user computer's 18 IP address is
obtained (step 320). The physical address associated with the IP
address used by the user computer 18 is obtained from a third party
database using a reverse IP address lookup service (step 322). If
the physical address associated with the IP address used by the
user computer 18 is outside the geographically restricted area for
the requested content over the network 20 (decision 324), access is
denied (step 70 of FIG. 2). If the physical address associated with
the IP address used by the user computer 18 is inside the
geographically restricted area for the requested content over the
network 20, the broadcast station server 28 provides the requested
content over the network 20 to the user computer 18 (step 140 of
FIG. 5). Note that the reverse IP address lookup method may be used
in addition to or in lieu of the over-air broadcast signal
acquisition information 134 verification method (see, e.g., FIG.
5).
[0094] "Automated Number Identifier" (ANI) Information
[0095] Another example of technology that may be used, in
conjunction with or in lieu of the over-air broadcast signal
acquisition information 134 checking (provided in the flowchart of
FIGS. 2 and/or 5) to determine if the user computer 18 is located
in the geographically restricted area for the requested content, is
use of the telephone number or area code used by the user computer
18 to connect to the network 20. An example of this technology that
may be employed by the present invention is disclosed in Patent
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Application No. PCT/US01/08382 entitled
"On-line Lottery Game System," incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety.
[0096] When the user computer 18 accesses the network 20, in the
example of an Internet network, any automated number identifier
(ANI) is generated by the telephone company to the ISP 24
supporting the user computer 18 connection to the network 18. The
ANI is stored as caller identification information. The caller
identification information, such as the telephone number or just
the area code portion of the telephone number, is used to determine
if the user computer 18 is located in the geographically restricted
area for the requested content.
[0097] In one embodiment, as illustrated in the flowchart of FIG.
16, after the over-air broadcast acquisition information 134
obtained by the tuner 22 is verified as being proper for the
licensing area in decision 144 in FIG. 5, the user computer's 18
ANI information is obtained by the ISP 24 from a telephone company
and/or third party database (step 330). The physical address
associated with the ANI information (e.g. telephone number, or area
code of telephone number) is used determined. If the physical
address associated with the ANI information is outside the
geographically restricted area for the requested content over the
network 20 (decision 332), access is denied (step 70 of FIG. 2). If
the physical address associated with the ANI information is inside
the geographically restricted area for the requested content over
the network 20, the broadcast station server 28 provides the
requested content over the network 20 to the user computer 18 (step
140 of FIG. 5). Note that the ANI lookup method may be used in
addition to or in lieu of the over-air broadcast signal acquisition
information 134 verification method (see, e.g., FIG. 5).
[0098] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and
modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present
invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered
within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims
that follow.
* * * * *
References