ES2423220T3 - Systems and methods for creating custom video mosaic pages with local content - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for displaying a video mosaic page on a user equipment device, the method comprises: receiving a video signal comprising a plurality of video resources for displaying them on a video mosaic page; receive, from a remote installation of the user device, the display data defining a placeholder video cell on the video tile page and an action to be performed in response to a user selection from the video cell placeholder, wherein the display data comprises a cell definition that uniquely identifies the local video resource; selecting a local video resource based on the definition of the received cell; overlay the video corresponding to the selected local video resource on the video signal in a position corresponding to the placeholder video cell, where the video corresponding to the selected local video resource is stored in local memory in the user's computer device; and displaying the video signal and the video corresponding to the selected local video resource on an interactive screen.

Description

Systems and methods to create custom video mosaic pages with local content.

Background of the Invention

This invention relates generally to multimedia systems and, more particularly, to multimedia systems that support custom video mosaic pages.

Video mosaic pages allow users to access video services and resources from rich video screens on an interactive application, such as an interactive media guide application. These rich video menu screens can present a plurality of video resources (for example, transmit television channels or content on demand) each in its own video window, or cell, on a single page.

Video mosaic pages are normally generated remotely in a distribution facility or central installation. In the distribution installation or central installation, the video resources on the mosaic page are composed of a single video signal that is transmitted beforehand to the user's equipment device. The multi-video signal can be transmitted as a composite stream (for example, MPEG-2 stream transmission) to a series of user equipment devices. For example, composite stream can be transmitted to user equipment devices on a digital television channel. After the flow is received by the user equipment device, a local video mosaic client can overlay graphics, icons, and text on the screen to create custom video mosaic pages. For example, an implementation of a video mosaic system to provide the video mosaic pages called "Rich Video Navigation" (VRN) is described in US Patent Application US 2006/236 342.

Although video mosaic pages provide a more user-friendly way to present video resources to viewers, pages can be limited in various aspects. For example, because video mosaic pages are normally generated remotely, there is very little flexibility for users to customize the look and feel of the page. The remotely generated nature of these pages also prevents the creation and customization of dynamic pages, for example, in the viewer's user equipment.

Additionally, normal video mosaic pages are limited in the type of content that is available for viewing on the pages. Because pages are normally generated remotely, local content, such as content stored in a digital video recorder (DVR), game device, or other suitable local storage device, is generally not available for use in The video mosaic pages. However, WO-A-02/45304 describes a combination of screen elements generated in a header with locally generated screen elements.

In accordance with the above, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for the creation and dynamic visualization of the video mosaic page. Video mosaic pages can combine local content with streaming, multicasting, digital video switching, and resources on demand on a single interactive screen. It would also be desirable to provide video mosaic pages capable of being customized automatically based on user behavior and video preferences.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with the principles of the present invention as set forth in the claims, a customer VRN is implemented in a user equipment device. The VRN client supports the generation of video mosaic pages from various video resource sources. These sources of resources may include linear content sources (for example, broadcast television sources), non-linear content sources (for example, Internet and demand sources), and local sources (eg, registered content, game content local, and content stored in memory).

The VRN client can create or present locally generated and remotely generated video mosaic pages or a combination of locally and remotely generated video mosaics. Video sources on remotely generated pages can be remotely composed of the user's computer device in a single video signal. In this type of arrangement, the display data can be transmitted to the user's equipment device, either in the band or outside the band, which identifies the video sources on the mosaic page as well as any other information necessary for Successfully view the page. The appropriate information necessary to successfully view the page may include, for example, action data that defines the behavior and response to a viewer selection of a cell (or group of cells) on the mosaic page, graphics, screen text, ads , and any other elements that will be displayed with

or on the mosaic page.

The display data can also include one or more placeholder cell definitions. Placeholder cell definitions may include information that relates to one or more cells of the video mosaic page that does not correspond to the video in the transmitted composite multi-video signal. However, the multi-video signals generated remotely according to the invention may have one or more "empty" areas corresponding to placeholder cell locations. The video resources presented in the placeholder cells can be dynamically identified and selected on the user's equipment through the VRN client. These video resources may include local content. For example, registered content, local game content, and videoconferencing messages may be present in the placeholder cells. The selection of video resources for presentation in the placeholder cells can be based on active user monitoring, direct user information, user preferences, or any other suitable data generated by the user or derived by the user.

For example, the placeholder cell definitions in the reception of the display data may include local function calls that are executed automatically when the display data is received by the user's equipment device. Local function calls can return identification information appropriately about the local resources to be displayed in one or more placeholder cells on the mosaic page. This identification of the information may include, for example, local file system paths for text, advertisements, and video resources to be presented in the placeholder cells or anywhere on the mosaic page.

After receiving the display data, the VRN client can determine the size and location of any of the placeholder cells (for example, x and y coordinates) on the video mosaic page. The VRN client can then overlay appropriate content, which includes local content, in the appropriate positions that correspond to the placeholder cells. In this way, VRN pages with one or more video resources selected on the user's device device can be presented to the user.

Mosaic pages can also be generated locally in full, if desired. The video sources included in the locally generated pages may be composed on the user's computer device that the page is displayed. Local resources can fill some or all of the cells in the mosaic page generated locally. The remaining cells can be filled with content on demand, broadcast television content, or any other video content accessible through the user's equipment.

In order to superimpose a local video resource on a video mosaic page or create locally generated pages, in some embodiments, a local MPEG (or other suitable video standard) that composes the system can extract selected portions of local content for use. on the video mosaic page. The portion or portions extracted can be saved in the user's device device as a loop or continuous video file. The parts selected for extraction can be determined, for example, by a scene selection algorithm that identifies scene changes within a video resource. In some embodiments, the scene selection algorithm can also analyze user view behavior or user preferences to determine which portions to extract from local content for use in the video mosaic page. For example, if a certain part of a local video resource (for example, the user's favorite scene) is observed more frequently then other parts, this part can be selected by the scene selection algorithm for extraction.

In some embodiments, the appropriate content for looping can be identified in advance by the content provider and communicated to the user's device device by means of a sideband signal or marks within the video, or the location of the loop content within A resource can be known in advance using a standard established to locate the loop content by the system operator (for example, the loop content can always be placed at the last minute of a program).

In some embodiments, the VRN client is configured to generate and display various custom video mosaic pages. These personalized pages can be filled, for example, with the most frequently viewed user-streaming programs, content on demand, and recorded content. In some embodiments, videoconferencing messages received by the user can also fill one or more cells of the custom mosaic pages.

In some embodiments, the video mosaic pages can be dynamically customized on the fly based on such factors as, for example, active user monitoring, user behavior, and user preference information. The VRN client (or some other application) can monitor all user interactions with the user's device device. The application can then identify this user interaction information for the user's device device and build a profile for each user that accesses the user's device device. From the profile data, the VRN client can select particular video resources, such as user resources that have recently been viewed, accessed, or registered, resources that the user has marked (for example, VOD resources), resources that the User can receive (based on, for example, frequently accessed gender categories), video messages that have been received but not yet displayed, or any other suitable video resources, to display on a custom video mosaic page.

In multi-environment DVR systems, a VRN local page can display parts of content that are stored on a user equipment device other than the local user equipment device. The selection of such content can be done on a user basis. For example, a user may have registered with different devices (for example, a decoder in the room and one in the room) and begins to see different contents in each context. After you have access (for example, log in) to the device, a custom VRN page “In progress for this user” can obtain content from both devices and compose the content on a locally generated VRN page that is displayed after the local device.

In some embodiments, the composition is done remotely from the user equipment device that finally displays the VRN content, but the composite result includes content that comes from the local user equipment device. For example, consider a user that is local to a mid-range user equipment device that supports DVR, remote transmission, but not local composition. However, within the home or within the network, there is another high-end user equipment device that supports DVR, remote transmission, and local composition, or there is only one compositional engine in the network. As such, some embodiments may involve providing at least part of the content to be composed on a VRN page of the device that finally displays the result of the composite VRN.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The foregoing and other features of the present invention, their nature and various advantages will be more apparent after consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a simplified diagram of an illustrative interactive video mosaic multimedia system architecture.

FIGURE 2 is a simplified diagram of the illustrative network and content of local sources for use in the video mosaic page composition;

FIGURE 3 is an illustrative generic display screen showing a number of video windows, or cells, of a video mosaic page;

FIGURE 4 is an illustrative display screen showing a video mosaic home page "what is in fashion";

FIGURE 5 is an illustrative display screen showing a video mosaic homepage "what is in demand";

FIGURE 6 is an illustrative display screen that shows a video mosaic homepage “what's in vogue on my DVR”;

FIGURE 7 is an illustrative display screen that shows a video mosaic homepage "what is fashionable that I might like";

FIGURE 8A and 8B shows illustrative markup language files that include cell definition tags according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 9 shows a simplified illustrative process for displaying video mosaic pages remotely generated or locally generated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 10 shows a simplified illustrative process for filling video mosaic cells with parts extracted from local content in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Y

FIGURE 11 shows a simplified illustrative process to monitor user behavior and display custom video mosaic pages.

Detailed description of the invention

The systems and methods described here are directed towards providing custom video mosaic pages. Although the term "Rich Video Navigation" or "VRN" is sometimes used here when referring to mosaic pages, system elements (for example, the VRN client), and the mosaic environment, the present invention is compatible with any video mosaic environment. The VRN environment is just an example of a proper implementation of a video mosaic environment, which is described in more detail in US Patent Application US 2006/236342.

As described in more detail below, these custom mosaic pages can display various types of video resources, including locally registered resources, in one or more video windows, or cells, of the mosaic page. In addition to the full motion video and associated audio, these cells can also include images, text, icons, logos, advertisements, or any combination of these elements (or any other suitable one). The particular video resources included in the cells of the custom mosaic pages can be selected based on a number of criteria, such as active user monitoring and user preferences. In this way, the video mosaic page of the present invention can provide a more personalized look and feel with significant relevance to the user.

FIGURE 1 shows the illustrative multimedia system 100 for providing custom video mosaic pages. The central installation 10 may include source of content 12, source of VRN display data 14, and distribution equipment 16. Content source 12 may include any suitable equipment for producing or generating VRN pages or screens that include technologies of composition based on MPEG-4 and can receive the content on any suitable network (for example, a Gigabit Ethernet network). The video content of the content source 12 may be in analog or digital form. In other embodiments, the content source 12 may be in a different installation than the central installation 10, and may also provide the content for the distribution of regular television channels (eg, broadcast programming and VOD content).

The source of the VRN display data 14 can be any suitable equipment for generating VRN display data. For example, the source of the VRN display data 14 may be a personal computer based system (PC) or a workstation. The user interface 18 can be any suitable interface, such as a graphical user interface based on Windows or Unix based (GUI), which allows, for example, an operator to define VRN definition files and synchronize the VRN display data of the definition files with the content of the content source 12. The user interface may allow an operator, for example, to specify transitions between different configuration specifications for selectable elements in synchronization with video content. The user interface may also allow an operator to define control data that controls, inter alia, the appearance, functionality, and interactivity of the screen elements, as well as the content or resource displayed on a screen element.

The display data can also include calls from local functions to be executed in the user's equipment 30 (via VRN client 31 or control circuits 32). Local function calls can be inserted into the display data by central installation 10 or distribution facility 20. Local function calls can return appropriate data values, such as the local route for the recording device 36 or other local storage within user equipment 30, an identification of local content to be included in a music page, or any other appropriate information. In some embodiments, the local functions are part of an application program interface (API) used for the interface with the VRN 31 client. The VRN 31 client can automatically execute any local function calls incorporated into the display data immediately after receiving display data, or instructions and function calls can be executed at some later time (for example, when a user tries to access or view the mosaic page). FIGURE 8, described below, shows the illustrative brand language tags used to transmit local function calls within the display data in some embodiments.

Collector 20, which may include any suitable combination of hardware and software, may collect or translate VRN display data from definition files into another format, such as binary format, XML,

or HTML In some embodiments, the user interface input 18 can be used to directly generate the display data without the need for the collector 20.

The distribution equipment 16 may be any suitable equipment for distributing the VRN pages of the content source 12 and the VRN display data of the source of the VRN display data 14 over the communication path 19 for distribution installation 20, and additionally on the communication path 28 for distribution to the user's equipment 30. The central installation 10 can distribute the VRN pages and the display data for multiple distribution installations 20, but it has been shown that only one avoids complicating the drawing much. In other embodiments, the central installation 10 can distribute the VRN pages and the display data to the users in the user equipment 30 directly. The distribution equipment 16 may distribute the VRN screens and VRN display data in any suitable analog or digital format and on any suitable communications route (eg, satellite or terrestrial transmission or the Internet). VRN display data can be distributed in the band or out of band with respect to the VRN pages. Display data can be sent synchronously with VRN pages or not synchronized. For example, display data, VRN pages, or both, can be sent at times of reduced network use.

The distribution installation 20 may be any installation (for example, a cable header) suitable for receiving VRN screens and display data and distributing the screens and display data to the user's equipment 30. There may be multiple users in multiple cases of the user's equipment 30, but only one case of the user's equipment has been shown to avoid complicating the drawing too much. The distribution facility 20 may include local insertion equipment 22 and content source 24 to allow a local operator to insert the content and data in the VRN screens or VRN display data, respectively, and collect the VRN display data in the Binary format for transmission (if required). The local insertion equipment 22 can run, for example, a local version of the user interface 18 and the collector 20.

The distribution equipment 26 may distribute the VRN pages and the VRN display data in any suitable analog or digital format and on any communications path suitable for the user's equipment 30 (eg, transmission, cable, or Internet.). Communication routes 19, 49, and 28 may include, for example, a satellite route, a fiber optic route, a cable route, an Internet route, or any other suitable wired or wireless route. For example, VRN pages can be provided as MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 transmissions. The distribution equipment 26 can provide each VRN page (and VRN display data) as an adjustable analog or digital channel, or as VOD transmission (which are referred to herein as VRN channels). VRN channels provide users of user equipment 30 with a set of interactive features that make a VRN application.

In some embodiments, the distribution facility 20 may provide the full-time VRN channel over a given analog or digital channel. Alternatively, the distribution facility 20 can provide VRN channels on demand or during specific time intervals or using digital video switching technology.

The distribution installation 20 may provide one or more VRN applications for the user equipment 30. A VRN application may include one or more VRN pages, buttons, and associated functionality. For example, FIGURE 4, described in more detail below, shows a home page display screen associated with an illustrative VRN application "what is in fashion."

The user equipment 30 may include any suitable equipment to provide an interactive multimedia experience and implement the VRN applications provided by the distribution facility 20. The user equipment 30 may include a television equipment such as a television, decoder, recording device , video game, user input device (for example, remote control, keyboard, mouse, touch keyboard, touch screen, or voice recognition interface), or any other suitable device to provide an interactive multimedia experience. For example, user equipment 30 may include a DCT 2000, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412 decoder provided by Motorola, Inc. In some embodiments, user equipment 30 may include computer equipment, such as a personal computer with a TV card (PCTV). In some embodiments, the user equipment 30 may include a gaming system, a portable electronic device, such as a portable DVD game, a portable playback device, a cell phone, a video phone, a PDA, a player music (for example, MP3 player), or any other suitable fixed or portable device.

In the example of FIGURE 1, the user equipment 30 includes control circuits 32, display device 34, recording device 36, user input device 38, and VRN client 31, all of which can be implemented as separate devices or as a single device. The VRN client 31 can be implemented in the user equipment 30 to receive, execute, and support VRN applications.

The control circuits 32 are adapted to receive the user input from the input device 38 and execute the instructions of the VRN client 31 and any other interactive applications that are executed on the user's equipment 30. The control circuits 32 may include one or more tuners (for example, analog or digital tuners), decoders (for example, MPEG decoders), processors (for example, Motorola 68000 family processors), memory (i.e. RAM and hard drives), communications circuit (for for example, cable modem circuit), input / output circuit (for example, graphics circuit), connections for the various devices of the user's equipment 30, and any other component suitable for providing analog or digital multimedia programming and interactive multimedia features . In one embodiment, control circuits 32 may be included as part of one of the devices of the user's equipment 30 such as, for example, part of the recording device 36, display device 34, or any other suitable device (for example, a set-top box, television, or video player).

The display device 34 may include any suitable device such as, for example, a television monitor, an LCD screen, a computer monitor, or a display incorporated in the user's equipment 30 (for example, a cell phone display or music player display). The display device 34 can also be configured to provide audio output and / or other sensory output (for example, a holographic projector or virtual reality simulator).

The recording device 36 may be a personal video recorder (PVR), digital video recorder (DVR), video cassette recorder (VCR), DVD recorder, playback device, digital audio collection, or any other device. adequate recording. The recording device 36 may include one or more tuners. In addition to storing programming resources, the recording device 36 can also store video messages received via a telephone with integrated or attached video.

The VRN client 31 can be implemented in the user equipment 30 as a stand-alone application or part of another interactive application, such as an interactive media guide application (IMGA) or interactive program guide (IPG) application. One or more of the interactive applications may receive interactive application data from the application data source 40. As shown in FIGURE 1, the data may be received by means of the distribution facility 20 on the communications path. 49. Alternatively, data can be received by the user equipment 30 from the application data source 40 on the direct communications path (not shown). The application data source 40 may also be part of the central installation 10 or distribution installation 20. In some embodiments, the interactive application data may include elements that are referenced in the VRN display data for inclusion in the VRN application such such as graphics, text, logos, advertisements, and the like. VRN templates, for example, can be provided as part of the interactive television application data.

The start pages (and other screens or VRN pages) supplied to the user's equipment 30 may include a number of interactive elements. Interactive elements can be highlighted, selected, or both. If the user navigates in a specific interactive element (for example, when using the arrow keys on a remote control device), the interactive element can be visually highlighted in some way (for example, a color limit may appear around the element ). If the user selects a highlighted interactive element (for example, by pressing the "OK" button on a remote control device), the system can display a specific tunable channel, VOD resource; VOD screen, recorded resource (for example, a video message or some other programs recorded or stored on the recording device 36), or another interactive application screen, based on the selection behavior specified for the interactive element in the data of VRN display

Although, in the illustrated embodiment of FIGURE 1, the VRN 31 client is internal to the user's equipment 30, the VRN 31 client can be implemented externally or partially implemented externally to the user's equipment

30. For example, the VRN client 31 can be implemented in the central installation 10 or distribution installation 20 and can be executed using a client server architecture or distributed architecture where some application is implemented locally on the user's computer 30 in the form of a client process and some application is implemented in a remote location in the form of a server process. The VRN client 31 can also be fully implemented on any suitable server, computer equipment, or decoder accessible by the user equipment 30.

FIGURE 2 shows the illustrative multimedia system 200 with content sources available for use in the VRN pages of the present invention. Remote installation 202 may exist in a cable head system or a remote MSO installation responsible for creating custom VRN pages and supplying these pages to the user's equipment 30. In some embodiments, remote installation 202 is the same installation as the central installation 10 or distribution installation 20 (both of FIGURE 1).

Remote installation 202 may include VRN composition server 204. VRN composition server 204 may combine one or more video resources from linear content sources 208 and non-linear content sources 206 in a single viewer or VRN page. After generating the appropriate display data, the page can then be transmitted to the user's equipment 30. The VRN 204 composition server may include the MPEG decoder circuit, MPEG encoder, and MPEG transcoder. Additionally or alternatively, the VRN 204 composition server can communicate with remote devices that perform any of the functions of composing, encoding, decoding or transcoding mentioned above.

Linear content sources 208 may include any content source that contains video resources transmitted or transmitted on a scheme. The video resources available from linear content sources 208 may include, for example, broadcast television programming, switched digital television, and pay-per-view programming. Nonlinear content sources 206 may include any content source that contains video resources not transmitted or transmitted in a scheme. Examples of non-linear content sources include Internet content and demand programming. The VRN composition server 204 can use the content of one or both linear content sources 208 and non-linear content sources 206 in composing video resources to create a VRN page. For example, a cell on a VRN page can display a video from an Internet website, another cell on the same VRN page can display the transmitted television content, while still another cell can view on-demand programming.

In addition to composing video resources from linear content sources 208 and non-linear content sources 206, the VRN 204 composition server can also designate one or more cells in a VRN page as a placeholder cell. These placeholder cells can correspond to empty cells without a corresponding video resource presented at the cell location. The appropriate video can then be superimposed on the placeholder cell locations in the user's equipment 30. For example, the user's equipment 30 may include the MPEG composition system 218, which may include the encoding, decoding circuit, and MPEG transcoding. The MPEG composition system can extract video from the DVR 220, playback device 222, or memory 224 for use in filling in VRN position marker cells or locally generated VRN pages. The extracted video can be a continuous or loop video segment of one

or more video resources stored on these devices. If a locally generated page is generated, the MPEG 218 composition system can then create a composite stream with a plurality of video resources, which includes video extracted from local resources, for use in a VRN page.

For example, DVR 220 may include stored transmission hours, on demand, and pay-per-view programming. The MPEG composition system 218 can extract video segments from the selected resources stored in DVR 220 and store these extracted segments in DVR 220 or some other storage device (for example, memory 224). These segments extracted from continuous or loop video can be superimposed on one or more cells of a VRN page, such as the pages shown in FIGURES 4-7, which are described in more detail below.

Similarly, the MPEG composition system 218 can also extract video segments from the game device 222 and from the memory 224. The game device 222 can include a plurality of interactive games stored on CD-ROM, cartridge, DVD, or any other suitable storage mechanism. The MPEG composition system 218 can extract the video from the game device 222 and store the video in DVR 220 or in the memory 224. The memory 224 may include any suitable memory or storage device, including hard disk drives, storage devices tape, optical drives, flash memory, RAM, ROM, and hybrid types of memory. Video extracted from game device 222 can also be superimposed on one or more cells of a VRN page, such as the pages shown in FIGURES 4-7.

In certain systems used to create VRN pages, multiple videos resize and are composed in a network configuration and then the entire video network is compressed again to create a video stream (for example, an elementary video stream in MPEG-2 language) that is carried on a video channel (a single-service digital or multiplex channel in MPEG-2 language) that corresponds to approximately 3 Mbps of broadband data. Alternatively or additionally, the header systems can have multiple videos, create a single video stream for each of the multiple videos and then multiplex the multiple video streams into a single transport multiplex (for example, a service transport multiplex multiple in MPEG-2 language, which corresponds to, for example, a 6 MHz band in North American cable systems). In this configuration, each of the elementary streaming videos requires approximately 3 Mbps of broadband, and a normal 10 video multiplex can occupy 30 Mbps. Also in this configuration, one or more of these approximately 3 Mbps multiplexed videos can be Composite videos as described above. This last multiplexing can be done not for mosaic presentation purposes, but as a means to pack multiple videos in a single frequency band that corresponds to a 64 or 256 QAM modulator. However, one embodiment uses the multiplexing capability of MPEG-2 (or any multiplexing transport such as the Internet (IP) or ATM protocol) to flexibly group the videos that correspond to the video elements supplied remotely from a VRN page but with the recognition that the grouped videos will be composed on the user's device device. However, the spatial resolution and size can be adjusted according to the above in the head before multiplexing the videos. Each video adjusted in this way will take less broadband to send its corresponding full resolution source video (for example, less than 80%), but not when composing these videos set in the header, this method allows flexibility in the user's equipment device to compose while also saving broadband. The multiplexed videos can then be demultiplexed and optionally decompressed on the user's computer device.

In some embodiments, additional local video resources may be available to display one or more cells of a VRN page. For example, video messages stored in memory 224, DVR 220, or an integrated or linked videoconference can fill the cells of a VRN page. The MPEG 218 composition system can encode these video resources in a suitable MPEG format (eg, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4) for presentation on a VRN page, if required.

In a typical usage scenario, a multi-video sequence is composed (at least partially) of the VRN 204 composition server in remote installation 202. As described above, the composite sequence may include a plurality of video resources, each positioned in a cell location. Certain cell locations, such as those that correspond to placeholder cells, cannot have associated video when the transmission is composed. The video resources for these cells can be selected and superimposed by the VRN 31 client. After the user's equipment device receives the VRN transmission, the VRN 31 client can process the transmission and prepare the page for viewing. In the process of preparing the page for viewing, the VRN client 31 can analyze the cell definitions contained in the display data (which can be transmitted with the VRN page or on a separate channel). The VRN client 31 can then instruct control circuits 214 to execute any local functions that can be referenced within the display data. In executing the local functions, the control circuits 32 can access (or cause access of the MPEG compositing system 218) one or more video segments of DVR 220, playback device 222, and / or memory 224. After All video sources for the VRN page are located, the VRN 31 client can view the VRN page with local resources superimposed on the page in one or more cell locations. In this way, cells on the VRN page can be filled with resources from various sources, including local sources.

Instead of receiving the VRN page of remote installation 202, VRN pages can also be generated partially or completely locally. Locally generated pages can be composed entirely on the user's equipment 30 in some embodiments. To compose a page locally, the MPEG 218 compositing system can create an interactive multi-video composite page. The video sources used in the composite multivideo interactive page may include any sources accessible by the user equipment 30, which includes local content, the content of linear sources 208, and the content of non-linear sources 206. This provides a more flexible alternative. for remotely generated pages.

In some cases, the difference between composing a VRN page locally and remotely can be significant. For example, a VRN page with few or no local resources can be composed more efficiently in remote installation 202, while pages with more local resources can benefit from local composition. Additionally, at least the partial local composition allows the creation of the dynamic VRN page and customization based on active user monitoring, user behavior, and user preferences, as described in more detail below.

FIGURE 3 shows the illustrative generic video mosaic display screen 300. In the example of FIGURE 3, screen 300 contains eight listed cells, or windows. Each of these eight cells can be filled with a different video resource or channel. For example, cell 302 may include full motion video of the "225 Cinemax" channel while cell 303 may contain promotional advertisements for new VOD movie releases. Each of the cells in the display 300 can be selected individually using the input device 38 (FIGURE 1). For example, the user can highlight a cell in display 300 using the arrow or cursor keys on a remote control. In the example of FIGURE 3, cell 303 is currently highlighted, as shown by the dark boundary around the cell. One or more cells can be selected simultaneously, if desired. For example, after pressing the “OK” key on the input device 38 (FIGURE 1), the selected state of a cell can alternate on and off. The user can then select one or more additional cells in the same way.

In some embodiments, a selected subset of cells can be used to form a new custom VRN page. For example, in such embodiments, a user can select cells 302 and 303 of FIGURE 3 and then enter a "create custom VRN page" command (for example, by selecting said command from an on-screen menu or option button). Other cell selection combinations are also possible as well as the selection of cells from a combination of other different standard or custom system VRN screens and / or network listed resources.

The number, location, size, and shape of the cells in the display 300 can be altered. As described above, the display data can be used to define the elements in a VRN page. This data can define more or less than eight cells and cells of different sizes, positions, and shapes than those shown in FIGURE 3.

The VRN 300 display screen can also include one or more vertical option buttons 304 and horizontal option buttons 306. These buttons can link the screen 300 with other VRN screens, the main interactive media screen guide application, or develop any functionality. adequate. For example, one button can select all the cells listed on screen 300, while another button can deselect all the cells listed on screen 300.

The cells in the VRN 300 display screen can be filled with the content of similar sources or mixed mode sources. For example, one cell may contain broadcast television content, while another cell may contain content on demand. Still another cell can contain local DVR content. The sources of the cells on the VRN 300 display screen can be determined by the creator of the VRN page. For example, cells 1, 2, 3, and 4 can display video resources that are composed of a remote multi-video transmission of the user's equipment. The remaining cells (that is, cells 5, 6, 7, and 8) may be placeholder cells, which are superimposed with video resources on the user's equipment device. In some embodiments, the placeholder cells may be superimposed with local content; such as locally registered content.

FIGURES 4-7 show VRN 400 start pages (FIGURE 4), 500 (FIGURE 5), 600 (FIGURE 6), and 700 (FIGURE 7). Each of these home pages can be generated remotely or generated locally. In some embodiments, VRN pages display one or more local resources, such as video loops of the content recorded in DVR 220 (FIGURE 2), can be generated locally. Each of the home pages 400 (FIGURE 4), 500 (FIGURE 5), 600 (FIGURE 6), and 700 (FIGURE 7) can be accessed through a particular digital television channel. Any of the video cells on the home pages of FIGURES 4-7 can be individually selected using the input device 38 (FIGURE 1). After selecting a cell, one or more additional information screens can be displayed near the resource currently displayed in the selected cell. Additionally or alternatively, after selecting any cell on the home pages of the FIGURES. 4-7, the resource currently presented in the selected cell can be accessed automatically and presented in full screen mode. For example, a digital television channel can be set, local content can be accessed, or a request for a resource on demand can be transmitted by the user equipment in response to the user selecting a video cell.

Although the start pages 400 (FIGURE 4), 500 (FIGURE 5), 600 (FIGURE 6), and 700 (FIGURE 7) show a number of video cells (which includes main cells and miniature cells), the number can be altered , size, and position of these cells.

FIGURE 4 shows the VRN homepage "what is fashionable" illustrative 400 according to an embodiment of the invention. A user may be presented with the homepage 400 after selecting an appropriate button on the input device 38 (FIGURE 1). For example, a "Start Page" button may provide direct access to the start page 400. In some embodiments, the start page 400 may optionally be secured, which requires a valid parental control access code entry with In order to see the page. Home page 400 may include main cell 406, thumbnail cells 402, 403, 404, and 405, PIP window 416, and option buttons 407. Main cell 406 and thumbnail cells 402, 403, 404, and 405 can be VRN cells, capable of displaying full motion video. In some embodiments, the main cell 406 is approximately four times more than the size of the miniature cells 402, 403, 404, and 405.

In the described embodiment, the miniature cells 402, 403, 404, and 405 present video resources from various local and remote sources. For example, the miniature cell 402 may have a home page registered in a local recording device, such as DVR 220 (FIGURE 2). The miniature cell 403 can present, for example, an Internet video clip. The miniature cell 404 may present, for example, a broadcast television sports event, and the miniature cell 405 may present, for example, a cartoon on demand.

The selection of video resources for viewing in miniature cells 402, 403, 404, and 405 can be based on a series of criteria. For example, cells may contain video resources more recently or more frequently accessed by a user of user equipment 30 (FIGURE 2). Cells can also contain video resources more recently or more frequently accessed by all multimedia system users 100 (FIGURE 1). In some embodiments, the VRN 31 client may maintain a list or database table (not shown) of "fashion content", which includes an identification of local resources (such as recorded programming), transmitted programming, resources on demand , and Internet resources. The list of fashion content may be specific to a single user of the user equipment 30, a group of users of the user equipment 30, or a group of user equipment devices in the multimedia system 100 (FIGURE 1). The resources listed in the fashion table or table of contents may include resources characterized by the MSO or service provider, the resources meet a certain threshold criteria (for example, resources recently accessed by the user within a certain period, resources access a certain number of times, or any other appropriate criteria), or any combination of the resources mentioned above. The list or table may be transmitted from the central installation 10 (FIGURE 1) or distribution facility 20 (FIGURE 1) in some embodiments. The VRN 31 client can access the list or register of the fashionable content to determine what content must be present in the miniature cells 402, 403, 404, and

405

If the video signal corresponding to the homepage 400 is generated remotely (ie, remote composite of the user's equipment), some of the video resources presented on the page may be superimposed on the user's equipment. For example, if cell 404 corresponds to a locally registered content accessible from DVR 220 (FIGURE 2), then this video resource may be superimposed on the appropriate location for cell 404.

From the user's point of view, if the page is generated remotely or generated locally it can be completely transparent to the user.

Option buttons 407 can provide unique selection access for a variety of commonly used features. For example, option button 408 can link the user to an interactive media guide application. Option button 410 can link the user to a demand list screen or VRN page, such as the home page 500 (FIGURE 5). Option button 412 can link the user to a DVR listing screen or VRN page, such as the start page 600 (FIGURE 6). Option button 414 can link the user to a favorite listings screen or VRN page, such as the homepage 700 (FIGURE 7).

FIGURE 5 shows the VRN 500 homepage "what is fashionable on demand" illustrative. The start page 500 may be similar to the start page 400 of FIGURE 4 and may include the main cell 506, thumbnail cells 502, 503, 504, and 505, and option buttons 507. Unlike thumbnail cells 402 , 403, 404, and 405 (FIGURE 4), which can display the contents of a variety of different sources, the miniature cells 502, 503, 504, and 505 can display resources only on demand. In some embodiments, the resources displayed in the miniature cells 502, 503, 504, and 505 may be selected by the MSO or service provider. For example, new or more popular demand releases can be displayed in thumbnails 502, 503, 504, and

505. In other embodiments, the miniature cells 502, 503, 504, and 505 may display the content on demand recently accessed by, or currently marked on, the user's equipment 30 (FIGURE 1).

FIGURE 6 shows the VRN 600 homepage of “what's hot on my DVR” illustrative. The start page 500 may be similar to the start page 400 of FIGURE 4 and may include the main cell 606, thumbnail cells 602, 603, 604, and 605, and option buttons 607. Unlike thumbnail cells 402 , 403, 404, and 405 (FIGURE 4), which can display the contents of a variety of different sources, the miniature cells 602, 603, 604, and 605 can only display locally registered resources. For example, in some embodiments, thumbnail cells 602, 603, 604, and 605 can display recently registered (or frequently) locally accessed resources accessed by user equipment 30 (FIGURE 1). The miniature cells 602, 603, 604, and 605 can display portions of the loop or continuos of locally registered resources.

For example, the MPEG 218 composition system (FIGURE 2) can extract local video loops from locally registered resources and optionally register them in memory 224 (FIGURE 2) or in DVR 220 (FIGURE 2). The local compositing system can then generate the VRN page locally with one or more of the extracted video loops present in the thumbnail cells 602, 603, 604, and 605. The part of the resource locally registered to extract the use on the page of VRN startup can be determined using a scene selection algorithm. The algorithm can identify scene changes within a video resource (for example, when analyzing the video and / or audio components of the resource using an unsupervised segmentation algorithm, motion estimation algorithm, or any other suitable algorithm). In some embodiments, the scene selection algorithm can also use user view behavior or preferences to determine which portions of locally registered content to extract use on the VRN 600 homepage. For example, if a certain part of a Locally registered video resource (for example, the favorite scene of the user of a movie or favorite reproduction of a sports event) is observed more frequently than other parts, this part can be selected using the scene selection algorithm for extraction. In some embodiments, user preferences, such as a list of favorite programs, are accessed in order to determine which locally registered resources are selected for presentation on the VRN 600 homepage. The VRN 600 homepage may also present the four frequently or recently accessed user records in thumbnail cells 602, 603, 604, and 605.

FIGURE 7 shows the VRN 700 homepage of “what is fashionable that I might like” illustrative. The start page 700 may be similar to the start page 400 of FIGURE 4 and may include main cell 706, thumbnail cells 702, 703, 704, and 705, and option buttons 707. Like thumbnail cells 402, 403 , 404, and 405 (FIGURE 4), thumbnail cells 702, 703, 704, and 705 can display the contents of a variety of different sources (ie, homepage 700 may be a "mixed mode" page) . For example, cell 702 can display a movie on demand feature, cell 703 can display a live broadcast television program, cell 704 can display an Internet video, and cell 705 can display a locally registered video.

The content displayed in thumbnail cells 702, 703, 704, and 705 can be selected based on a number of criteria. For example, the user can create a user profile that includes the user's favorite genres, sports teams, actors, directors, or any other suitable information. Using the profile data, the VRN 31 client (FIGURE 2) can select any resources accessible by the user equipment 30 (FIGURE 1) to display in thumbnail 702, 703, 704, and 705 cells corresponding to one or more of the preferences of the user. The user profile can also be complemented with data obtained from active user supervision. For example, all interaction with user equipment 30 (FIGURE 1) can be monitored and optionally connected. The amount of temporary resources are displayed, the sources of the accessed resources, the genres of the accessed resources, and any other suitable information can be included in the user's profile. In this way, the user's profile can contain a record of all the resources that have been exceeded through the user's equipment and the amount of time of each resource is presented. The VRN 31 client (FIGURE 1) can use this information when selecting video resources for cells on VRN pages, such as the VRN 700 home page.

FIGURES 8A and 8B show illustrative markup language files 800 and 810. File 800 may be associated with the unique name 802 and one or more brand language tags in body 804. Body 804 may include HTML, XML, tags. and / or SGML in some embodiments. Labels in body 804 may include cell definitions for all or a subset of cells on a VRN page, such as VRN start pages 400 (FIGURE 4), 500 (FIGURE 5), 600 (FIGURE 6), and 700 (FIGURE 7). As shown in the example of FIGURE 8A, an identification of the content to include in cell 1 of the VRN page is provided in the "c_name" tag. This tag refers to a local function call to be executed on the user's equipment 30 (FIGURE 1). The source of the cell and the local path of the content to display in the cell are provided by the functions "getHotDVRsource" and "getHotDVRPath", respectively. The body 804 may also include an indication of selected portions of the content for use as video loops in the VRN cell. Finally, body 804 can define action data for cells on the VRN page, such as the behavior to highlight or select a cell.

FIGURE 8B shows the brand language file 810 associated with the unique name 812. The file 810 may correspond to the local version of the file 800 after being processed by the VRN client 31 (FIGURE 1). For clarity, the local function calls have been executed and the data is returned by the function calls placed within the appropriate tags. For example, the “getHotDVRPath” function returns to the path of a locally registered resource “/local/dvrl/00004.mp2”. Each function call for “getHotDVRPath” can return to the path of a different locally registered resource “hot”, based on user preference data and monitor what is described above. The VRN 31 client (FIGURE 2) can read the definition of the cell received from the markup language files to determine if any of the placeholder cells exist on the page. If so, the VRN client (FIGURE 2) can execute the local functions to determine the identity of the video resources that is displayed in the placeholder cells. The VRN client can then overlay the appropriate video resources at the position of the placeholder cells and display the page. More or less labeled than those defined in body 814 and 804 can be used in other embodiments.

FIGURE 9 shows the illustrative process 900 for generating a VRN page according to an embodiment of the invention. In step 902, a request for a VRN page is received. For example, the user can press a "home page" button on the input device 38 (FIGURE 1) or tune in to a certain digital channel. In step 904, the VRN client 31 (FIGURE 2) can determine whether the requested VRN page is generated remotely or generated locally. If the page is generated remotely, in step 906 the display data can be received by the page. For example, the source of the VRN 14 display data (FIGURE 1) can generate the display data and transmit the display data generated for the distribution installation 20 (FIGURE 1). The distribution installation 20 (FIGURE 1) can then, in turn, transmit the display data to the user equipment 30 (FIGURE 1). The display data can define the user's response behaviors for any of the selected cells in the mosaic page. Additionally, one or more placeholder cells can be defined in the display data. The position marker cell definition may include an indication of the position marker cell size, location (for example, x and y coordinates) or any other suitable information.

The received display data is then analyzed by the VRN client 31 (FIGURE 2) in step 908. The VRN client can then determine, in step 918, whether the display data defines one or more placeholder cells. For example, the 800 mark language file (FIGURE 8) may designate one or more cells as placeholder cells. The display data can also reference several local function calls for each placeholder cell. These local function calls can return any suitable or variable data on the local user equipment device. For example, file system paths, resource source identifiers, pointers for multimedia resources, or any other suitable information can be returned through local function calls. In step 920, if the display data defines a placeholder cell, the video in the mosaic display is superimposed on the position of the placeholder cell.

If, in step 904, a determination is made that the VRN page is generated locally, in step 910 the VRN 31 client (FIGURE 2) can locate the video sources for the requested VRN page. For example, if the user has requested “what is in fashion on my DVR” homepage 600 (FIGURE 6), user profile information (which includes user monitoring data) can be accessed to determine which resources You must fill in the cells on the VRN page. In step 912, the VRN client 31 (FIGURE 2) can determine if any local sources are selected for inclusion in the VRN page. If the cells do not display any local content, remote video sources can be accessed in step 914. If one more of the cells displays the local content, a video loop extracted from the content can be accessed in step 916. For example, the MPEG 218 composition system (FIGURE 8) can extract selected portions of video from one

or more locally registered resources.

In step 922, the VRN page can be generated. For example, if the page is generated remotely, all video sources can be composed at the remote composition location in a single video signal and displayed on an interactive page, such as the home page shown in FIGURES 4- 7. If the page is generated remotely, the video signal and any overlapping video can be combined in a single display on the user's device device. In general, the page can be transmitted to the source of at least one of the video sources to be displayed on the VRN for additional composition, if desired. The VRN page can then be displayed to the user in step 924. For example, control circuits 32 (FIGURE 1) may cause the page to be displayed on display device 34 (FIGURE 1).

In practice, a flexible mix of composition at the remote location and local composition can be combined with video supply from local and remote sources. As such, one or more stages shown in the process 900 may be repeated, combined with other stages, developed in any suitable order, developed in parallel (eg, simultaneously or substantially simultaneously) or removed. Additionally, in some embodiments, the composition can be done remotely while the display data is generated locally or vice versa.

FIGURE 10 shows the illustrative process 1000 for filling a VRN cell with local content. In step 1002, the display data can be received or generated. If the page is generated remotely, the display data can be received from a remote location (for example, distribution facility 20 of FIGURE 2). This display data can define one or more cells of a VRN page. For example, the display data may include an identification of the source of one or more cells, an identification of the content of one or more cells, action data to respond to user behavior (for example, the selection of one or more cells ), and any other appropriate information. In step 1004, the VRN 31 client (FIGURE 1) can determine whether the display data references any local sources. For example, the content stored in DVR 220 (FIGURE 2), game device 222 (FIGURE 2), or memory 224 (FIGURE 2) can be referenced by display data. Currently instead of referring to a local source, a local function call can return to the local source, as described above.

If, in step 1004, the display data references a local source, a determination is made in step 1006 if there is a video loop of the local source in the user's equipment. If there is a local video loop, it can be accessed in step 1008. If there is no local video loop, a part of the local source can be selected for a video loop segment in step 1010. For example, You can use a scene selection algorithm in some embodiments to identify new scenes or change scenes within a video resource. The scene selection algorithm can also access the profile information to determine which portion is selected for the video loop segment. For example, the scene selection algorithm can select a most frequently viewed portion of a video resource, if it exists, for the video loop segment.

In step 1012, the selected portion of video can be extracted from the video resource and stored in the user's equipment device. For example, the MPEG 218 composition system (FIGURE 2) can extract the selected portion and store it as an MPEG-2 file in memory 224 (FIGURE 2) or in DVR 220 (FIGURE 2). In step 1014, the VRN page can be affected with the local video loop superimposed on the position of a video cell, such as the miniature cell 402, 403, 404, or 405 (FIGURE 4). Finally, in step 1016, the VRN page can be viewed with the local video loops for the user.

In practice, one or more stages shown in process 1000 may be repeated, combined with other stages, developed in any suitable order, developed in parallel (for example, simultaneously or substantially simultaneously) or removed.

FIGURE 11 shows the illustrative process 1100 for presenting a customized VRN page based on user profile information, user monitoring, or both. In step 1102, the user's behavior is monitored and optionally recorded to the user's equipment. For example, some application process implemented in the user's equipment 30 can monitor all interaction with the user's equipment, which includes the request for access to frequently viewed content, programs and genres, and any other suitable features. Additionally, the user can have a saved profile on the user's computer. If a user profile is defined in step 1104, the profile data is read in step 1106. This profile data may include various content preferences for the user. For example, the user can select their favorite program, sports team, actor, director, genre, or any other suitable preference.

After reading the user profile data in step 1106, the local content can be selected to display on one or more custom VRN pages in step 1110. The selected content can be based on user profile data and user behavior. . If a user profile is not defined for the current user in step 1104, the local content can be selected for presentation on one or more custom VRN pages

5 at step 1108 based on the behavior of the monitored user. For example, the VRN 400 homepage (FIGURE 4) may include local content recently or frequently accessed by the user in one or more of the miniature cells 402, 403, 404 and 405 (FIGURE 4).

In step 1112, the VRN page is generated or updated. For example, the MPEG 218 composition system (FIGURE 2) can extract local content video loops as described above. The VRN 31 client

10 (FIGURE 2) You can then exchange one or more VRN cells with the new local content selections. In this way, the user can be presented with personalized VRN pages that include one or more local content cells that are particularly relevant to the user. Each time the custom page is displayed, new video resources can be presented on the page, depending on the user's observation habits, preferences, and user monitoring information.

In practice, one or more stages shown in process 1100 can be repeated, combined with other stages, developed in any suitable order, developed in parallel (for example, simultaneously or substantially simultaneously) or removed.

The above-described embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the following claims.

Claims (15)

1. A method for displaying a video mosaic page on a user equipment device, the method comprises: receiving a video signal comprising a plurality of video resources for viewing on a video mosaic page; receive, from a remote installation of the user device, the display data defining a position marker video cell on the video mosaic page and an action to be performed in response to a user selection of the cell of placeholder video, where the display data comprises a cell definition that uniquely identifies the local video resource; select a local video resource based on the definition of the received cell; superimpose the video that corresponds to the local video resource selected in the video signal at a position that corresponds to the position marker video cell, where the video corresponding to the selected local video resource is stored in the local memory on the user's device device; Y display the video signal and the video that corresponds to the local video resource selected on an interactive screen.

2.

The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring user interaction with the user's device device and saving user interaction information user view preferences for a user profile.

3.

The method of claim 2 further comprising selecting the local video resource based on at least one of the user interaction information in the user profile and the user's view preferences in the user profile.

Four.

The method of claim 1 wherein overlaying the video corresponding to the selected local video resource comprises extracting a video loop from the selected local video resource and superimposing the extracted video loop.

5.

The method of claim 4 further comprising selecting a specific part of the local video resource selected for extraction using a scene change algorithm.

6.

The method of claim 1 wherein the video signal comprises a remotely composed video that is composed by a compositional installation that is remote from the user's equipment device, the composite video comprising two or more video components in where at least one of the video components is obtained by the user equipment device for remote composition installation.

7.

The method of claim 1 wherein the video signal comprises a video multiplex with the plurality of video multiplex resources, wherein each video resource is carried in a separate video stream that is distinct from the other video streams. and where the number of pixels of each video resource corresponds to less than 80% of those that would nominally occupy the full screen of the user's equipment device.

8.

The method of claim 7 further comprising decompressing at least one of the plurality of video resources and composing the decompressed video resources with at least one local video resource, wherein the position of the composite local video resource corresponds to the position of at least one placeholder video cell.

9.

A system for displaying a video mosaic page on a user equipment device, the system comprises:

a local memory for the user equipment device for storing video that corresponds to at least one local video resource; Y control circuits configured for: receiving a video signal comprising a plurality of video resources to display on a video mosaic page; receive, from a remote remote installation of the user equipment device, the display data defining a position marker video cell on the video mosaic page and an action to be performed in response to a selection of user of the placeholder video cell, where the display data comprises a cell definition that uniquely identifies local video resource; select a local video resource based on the definition of the received cell; superimpose the video that corresponds to the local video resource selected in the video signal at a position that corresponds to the position marker video cell; Y display the video signal and the video that corresponds to the local video resource selected on an interactive screen.

10.

The system of claim 9 wherein the control circuit is further configured to monitor user interaction with the user equipment device and save user interaction information user view preferences for a user profile.

eleven.

The system of claim 10 wherein the control circuit is further configured to select the local video resource based on at least one of the user interaction information in the user profile and the user's view preferences in the user profile

12.

The system of claim 9 wherein the control circuit is configured to superimpose the video corresponding to the selected local video resource by extracting a video loop from the selected local video resource and superimposing the extracted video loop.

13.

The system of claim 12 wherein the control circuit is further configured to select a specific part of the local video resource selected for extraction using a scene change algorithm.

14.

The system of claim 9 wherein the video signal comprises a remotely composed composite video that is composed by a compositional installation that is remote from the user's equipment device, the composite video comprises two or more video components wherein At least one of the video components is obtained by the user equipment device for remote composition installation.

fifteen.

The system of claim 9 wherein the video signal comprises a video multiplex with the plurality of video multiplex resources, wherein each video resource is carried in a separate video stream that is distinct from the other video streams. and where the number of pixels of each video resource corresponds to less than 80% of those that would nominally occupy the full screen of the user's equipment device.