 |
Claims  |
|
|
What is claimed is:
1. A personalized electronic information delivery system comprising, in combination,
a host subsystem comprising:
a file storage server for storing a library of program segments, at least some of which include natural language text recorded in digital compressed form,
means for storing a category description for each of a plurality of subject matter categories,
means for storing a program description of each of said program segments, each of said program descriptions including the identification of one or more of said subject matter categories to which the described program segment belongs,
means for storing a subscriber description of each of a plurality of subscribers, each of said subscriber descriptions containing information indicative of particular subject matter categories designated as being of interest to the described
subscriber,
means for compiling a personalized catalog of suggested program segments for a given one of said subscribers, said personalized catalog consisting of category descriptions and program descriptions selected in accordance with the subscriber
description for said given subscriber,
means for transmitting said personalized catalog upon request, and
means for transmitting identified ones of said program segments upon request,
a data communications pathway, and
a client player device located remotely from said file storage server, said player device comprising, in combination:
means for establishing a bi-directional data transfer connection between said player device and said file storage server,
means for transferring information to said host system for inclusion in a subscriber description for a designated subscriber having access to said player device,
means for transmitting to said host system a request for a personalized catalog compiled for said designated subscriber,
means for receiving the requested catalog from said host subsystem,
means for transmitting said to said host system a request for one or more desired program segments selected from the suggested program segments in the requested catalog, and
means for receiving said desired program segments from said host system, and
means for reproducing said natural language text in a form comprehensible to a human user from selected ones of said program segments.
2. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said natural language text recorded in compressed form consists of a digital audio recording of spoken natural language text.
3. A system as set forth in claim 2 wherein said host subsystem further includes means for storing digital data representing a transcript of at least a portion of the spoken natural language text recorded in at least some of said program
segments.
4. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said natural language text recorded in compressed form consists of digital data representing a sequence of words expressed as text characters and wherein
said means for reproducing said natural language text in a form comprehensible to a human user comprises speech synthesis means for converting said word into audible spoken form understandable to a human listener.
5. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said subscriber descriptions include information describing the attributes of a given subscriber and wherein at least selected ones of said program
descriptions contain subscriber attribute information specifying the attributes of subscribers to whom the described program segment may be of interest, and wherein said means for compiling a personalized catalog includes means for matching the
attributes in said subscriber descriptions to the subscriber attribute information in said program descriptions.
6. A stem as set forth in claim 5 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the age of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the ages of subscribers to whom the described segment may be of interest.
7. A system as set forth in claim 5 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the sex of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the sex of subscribers to whom the described segment may be of interest.
8. A system as set forth in claim 5 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the marital status of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the marital status of subscribers to whom the described segment may
be of interest.
9. A system as set forth in claim 5 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the geographic location of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the geographic location of subscribers to whom the described
segment may be of interest.
10. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least some of said category descriptions further contain information indicative of other cross-referenced subject matter categories to which the
described category is related and wherein said means for compiling said catalog includes means for including said cross-referenced category descriptions in said catalog.
11. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said data communications pathway is a digital transmission system and wherein said file storage server stores said programs in identified files which may
be transmitted via said digital transmission system.
12. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said program descriptions includes means for identifying one or more files stored on said file storage server which relate to the program segment
described by that program description.
13. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said host subsystem further comprises:
means for receiving from a subscriber via said communications pathway a search request for the identification of program segments satisfying criteria specified in said search request,
means for compiling a listing of said programs satisfying said criteria, and
means for transmitting said listing to that subscriber which issued said search request.
14. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said host subsystem further comprises means for compiling a program schedule consisting of an ordered sequence of selected ones of said program segments
and means for transferring said program schedule to said client player via said communications pathway, and wherein said client player includes means for reproducing said selected ones of said program segments.
15. A system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said client player includes means for reproducing said selected ones of said program segments in the order specified in said program schedule.
16. A system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said client player includes means for altering said program schedule to form an edited schedule and means for reproducing the program segments in the order specified in said edited schedule.
17. A system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said client player includes means locally storing program segments received from said host subsystem, means for comparing the specification of program segments contained in said program schedule with
the identity of program segments locally stored by said client player, and means for transmitting a request to said server subsystem for programs segments specified in said program schedule but not locally stored by said client player.
18. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said client player system includes means for recording a usage log containing the identification of program segments played and means for transmitting said
usage log to said host subsystem, and wherein said host subsystem includes means for processing said usage log to produce billing information for said subscriber.
19. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said client player system includes means for recording a usage log containing the identification of program segments played and means for transmitting said
usage log to said host subsystem, and wherein said host subsystem includes excluding from said catalog of suggested program segments at least some of the program segments identified on said usage log as having been played.
20. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said client player system includes means for recording a usage log containing the identification of program segments played and means for transmitting
said usage log to said host subsystem, and wherein said host subsystem includes excluding from said program schedule at least some of the program segments identified on said usage log as having been played.
21. A personalized electronic information delivery system comprising, in combination,
an Internet host subsystem comprising:
a file storage server for storing a plurality of program segments, at least some of which include natural language text recorded in digital compressed form and stored as named retrievable files,
means for storing a category description for each of a plurality of subject matter categories,
means for storing a program description of the information content of each of said program segments, each of said program descriptions including the identification of one or more of said subject matter categories to which the described program
segment belongs,
means for storing a subscriber description of at least one subscriber, said subscriber description containing information indicative of particular subject matter categories designated as being of interest to said subscriber,
means for compiling a personalized catalog of suggested program segments for use by said subscriber, said personalized catalog consisting of category descriptions and program descriptions selected in accordance with said subscriber description,
a port for establishing a data communications pathway to the Internet,
means for transferring said personalized catalog to said subscriber, and
means for transmitting identified ones of said program segments to said subscriber upon request, and
a client player device accessible to said subscriber at a geographic location remote from said host subsystem, said player device comprising, in combination:
means for establishing a data transfer connection via the Internet between said player device and said Internet host subsystem,
means for transferring information describing said subscriber to said host system for inclusion in said subscriber description,
means for transmitting to said host system a request for a said personalized catalog,
means for receiving the requested catalog from said host subsystem,
means for transmitting said to said host system a request for one or more desired program segments selected from the suggested program segments in the requested catalog, and
means for receiving said desired program segments from said host system, and
means for reproducing said natural language text in a form comprehensible to a human user from selected ones of said program segments.
22. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said natural language text recorded in compressed form consists of a digital audio recording of spoken natural language text.
23. A system as set forth in claim 22 wherein said host subsystem further includes means for storing digital data representing a transcript of at least a portion of the spoken natural language text recorded in at least some of said program
segments.
24. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said natural language text recorded in compressed form consists of digital data representing a sequence of words expressed as text characters and wherein
said means for reproducing said natural language text in a form comprehensible to a human user comprises speech synthesis means for converting said word into audible spoken form understandable to a human listener.
25. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said subscriber descriptions include information describing the attributes of a given subscriber and wherein at least selected ones of said program
descriptions contain subscriber attribute information specifying the attributes of subscribers to whom the described program segment may be of interest, and wherein said means for compiling a personalized catalog includes means for matching the
attributes in said subscriber descriptions to the subscriber attribute information in said program descriptions.
26. A system as set forth in claim 25 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the age of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the ages of subscribers to whom the described segment may be of interest.
27. A system as set forth in claim 26 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the sex of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the sex of subscribers to whom the described segment may be of interest.
28. A system as set forth in claim 27 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the marital status of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the marital status of subscribers to whom the described segment may
be of interest.
29. A system as set forth in claim 28 wherein said subscriber attribute information specifies the geographic location of said subscriber and wherein said program descriptions specify the geographic location of subscribers to whom the described
segment may be of interest.
30. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein at least some of said category descriptions further contain information indicative of other cross-referenced subject matter categories to which the
described category is related and wherein said means for compiling said catalog includes means for including said cross-referenced category descriptions in said catalog.
31. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said data communications pathway is a digital transmission system and wherein said file storage server stores said programs in identified files which may
be transmitted via said digital transmission system.
32. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 31 wherein each of said program descriptions includes means for identifying one or more files stored on said file storage server which relate to the program segment
described by that program description.
33. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said host subsystem further comprises:
means for receiving from a subscriber via said communications pathway a search request for the identification of program segments satisfying criteria specified in said search request,
means for compiling a listing of said programs satisfying said criteria, and
means for transmitting said listing to that subscriber which issued said search request.
34. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said host subsystem further comprises means for compiling a program schedule consisting of an ordered sequence of selected ones of said program segments
and means for transferring said program schedule to said client player via said communications pathway, and wherein said client player includes means for reproducing said selected ones of said program segments.
35. A system as set forth in claim 34 wherein said client player includes means for reproducing said selected ones of said program segments in the order specified in said program schedule.
36. A system as set forth in claim 34 wherein said client player includes means for altering said program schedule to form an edited schedule and means for reproducing the program segments in the order specified in said edited schedule.
37. A system as set forth in claim 34 wherein said client player includes means locally storing program segments received from said host subsystem, means for comparing the specification of program segments contained in said program schedule with
the identity of program segments locally stored by said client player, and means for transmitting a request to said server subsystem for programs segments specified in said program schedule but not locally stored by said client player.
38. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said client player system includes means for recording a usage log containing the identification of program segments played and means for transmitting
said usage log to said host subsystem, and wherein said host subsystem includes means for processing said usage log to produce billing information for said subscriber.
39. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 21 wherein said client player system includes means for recording a usage log containing the identification of program segments played and means for transmitting
said usage log to said host subsystem, and wherein said host subsystem includes excluding from said catalog of suggested program segments; at least some of the program segments identified on said usage log as having been played.
40. A personalized electronic information delivery system as set forth in claim 37 wherein said client player system includes means for recording a usage log containing the identification of program segments played and means for transmitting
said usage log to said host subsystem, and wherein said host subsystem includes excluding from said program schedule at least some of the program segments identified on said usage log as having been played. |
|
 |
|
 |
Claims |
|
|
|
Description |
|
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to electronic information distribution systems and more particularly to a system for selectively distributing personalized information and entertainment programming to subscribers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional broadcasting systems offer a wide variety of programming from a large number of simultaneously operating radio and television broadcasting stations. The listening audience generally discovers, through trial and error or through
investigation of printed program guides, particular stations that broadcast information and entertainment programming of particular types, and these selected stations are then depended upon for most of the programming that is received. Unfortunately,
the listener or viewer is seldom able to receive the programming that is most desirable because it is broadcast at inconvenient times, or cannot be identified among the large amount of programming which is being broadcast at any given time.
The shortcomings of conventional broadcasting are particularly noticeable to business travelers and commuters who are necessarily confined to their automobile for prolonged periods which might be more productive if it were possible to obtain
access to specialized news and information of value seldom available by from commercial broadcasters.
It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to deliver personalized information tailored to the personal interests and preferences of individual subscribers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a principle aspect, the present invention take the form of a personalized information delivery system which provides information and entertainment programming to individual subscribers from a library consisting of a large number of diverse
programs, and which incorporates mechanisms for selectively delivering a subset of those programs to a given subscriber based on that subscriber's characteristics, subject matter preferences and interests, and express requests.
As contemplated by the invention, the library of programs is created and maintained by a server subsystem to which a remotely located subscriber/player subsystem can connect by means of a conventional data transmission link, such as a dial up
Internet connection. The programs making up the library are subdivided into program segments, one of which contains an audio presentation of the content of the program and, if that content includes a voice narrative, it is preferably accompanied by a
text file transcript. Each program segment is associated with a subject category description which typically describes a plurality of related program segments, and a program topic description describes the content of each individual program segment.
Combinations of these category and program descriptions which are of interest to a particular subscriber are transferred from the server subsystem to that subscriber's player subsystem, thereby providing a subject matter catalog from which the subscriber
may expressly request particular programs.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, to facilitate use of the system by the subscriber, the server subsystem accepts from the subscriber indications of the subscriber's general interests, characteristics and preferences and this
subscriber characterization data is periodically matched against the characteristics of each stored program segment to identify those segments of significant potential appeal to that subscriber. The catalog of programs supplied to the user may
accordingly be limited to, or otherwise emphasize, categories and selections to which the subscriber's attention should be specifically directed.
In order to match the subscriber's preferences to the programming most likely to match those preferences, the server subsystem creates data for each program segment characterizing a series of attributes of persons likely to have an interest in
that program segment. The server further includes means for matching the attributes of each subscriber against the attributes of each program segment to form a weighted value indicative of the extent to which the preferences of the subscriber match the
attributes of the target audience for that program. Programs which have the highest weighted value for a given user are then brought to the attention of that user, either by including those programs in the user's catalog, or by including the program in
an actual proposed listening schedule when space permits.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention may be more completely understood by considering the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of
the invention. In the course of this description, reference will frequently be made to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram of an electronic program and advertising distribution system which embodies the invention;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the principle steps followed in the course of the performing the information distribution functions contemplated by the invention;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the principle steps performed during a playback session in the illustrative embodiment;
FIG. 4 is an information structure and data flow diagram illustrating the manner in which programming is selected and accounting functions are performed in the illustrative embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is an information structure diagram illustrating the manner in which the program segments are dynamically selected and played in response to the user's preferences and control decisions;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart which describes a preferred procedure for preparing the program content which is distributed to subscribers in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 7 is an information structure diagram illustrating the manner in which a narrative text file expressed in hypertext markup language (HTML) may be translated in to the combination of an audio speech file, a text file transcript, and a
sequencing file used by the player to create a multimedia presentation.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 utilizes the Internet to provide communications between a host computer indicated generally at 101 and an audio player device illustrated at 103.
Subscriber Audio Player
The player 103 may be advantageously implemented by a conventional laptop or desktop personal computer including a processor (the client CPU 105), a time of day clock 106, and a data storage system consisting of both high speed RAM storage and a
persistent mass storage device, such as a magnetic disk memory, the data storage system being used for storing audio, text and image data at 107 and for storing usage data at 109 which records the nature of the programming reproduced by the player 103.
The player 103 further includes a sound card 110 which receives audio input from a microphone input device 111 for accepting voice dictation and commands from a user and which delivers audio output to a speaker 113 in order to supply audio information to
the user. The program data stored at 107 may advantageously include compressed audio recordings and/or text (files of characters) which may be converted into audio form by conventional speech synthesis programs executed by the client CPU 105.
The sound card 110 is conventional and preferably complies with the recommendations detailed in the Hardware Design Guide for Microsoft Windows 95, by Doug Klopfenstein, Microsoft Press (1994), ISBN 1-55615-642-1. The sound card 110
advantageously supports a 44 kHz, 16-bit, stereo codec providing analog to digital conversion of audio input signals from the microphone 111 as well as digital to analog conversion for programming directed to the speaker 111. The sound card provides
external connections and hardware support for Microphone-In, Line-In, Line-Out, and Headphones-Out, with volume controlled by the player software (including volume level logging as discussed later in connection with FIG. 3 of the drawings).
To support multimedia capabilities, the CPU 105 should meet or exceed the capabilities of an Intel 486 DX2-66 computer to provide consistently good playback results and the sound card 110 should include a 16-bit digital-to-analog converter for
playback and a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter for recording. The sound card 110 should further support 8, 11, 22, and 44 kHz waveforms. A frequency of 44 kHz is used for CD-quality sound and fractions of 44, such as 11 and 22, are often used for
compressed waveforms meant to save CPU processing. Support for an 8 kHz frequency should be in order to properly support Windows 95 TrueSpeech.TM. compression, which is optimized for compression and playback of human speech. Using TrueSpeech
compression, programs containing largely voice narrative data can be substantially condensed, and users can record annotations and voice mail responses as discussed later.
In addition, the sound card 110 should be capable of reproducing downloaded MIDI (Musical Instrument Device Interface) commands, enabling the system take a MIDI data stream and produce sound according to the compressed files consisting of digital
sheet music instructions. Preferably, the sound card should support at least 16-voice polyphony (the ability to play several sounds at the same time), and polymessage MIDI, an capability included in Windows 95 that allows a sound card to receive and
batch-process multiple MIDI messages (such as Note On and Note Off). The sound card 110 should also a microphone port for microphone 111, a speaker-out port (for one or two (stereo) unpowered speakers 113, and a headphone-out port.
The personal computer CPU 105 is also preferably connected to a conventional personal computer video display 118 and a standard keyboard 119, as well as a pointing device (such as a mouse, trackball or touchpad, not shown). The facilities
provided by the operating system, such as Windows 95, typically includes multimedia support, as noted above, as well as a standard WINSOCK TCP/IP stack and modem dial up driver software to support a SLIPP/PPP Internet connection, as next discussed.
The player 103 further includes a conventional high speed data modem 115 for receiving (downloading) the program information 107 from the remote server 101 and for transmitting (uploading) program selections and preferences as well as usage data
in the file 109 to the server 101. To effect these file transfers, the modem 115 is connected via conventional dial up telephone SLIP or PPP TCP/IP series data communication link 117 to an Internet service provider 121 which provides access to the
Internet. The service provider 121 is in turn connected to the host server 101 via a high speed Internet link seen at 123.
Host File Server
The host server 101 provides a FTP server interface 125 which provides file transfer protocol services to the player 103, a CGI interface 127 which performs Common Gateway Interface script program execution in response to requests from the player
103, and an HTML interface 129 which provides hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) World Wide Web server functions to the connected player 103. The host server 101 stores and maintains a plurality of data files including a program data library indicated
generally at 130 consisting of a collection of compressed audio program segments 131, announcement ("glue") segments 132, text program segments 133, image segments 134, advertising segments 135 and program catalog information 137.
The compressed audio segments program segments comprise audio voice and music files which may be compressed using conventional compression mechanisms suited to the data being compressed, such as TrueSpeech compression for voice signals and MIDI
files for compressed synthetic music reproducible by the sound card 110 as noted earlier.
Compressed voice programming in the database 131 may advantageously be accompanied by text transcripts (files of characters) stored in the text database 133. Similarly, images stored in the image database 134 may be used to provide a multimedia
presentation which combines images reproduced on the display 118 of player 103 with concurrently presented audio at the speaker 113 and/or displayed text. Program segments which present advertising , illustratively shown as being resident in a separate
database 135 in FIG. 1, may likewise consist of audio, text and/or image segments, as may the program segments which provide announcements between program segments as well as audible and visible menu options which the user may select as described later.
As hereinafter described in connection with FIG. 5, each voice or text program segment preferably includes a sequencing file which contains the identification of highlighted passages and hypertext anchors within the program content. This
sequencing file may further contain references to image files and the start and ending offset locations in the audio presentation when each image display should begin and end. In this way, the image presentation may be synchronized with the audio
programming to provide coherent multimedia programming.
As contemplated by the invention, information which is available in text form from news sources, libraries, etc. may be converted to compressed audio form either by human readers or by conventional speech synthesis. If speech synthesis is used,
the conversion of text to speech is preferably performed at the client station 103 by the player. In this way, text information alone may be rapidly downloaded from the server 101 since it requires much less data than equivalent compressed audio files,
and the downloaded text further provides the user with ready access to a transcript of voice presentations. In other cases, where it is important to capture the quality and authenticity of the original analog speech signals, a text transcript file which
collaterally accompanies a compressed voice audio file may be stored in the database 133 from which a transcript may be made available to the user upon request.
The host server 101 further stores web page data 141 which is made available to the player 103 by means of the HTML interface 128. The host server 101 additionally stores and maintains a user data and usage log database indicated at 143 which
stores uploaded usage data received from the store 109 in the player 103 via the Internet pathway 123 and the FTP server interface 125. The user data 143 further contains additional data describing the preferences, demographic characteristics and
program selections unique to each subscriber which is developed largely from user-supplied data obtained when users submit HTML form data via the Internet pathway 123 for processing by the CGI mechanism 127.
The host server 101 periodically transmits a download compilation file 145 upon receiving a request from the player 103. The file 145 is placed in a predetermined FTP download file directory and assigned a filename known to the player 103. At a
time determined by player 103 monitoring the time of day clock 106, a dial up connection is established via the service provider 121 and the Internet to the FTP server 125 and the download compilation 145 is transferred to the program data store 107 in
the player 103. The compilation 145 is previously written to the download directory by a download processing mechanism seen at 151 in the server 101. Download processing, as described in more detail later, extracts from the library 130 data defining
compressed program, advertising, and glue segments, and/or associated text program data, based on selections and preferences made by (or inferred for) the user as specified in the subscriber data and usage log database 143.
The download compilation file 145, though represented as a single file in FIG. 1, preferably takes the form of one or more subscriber and session specific files which contain the identification of separately stored storable files. By way of
example, the recommended order and the identification of the program files making up an individual playback session are stored in a session schedule file (to be described in detail in connection with FIG. 5) which contains program identifiers of the
program segments to be played during an upcoming session. The player 103 downloads the session schedule file and then issues download requests for those identified program segment files which are not already available in the player's local storage unit
107.
Usage data in the store 109 maintained by the player 103 is preferably uploaded as a file bearing a predetermined file name indicative of the particular subscriber and upload time and stored in a predetermined FTP upload directory. This upload
advantageously occurs at the same time the player 103 establishes a download connection to the FTP server 125 as noted earlier, and occurs prior to the download of the compilation 145. Because the upload data from the store 109 in the player 103
identifies program segments desired by the subscriber, program segments newly requested by the user are appended to the compilation 145. Note that, in typical cases, programming in addition to the specifically requested programming will be included in
the download compilation, and the transfer of that programming can begin immediately while the newly uploaded user selections and other information are being processed as indicated at 153 to identify additional information to be included in the download
compilation.
As indicated at 161 in FIG. 1, the host server upload processing mechanism 153 also provides a number of reports, as described in more detail later, based upon the record of actual player use by individual subscribers and the community of
subscribers as a whole. This report processing is advantageously performed on a periodic basis in connection with financial and accounting functions including subscriber and advertiser billing, content provider royalty payment accounting, and marketing
analysis processing.
It should be understood that numerous other information storage, processing and communications schemes may be substituted for the preferred Internet server and PC client player architecture shown in FIG. 1. A dedicated host computer which
communicates directly with client stations via dial up telephone facilities may be used, and cellular radio, cable modem and satellite links may be used to provide data communications in lieu of the conventional SLIP/PPP telephone and Internet links
shown in FIG. 1. To facilitate use of the system in an automobile, a "player" computer may be linked to the Internet via a local communications server computer via a radio or infrared link when the car is parked at the subscriber's home or office. The
Infrared Data Association's (IrDA) wireless infrared (IR) standard provides a highly effective, low-cost communications pathway rapidly becoming a standard feature in all notebook computers and PDAs. The IrDA international standard provides
interoperability among widely diverse systems, involves no governmental regulation, are provided at low cost, provide high speed file transfers (e.g., 4 Mbs data rates), are small and can be easily incorporated into portable computers of the type which
may be used in a car or on public transportation. Alternatively, the files downloaded from the host may be stored on a replaceable media, such as an optical disk cartridge, which may then be inserted into a portable computer or simplified player for
mobile use. A direct link between a mobile client player (such as a laptop PC) may be implemented using the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) service presently available in major metropolitan areas to provide low-cost access to the Internet using the
TCP/IP protocol, and provides the advantage that needed program segments can be downloaded while a session is in progress, eliminating the need for a complete download before the mobile unit is disconnected from its data source.
Upload and Download Sequence--Overview
FIG. 2 illustrates the sequence of major events which are executed the program dissemination system contemplated by the invention.
As indicated at 203, an interested subscriber invokes programming services by first supplying personal information and initial programming preferences during an account initialization procedure. Preferably, as explained in more detail later,
account initialization is accomplished by presenting the subscriber with HTML forms to complete and submit to CGC script programs which execute on the server to post subscriber supplied information into an initial user dataset. Based on the information
supplied by the user, the server then compiles one or more files for downloading to the subscriber at step 207 which include programming and advertising segments as well as additional data and utility programs needed by the player 103 to begin operation. The download operation preferably occurs at a time established by the player which establishes a dial up connection via the SLIP/PPP serial connection 117 to the local Internet service provider 121 which provides an Internet connection to the host FTP
server 125. The download file or files containing programming and advertising segments as well as subscriber specific data are designate by filenames provided by the requesting client/player 103 and moved from storage unit 145 utilizing the FTP server
125 and the Internet connection into local storage at 107 in the client/player 103. The filenames used to specify the files in the server 125 may conveniently be formed from the program.sub.-- id value used internally by both the host and the player to
identify and differentiate the different program segments used.
The data downloaded includes a recommended program sequence file which provisionally identifies the order in which downloaded program segments are to be played, with the initial selection and sequence being established based on user preference
data by the download compilation processing mechanism seen at 151 at the server.
Before a playback session begins, as indicated at 211, the subscriber has the opportunity to review and alter the provisional program selections and sequence established as a default by the downloaded information from the server. Utilizing the
programming data and a utility program previously supplied by the server, the subscriber may alter the selection and sequence of program materials to be played, including altering the extent to which advertising will be played along with the selected
programming.
At the request of the user, the sequence of programming defined by the program sequence file (the selections file illustrated at 351 in FIG. 5) is then reproduced for the listener. As contemplated by the invention, the player 103 includes
controls which enable the user to easily move from program segment to program segment, skipping segments in a forward or reverse direction, or to jump to a particular segment, and thus alter the preprogrammed sequence. Nevertheless, when any given
program segment concludes, the next segment which is specified as following the given segment will begin playing unless the listener intervenes. Thus, although the segments are stored in randomly addressable locations in the local mass storage unit,
they are nonetheless played at step 212 in the sequence established initially by the server and (optionally) modified by the subscriber, with the player providing the ability to dynamically switch to any position in this sequence under the listeners
control. As indicated at 213 in FIG. 2, the listener may at any time return to the sequence editing step 211 to manually reorder the playing sequence if desired. As indicated at 215, a session usage log is recorded during the playback session to
identify every segment actually played, the volume and speed at which that segment was played, and the start and end times.
At step 211, in addition to deleting and reordering items on the program schedule, the user may alter his or her selections and general subject matter preferences to control the manner in which the host assembles program schedules for future
sessions. When programs are included in a current schedule which are of particular interest, the subscriber may assign a priority value to the scheduled program and, in that way, inform the host that the user has an interest in receiving more
programming in the same subject matter categories in which the identified program is classified. When a program in a serialized sequence is assigned a new or different priority value at step 211, the host system 101 assigns a corresponding Importance
value to the program.sub.-- segment record for each of the remaining unplayed programs in that serialized sequence. Note that, by expressly approving advertising segments or categories of acceptable advertising in this fashion, the subscriber may be
granted a rate reduction since advertisers are generally willing to pay more for advertising directed to customers having a known interest in a given subject.
At the conclusion of a session, subscriber is given the opportunity at 217 to select programming which should be included in the next programming download. To facilitate this selection process, additional programming which fits the subscriber's
indicated subject matter preferences, along with additional programming which the server includes as being of particular interest, is identified in a catalog (as periodically supplemented by a download file seen at 308 in FIG. 4) and presented to the
user in the form of a proposed program schedule together with a catalog of additional selections which may be substituted or inserted into the proposed schedule. At step 219, the selections made by the user at 217 as well as the contents of the usage
log recorded at 215 are uploaded to the server as a requested file (seen at 301 in FIG. 4). This upload step may occur at the same time the SLIP/PPP dial-up connection is established by the player 103 to accomplish the download, with the upload
occurring first by an FTP file transfer from the usage data store 107 to the FTP server 125 followed by the downloading of files requested by the client 103 from the FTP server.
In addition to the downloaded catalog of available items which may be viewed by the subscriber from the available downloaded information, the user may re-establish an Internet connection to the HTML web server 129 which presents HTML program
selection and search request forms, enabling the subscriber to locate remotely stored programming which may be of particular interest to the subscriber. When such | | |
