Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-21
2001-04-24
Grant, Chris (Department: 2711)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C348S086000, C348S014160
Reexamination Certificate
active
06222530
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and method for controlling, identifying and coordinating multimedia assets for a broadcast program and for increasing the tolerance of broadcast systems to the failure of the scheduler.
2. Description of the Related Art
The task of producing a broadcast program is a complicated, time consuming and error-prone job. Traditionally, a programmer (which is understood by one skilled in the art to be a person who creates a broadcast schedule, in contrast to a computer programmer who writes code) assigns a broadcast program (a broadcast event), to a time slot and ensures that other events, like interstitial, such as commercials, are available to be inserted into the output stream when a cue tone is detected. If the programmer desires to add other types of information, such as multimedia data, the programming is complicated even further and may not even be possible using current broadcast scheduling technology.
There are generally two classes of program schedulers. The first class are traffic system schedulers and these type of schedulers are used primarily in analog and analog-digital hybrid broadcast systems. A common use for this type of scheduler is to sell advertising space to broadcast sponsors and to control the allocation of ads within a broadcast stream. Generally, program schedulers in this class, use the well-known cue tone method. To schedule a program, a programmer would enter into the scheduler the time when a movie or show was to be broadcast and a list of interstitials that are to be inserted into the movie during the broadcast of the movie. At the appropriate time, the program scheduler itself would, for example, initiated playing the scheduled movie and prepare the devices, such as tape drives, containing the list of interstitials. Interspersed within the movie are cue tones to indicate where interstitials are to be inserted. A cue tone detector detects the cue tone and inserts an interstitial from the list into the output stream of the movie at each detected cue tone by controlling the device to output the requested interstitial. Ads, treated as interstitial, are thus merged into a single output broadcast stream.
A second class of program schedulers are broadcast schedulers. These schedulers are used not only to control devices but to also and identify the flow of the various parts of a broadcast program. An electronic program guide (“EPG”) is created from the program schedule data. Broadcast schedulers may interface with other databases, such as system configuration and product databases. In a digital broadcast system (in contrast to an analog broadcast system) the programmer inputs the time that a media bit pump (such as a device to play a DVD movie or even a tape drive) is to play a specific event, where the media resides, what media bit pump should play it and how to control the media bit pump. This information often resides in one or more databases, which can be, for instance, flat-file, relational or object-oriented databases. The typical broadcast scheduler would continuously examine the database and, at the scheduled time, the broadcast scheduler would control the appropriate media server to play the desired broadcast event.
Current broadcast schedulers may be further divided into centralized and distributed architectures. Centralized broadcast schedulers utilizing a centralized architecture are very basic and serve primarily as a repository for data. These types of broadcast schedulers directly control devices such as tape drives and have little or no capability in terms of controlling these devices remotely.
Distributed broadcast schedulers are more sophisticated than centralized broadcast schedulers and may include the ability to control devices remotely, that is, the devices and the scheduler do not have to be in the same computer, but may be connected through a network. Although these schedulers often have more sophisticated interfaces to databases than other schedulers, they too can only schedule broadcast events. In operation, when the scheduled time for arrives to broadcast, a movie, for instance, the distributed broadcast scheduler sends out an agent to set-up the movie located on the media bit pump and begin playing the movie. Examples of distributed architecture schedulers are systems by SunUp and Lysis.
One of major limitation of all these schedulers is that the devices, whether they are bit pumps or analog devices such as tape drives, are unable to operate independently without the scheduler controlling these devices. The scheduler is a single point of failure and in the event of a scheduler failure, the entire broadcast system would fail.
Other limitations of the prior art schedulers, include their inability to handle different types of events in addition to simply inserting interstitials. A particular vexing problem is their inability to handle multimedia events. Existing schedulers can deal with a single type of event, but in today's interactive television and digital and multimedia world, it is desirable to be able to schedule and associate a number of events with a broadcast program. These events may include, for instance, information from an Internet site and supplemental information about the broadcast program itself.
Another limitation is that prior art schedulers are unable to synchronize with other devices. Yet another limitation is that they can handle only one service model—the traditional broadcast service model with interstitials. Yet further, they cannot integrate new devices and media servers rapidly and easily, do not integrate with content management and do not support last minute schedule changes and transmissions to a set-top box (“STB”).
Because of these deficiencies, prior art schedulers are unable to provide the necessary services required in today's interactive television environment. Accordingly, there is a need in interactive TV to address the deficiencies of prior art schedulers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves these deficiencies by providing, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention supporting events which are associated with primary events via a graphical user interface. In another aspect of the invention, a distributed broadcast scheduler architecture is disclosed which addresses the deficiencies of prior art program schedulers where devices, such as media servers and tape drives can operate independently of the scheduler by being providing, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a Master Scheduler and a Slave Task Scheduler thereby ensuring that a failure of the Master Scheduler does not bring down the entire broadcast system. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the Master Scheduler is adapted to schedule events where the viewing of an asset, such as graphics, animation, audio, text, video, or any other such digital media, constitutes the event and changes to a primary event causes all supporting events to be updated, as necessary.
Control of different devices and media servers, and hence, assets, is attained by the use of multiple device independent abstraction layers. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the Master Scheduler is a central repository of all schedule data and uses different schedule data models for different media servers.
A programmer enters the programming schedule into the Master Scheduler's data models. Once entered the Master Scheduler processes the schedule and creates a number of tasks based on the schedule. Each task is then distributed to a Slave Task Scheduler on the relevant media server for execution at the proper time. The Slave Task Scheduler is adapted to track the tasks given to it, and, prepare media device to send the scheduled information at the appropriate time. When the task is completed, the Slave Task Scheduler notifies the Master Scheduler of its completion so the Master Scheduler can track the status of the task and update its database.
Another advantage to this architecture over the prior art
Brown & Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP
Corporate Media Partners
Grant Chris
LandOfFree
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