Managing record events

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products for managing and prioritizing record events. A priority manager includes an event list that lists scheduled record events. Each event in the event list has a priority that is different from the other events in the event list. If some of the events conflict, such as when a tuning resource is lost and unavailable, then those events with the highest priority in the event list are recorded. A user can assign priority to events when they are scheduled or at a later time. This enables event conflicts to be resolved by the user when the events are initially scheduled. When an event conflict arises later, the conflict is resolved by the priority manager according to the relative priority of the events in the event list.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 131,661, filed Apr. 24, 2002 and entitled “Managing Record Events”, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. ______, on ______, and which is incorporated herein by this reference, in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. The Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to managing and scheduling events. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and computer program products for managing record events using a priority manager to resolve conflicts that occur between some of the recording events.[0004]2. Background and Relevant Art[0005]Today, many devices have the ability to digitally record a video stream such as a television program. The recorded video streams are often stored on a hard drive where they may be viewed at the leisure of a user. In fact, some homes have more than one device that is able to record video streams...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The present invention recognizes the limitations of the prior art and the need for systems, methods, and computer program products that are able to manage and schedule events including record events. In accordance with the present invention, a priority manager enables a user to resolve conflicts when the event is initially scheduled. The priority manager also resolves conflicts in the absence of user input according to the priority of the events that are currently scheduled.

[0012]Scheduled record events with higher priorities record before events of lower priority. Thus, if too many events or programs are scheduled to record concurrently, then those events or programs with the highest priority will be recorded and those with lower priorities will not be recorded. In this manner, the priority manager is able to resolve scheduling or recording conflicts that are not resolved by the user.

Problems solved by technology

Even though a network may have more than one device that can view and record video streams, the number of video streams that can be concurrently recorded is often limited by the number of tuners that are present in the recording devices.

Tuners are effectively a limited resource and users encounter situations where they want to concurrently record more video streams than they have tuners.

For example, a recording conflict can occur when one of the programs to be recorded is rescheduled to broadcast at a different time that coincides with an already scheduled event.

Recording conflicts can also occur when a program runs longer than its scheduled time.

The ability to record beyond the scheduled ending time may conflict with another event that is already scheduled.

Another situation where a recording conflict occurs is when a user schedules too many programs to record concurrently.

The complexity of managing these conflicts increases because of the flexibility the user has in scheduling recording events.

However, future guide data is limited in scope and potential conflicts cannot be determined when the record event is scheduled.

These types of events cause conflicts that become known at a later time after these programs have been identified and scheduled.

For at least these reasons, recording conflicts are practically inevitable.

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