SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING AUDIO CONTENT USING INTERACTIVE MEDIA GUIDANCE APPLICATIONS - Patent application

Abstract

To provide a suitable system and method for identifying audio using a media guidance application in which a video program containing one or more audio assets is received by user equipment.SOLUTION: A user initiates a request to identify an audio asset to play within a video program, the audio asset is identified by processing data associated with the audio asset and data in a database of audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets. The audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset is then provided to a user interface for display.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to interactive media guidance applications, and more particularly to systems and methods for managing and identifying audio content using interactive media guidance applications.

[0002] As the use of interactive program guides and other media guidance applications increases, support for advanced media guidance applications for media content other than traditional television programs is becoming more important. In particular, media guidance features aimed at managing audio content are becoming highly desirable. At the same time, the convergence of media storage systems is increasing the need for media guidance applications to manage and exploit relationships between different types of media content, such as between video and audio.

[0003] Conventional interactive television application systems do not provide a convenient way to retrieve information about audio assets embedded within a video program. Specifically, while viewing a video program, a user may wish to view information identifying the audio asset. For example, a user may hear a song played in a video program and wish to identify or purchase the song. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Therefore, it would be desirable to have a systematic approach for managing and identifying audio content within a media guidance application. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In view of the foregoing, systems and methods are provided for managing and identifying video-embedded audio content using interactive media guidance applications.

[0006] In one approach, a media guidance system includes a data store containing audio asset information associated with a set of known audio assets. The system also includes user equipment capable of i) receiving a video program that includes one or more audio assets, ii) displaying the video program, iii) displaying a user interface, and iv) receiving user input using the user interface. The system uses a processor capable of i) receiving user input including a request to identify an audio asset to play within the video program, ii) identifying the audio asset by processing data associated with the audio asset and data in the data store, and iii) providing audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset to the user interface for display.

[0007] In one embodiment, the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature associated with a known audio asset. The processing may include generating an audio asset signature, and identifying the audio asset may include comparing the generated audio asset signature with the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store. The system identifies the audio asset by identifying a match between the generated audio asset signature and one of the plurality of known audio signatures.

[0008] Generating an audio asset signature may include processing samples of the audio asset to calculate an average zero-crossing rate, an estimated tempo, an average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness, prominent tones, and bandwidth. Generating an audio asset signature may include determining an optimal segment of the audio asset for the sample. In one embodiment, determining the optimal segment may include determining where interference from audio data unrelated to the audio asset is minimized. For example, the process of determining where interference is minimized may include analyzing acoustic characteristics indicative of the audio asset for audio or audio data unrelated to the audio asset. As another example, the process of determining where interference is minimized may include analyzing metadata associated with a video program to determine when audio data unrelated to the audio asset is present.

[0009] In another embodiment, the processor generates metadata including at least a portion of audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset, which may include an audio title, an artist, an album, album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a play time of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, audio text, lyrics, and / or audio quality.

[0010] Identifying an audio asset may include processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. The metadata may include lyrics, subtitle data, and / or text associated with the audio asset. In one approach, the metadata associated with the audio asset is compared to audio asset information associated with a set of known audio assets to identify the audio asset.

[0011] In some configurations, the user equipment includes a processor and / or a data store, while in other configurations, the media source includes a processor and / or a data store.

[0012] In one approach, the request to identify an audio asset is a first request, and the processor is configured to: i) store audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset; ii) receive a second request to identify the audio asset; iii) compare the first request with the second request to determine that the first and second requests refer to the same audio asset; and iv) provide the stored audio asset information in response to the second request.

[0013] In another approach, a processor receives multiple requests to identify an audio asset, while the processor is configured to: i) store an indication of each request; ii) determine that a threshold number of requests have been received; iii) identify a second user viewing the video program who did not request that the audio asset be identified; and iv) automatically provide the second user with audio asset information when the audio asset is played.

[0014] In one embodiment, the audio asset information is overlaid on the video program. The audio asset information may be selectable, and the user may be presented with an option to purchase the identified audio asset upon selection. In a further embodiment, the processor is configured to: i) select an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information; and ii) display the advertisement to the user.

[0015] The audio assets may be or may include songs, dialogue, narration, sound effects, and / or background music. The processor may be configured to detect start and end times of the audio assets within the video program and / or add metadata to the video program including the start and end times. The processor may also be configured to receive a second user request to play all audio assets in the video program and / or to play audio assets based on the start and end time metadata.

[0016] In another approach, a media guidance system includes a remote data source that receives audio asset information associated with a set of known audio assets. The system also includes a remote data store that stores the known audio assets and the audio asset information. The system further includes a processor capable of i) monitoring the user equipment data store, ii) identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the user equipment data store, and iii) providing the identified audio asset information to the user equipment data store.

[0017] In one embodiment, the identified audio asset information is provided in response to a user request to identify an audio asset for playback within a video program. The audio asset information may include data such as an audio asset signature, a title, an artist, an album, album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a playback duration of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and / or audio quality. The present specification also provides, for example, the following items: (Item 1) 1. A media guidance system comprising: a data store containing audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets; a user equipment configured to: i) receive a video program including one or more audio assets; ii) display the video program; iii) display a user interface; and iv) receive user input using the user interface; a processor configured to: i) receive the user input including a request to identify an audio asset for playback within the video program; ii) identify the audio asset by processing data associated with the audio asset and data in the data store; and iii) provide audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset to the user interface for display; A system comprising: (Item 2) Item 10. The system of item 1, wherein the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature being associated with a known audio asset. (Item 3) 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processing includes generating an audio asset signature. (Item 4) 4. The system of claim 3, wherein identifying the audio asset includes comparing the generated audio asset signature with the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store. (Item 5) 5. The system of claim 4, wherein identifying the audio asset includes identifying a match between the generated audio asset signature and one of the plurality of known audio signatures. (Item 6) 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor generates metadata including at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset. (Item 7) 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a playback time of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, and an audio quality. (Item 8) Item 6. The system of item 5, wherein generating the audio asset signature includes processing samples of the audio asset to calculate one or more of an average zero-crossing rate, an estimated tempo, an average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness, prominent tones, and bandwidth. (Item 9) 6. The system of claim 5, wherein generating the audio asset signature includes determining a best fit segment of the audio asset for a sample. (Item 10) 10. The system of claim 9, wherein determining the optimal segment includes determining a location where interference from audio data unrelated to the audio asset is minimized. (Item 11) Item 11. The system of item 10, wherein determining where interference is minimized includes analyzing acoustic characteristics indicative of the audio asset for audio or audio data unrelated to the audio asset. (Item 12) Item 11. The system of item 10, wherein determining where interference is minimized includes analyzing metadata included with the video program to determine when audio data unrelated to the audio asset is present. (Item 13) 2. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying the audio asset includes processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. (Item 14) Item 14. The system of item 13, wherein the metadata includes at least one of lyrics, subtitle data, and text associated with the audio asset. (Item 15) Item 14. The system of item 13, wherein the processor compares metadata associated with the audio asset with the audio asset information associated with the plurality of known audio assets to identify the audio asset. (Item 16) Item 1, wherein the user equipment includes the processor. (Item 17) Item 10. The system of item 1, wherein the data store is located at a media source. (Item 18) 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the media source includes the processor. (Item 19) Item 19. The system of item 18, wherein the request to identify an audio asset is a first request, and the processor is further configured to: i) store the audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset; ii) receive a second request to identify the audio asset; iii) compare the first request with the second request to determine that the first request and the second request refer to the same audio asset; and iv) provide the stored audio asset information in response to the second request. (Item 20) Item 19. The system of item 18, wherein the processor receives multiple requests to identify the audio asset, and the processor is further configured to: i) store an indication of each request; ii) determine that a threshold number of requests have been received; iii) identify a second user viewing the video program that has not been requested in order to identify the audio asset; and iv) automatically provide the audio asset information to the second user when the audio asset is being played. (Item 21) Item 10. The system of item 1, wherein the audio asset information is overlaid on top of the video program. (Item 22) 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the audio asset information is selectable and the user may be presented with an option to purchase the identified audio asset in response to the selection. (Item 23) 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: i) select an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information; and ii) display the advertisement to the user. (Item 24) Item 10. The system of item 1, wherein the audio asset is a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, or background music. (Item 25) Item 1. The system of item 1, wherein the processor is further configured to perform at least one of: i) detecting a start time and an end time of the audio asset within the video program; and ii) adding metadata to the video program including the start time and end time. (Item 26) Item 26. The system of item 25, wherein the processor is further configured to perform at least one of: i) receiving a request from a second user to play all audio assets in the video program; and ii) playing the audio assets based on the start time and end time metadata. (Item 27) 1. A media guidance system comprising: means for receiving a video program including one or more audio assets; means for receiving user input including a request to identify an audio asset for playback within the video program; means for identifying the audio asset by processing data associated with the audio asset and data in a data store, the data store including audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets; means for providing audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset to a user interface for display; A system comprising: (Item 28) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature associated with a known audio asset. (Item 29) Item 29. The system of item 28, further comprising means for generating an audio asset signature. (Item 30) 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the means for identifying the audio asset includes means for comparing the generated audio asset signature with the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store. (Item 31) 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the means for identifying the audio asset includes means for identifying a match between the generated audio asset signature and one of the plurality of known audio signatures. (Item 32) 32. The system of claim 31, further comprising means for generating metadata including at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset. (Item 33) Item 33. The system of item 32, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a playback time of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, and an audio quality. (Item 34) Item 32. The system of item 31, wherein the means for generating the audio asset signature includes means for processing samples of the audio asset to calculate one or more of an average zero crossing rate, an estimated tempo, an average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness, prominent tones, and bandwidth. (Item 35) Item 32. The system of item 31, wherein the means for generating the audio asset signature includes means for determining a best fit segment of the audio asset for a sample. (Item 36) Item 36. The system of item 35, wherein the means for determining the optimal segment includes means for determining a location where interference from audio data not related to the audio asset is minimized. (Item 37) Item 37. The system of item 36, wherein the means for determining where interference is minimized includes means for analyzing acoustic characteristics indicative of the audio asset for audio or audio data unrelated to the audio asset. (Item 38) Item 37. The system of item 36, wherein the means for determining where interference is minimized includes means for analyzing metadata included with the video program to determine when audio data not related to the audio asset is present. (Item 39) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the means for identifying the audio asset includes means for processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. (Item 40) 40. The system of claim 39, wherein the metadata includes at least one of lyrics, subtitle data, and text associated with the audio asset. (Item 41) 40. The system of claim 39, further comprising means for comparing metadata associated with the audio asset with the audio asset information associated with the plurality of known audio assets to identify the audio asset. (Item 42) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the audio asset is identified using a processor of the user equipment. (Item 43) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the data store is located at a media source. (Item 44) Item 44. The system of item 43, wherein the audio asset is identified using a processor of the media source. (Item 45) The system described in Item 44, wherein the request to identify an audio asset is a first request, and the method further comprises: i) means for storing the audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset; ii) means for receiving a second request to identify the audio asset; iii) means for comparing the first request and the second request to determine that the requests refer to the same audio asset; and iv) means for providing the stored audio asset information in response to the second request. (Item 46) Item 46. The system of item 45, wherein the media source receives multiple requests to identify the audio asset, and the method further comprises: i) means for storing an indication of each request; ii) means for determining that a threshold number of requests have been received; iii) means for identifying a second user viewing the video program who has not made a request to identify the audio asset; and iv) means for automatically providing the audio asset information to the second user when the audio asset is being played. (Item 47) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the audio asset information is overlaid on top of the video program. (Item 48) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the audio asset information is selectable and the user may be presented with an option to purchase the identified audio asset in response to the selection. (Item 49) 28. The system of claim 27, further comprising: i) means for selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information; and ii) means for displaying the advertisement to the user. (Item 50) 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the audio asset is a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, or background music. (Item 51) 28. The system of claim 27, further comprising: i) means for detecting start and end times of the audio asset within the video program; and ii) means for adding metadata to the video program including the start and end times. (Item 52) Item 52. The system of item 51, further comprising: i) means for receiving a second user's request to play all audio assets in the video program; and ii) means for playing the audio assets based on the start time and end time metadata. (Item 53) 1. A method for identifying audio using a media guidance application, the method comprising: receiving a video program including one or more audio assets; receiving user input including a request to identify an audio asset for playback within the video program; identifying the audio asset by processing data associated with the audio asset and data in a data store, the data store including audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets; providing audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset to a user interface for display; 1. A method for identifying audio, comprising: (Item 54) Item 54. The method of item 53, wherein the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature being associated with a known audio asset. (Item 55) Item 55. The method of item 54, further comprising generating an audio asset signature. (Item 56) 56. The method of claim 55, wherein identifying the audio asset includes comparing the generated audio asset signature to the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store. (Item 57) 57. The method of claim 56, wherein identifying the audio asset includes identifying a match between the generated audio asset signature and one of the plurality of known audio signatures. (Item 58) 58. The method of claim 57, further comprising generating metadata including at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset. (Item 59) Item 59. The method of claim 58, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within a video program, a playback time of the audio asset within a video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, and an audio quality. (Item 60) Item 58. The method of claim 57, wherein generating the audio asset signature includes processing samples of the audio asset to calculate one or more of an average zero-crossing rate, an estimated tempo, an average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness, prominent tones, and bandwidth. (Item 61) 58. The method of claim 57, wherein generating the audio asset signature includes determining a best fit segment of the audio asset for a sample. (Item 62) Item 62. The method of item 61, wherein determining the optimal segment includes determining a location where interference from audio data unrelated to the audio asset is minimized. (Item 63) Item 63. The method of item 62, wherein determining where interference is minimized includes analyzing acoustic characteristics indicative of the audio asset for audio or audio data unrelated to the audio asset. (Item 64) Item 63. The method of item 62, wherein determining where interference is minimized includes analyzing metadata included with the video program to determine when audio data not associated with the audio asset is present. (Item 65) 54. The method of claim 53, wherein identifying the audio asset includes processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. (Item 66) Item 66. The method of claim 65, wherein the metadata includes at least one of lyrics, subtitle data, and text associated with the audio asset. (Item 67) 66. The method of claim 65, further comprising comparing metadata associated with the audio asset to the audio asset information associated with the plurality of known audio assets to identify the audio asset. (Item 68) 54. The method of claim 53, wherein the audio asset is identified using a processor of the user equipment. (Item 69) Item 54. The method of item 53, wherein the data store is located at a media source. (Item 70) 70. The method of claim 69, wherein the audio asset is identified using a processor of a media source. (Item 71) The method of claim 70, wherein the request to identify an audio asset is a first request, and the method further includes: i) storing the audio asset information associated with the identified audio asset; ii) receiving a second request to identify the audio asset; iii) comparing the first request and the second request to determine that the requests refer to the same audio asset; and iv) providing the stored audio asset information in response to the second request. (Item 72) Item 71. The method of claim 70, wherein the media source receives multiple requests to identify the audio asset, the method further comprising: i) storing an indication of each request; ii) determining that a threshold number of requests have been received; iii) identifying a second user viewing the video program who did not make a request to identify the audio asset; and iv) automatically providing the audio asset information to the second user when the audio asset is being played. (Item 73) Item 54. The method of claim 53, wherein the audio asset information is overlaid on top of the video program. (Item 74) 54. The method of claim 53, wherein the audio asset information is selectable and the user may be presented with an option to purchase the identified audio asset in response to the selection. (Item 75) 54. The method of claim 53, further comprising: i) selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information; and ii) displaying the advertisement to the user. (Item 76) Item 54. The method of item 53, wherein the audio asset is a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, or background music. (Item 77) 54. The method of claim 53, further comprising: i) detecting a start time and an end time of the audio asset within the video program; and ii) adding metadata to the video program that includes the start time and end time. (Item 78) Item 78. The method of claim 77, further comprising: i) receiving a request from a second user to play all audio assets in the video program; and ii) playing the audio assets based on the start time and end time metadata. (Item 79) 1. A media guidance system comprising: a data store configured to store audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets; a processor configured to: i) receive a plurality of requests from a first plurality of users to identify audio assets embedded within a video program; ii) store indications of the requested audio assets in the data store; and iii) provide audio asset information associated with the requested audio assets to a second plurality of users; A system comprising: (Item 80) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the processor is further configured to identify the requested audio asset by processing data associated with the requested audio asset and data in the data store. (Item 81) Item 81. The system of item 80, wherein the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature being associated with one of the plurality of known audio assets. (Item 82) Item 82. The system of item 81, wherein each of the plurality of requests to identify an audio asset includes a generated audio asset signature. (Item 83) Item 83. The system of item 82, wherein identifying the requested audio asset includes comparing the generated audio asset signature with the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store to determine a matching known audio signature. (Item 84) 81. The system of claim 80, wherein identifying the requested audio asset includes processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. (Item 85) Item 81. The system of item 80, wherein the data associated with the requested audio asset includes lyrics. (Item 86) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to receiving a request from the second plurality of users to identify the audio assets embedded within the video program. (Item 87) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the second plurality of users are viewing or recording the video program. (Item 88) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that user profile information associated with each of the second plurality of users matches user profile information associated with each of the first plurality of users. (Item 89) Item 79. The system of item 79, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the number of users in the first plurality of users matches a predetermined threshold number of users for determining popularity. (Item 90) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio asset signature, a title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a playback time of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and audio quality. (Item 91) Item 91. The system of item 90, wherein the processor is further configured to: i) generate metadata including at least a portion of the audio asset information; and ii) associate the metadata with the video program. (Item 92) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the data store is a remote data store, and the processor is further configured to: i) monitor a plurality of user equipment data stores; ii) identify audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the plurality of user equipment data stores; and iii) provide the identified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores. (Item 93) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the processor is further configured to: i) select an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information associated with the requested audio asset; and ii) provide the advertisement to the first and second plurality of users. (Item 94) 80. The system of claim 79, wherein the audio asset is a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, or background music. (Item 95) 1. A media guidance system comprising: means for storing audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets in a data store; means for receiving a plurality of requests from a first plurality of users to identify audio assets embedded within the video program; means for storing an indication of the requested audio asset in the data store; means for providing audio asset information associated with the requested audio asset to a second plurality of users; A system comprising: (Item 96) Item 96. The system of item 95, further comprising means for identifying the requested audio asset by processing data associated with the requested audio asset and data in the data store. (Item 97) Item 97. The system of item 96, wherein the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature being associated with one of the plurality of known audio assets. (Item 98) Item 98. The system of item 97, wherein each of the plurality of requests to identify an audio asset includes a generated audio asset signature. (Item 99) Item 99. The system of item 98, wherein the means for identifying the requested audio asset includes means for comparing the generated audio asset signature with the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store to determine a matching known audio signature. (Item 100) Item 97. The system of item 96, wherein the means for identifying the requested audio asset includes means for processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. (Item 101) Item 97. The system of item 96, wherein the data associated with the requested audio asset includes lyrics. (Item 102) Item 96. The system of item 95, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to receiving a request from the second plurality of users to identify the audio assets embedded within the video program. (Item 103) Item 96. The system of item 95, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the second plurality of users are viewing or recording the video program. (Item 104) Item 96. The system of item 95, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that user profile information associated with each of the second plurality of users matches user profile information associated with each of the first plurality of users. (Item 105) Item 96. The system of item 95, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the number of users in the first plurality of users matches a predetermined threshold number of users for determining popularity. (Item 106) Item 96. The system of item 95, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio asset signature, a title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a playback time of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and audio quality. (Item 107) means for generating metadata including at least a portion of the audio asset information; means for associating the metadata with the video program; Item 107. The system of item 106, further comprising: (Item 108) the data store is a remote data store, and the method comprises: means for monitoring a plurality of user equipment data stores; means for identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the plurality of user equipment data stores; means for providing the identified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores; Item 96. The system of item 95, further comprising: (Item 109) means for selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information associated with the requested audio asset; means for providing the advertisement to the first and second pluralities of users; Item 96. The system of item 95, further comprising: (Item 110) Item 96. The system of item 95, wherein the audio asset is a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, or background music. (Item 111) 1. A method for providing audio asset information using a media guidance application, the method comprising: storing audio asset information associated with a plurality of known audio assets in a data store; receiving a plurality of requests from a first plurality of users to identify audio assets embedded within the video program; storing an indication of the requested audio asset in the data store; providing audio asset information associated with the requested audio asset to a second plurality of users; A method comprising: (Item 112) 112. The method of claim 111, further comprising: the processor identifying the requested audio asset by processing data associated with the requested audio asset and data in the data store. (Item 113) Item 113. The method of item 112, wherein the data store includes a plurality of known audio signatures, each known audio signature being associated with one of the plurality of known audio assets. (Item 114) Item 114. The method of item 113, wherein each of the plurality of requests to identify an audio asset includes a generated audio asset signature. (Item 115) Item 115. The method of item 114, wherein identifying the requested audio asset includes comparing the generated audio asset signature with the plurality of known audio signatures in the data store to determine a matching known audio signature. (Item 116) Item 113. The method of item 112, wherein identifying the requested audio asset includes processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. (Item 117) Item 113. The method of claim 112, wherein the data associated with the requested audio asset includes lyrics. (Item 118) Item 112. The method of item 111, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to receiving a request from the second plurality of users to identify the audio assets embedded within the video program. (Item 119) Item 112. The method of item 111, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the second plurality of users are viewing or recording the video program. (Item 120) Item 112. The method of item 111, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that user profile information associated with each of the second plurality of users matches user profile information associated with each of the first plurality of users. (Item 121) Item 112. The method of item 111, wherein the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the number of users in the first plurality of users matches a predetermined threshold number of users for determining popularity. (Item 122) Item 112. The method of item 111, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio asset signature, a title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, a location of the audio asset within the video program, a play time of the audio asset within the video program, a start time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and audio quality. (Item 123) generating metadata including at least a portion of the audio asset information; associating the metadata with the video program; and Item 123. The method of item 122, further comprising: (Item 124) the data store is a remote data store, and the method comprises: Monitoring a plurality of user device data stores; identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the plurality of user equipment data stores; providing the identified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores; Item 112. The method of item 111, further comprising: (Item 125) selecting an advertisement based at least in part on the audio asset information associated with the requested audio asset; providing the advertisement to the first and second pluralities of users; Item 112. The method of item 111, further comprising: (Item 126) Item 112. The method of item 111, wherein the audio asset is a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, or background music. (Item 127) 1. An audio asset information storage system, comprising: a data store configured to store audio asset information associated with a known audio asset, the audio asset information including video program information associated with a video program that embeds the known audio asset; and a processor configured to: i) receive a plurality of requests to identify the known audio asset; ii) store an indication of each request in the data store; and iii) provide at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the known audio asset to a user equipment; An audio asset information storage system comprising: (Item 128) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio asset signature, an identifier, a title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, lyrics, and a playing time. (Item 129) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein the video program information includes at least one of program title, genre, type, episode, series, broadcast schedule, location of audio asset, start time of audio asset, end time of audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and audio asset quality. (Item 130) The system described in Item 127, wherein the data store is a remote data store, and the processor is further configured to: i) monitor a plurality of user equipment data stores; ii) identify audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the plurality of user equipment data stores; and iii) provide the identified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores. (Item 131) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the user equipment is configured to display or record the video program that embeds the known audio asset. (Item 132) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile of the user equipment includes audio preference data that matches characteristics of the known audio asset, the characteristics being included in the audio asset information. (Item 133) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile of the user equipment includes video preference data that matches characteristics of the video program that embeds the known audio asset, the characteristics being included in the video program information. (Item 134) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein the processor is further configured to: i) receive a request to view all audio assets associated with a selected video program; ii) search the data store for audio assets associated with video program information identifying the selected video program; and iii) provide at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with each of the matching audio assets to the user equipment. (Item 135) Item 128. The system of item 127, wherein the processor is further configured to: i) determine that a threshold number of requests for identifying the known audio asset have been received; and ii) store an indication of the threshold determination within the audio asset information associated with the known audio asset. (Item 136) Item 136. The system of item 135, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to the threshold determination. (Item 137) 1. An audio asset information storage system, comprising: means for storing audio asset information associated with a known audio asset in a data store, the audio asset information including video program information associated with a video program that embeds the known audio asset; means for receiving a plurality of requests to identify the known audio assets; means for storing an indication of each request in said data store; means for providing at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the known audio asset to a user device; A system comprising: (Item 138) Item 138. The system of item 137, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio asset signature, an identifier, a title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, lyrics, and a playing time. (Item 139) Item 138. The system of item 137, wherein the video program information includes at least one of program title, genre, type, episode, series, broadcast schedule, location of audio asset, start time of audio asset, end time of audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and audio asset quality. (Item 140) the data store is a remote data store, and the method comprises: means for monitoring a plurality of user equipment data stores; means for identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the plurality of user equipment data stores; means for providing the identified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores; Item 138. The system of item 137, further comprising: (Item 141) Item 138. The system of item 137, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the user equipment is configured to display or record the video program that embeds the known audio asset. (Item 142) Item 137. The system of item 137, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile of the user equipment includes audio preference data that matches characteristics of the known audio asset, the characteristics being included in the audio asset information. (Item 143) Item 138. The system of item 137, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile of the user equipment includes video preference data that matches characteristics of the video program that embeds the known audio asset, the characteristics being included in the video program information. (Item 144) means for receiving a request to view all audio assets associated with a selected video program; means for searching the data store for audio assets associated with video program information identifying the selected video program; means for providing at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with each of the matching audio assets to the user equipment; Item 138. The system of item 137, further comprising: (Item 145) means for determining that a threshold number of requests for identifying the known audio asset have been received; means for storing an indication of a threshold determination within the audio asset information associated with the known audio asset; Item 138. The system of item 137, further comprising: (Item 146) Item 138. The system of item 137, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to the threshold determination. (Item 147) 1. A method for providing audio asset information, comprising: storing audio asset information associated with the known audio asset in a data store, the audio asset information including video program information associated with a video program embedding the known audio asset; receiving a plurality of requests to identify the known audio assets; storing an indication of each request in said data store; providing at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the known audio asset to a user device; A method comprising: (Item 148) Item 148. The method of item 147, wherein the audio asset information includes at least one of an audio asset signature, an identifier, a title, an artist, an album, an album art, a genre, a type, lyrics, and a playing time. (Item 149) Item 148. The method of item 147, wherein the video program information includes at least one of program title, genre, type, episode, series, broadcast schedule, location of audio asset, start time of audio asset, end time of audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and audio asset quality. (Item 150) the data store is a remote data store, and the method comprises: Monitoring a plurality of user device data stores; identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data store that is not stored in the plurality of user equipment data stores; providing the identified audio asset information to the plurality of user equipment data stores; Item 148. The method of item 147, further comprising: (Item 151) Item 148. The method of claim 147, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the user equipment is configured to display or record the video program that embeds the known audio asset. (Item 152) Item 148. The method of claim 147, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile of the user equipment includes audio preference data that matches characteristics of the known audio asset, the characteristics being included in the audio asset information. (Item 153) Item 148. The method of item 147, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile of the user equipment includes video preference data that matches characteristics of the video program that embeds the known audio asset, the characteristics being included in the video program information. (Item 154) receiving a request to view all audio assets associated with a selected video program; searching the data store for audio assets associated with video program information identifying the selected video program; providing at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with each of the matching audio assets to the user equipment; Item 148. The method of item 147, further comprising: (Item 155) determining that a threshold number of requests for identifying the known audio asset have been received; storing an indication of the threshold determination within the audio asset information associated with the known audio asset; and Item 148. The method of item 147, further comprising: (Item 156) 148. The method of claim 147, wherein at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to the threshold determination. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a display screen using a grid format that may be used to provide guidance for various types of media, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 illustrates a display screen using a mosaic that may be used to provide guidance for various types of media, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 illustrates a user equipment device in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 depicts a simplified diagram of an exemplary interactive media system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 shows a diagram of a cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 illustrates an audio library interface display screen in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 shows a display screen of a media guidance application with audio identification features in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8A] FIG. 8A shows a display screen with an overlay area containing audio information and purchasing features in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8B] FIG. 8B shows a display screen with alternative audio information and / or purchase features in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 illustrates a system for processing audio asset identification requests according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing an audio asset identification request according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing audio samples according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing an audio asset identification request using information from a previously fulfilled audio asset identification request according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of a method for processing an audio asset identification request by determining optimal audio sampling locations according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] In any given media delivery system, the amount of media available to users can be enormous. As a result, many users desire a form of media guidance via an interface that allows them to efficiently navigate through media selections and easily identify media content that they may desire. Applications that provide such guidance are referred to herein as interactive media guidance applications, but may also be referred to as media guidance applications or guidance applications.

[0020] Interactive media guidance applications may take a variety of forms depending on the media for which guidance is provided. One typical type of media guidance application is an interactive television program guide. Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) are known guidance applications that enable users to navigate and search among many types of media content, including, among other things, traditional television programming (provided via traditional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means), as well as pay programming, on-demand programming (such as video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, webcasts, etc.), recorded programming, and other types of media or video content. Guidance applications also enable users to navigate and search among content related to video content, including, for example, video clips, audio assets, articles, advertisements, chat sessions, games, etc. Guidance applications also enable users to navigate and search among multimedia content. The term "multimedia" is defined herein as media and content that utilizes at least two different content forms, such as text, audio, still images, images, moving images, video, and interactive content forms. The multimedia content may be recorded and played back, displayed, or accessed by information content processing devices such as computers and electronic devices, or may be part of a live performance. It should be understood that embodiments of the invention described with respect to media or media content are also applicable to other types of content, such as video, audio, and / or multimedia.

[0021] With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speed wireless networks, users are accessing media on personal computers (PCs) and other devices that they did not traditionally access, such as handheld computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, or other mobile devices. On these devices, users can navigate through and search for the same media available through televisions. Consequently, media guidance is also needed on these devices. The guidance provided may be for media content available only through televisions, media content available only through one or more of these devices, or media content available through both televisions and one or more of these devices. Media guidance applications may be provided as online applications (i.e., hosted on a website) or as stand-alone applications or clients on handheld computers, PDAs, cell phones, or other mobile devices. Various devices and platforms on which media guidance applications may be implemented are described in more detail below.

[0022] One of the functions of a media guidance application is to provide media listings and media information to users. Figures 1 and 2 show exemplary display screens that may be used to provide media guidance, particularly media listings. The display screens shown in Figures 1 and 2 may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. As defined herein, a platform refers to any system that can support the operation of an interactive media guidance application. While the displays in Figures 1 and 2 are illustrated as full-screen displays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid on the displayed media content. A user may indicate a desire to access media information by selecting selectable options (e.g., menu options, list options, icons, hyperlinks, etc.) provided on the display screen or by pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a "Guide" button) on a remote control or other user input interface or device. In response to a user's instructions, the media guidance application may provide display screens with media information organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, by media type, by category (e.g., movies, sports, news, children's, or other program categories), or other predetermined, user-defined, or other organization criteria.

[0023] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary grid program listings display 100 arranged by time and channel, enabling access to different types of media content within a single display. Display 100 may include a grid 102 with (1) columns of channel / media type identifiers 104, where each channel / media type identifier (a cell in a column) identifies a different available channel or media type, and (2) rows of time identifiers 106, where each time identifier (a cell in a row) identifies a program time slot. Grid 102 also includes program listing cells, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides the title of the program provided above the listing's associated channel and time. Using a user input device, a user can select a program listing by moving highlight region 110. Information about the program listing selected by highlight region 110 may be provided in program information region 112. Region 112 may include, for example, the program title, program content, the time the program is offered (if applicable), the channel on which the program airs (if applicable), the program's rating, and other desired information.

[0024] In addition to providing access to linear programming that is delivered according to a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access to non-linear programming that is not delivered according to a schedule. Non-linear programming may include content from different media sources, including on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored media content (e.g., video or audio content stored on a digital video recorder (DVR), digital video disc (DVD), videocassette, compact disc (CD), hard drive, or other storage device, etc.), or other media content that is not time-sensitive. On-demand content may include both movies and original media content offered by particular media providers (e.g., HBO On Demand, which offers "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time Warner Company LP et al., and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content may include web events such as chat sessions or webcasts, or content available on demand as streaming or downloadable media via an Internet website or other Internet access (e.g., FTP).

[0025] Grid 102 may provide non-linear programming listings, including on-demand listings 114, recorded media listings 116, and Internet content listings 118. A display that combines listings for content from different types of media sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of listing types that may be displayed, different from display 100, may be based on user selection or guidance application definition (e.g., displaying only recorded and broadcast listings, displaying only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings 114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanning the entire time period displayed in grid 102 to indicate that selecting these listings may provide access to a dedicated view of on-demand listings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. In other embodiments, listings for these media types may be included directly in grid 102. Additional listings may be displayed in response to a user selecting one of navigation icons 120 (pressing arrow keys on a user input device may affect the display in a similar manner to selecting navigation icon 120).

[0026] Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisements 124, and options region 126. Video region 122 may allow a user to watch and / or preview programs that are currently available, will be available, or have been available. The content of video region 122 may correspond to or be independent of one of the listings displayed in grid 102. Grid displays that include a video region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) ​​displays. PIG displays and their functionality are described in further detail in U.S. Patent No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 to Satterfield et al., and U.S. Patent No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001 to Yuen et al., which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. PIG displays may also be included in other media guidance application display screens of the present invention.

[0027] The advertisements 124 may provide advertisements for media content that is currently available, will be available in the future, or may never be available, depending on the viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscription programming), and may correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the media listings in the grid 102. The advertisements 124 may also be for products or services that are related or unrelated to the media content displayed in the grid 102. The advertisements 124 may be selectable, provide further information about the media content, provide information about the product or service, enable purchase of the media content, product, or service, provide media content related to the advertisement, etc. The advertisements 124 may be targeted based on user profile / preferences, monitored user activity, the type of display provided, or any other suitable targeted advertisement basis.

[0028] Although advertisements 124 are shown as rectangular or banner-shaped, advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and location within the guidance application display. For example, advertisements 124 may be provided as rectangles horizontally adjacent to grid 102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Additionally, advertisements may be overlaid on media content or the guidance application display screen or embedded within the display screen. Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other types of media content. Advertisements may be stored within the user equipment with the guidance application, in a database connected to the user equipment, in a remote location (including a streaming media server), or on other storage means or a combination of these locations. Providing advertisements in media guidance applications is discussed in further detail, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 347,673 to Knudson et al., filed Jan. 17, 2003, U.S. Patent No. 6,756,997 to Ward, III et al., issued June 29, 2004, and U.S. Patent No. 6,388,714 to Schein et al., issued May 14, 2002, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. It will be understood that advertisements may be included in other media guidance application display screens of the present invention.

[0029] Options area 126 may allow a user to access different types of media content, media guidance application displays, and / or media guidance application features. For example, selectable options 128 allow a user to access an audio library and are described in more detail below in connection with FIG. 6. Options area 126 may be part of display 100 (and other display screens of the present invention) or may be invoked by the user selecting an on-screen option or by pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. Selectable options in options area 126 may relate to features related to program listings in grid 102 or may include options available from a main menu display. Features related to program listings may include finding other air times or reception methods for a program, recording a program, enabling continuous recording of a program, setting a program and / or channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, identifying audio assets embedded within a program, configuring audio identification settings, or other features. Options available from the main menu display may include search options, VOD options, parental control options, audio identification options, access to various types of listings, subscribing to premium services, editing the user's profile, accessing a browser overlay, accessing an audio library, or other options.

[0030] The media guidance application may be personalized based on user preferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user to customize the display and features to create a personalized “experience” with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may be created by allowing the user to input these customizations and / or by the media guidance application monitoring user activity to determine various user preferences. Users may access the personalized guidance application by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to the guidance application. Customization of the media guidance application may occur according to a user profile and may be customized for each user who interacts with the media guidance application. Customization may include varying the presentation style (e.g., display color scheme, text font size, etc.), the aspect of the media content listings displayed (e.g., HDTV programs only, user-specified broadcast channels based on favorite channel selections, channel display sorting, recommended media content, etc.), desired recording characteristics (e.g., recording for a particular user or continuous recording, recording quality, etc.), parental control settings, and other desired customizations.

[0031] The media guidance application may allow users to provide user profile information or automatically compile user profile information. The media guidance application may, for example, monitor the media the user accesses and / or other interactions the user may have with the media guidance application. In addition, the media guidance application may obtain other user profiles, in whole or in part, associated with a particular user (e.g., from other websites on the Internet the user accesses, such as www.tvguide.com, from other media guidance applications the user accesses, from other interactive applications the user accesses, from the user's handheld device, etc.) and / or obtain information about the user from other sources the media guidance application may access. As a result, a unified guidance application experience can be provided to the user across the user's different devices. This type of user experience is described in more detail below in connection with FIG. 5. Additional personalized media guidance application features are described in further detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 179,410 to Ellis et al., filed July 11, 2005, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 437,304 to Boyer et al., filed November 9, 1999, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 105,128 to Ellis et al., filed February 21, 2002, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0032] Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown in FIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 for media content information organized based on media type, genre, and / or other organizational criteria. In display 200, television listings option 204 is selected, providing broadcast program listings 206, 208, 210, and 212. Unlike the listings in FIG. 1, the listings in display 200 are not limited to simple text (e.g., program titles) and icons describing the media. Rather, in display 200, listings may provide graphical images including cover art, still images from the media content, previews of video clips, live video from the media content, or other types of media that show the user the media content described by the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also be accompanied by text to provide further information about the media content associated with the listing. For example, listing 208 may include more than one region, including media region 214 and text region 216. The media area 214 and / or text area 216 may be selectable to view the video full screen or to view program listings related to the video displayed on the media area 214 (e.g., to view a listing of the channel on which the video appears).

[0033] The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 is larger than listings 208, 210, and 212), although all listings may be the same size if desired. Listings may be different sizes or graphically enhanced to indicate a degree of interest to the user or to emphasize certain content, as desired by the media provider or based on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphically enhancing media listings are discussed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 324,202 to Yates, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0034] A user may access media content and media guidance applications (and their display screens, described above and below) from a user equipment device. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment of an exemplary user equipment device 300. A more specific implementation of a user equipment device is discussed below in connection with FIG. 5. User equipment device 300 may receive media content and data via input / output (hereinafter “I / O”) paths 302. I / O paths 302 may provide media content (e.g., broadcast programs, on-demand programs, Internet content, and other video or audio) and data to control circuitry 304, which includes processing circuitry 306 and storage device 308. Control circuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I / O paths 302. I / O paths 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (specifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more communication paths (described below). An I / O function may be provided by one or more of these communication paths, but is shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

[0035] The control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry 306, such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic elements, etc. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage device 308). In client-server based embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may include suitable communications circuitry for communicating with a guidance application server or other network or server. The communications circuitry may include a cable modem, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) modem, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, or a wireless modem for communicating with other devices. Such communications may involve the Internet or any other suitable communications network or path (described in further detail in connection with FIG. 5). Additionally, the communications circuitry may include circuitry to enable peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices or communication of user equipment devices at locations remote from each other (described in further detail below).

[0036] Memory (e.g., random access memory, read-only memory, or any other suitable memory), a hard drive, an optical drive, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage device (e.g., a DVD recorder, a CD recorder, a video cassette recorder, or other suitable recording device) may be provided as storage 304 that is part of control circuitry 308. Storage 308 may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device 300 may include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes referred to as a personal video recorder or PVR) and a DVD recorder as secondary storage. Storage 308 may be used to store various types of media and guidance application data described herein, including program information, guidance application settings, user preference or profile information, or other data used in operating the guidance application. Non-volatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch boot-up routines and other instructions).

[0037] Control circuitry 304 may include video generation and tuning circuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, a high-definition tuner, or any other suitable tuning or video circuitry, or a combination of such circuitry. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided. Control circuitry 304 may also include audio processing and extraction circuitry, which will be discussed in more detail below in connection with FIG. 9. Circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconverting and downconverting media to a preferred output format for user equipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion circuitry for converting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment to receive and display, play, or record media content. The tuning and encoding circuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. For example, the circuitry described herein, including tuning, video generation, encoding, decoding, scalers, and analog / digital circuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or more general-purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to accommodate simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multi-tuner recording functions, etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a device separate from user equipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage 308.

[0038] A user may control control circuitry 304 using user input interface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, a mouse, a trackball, a keypad, a keyboard, a touch screen, a touchpad, a stylus input, a joystick, a voice recognition interface, or other user input interface. Display 312 may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of user equipment device 300. Display 312 may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, or any other suitable device for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-compatible. Speakers 314 may be provided as an integration with other elements of user equipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. Audio components of videos, stored or streaming audio content, and other media content displayed on display 312 may be played by speakers 314. In some embodiments, audio may be delivered to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 314. As used herein, speaker 314 is exemplary and may represent any type of audio output device (e.g., headphones, a wireless headset, an audio output auxiliary port, etc.).

[0039] The guidance application may be implemented using any suitable architecture. For example, it may be a standalone application implemented entirely on user equipment device 300. In such an approach, the application's instructions are stored locally and data for use by the application is periodically downloaded (e.g., from a television channel's VBI, from an out-of-band feed, or using another suitable approach). In another embodiment, the media guidance application is a client-server based application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented on user equipment device 300 is retrieved on demand by issuing requests to a server remote from user equipment device 300. In one example of a client-server based guidance application, control circuitry 304 runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server.

[0040] In still other embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded and interpreted or otherwise executed by an interpreter or virtual machine (executed by control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance application may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received by control circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidance application may be an EBIF widget. In other embodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files that are received and executed by a local virtual machine or other suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some such embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital media encoding schemes), the guidance application may be encoded and transmitted, for example, in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the program's MPEG audio and video packets.

[0041] Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary user equipment device 400 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. User equipment device 400 is a more detailed and simplified diagram of user equipment device 300 of FIG. 3. In addition to the features and functionality described below, user equipment device 400 may include any of the components, features, and functionality described above in connection with FIG. 3. Control circuitry 414 of user equipment device 400 may include processing circuitry 404, schedule information data store 408, advertisement data store 410, and audio data store 412. Data stores 408, 410, and 412 may each be one or more relational databases or any other suitable storage mechanism. While data stores 408, 410, and 412 are shown as separate data stores, one or more of these data stores may alternatively be combined into a single storage system. While only data stores 408, 410, and 412 are shown in FIG. 4, it will be understood that there may be any suitable number of data stores.

[0042] Schedule information data store 408 may store media guidance data for a media guidance application. Schedule information data store 408 may store media-related information (e.g., broadcast time, broadcast channel, media title, media description, rating information (e.g., parental control rating, critic rating, etc.), genre or category information, actor information, logo data for broadcaster or provider logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, etc.), on-demand information, or any other suitable information. Schedule information contained in schedule information data store 408 may be used by the media guidance application to provide a program guide display (e.g., display screens 100 and 200 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively) on display 406 or to provide any other suitable media guidance display.

[0043] Continuing with reference to FIG. 4, advertising data store 410 may store advertising content for display in a media guidance application. Advertising data store 410 may store advertising content in various forms, including text, graphics, images, video clips, any other suitable type of content, or references to remotely stored content. Data store 410 may also store links or identifiers to advertising content in other data stores. In some embodiments, data store 410 may store indexes to advertising content in other local data stores (e.g., data stores 408 or 412) or may store identifiers to remote storage systems, such as URLs for advertisements provided by a web server. Data store 410 may also store identifying information about each advertisement or advertising element (e.g., the associated advertiser, the type of promotion, the promotion period, the television show, product, or service the advertisement is promoting, etc.), or may store indexes to locations in other local or remote storage systems where this information can be found.

[0044] With continued reference to FIG. 4, audio data store 412 may store audio assets or information related to audio assets accessible via a media guidance application. Audio assets, as used herein, refer to any type of audio content, including songs, dialogue, narration, background music, sound effects, etc. Audio assets may be different analog or digital objects (e.g., digital files) or may be embedded within other media or signals. Specifically, audio assets may be embedded within a video program, for example, as part of an audio track. A video program or other media content may be embedded or associated with one or more audio tracks or audio signals. An audio track or audio signal may, in turn, contain one or more audio assets. Furthermore, an audio asset may itself contain multiple other audio assets. For example, a song may include voice-over narration and background music, each of which is an independent audio asset. A user or system request to identify an audio asset (described below) may therefore result in the identification of multiple audio assets. For example, to identify a song that includes voice-over narration and background music, Meno The user's request may result in the identification of a song, voice-over narration, and / or background music.

[0045] The audio data store 412 may store information about audio assets, locally recorded or extracted audio assets (e.g., audio assets recorded using a DVR, CD recorder, DVD recorder, etc., or extracted from a CD, DVD, video program, etc.), or remotely available audio assets (e.g., audio assets stored on a remote server and available via download, streaming, etc.). The audio data store 412 may also store audio assets or information about audio assets embedded within video content (e.g., audio assets embedded within a television program, locally stored or remotely available video program, etc.). The content of the audio data store 412 may include audio assets such as songs, dialogue, narration, background music, etc., or metadata associated with such audio content. In addition, the audio data store 412 may include information related to audio assets, including text, graphics, images, video clips, any other suitable type of content, and references to remotely stored content. The audio data store 412 may also store links or identifiers to media content in other data stores. In some embodiments, audio data store 412 may store an index of advertising content in other local data stores (e.g., data stores 408 or 410) or may store an identifier to a remote storage system, such as a URL for media provided by a web server.

[0046] The audio data store 412 may also store identifying information associated with audio assets. For example, the audio data store 412 may include type, format, title, artist, composer, producer, author, description, genre, category, album art, production date, or other identifying information associated with audio assets. As another example, the audio data store 412 may include information related to a television program, logo, advertiser, advertisement, product, or service with which the audio is associated, or any other suitable information. The audio data store 412 may also (or alternatively) store indexes to locations in other local or remote storage systems where this information can be found.

[0047] Continuing with reference to FIG. 4, processing circuit 404, which may have any of the features and functionality of processing circuit 306 (FIG. 3), may access any of the information contained in data stores 408, 410, and 412. Processing circuit 404 may use this information to select, prepare, and display information on display 406. Specifically, processing circuit 404 may use information obtained from these data stores to provide a media guidance application with advertisements to a user of user equipment 400. For example, processing circuit 404 may use this information to display audio library display screen 600 of FIG. 6. Processing circuit 404 may also use the information contained in data stores 408, 410, and 412 to select, prepare, and output audio to speaker 314 of FIG. 3. Additionally, processing circuit 404 may update the information in data stores 408, 410, and 412, for example, with data received from communication link 402. 5, discussed in further detail below. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 404 may update schedule information in data store 408 with new or updated information, add, remove, or modify any advertising content in data store 410, and add, remove, or modify audio content or information associated with audio content in data store 412 or any other suitable data store. Processing circuitry 404 may additionally update any associations between these data stores (e.g., between a broadcast schedule and its associated advertisements, between a video program and its embedded audio assets, etc.).

[0048] Referring now to Figure 5, an illustrative system 500 for providing media guidance to different types of user equipment devices is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. User equipment devices 300 and 400 of Figures 3 and 4 may each be implemented in system 500 of Figure 5 as user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, wireless user communications device 506, or any other type of user equipment suitable for accessing media, such as a non-portable game console. For simplicity, these devices may be collectively referred to herein as user equipment or user equipment devices. User equipment devices on which media guidance applications are implemented may function as stand-alone devices or may be part of a network of devices. Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in further detail below.

[0049] User television equipment 502 may include a set-top box, an integrated receiver / decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a television set, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video-cassette recorder (VCR), a local media server, or other user television. One or more of these devices may be integrated into a single device, if desired. User computer equipment 504 may include a PC, laptop, tablet, WebTV box, personal computer television (PC / TV), PC media server, PC media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV is a trademark owned by Microsoft Corp. Wireless user communication devices 506 may include a PDA, a mobile phone, a portable video player, a portable music player, a portable game console, or other wireless device.

[0050] It should be noted that with the advent of PC television tuner cards, WebTV, and the integration of video into other user equipment devices, attempting to classify a device as one of the above devices is no longer a clean cut. Indeed, user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, and wireless user communications device 506 may each utilize at least some of the system features described above in connection with FIG. 3 to include flexibility regarding the types of media content available to the device. For example, user television equipment 502 may be Internet-enabled, allowing access to Internet content, while user computer equipment 504 may include a tuner, allowing access to television programs. Media guidance applications may also have the same layout on different types of user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For example, on user computing equipment, the guidance application may be provided as a website accessed by a web browser. In another embodiment, the guidance application may be scaled down for wireless user communications devices.

[0051] In system 500, there will typically be more than one of each type of user equipment device, although to avoid overcomplicating the drawing, only one of each is shown in Figure 5. In addition, each user may utilize more than one type of user equipment device (e.g., a user may have a television set and a computer), and may also utilize more than one of each type of user equipment device (e.g., a user may have a PDA and a cell phone and / or multiple television sets).

[0052] Users may also set various settings to maintain consistent media guidance application settings across in-home and remote devices. Settings include those described herein as well as favorite channels and programs, program preferences utilized by the guidance application to recommend programs, display preferences, and other desired guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channel as a favorite on their office computer, e.g., on the website www.tvguide.com, the same channel will appear as a favorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipment and user computer equipment) as well as on the user's mobile device, if desired. Thus, changes made on one user equipment device can change the guidance experience on another user equipment device, whether the same or a different type of user equipment device. Furthermore, changes made may be based on setting inputs by the user as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

[0053] User equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 514. That is, user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, and wireless user communications device 506 are each coupled to communications network 514 via communications paths 508, 510, and 512. Communications network 514 may be one or more networks including the Internet, a cellular network, a mobile device (e.g., Blackberry) network, a cable network, a public switched telephone network, or other types of communications networks, or combinations of communications networks. BLACKBERRY is a service mark owned by Research In Motion Limited Corp. Paths 508, 510, and 512, separately or together, may include one or more communications paths, such as satellite paths, fiber optic paths, cable paths, paths supporting Internet communications (e.g., IPTV), free space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications paths, or combinations of such paths. Path 512 is depicted in the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 5 as a dashed line to indicate that it is a wireless path, and paths 508 and 510 are depicted as solid lines to indicate that they are wired paths (although these paths may also be wireless paths if desired). Communication with a user equipment device may be provided by one or more of these communication paths, but is shown in Figure 5 as a single path to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

[0054] Although communication paths are not depicted between the user equipment devices, these devices may communicate directly with one another via communication paths such as those described above in connection with paths 508, 510, and 512, as well as other short-range point-to-point communication paths such as a USB cable, an IEEE 1394 cable, a wireless path (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or other short-range communication via a wired or wireless path. It is a certification mark owned by SIG, INC. User equipment devices may communicate with each other directly through communications network 514 or through indirect paths.

[0055] System 500 includes media content source 516, data collection server 517, and media guidance data source 518, which are coupled to communications network 514 via communications paths 520, 521, and 522, respectively. Paths 520, 521, and 522 may include any of the communications paths described above in connection with paths 508, 510, and 512. Communications with media content source 516, data collection server 517, and media guidance data source 518 may be exchanged via one or more communications paths, but are shown in FIG. 5 as a single path to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. Additionally, there may be more than one of each of media content source 516, data collection server 517, and media guidance data source 518, but only one of each is shown in FIG. 5 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (Different types of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, media content source 516, data collection server 517, and media guidance data source 518 may be integrated into one source device. Although communication between sources 516, 517, and 518 and user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 is shown as being through communications network 514, in some embodiments, sources 516, 517, and 518 may communicate directly with user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 via communications paths (not shown), such as those described above in connection with paths 508, 510, and 512.

[0056] Media content sources 516 may include one or more types of media distribution equipment, including television distribution facilities, cable system headends, satellite distribution facilities, program sources (e.g., television broadcast companies such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facilities and / or servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, and other media content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by ABC, INC., and HBO is a trademark owned by Home Box Office, Inc. Media content sources 516 may be originators of media content (e.g., television broadcast companies, webcast providers, etc.) or may not be originators of media content (e.g., on-demand media content providers, Internet providers of broadcast program video content for download, etc.). Media content sources 516 may include cable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers, or other media content providers. Media content sources 516 may also include remote media servers used to store different types of media content (including video content selected by users) at locations remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems and methods for remote storage of media content and for providing remotely stored media content to user equipment are discussed in further detail in connection with U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, to Ellis et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0057] Data collection server 517 may receive data from user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506. This data may include data transmitted to media content sources 516 or media guidance data sources 518. The data may also include requests or queries initiated from user equipment (e.g., devices 502, 504, and 506) and responses to requests or queries initiated from server equipment (e.g., sources 516, 517, and 518). In addition, data collection server 517 may receive monitoring data collected by media guidance applications implemented on user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506. For example, user interactions with the media guidance applications may be monitored, organized into data sets, and transmitted to data collection server 517. Monitoring data may include user browsing habits (e.g., which programs the user views or records and when the user views or records the programs), user interactions with advertisements (e.g., which advertisements the user selects and when the user selects the advertisements), user purchasing habits (e.g., what types of products or services the user orders and when the user places the orders), user audio preferences (e.g., what audio content or types of audio content the user selects for recording, purchasing, or identification), and other suitable information. Monitoring using interactions in media guidance applications is discussed in more detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 120,488, filed Jul. 21, 1998, to Alexander et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0058] Data collection server 517 may collect and correlate data received from multiple users to determine commonalities among users, general behavioral patterns, and popular features, queries, and preferences. For example, data collection server 517 may compile several users' audio preferences to determine the most popular artists, genres, songs, etc. As another example, data collection server 517 may compile monitoring data of user interactions with the media guidance application to determine the most frequently accessed features, options, and display screens. Additionally, data collection server 517 may compile monitoring data to determine the most effective advertisements and advertisement placements (e.g., location and timing). Data collection server 517 may use these determinations and other analyses of user-generated data to provide updated features and new services to other users. For example, based on determinations of popular video programs, data collection server 517 or sources 516 or 518 may provide advertisements or notifications to other users regarding future broadcast or delivery options for the popular programs. As another example, a media guidance application may collect information regarding audio asset identification requests from multiple users, determine the audio assets that are frequently the subject of such requests, and automatically provide the audio asset information to other users. Audio asset identification, requests for audio asset identification, and automatic transmission of audio asset information are all described in further detail below.

[0059] Media guidance data source 518 may provide media guidance data such as media listings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast time, broadcast channel, media title, media content, rating information (e.g., parental control rating, critics' rating, etc.), genre or category information, actor information, logo data for broadcaster or provider logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, etc.), advertising information (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, and any other type of guidance data that helps a user navigate among and find desired media selections.

[0060] Media guidance data source 518 may additionally provide advertising information (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.) to the user equipment device. The advertising information may include any advertisements used by the media guidance application to present advertisements to the user. The advertising information provided to the user device may come from any suitable source, which may be media guidance data source 518. In some embodiments, the advertising information may come from a variety of different advertisers or program sponsors, or may come from media content source 516 or data collection server 517.

[0061] Media guidance application data, including advertising information and audio asset information, may be provided to user equipment devices using any suitable approach or combination of approaches. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-alone interactive television program guide that receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed, a trickle feed, or data within the vertical blanking interval of a channel). Program schedule data and other guidance data, such as advertising information or audio asset information, may be provided to user equipment on a sideband of a television channel, within the vertical blanking interval of a television channel, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique. Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog or digital television channels. Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to user equipment at any suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, at user-specified period, at system-specified period, upon request from user equipment, etc.). In some approaches, guidance data from media content source 516, data collection server 517, or media guidance data source 518 may be provided to user equipment using a client-server approach. For example, a guidance application client resident on a user's equipment may initiate a session with source 518 to obtain guidance data when needed. Media guidance data source 518 may provide user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 with the media guidance application itself or software updates for the media guidance application.

[0062] The media guidance application may, for example, be a stand-alone application implemented on the user equipment device. In other embodiments, the media guidance application may be a client-server application where only the client resides on the user equipment device. For example, the media guidance application may be implemented partially as a client application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300 (FIG. 3) and partially as a server application on a remote server (e.g., media guidance data source 518). The guidance application's display may be generated and transmitted to the user equipment device by media content source 516, data collection server 517, media guidance data source 518, or a combination of these sources. Sources 516, 517, and 518 may transmit data for storage on the user equipment, which then generates the guidance application's display based on instructions processed by the control circuitry.

[0063] 5, media guidance system 500 is intended to illustrate several approaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devices and sources of media content and guidance data may communicate with one another for the purpose of accessing media and providing media guidance. The present invention may be applied in any one or some of these approaches, or in systems employing other approaches for delivering media and providing media guidance. The following three approaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized embodiment of FIG. 5:

[0064] In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each other within a home network. The user equipment devices may communicate with each other directly via the short-range point-to-point communication methods described above, via an indirect path through a hub or other similar device provided on the home network, or via communications network 514. Multiple individuals within a household may each operate different user equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirable for various media guidance information or settings to be communicated between different user equipment devices. For example, as described in further detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 179,410 to Ellis et al., filed July 11, 2005, it may be desirable for a user to maintain consistent media guidance application settings on different user equipment devices within the home network. Different types of user equipment devices within a home network may also communicate with each other to transfer media content. For example, a user may transfer media content from a user computer device to a portable video player or portable music player.

[0065] In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment through which they access media content and obtain media guidance. For example, some users may have a home network accessed by in-home and mobile devices. Users may control their in-home devices through a media guidance application implemented on a remote device. For example, users may access an online media guidance application on a website through a personal computer in their office or through a mobile device such as a PDA or web-enabled cell phone. Users may set various settings (e.g., recording, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidance application to control their in-home devices. The online guide may control their devices directly or by communicating with the media guidance application on their in-home devices. Various systems and methods for communication of user equipment devices, where the user equipment devices are located remotely from one another, are discussed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 927,814, filed Aug. 26, 2004, by Ellis et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0066] In a third approach, user equipment devices both inside and outside the home may use the media guidance application to communicate directly with media content sources 516 to access media content. Specifically, within the home, users of user television equipment 504 and user computer equipment 506 may access the media guidance application to navigate among and search for desired media content. Users may also use wireless communication devices 506 to access the media guidance application outside the home to navigate among and search for desired media content.

[0067] Referring to FIG. 6, an audio library display screen 600 is provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Audio library display screen 600 is displayed when a user accesses a list of audio assets, for example, by selecting selectable option 128 in options area 126 (FIG. 1) or a dedicated button on a remote control. Audio asset list 612 in audio library display screen 600 includes a listing of songs or other audio content that the user has selected to identify, purchase, record, or save. Audio asset list 612 may also include a listing of audio content downloaded, transferred, or stored on the user equipment (e.g., storage device 308 of FIG. 3) or one or more remote storage locations. In addition, the listing of audio content and associated information displayed in audio asset list 612 may be stored in audio data store 412 of FIG. 4 and processed by processing circuitry 404 of FIG. 4 for display on display 406 or output to speaker 314 of FIG. 3.

[0068] The listings displayed in audio asset list 612 may include text, images, video, or any combination thereof. Specifically, the listings may include information identifying the audio asset. This identifying information may include any of the information stored in audio data store 412 or any other data store (e.g., data stores 408 and 410). Additionally, the identifying information may be retrieved remotely or extracted from metadata transmitted with or separately from the video or audio program. The identifying information may include, for example, type, format, title, artist, composer, producer, author, description, genre, category, album, cover art, production date, or other identifying information associated with the audio asset. The listings displayed in audio asset list 612 may also include the television program, logo, advertiser, advertisement, product, or service with which the audio asset is associated, or any other suitable information. In the case of audio assets embedded within a video, audio assets identified, selected, or purchased while watching a video, or audio assets otherwise linked to video content, the listings displayed in audio asset list 612 may include information related to the associated video content. Information related to the associated video may include information such as the video type, format, genre, category, title, episode, series, channel, description, broadcast date and time, relative timing of audio within the video, sponsors, etc. For example, listing 614 may provide title information for the stored song (e.g., "The Simpsons Theme Song") and title information for the television program in which the song is embedded (e.g., The Simpsons). Listing 614 may have been added during the broadcast of a Simpsons episode, for example, in response to a user request to identify, purchase, record, or save the song.

[0069] The listings displayed in audio asset list 612 may also include information related to the circumstances and conditions under which the audio asset was identified, purchased, stored, selected, provided, or otherwise added to the audio library. For example, a timestamp may be displayed indicating the date and time of a user request that caused the audio asset to be identified, purchased, stored, selected, provided, or otherwise added to the audio library. As another example, in embodiments in which multiple users may access the media guidance application, an indication of the identity of the user that caused the audio asset to be added to the audio library may be provided. As yet another example, a listing may display information indicating whether the corresponding audio asset was added by the user, the media guidance application, or another entity. Instead of, or in addition to, text, image, or video data, some or all of the foregoing information may be represented in the listing using any suitable display method, such as highlighting, shading, flashing, etc. For example, a listing for an automatically added audio asset may have a different background color than the background color of a user-added audio asset. The information displayed in the listings in audio asset list 612, and the display properties of the listings, may be configured by the user using the media guidance application.

[0070] The media guidance application may automatically add, delete, or modify listings in audio asset list 612. For example, a sponsor, media guidance application provider, broadcaster, or another suitable entity may provide free audio assets or give audio assets to a user. This audio content may be automatically added to the audio library, or the user may be prompted to accept or reject the audio content. As another example, the media guidance application may determine audio assets that are related to other audio assets in the user's audio library and provide a listing of recommended audio assets or clips of recommended audio assets in audio asset list 612. In some embodiments, audio assets or audio clips are only available for a certain period of time, and the media guidance application may delete listings corresponding to expired audio content. Similarly, listings associated with audio assets that are no longer accessible (e.g., audio assets stored on an inaccessible storage device) may be deleted from audio asset list 612 automatically or in response to a user request. Additionally, the contents of listings in audio asset list 612 may be updated in response to user input or in response to information received by the media guidance application from a remote server or database. For example, a user may edit the text displayed in a listing to add, delete, or modify the displayed information. Modifications made to listings in audio asset list 612 may be stored in an appropriate data store (e.g., audio data store 412 of FIG. 4) or provided to a remote server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5).

[0071] Listings in audio asset list 612 may be viewed, highlighted, selected, or otherwise reserved by a user using a user input device. For example, a user may move a highlighted region or cursor over a listing to activate the listing. In some embodiments, the media guidance application responds to a cursor or highlighted region being placed over a listing in audio asset list 612. For example, the media guidance application may update advertisements 616 and 618 based on the highlighted location of the cursor or region (e.g., the advertisement may be related to the audio asset associated with the currently highlighted listing). The media guidance application may perform additional functions in response to the selection of a highlighted or otherwise reserved listing. For example, selecting a listing may cause the media guidance application to display additional information related to the audio asset associated with the selected listing. A user may use navigation buttons on a remote control or other user input device to control the highlighted region or cursor location. Additionally, specialized or programmed buttons may be used to trigger various functions related to listings in audio asset list 612. For example, a "play" button may play an audio asset associated with a highlighted or reserved listing, while an "enter" button may retrieve additional information such as purchasing information.

[0072] A user may use any type of input device to navigate between listings in audio asset list 612. The user may navigate up or down the displayed listing to view additional listings, if available. In addition, the user may navigate to advertisements 616 and 618 to highlight, reserve, activate, select, or otherwise interact with an advertisement. For example, a user may highlight or reserve an advertisement and request that a new advertisement be displayed using a button on the user input device or by selecting a displayed option. This feature may be advantageous, for example, when advertisement 616 or 618 displays audio asset recommendations to the user (e.g., based on the last listing highlighted or activated, or based on a determination of the user's tastes or preferences). In this case, the user may request a different advertisement to view additional recommendations. In some embodiments, the advertisements displayed in audio library display screen 600 automatically change, for example, to show the user different audio asset recommendations.

[0073] In some embodiments, the media guidance application plays the audio asset corresponding to a listing in audio asset list 612 in response to a user selecting or interacting with the listing. For example, the media guidance application may play a sample or clip of the audio asset associated with the listing when the listing is highlighted or activated. In other embodiments, a user may select a listing in audio asset list 612 to retrieve additional information or options related to the corresponding audio asset. The additional information displayed in response to a user selection may include any of the information that may be displayed in the listing; for example, due to display constraints, the listing may only have room to display audio asset title information. Selecting a listing allows a user to view or edit additional information, such as artist name, album title, and associated video program information. The additional information may be provided on a separate display screen or may be displayed in an overlay on audio library display screen 600. Options provided in response to a user selection of a listing in audio asset list 612 may include playing the audio (e.g., option 620), deleting (e.g., option 624), purchasing, transferring, or sharing (e.g., option 626). Options may also be provided to allow a user to edit audio asset information, configure display characteristics of the listing (e.g., background color, text color, shading, etc.), access additional information related to the audio asset (e.g., option 622), or search for related audio assets (e.g., same artist, album, genre, etc.). The user may also be provided with selectable options to edit, add, delete (e.g., option 624), sort, reorganize, or otherwise modify the listing in audio asset list 612. In some embodiments, the user is provided with options to send, forward, or share audio content or related information with another user (e.g., option 626).Similarly, a user may be able to accept, reject, forward, store, or share audio content or related information from another user. Audio assets or related information may be transmitted between users over communication network 514 of FIG. 5, either directly, in a peer-to-peer manner, or via a server (e.g., media content source 516 or data collection server 517).

[0074] As mentioned above, when the information displayed in a listing in audio asset list 612 cannot be displayed simultaneously, the listing may display only a portion of the information. The user may then select a listing to display additional information or to display selectable options for displaying the additional information. This additional information may be displayed in an overlay on audio library display screen 600 or on another display screen of the media guidance application, or media guidance may access an external service (e.g., an Internet browser) to display the additional information. Additionally or alternatively, the information within a listing may scroll, similar to a marquee, to display the additional information. Listings with available additional information may thus be indicated via visually distinctive display features, such as shading, highlighting, color, borders, etc., or the listing may include a textual indication, such as an ellipsis (i.e., "..."). In some embodiments, a clip of the audio asset associated with the sequence, or the complete audio asset, is played when the user navigates, highlights, or selects the listing. The behavior of the media guide in response to the user's highlighting or selection of a listing may be configurable by the user. For example, a user may configure the media guidance application to scroll information in a listing when the user navigates to the listing using a cursor or highlight, or to play only audio assets in response to a listing selection. Although not shown in FIG. 6, the listings in audio asset list 612 may be divided into different sections or categories and sorted by identifying information (e.g., related video programs, titles, artists, albums, genres, etc.).

[0075] Audio library display screen 600 may include one or more advertisements (e.g., advertisements 616 and 618). Advertisements may be of any suitable size or shape. a1 )。 In some embodiments, the media guidance application identifies suitable advertisements based on a link between the advertisement and a particular display screen. For example, the media guidance application may search an advertisement database (e.g., advertisement data store 410 of FIG. 4 ) for advertisements with links to audio library display screen 600. In addition to these concepts, features, functions, and parameters describing advertisements displayed in audio library display screen 600 (e.g., advertisements 616 and 618), the displayed advertisements may incorporate any of the concepts, features, functions, and parameters described above in connection with advertisement 124 of FIG. 1 .

[0076] Advertisements 616 and 618 may advertise products, services, television programs, or in some cases, other media that may be related to the listing displayed in audio asset list 612. Advertisements 616 and 618 may also be related to other media or other advertisements displayed within the media guidance application. The displayed advertisements may also be related to user interactions with the media guidance application, user information stored in a user profile, or user data monitored and collected by the media guidance application. For example, listing 614 may be "The Simpsons Theme Song," and advertisement 616 may advertise a product or service related to The Simpsons, another show owned by FOX Broadcasting Company, other audio assets featured on The Simpsons, or other suitable audio or video content. As another example, advertisement 616 may be linked to audio library display screen 600 in response to a user request for audio asset identification (e.g., a user request to identify "The Simpsons Theme Song"). As yet another example, advertisement display area 618 may include an advertisement for a product or service related to the advertisement displayed in advertisement display area 616.

[0077] Advertisements 616 and 618 may be selectable and may provide further information about the media content, provide information about products or services, enable the purchase of media content, products, or services, provide media content related to the advertisement, etc. For example, advertisement 616 may provide an audio asset related to listing 614 (e.g., a song featured on The Simpsons). Selecting the advertisement may allow a user to purchase the advertised audio asset. Selecting or otherwise interacting with advertisement 616 may also allow a user to retrieve additional information about the advertised audio asset or play a clip or sample of the advertised audio asset. Advertisement 618 may then be related to advertisement 616 and, in some cases, may advertise an audio asset by the same artist as the audio asset featured in advertisement 616. The foregoing examples illustrate only a few of many possible configurations in which listings displayed in audio asset list 612 and advertisements displayed in audio library display screen 600 may be related, linked, or responsive to each other. As another illustrative example, advertisements 616 and 618 may change in response to user interaction with listings displayed in audio asset list 612. For example, advertisements 616 and 618 may change or update in response to a user highlighting or selecting a listing.

[0078] The media guidance application may implement any combination of the above-described features to select advertisements 616 and 618. For example, the media guidance application may select advertisements 616 and 618 based on the currently highlighted listing along with the user's recent purchase history. As another example, the media guidance application may select advertisement 616 based on the currently highlighted listing and advertisement 618 based on other listings in audio asset list 612. Any information indicative of media content, products, or services that the user may wish to access or purchase may be considered by the media guidance application to select appropriate advertisements.

[0079] The media guidance application may also receive or retrieve information from a server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5) or other user equipment (e.g., user television equipment 502 of FIG. 5) that may be used to select advertisements 616 and 618. For example, the media guidance application may determine that a user likes a certain genre of music, query data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 for popular songs within that genre, and display advertisements for one or more of the popular songs. Even Additionally, the media guidance application may search the listings in audio asset list 612 to ensure that it presents songs that do not already have advertisements included in the list. Data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may identify popular songs based on monitoring the audio libraries or purchasing habits of multiple users.

[0080] Although audio library display screen 600 is illustrated as a full-screen display, it may be fully or partially overlaid on the displayed media content (e.g., a television program). In some embodiments, audio library display screen 600 is displayed in response to a user request to view audio assets associated with a particular video program. For example, with a program listing highlighted (e.g., program listing 108 of FIG. 1 ) or with a video program displayed on the display screen, a user may make a request to view audio assets associated with the highlighted program listing or the displayed video program, respectively. The user may indicate this request by pressing a dedicated button on a user input device or by selecting an option displayed on the display screen, for example, in an overlay over the displayed video program or a portion of the media guidance application display screen. In these embodiments, audio library display screen 600 may be configured to display only the listing of audio assets associated with the particular video program (i.e., the highlighted program listing or the program being displayed at the time of the user's request). Additionally, advertisements 616 and 618 may be selected at least in part based on the particular video program. For example, upon receiving a user request to view audio assets associated with program listing 108 of FIG. 1 ("The Simpsons"), the media guidance application may display audio library display screen 600 with only listing 614 ("The Simpsons Theme Song") and other Simpsons-related audio content displayed in audio asset list 612.

[0081] Thus, audio library display screen 600 may be configured to selectively display listings of audio assets depending on the situation, form, or manner in which a user requests to view audio library display screen 600. As a further example, a user may select to view audio assets associated with any type of video program, such as a movie or a television program episode, or audio assets associated with a group of video programs, such as all movies or an entire television series recorded on the user's DVR, and the media guidance application may adjust audio library display screen 600 to display only listings of audio assets associated with the video program or programs of interest.

[0082] 7, an illustrative overlay region 710 with options for identifying audio assets embedded within a video program is provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. While overlay region 710 is displayed over a portion of illustrative program listings display screen 700, it should be understood that overlay region 710 may be displayed over a portion of any media guidance display screen with listings associated with a video program or multiple video programs. Additionally, overlay region 710 may be displayed over a portion of a video program displayed on a display screen (i.e., display 312 of FIG. 3). Overlay region 710 may be displayed automatically in response to a user pressing a dedicated button on a user input device or in response to a user selection of a displayed selectable option (e.g., selectable option 728). Illustrative program listings display screen 700 may be an instance of illustrative grid program listings display screen 100 of FIG. 1.

[0083] Overlay region 710 provides the user with options 712 to identify audio assets embedded within the video program. In some embodiments, selecting option 712 with a highlighted or activated video program listing configures the media guidance application to identify all audio assets within the video program. For example, selecting option 712 may configure the media guidance application to identify all songs featured in video program 702 ("The Simpsons"). In other embodiments, selecting option 712 configures the media guidance application to identify all songs featured in video program 702 ("The Simpsons"). In other embodiments, selecting option 712 configures the user to select what type of audio assets are featured in the video program. display options that allow the user to configure whether media guidance identifies an audio asset, how the audio asset is identified, or what action the media guidance should take following audio asset identification. For example, the user may select to view only songs, only speech, or other audio assets. No.An option may be displayed that allows the user to configure the media guidance application to identify only audio content of a category. As another example, an option may be displayed that allows the user to configure the media guidance application to identify audio assets using metadata, audio analysis, or both, or another suitable identification method (such as querying a server for audio asset information). As yet another example, an option may be displayed that allows the user to configure the media guidance application to save all or a portion of an audio asset for later review, or to automatically purchase, save, or download all or a portion of an identified audio asset. Options may also be displayed that allow the user to configure the media guidance application to limit the recording, download, or purchase of audio assets or audio asset information depending on preselected criteria. For example, a user may configure the media guidance application to automatically purchase or download only identified songs in a video program that meet a preselected genre, artist, etc.

[0084] Audio asset identification may be performed using video program metadata, other stored data containing audio asset information, audio analysis, or by querying a server, as discussed in further detail below in connection with Figure 9. In situations where audio assets or audio asset information associated with a video program are immediately available (e.g., audio asset information is stored in the video program's metadata or audio assets have been previously identified), the media guidance application may immediately display the audio asset information to the user in response to a user's request for the audio asset information. In cases where the audio asset information is not immediately available, the media guidance application may display the information as soon as it is retrieved upon completion of the identification process, or the audio asset information may be stored for later retrieval.

[0085] In some embodiments, when overlay region 710 appears over a displayed video program, option 712 allows a user to identify an audio asset currently playing within the video program. This can be advantageous, for example, in situations where a user is watching a television program (or a commercial) and wants to identify the song currently playing. In this scenario, the user need only press a button or select a displayed option to identify the audio asset. In other embodiments, when overlay region 710 appears over a displayed video program, option 712 provides the same features and functionality as described above in connection with program listings 702. For example, option 712 may allow a user to identify all of the audio assets embedded in the displayed video program.

[0086] 8A and 8B, illustrative display screens of a media guidance application are provided in which a video program 800 is displayed along with audio asset information 806, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, Figures 8A and 8B illustrate the display of audio asset information in response to a user request to identify audio assets embedded within a displayed video program. While the descriptions of these display screens refer to audio assets embedded in a video program, it should be understood that the concepts, features, and techniques discussed herein may apply to audio assets embedded in any type of media content (e.g., interactive advertisements, audio programs, or games).

[0087] 8A and 8B includes an audio information display area 802. The display area 802 may be an overlay displayed over the video program 800. The display area 802 may be displayed in response to a user request or selection, or may be displayed automatically in response to successful completion of an audio asset identification request. For example, the display area 802 may be displayed in response to a user pressing a dedicated button on a user input device. As another example, the display area 802 may be displayed in response to a user request to identify an audio asset currently playing in the video program 800.

[0088] The audio information display area 802 may include album art 804 and audio asset information 806, such as song title, artist, and album. This information may be retrieved from metadata associated with the video program 800, local storage (e.g., audio data store 412 of FIG. 4), or a remote location (e.g., sources 516, 517, or 518 of FIG. 5). The audio information display area 802 may also include a purchase option 808 and an advertisement 810. The elements displayed in the display area 802 may differ depending on the type or category of audio asset. For example, the album art, song title, artist, and album may be most applicable to the identified song. Alternatively, if the identified audio asset is a speech, the display area 802 may display the speaker's name, the location of the speech, the logo of the sponsoring organization, etc. Similarly, if the identified audio asset is available for purchase, only the purchase option 808 may be displayed. Alternatively, or in addition, an option may be displayed to download, record, or save the identified audio asset or its associated audio asset information. Advertisement 810 may be related to the identified audio asset or the displayed video program 800. Additionally, advertisement 810 may incorporate any of the concepts, features, functions, and parameters described above in connection with advertisements 616 and 618 of FIG. 6.

[0089] The content of the audio information display area 802 may be edited or modified. For example, the text of the audio asset information 806 may be edited by a user and added to the video program's metadata, stored in local storage (e.g., audio data store 412 of FIG. 4), or transmitted to a remote server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5). A user may edit the content of the display area 802, for example, to correct the displayed audio asset information. Additionally, the content of the audio information display area 802 or the audio information display area 802 itself may be selectable and may allow a user to retrieve additional information or to purchase, record, or download the identified audio asset or its associated audio asset information.

[0090] 8B , the audio asset information may be displayed directly on the video program 800. Specifically, any of the elements described above in connection with the audio information display area 802 may be overlaid on the video program 800. For example, the audio asset information 806 may be displayed directly on the video program 800. Additionally, a visual indicator 812 may indicate to the user that the displayed information is audio asset information. In some embodiments, album art 804 or an advertisement 810 may be displayed instead of or in addition to the visual indicator 812. The visual indicator or the displayed audio asset information may be selectable, allowing the user to retrieve additional information or to purchase, record, or download the identified audio asset or its associated audio asset information.

[0091] 9, an exemplary system 900 for processing an audio asset identification request is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, system 900 illustrates several different ways in which audio asset information 918 may be provided to a user in response to an audio asset identification request 902. As described in more detail below, the various modules, devices, data stores, and signals of system 900 may be used individually or in combination to identify an audio signal, provide audio asset information, or otherwise perform the functions discussed below.

[0092] System 900 may include an audio capture and process module 906 for recording or otherwise capturing a portion of an audio signal 904. Audio signal 904 may represent an audio signal currently being provided to speaker 314 of FIG. 3, an audio signal embedded in a video program, an audio signal being input using user input interface 310 of FIG. 3, or any other audio signal provided, indicated, or selected for identification (e.g., by a user or a media guidance application). Audio signal 904 may be in any format (e.g., raw waveform or binary file, such as WAV, MP3, etc.), may be analog or digital, may include a single audio asset or multiple audio assets, and may be extracted from a video program, an audio program, or any other media content.

[0093] Audio capture and process module 906 may begin capturing audio signal 904 in response to receiving audio asset identification request 902. In some embodiments, audio asset identification request 902 triggers audio capture and process module 906 to capture audio signal 904. In cases where multiple audio signals are available, audio capture and process module 906 may be configured to default to a particular audio signal 904 or to access audio signal 904 from an audio source. Alternatively, the media guidance application may determine which audio signal to provide to module 906. For example, the media guidance application may determine which audio signal to provide to module 906 based on the current display screen of the media guidance application (e.g., if a video program is being displayed, an audio signal embedded in the video program may be provided). As another example, the media guidance application may determine which audio signal to provide to module 906 based on user interaction with the media guidance application (e.g., if a user selects a particular listing in audio library 612 of FIG. 6, the audio signal associated with that listing may be provided).

[0094] In other embodiments, the audio asset identification request 902 includes additional information associated with the request, which may be provided to the process module 906 to assist in capturing and processing the audio signal 904. For example, the audio asset identification request 902 may include information regarding the source of the audio signal 904 (e.g., which audio source, video program, channel, or audio asset contains the audio signal), where within the source the audio signal 904 is located (e.g., start and end times), and what type of audio signal is being provided (e.g., audio format, audio quality, etc.).

[0095] The audio asset identification request 902 may also include information to assist the audio capture and process module 906 and audio signature generation module 910 in creating suitable audio signal samples 908 and audio signature 912, respectively. Additionally, the audio asset identification request 902 may include information to facilitate retrieval and storage of records in data stores 950, 952, and 954. For example, the audio asset identification request 902 may indicate that the desired audio asset is a song. In response, the audio capture and process module 906 may use sampling techniques customized specifically for the song or audio processing techniques that separate the song from other audio content contained within the same audio signal. The audio signature generation module 910 may similarly use signature generation techniques that are particularly suited to generating a unique signature for the song, which may be different from an audio signature generated for, for example, dialogue. Finally, an indication that the desired audio asset is a song may allow the search for a matching audio signature to be targeted to a particular section of the audio database 954 that contains only audio signatures of songs.

[0096] A record of audio asset identification request 902 may be stored in a local or remote data store, such as user profile data store 952, or may be transmitted to a server for further processing, such as data collection server 517 of FIG. 5. The record may incorporate any information included in or associated with audio asset identification request 902. The record may additionally include an indication that the audio asset identification process has been initiated, a timestamp of the request, information about the audio signal provided for processing by module 906 (e.g., which audio signal was selected or the source of the audio), information about the user interaction with the media guidance application (e.g., how the user initiated the request, what display element the user selected to initiate the request, etc.), information about the state of the media guidance application (e.g., what the media guidance application was displaying at the time of the request), or any other suitable information useful for characterizing audio asset identification request 902 or audio signal 904.

[0097] The audio capture and process module 906 may process a portion of the audio signal 904 to generate an audio signal sample 908. The audio capture and process module 906 may be located on the user equipment or at a remote location. For example, the module 906 may be part of the processing circuit 404 of FIG. 4. The audio capture and process module 906 may be configured to detect an optimal location within the audio signal 904 for capture or processing. For example, the module 906 may detect a portion of the audio signal 904 that has a small amount of interference (e.g., low signal noise or a minimal amount of audio content other than the desired type). The module 906 may process the audio signal 904 to reduce or remove the detected interference. In one scenario, for example, a user may initiate an audio asset identification request and indicate, or it may be determined, that the desired audio asset is a song. In response, the audio capture and process module 906 may detect a location within the audio signal 904 where audio signal artifacts associated with the song are most prominent and where other types of audio content, such as narration, are minimal. Module 906 may also process audio signal 904 to increase audio artifacts detected in the audio signal commonly associated with songs while reducing those determined to belong to other types of audio content. Module 906 may also process audio signal 904 to reduce or remove signal noise, such as jitter.

[0098] The audio capture and process module 906 may be configured to capture a predetermined amount of the audio signal 904. For example, the module 906 may be configured to capture five seconds of audio. Alternatively, the amount of audio captured may vary. For example, the amount of audio captured may depend on the type of audio asset desired (e.g., five seconds of audio may be captured for a song identification request, but ten seconds may be captured if the desired audio asset is narration). Similarly, the length of the audio signal sample 908 may be predetermined or may vary. The amount of audio captured or the length of the audio signal sample 908 may depend on the sample control 916, which will be discussed in more detail below. The sample control 916 may increase the length of the audio signal sample 908, for example, if the audio identification process is unsuccessful (e.g., no audio asset is identified or multiple audio assets are identified).

[0099] The audio signal samples 908 may be extracted or generated from any portion of the audio signal 904. Additionally, the audio signal samples 908 may be provided continuously or at discrete time intervals. For example, the audio capture and process module 906 may continuously process the audio signal 904 to generate continuously updated audio signal samples 908. Alternatively, the audio capture and process module 906 may only generate the audio signal samples 908 at time intervals on demand or in response to detection of a better portion of the audio signal 904 from which to generate the audio samples (e.g., detection of a portion of the audio signal 904 with lower interference than previously detected).

[0100] The audio signature generation module 910 may generate an audio signature 912 based on the audio signal sample 908. The audio signature 912 may be any type of identifying digital information generated from the audio sample and representing the audio asset, such as a sound fingerprint. For example, the audio signature may be a summary of audio artifacts present in the audio signal sample 908. The audio signature 912 may also be a digital file, a hash, a key, a waveform, or any other type of data object.

[0101] The audio signature generation module 910 may be located on the user equipment or at a remote location. For example, the module 910 may be part of the processing circuitry 404 of FIG. 4. The audio signature generation module 910 may process the audio signal samples 908 to generate the audio signature 912 using any suitable technique. For example, the audio signature generation module 910 may include algorithms or processing circuitry to detect and calculate any combination of the average zero-crossing rate, estimated tempo, average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness, prominent tones, and bandwidth of the audio samples.

[0102] The audio signature 912 may be generated from any portion of the audio signal sample 908. In some embodiments, more than one audio signature 912 is generated from the audio signal sample 908. The audio signature 912 may be provided continuously or at discrete time intervals. For example, the audio signature generation module 910 may continuously process the audio signal sample 908 to generate a continuously updated audio signature 912. Alternatively, the audio signature generation module 910 may generate the audio signature 912 on demand, at certain time intervals, or in response to detecting the availability of a new audio signal sample 908.

[0103] Continuing with reference to FIG. 9, audio signature 912 may be used to identify a known audio asset in a data store, such as audio database 954. Identification may be achieved by comparing audio signature 912 to multiple known or previously created audio signatures associated with the known audio asset. These known audio signatures may be stored in audio database 954 and may be located on the user equipment or at a remote location (e.g., in source 516 or 517). Audio database 954 may be searched for known audio signatures that match generated audio signature 912. The search may terminate upon detection of the first matching known audio signature. Alternatively, all known audio signatures may be searched to determine all matching known audio signatures. If no matching audio signature is located, the new (e.g., additional or updated) audio signature 912 may be used in an iterative search of the audio database 954 to find a known audio signature that matches the new audio signature 912. If multiple matching known audio signatures associated with different audio assets are located, the new audio signature 912 may be used in a subsequent search of the multiple matching known audio signatures to narrow down the matching results. The new audio signature may be used in this manner until only one matching known audio signature remains. Alternatively, if multiple matching known audio signatures associated with different audio assets are located, the initial matching result may be discarded, and the new audio signature 912 may be used in an iterative search of the audio database 954 to find a known audio signature that matches the new audio signature 912.

[0104] In some embodiments, the audio signature 912 is updated or generated, continuously or periodically, as described above, in response to a sample control signal 916. The sample control signal 916 is generated, for example, when more than one matching known audio signature is located in the audio database 954. The sample control signal 916 may cause the audio capture and process module 906 to generate an updated audio signal sample 908, which may then be provided to the audio signature generation module 910 to generate the updated audio signal 912. Alternatively, the sample control signal 916 may cause the audio signature generation module 910 to generate the updated audio signal 912 from an existing audio signal sample 908. There may also be situations in which the sample control signal 916 is generated and / or another search is performed when only one matching known audio signature is located in the audio database 954. For example, it may be determined that the matching known audio signature is associated with an audio asset other than the desired audio asset (e.g., based on user input that the identified audio asset is not what the user desires). In embodiments in which more than one audio signature 912 is generated by the audio signature generation module 910, each audio signature can be used individually or in combination to determine a matching known audio signature.

[0105] The audio database 954 may include information or links to information associated with known audio signatures. For example, known audio assets associated with known audio signatures, or links to known audio assets, may be stored in the audio database 954. (The audio data store 412 of FIG. 4 may be implemented in the system 900 as the data store 954.) The audio database 954 may also include any of the information stored in the audio data store 412 of FIG. 4. For example, the audio database 954 may include the audio type, format, title, artist, composer, author, description, genre, category, album, cover art, production date, rating data, or other identifying information associated with the audio asset corresponding to the known audio signature. The audio database 954 may also contain information related to the media content (e.g., television program), logo, advertiser, advertisement, product, or service with which the audio is associated, or other suitable associated information. For example, for each known audio signature stored in audio database 954, the database may also include a list of television programs that include the audio asset associated with the known audio signature. As another example, for each known audio signature stored in audio database 954, the database may include information (e.g., time and channel) regarding past or future broadcasts of the associated audio asset or of video programs that include the audio asset. This information can be used, for example, to determine when and on what channel a given audio asset will next be broadcast.

[0106] Information related to the identification, selection, or purchase of an audio asset may also be stored in audio database 954. For example, if an audio asset is identified, selected, or purchased while watching a video program or while interacting with the media guidance application, details related to the associated video program or media guidance application display screen, respectively, may be stored in audio database 954. Information related to a video program may include the video type, format, genre, category, title, episode, series, channel, description, broadcast date and time, relative timing of the audio within the video, sponsor, etc. Audio database 954 may also include information related to the circumstances and conditions under which audio content was identified, purchased, stored, selected, provided, or otherwise added to audio database 954. For example, a timestamp may be stored indicating the date and time of a user's request to identify, purchase, store, select, provide, or otherwise add an audio asset to audio database 954. As another example, in embodiments in which multiple users may access the media guidance application, a user's indication that an audio asset has been added to audio database 954 may be stored.

[0107] Audio data store 954 may also (or alternatively) store indexes of locations in other local or remote storage systems where such information can be found. Audio data store 954 may be pre-loaded with all or some of the foregoing information. Additionally, audio data store 954 may be periodically updated with new information, or new information may be retrieved from a remote location on demand, periodically, or when new audio assets are added or identified. Information may be provided in metadata transmitted with or separately from the video or audio program. For example, when audio database 954 is local to the user equipment, it may be updated with new audio information when audio assets are identified, selected, purchased, or otherwise provided to the media guidance application. This information may be downloaded from a remote data store or extracted from information (e.g., metadata) provided with the audio asset, the audio signal containing the audio asset, or the video program containing the audio asset.

[0108] Audio database 954, as shown, may represent more than one audio data store. For example, audio database 954 may represent both an audio data store on the user equipment and an audio data store at a remote location (e.g., data collection server 517 or media guidance data source 518). Information contained in a remote audio database may be transferred to a local audio database, or vice versa. References to searching or updating audio database 954 refer to searching or updating the local data store, the remote data store, or both. In some embodiments, any search of audio database 945 begins with a search of the local data store and proceeds to the remote data store only if no results are located in the local data store. For example, a search of local audio database 954 may be performed to locate a known audio signature that matches generated audio signature 912. If no matching known audio signature is found in local audio database 954, a search may be performed in one or more remote audio databases 954.

[0109] Also, other information besides audio signature 912 may be used in the search for known audio signatures that match generated audio signature 912. As previously mentioned, for example, an indication of the type of desired audio asset may be used to select less than all known audio signatures stored in audio database 954 for inclusion in the search. Alternatively, the indication of the type of desired audio asset may be used to filter out certain matching known audio signatures after the search. In some embodiments, information included in or associated with audio asset identification request 902 is used to facilitate the search. For example, audio asset identification request 902 may indicate a video program that includes the desired audio asset. Audio database 954 may then be searched for known audio signatures that match generated audio signature 912, and the matching known audio signatures may also be associated with the indicated video program. Kera954 includes an indication that an audio asset associated with the matching known audio signature is included in the indicated video program). Information in program information data store 950 may also be used in the search process. For example, upon receiving audio asset identification request 902, the media guidance application may search program information data store 950 for information about the currently viewed video program. This information may then be used in a search of audio database 954. Such information may include metadata associated with the video program (e.g., closed caption data) that may be compared to information stored in audio database 954. Similarly, information in user profile data store 950 may be used in the search process. For example, in a situation where several known audio signatures match generated audio signature 912, user profile information may be used to determine the audio asset that is most likely to be desired by the user. A user's most preferred genre may be stored in or determined from, for example, user profile data store 952 (or data store 954 itself), and this genre information may be used to determine the likelihood of each matching known audio signature corresponding to a desired audio asset. It is contemplated that any combination of local or remote data stores (e.g., data stores 950, 952, and 954) may be used in the search for known audio assets.

[0110] In some embodiments, the audio signal sample and audio signature generation steps are omitted, and the desired audio asset is determined without requiring a comparison of audio signatures. For example, an indication of the desired audio asset may be included in the video program metadata (streamed or stored in the program information data store 950) and, in some cases, may be used directly to search the audio database 954. Alternatively, the video program metadata may include a link or reference to an audio asset stored in the audio database 954. In other embodiments, the audio asset may have been previously identified, and data characterizing the identification request, including the resulting audio asset information 918, may be stored in the audio database 954. The new audio asset identification request 902 may then be compared to previous audio asset identification requests, and if it is determined that the request 902 corresponds to one of the previous audio asset identification requests, the audio asset information 918 may be provided without requiring another search of known audio signatures stored in the audio database 954.

[0111] Once it is determined that a known audio signature or known audio asset corresponds to a desired audio asset, audio asset information 918 may be provided. The audio asset information 918 may link to, reference, or include any of the information stored in the audio database 954. The audio asset information 918 may be provided to the user equipment 924 for storage or displayed on the display screen 406 of FIG. 4. For example, the audio asset information 918 may be displayed as the audio asset information 806 of FIGS. 8A and 8B. The audio asset information 918 may be stored in any of the data stores 950, 952, and 954. For example, the audio asset information 918 may be added to metadata associated with a video program (e.g., a video program including the audio signal 904), and this data may be stored in the program information data store 950. As another example, the audio asset information 918, including an indication of the genre of the audio asset, may be stored in the user profile data store 952.

[0112] The audio asset information 918 may also be provided to an advertisement selection module 920, which may use the audio asset information to select an advertisement or advertisement data 922 for display, such as advertisement 810 of FIG. 8A . The advertisement selection module 920 may provide an advertisement related to, for example, the identified audio asset, the video program containing the audio signal 904, or any other information included in the audio asset information 918. Although the audio asset information 918 is shown as a single line, different audio asset information signals may be provided to the user equipment 924 and the advertisement selection module 920. The audio asset information provided to the user equipment 924 may include only song title, artist, and album information, while the advertisement selection module 920 may additionally receive genre, composer, and production date information. The advertisement selection module 920 may also interface with data stores 950, 952, or 954 to retrieve information useful for selecting an advertisement. For example, advertisement selection module 920 may use audio asset information 918 and access user profile information 952 to determine whether another audio asset is similar or different from an audio asset previously purchased or identified by the user. The advertisement selection module may also perform any of the functions described above in connection with selecting advertisements for display (e.g., advertisements 616 and 618) in FIG.

[0113] In some embodiments, audio asset information 918 provides information about multiple audio assets. This may occur, for example, when multiple known audio signatures match generated audio signature 912 or when multiple known audio assets are otherwise identified. The user may then be provided with the option to select a desired audio asset. For example, the media guidance application may allow the user to play a sample of each identified audio asset and indicate which corresponds to the desired audio asset. The user's indication may be stored in (local / remote) audio database 954, so that any subsequent search of audio database 954 (e.g., by another user) may return only the selected audio asset, or may return multiple audio assets with an indication that the selected audio asset is most likely the correct result. In some embodiments, data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 collects multiple user selections and determines which of the multiple audio assets is most likely to match the desired audio asset based on the most common user selection.

[0114] In some embodiments, the media guidance application allows a user to edit audio asset information 918. For example, a user may notice an error or inconsistency in the audio asset information provided. Additionally, when no audio asset information 918 is provided, the user may be allowed to add audio asset information. Any of this edited or added audio asset information may be stored in data stores 950, 952, or 954, or transmitted to data collection server 517 of FIG. 5. For example, the edited or added audio asset information may be added to the video program metadata. As another example, for example, the edited or added audio asset information may be transmitted to data collection server 517 of FIG. 5, which may then distribute the information to additional users (e.g., upon determining that the edited or added audio asset information is in fact correct).

[0115] As mentioned above, any of the modules and devices of system 900 may be located at or within user equipment (e.g., user equipment 502, 504, or 506 in FIG. 5 ), or may be located at a remote location, such as a server (e.g., source 516, 517, or 518 in FIG. 5 ). In addition, any of the signals of system 900 may be generated locally or remotely and transferred remotely or locally, respectively. For example, audio asset identification request 902 may be generated by user equipment and sent to a remote server, which retrieves audio signal 904, generates audio signal samples 908 and audio signature 912, retrieves audio information 918 from audio database 954, and transmits audio information 918 back to the requesting user equipment. As another example, the audio asset identification request 902, audio signal sample 908, and audio signature 912 may all be generated by the user equipment, and the audio signature 912 may be sent to a remote server, which retrieves the audio information 918 from the audio database 954 and returns it to the user equipment.

[0116] User equipment (300 of FIG. 3, 400 of FIG. 4, or 502, 504, or 506 of FIG. 5), or any other type of user equipment suitable for displaying audio asset information, such as a music player, may be implemented in system 900 as user equipment 924. For simplicity, only one user equipment device is shown, but it should be understood that user equipment 924 may represent many different user equipment devices, each of which may belong to the same or different users. As discussed above in connection with FIG. 5, a user equipment device on which a media guidance application is implemented may function as a stand-alone device or may be part of a network of devices.

[0117] As part of the audio asset identification process, the data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may receive any of the signals generated by the system 900. For example, the data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may receive an audio asset identification request 902 or audio asset information 918. The data collection server may receive these signals from any number of users, for example, via the communication network 514 of FIG. 5. The data collection server may correlate and analyze the signals to determine the most requested or identified audio assets. The data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may then transmit information 918 corresponding to the most requested or identified audio assets for display or storage (e.g., in a local audio database). In addition, the data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may maintain a list of “popular” audio assets based on the number of requests to identify or purchase the audio assets. For example, an audio asset may be determined to be popular when it receives a certain threshold number of requests. The data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may also monitor when users request these popular audio assets (e.g., timing), under what circumstances the popular audio assets are requested (e.g., what video programs or display screens the users are viewing or interacting with), and the types of users initiating the requests (e.g., what common user profile elements the users share, such as music preferences). The data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may use all or some of the above information to proactively provide or “push” audio asset information 918 to users. For example, the above information may be used to determine which users should receive audio asset information (e.g., users with certain user profile data), when the users should receive it (e.g., before, during, or after a video program), and how the users should receive it (e.g., display it on a display screen, store it in an audio data store, or add it to an audio library).For example, the data collection server may send audio asset information 918 to a user viewing a video program that includes a popular audio asset, and the audio asset information may be displayed (e.g., in overlay 802 of FIG. 8A) when the popular audio asset begins to play in the video program (e.g., when the audio asset is output to speaker 314 of FIG. 3).

[0118] It should be understood that each of the embodiments described above in connection with Figures 1-9 are merely exemplary, and that any other suitable configurations may be contemplated. For example, referring again to Figure 4, data stores 408, 410, and 412 may be located remotely from user equipment 400 and may instead be implemented, for example, in media guidance data source 518 of Figure 5. In these embodiments, the benefits and capabilities of the media guidance application described above are utilized even when a client-server system is used. That is, audio asset information may be retrieved at a remote location and provided to the user equipment device from a remote source.

[0119] In accordance with the benefits and capabilities of the media guidance application described above, for example, a user may initiate an audio asset identification request using an Internet-connected personal computer. A remote server may receive the request via a website and may display the audio asset information to the user and / or store the audio asset information in an online user profile. These user profiles may be part of an online social network so that users may view and / or share the audio identification request, the retrieved audio asset information, and any other suitable information. Users may also be provided with the ability to recommend audio assets to other users.

[0120] A user may initiate an audio asset identification request using the website to indicate a video program that includes the audio asset. For example, the user may specify the time and date and channel on which the audio asset was broadcast, or the video program that includes the audio asset. The server may use this information to retrieve the audio asset information using any of the processes described in connection with FIG. 9. For example, the server may use the time and channel information to identify the video program that includes the audio asset, or may sample the program's audio signal at a particular time. In some embodiments, the user can view other audio asset identification requests initiated using the website, for example, by other users. In other embodiments, the user can view a list of the most requested (i.e., "popular") audio assets.

[0121] Although the discussion of audio assets focuses on songs, it will be understood that the principles of audio asset identification may be applied to other types of audio content, such as background music, narration, sound effects, dialogue, etc. can Additionally, although the discussion of audio assets has focused on audio assets embedded within video programming, the principles of audio asset identification may apply to audio assets embedded in other media content or to audio assets that are not embedded in other media content.

[0122] The following flow diagrams serve to illustrate processes involved in some embodiments of the present invention. Where appropriate, these processes may be implemented entirely within processing circuitry of a user equipment device (e.g., processing circuitry 404 of FIG. 4) or at least partially within a media guidance source remote from the user equipment device (e.g., media guidance source 518 of FIG. 5), for example.

[0123] 10, an illustrative flow diagram 1000 for processing an audio asset identification request using a media guidance application is shown, according to one embodiment of the present invention. At step 1002, an audio asset identification request (e.g., audio asset identification request 902 of FIG. 9) is received. A user may initiate the audio asset identification request by selecting a selectable option provided on a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a list option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or by pressing a dedicated button on a remote control, other user input interface, or device. For example, a user may select option 712 in overlay area 710 of FIG. 7 to initiate an identification request for an audio asset embedded within a video program. An audio asset identification request may also be initiated automatically by the media guidance application. For example, a user may have previously indicated that they desire identification of a certain type of audio asset (e.g., a song) within a particular video program or group of video programs (e.g., a television series, or all viewed programs), and in response, the media guidance application may automatically initiate the audio asset identification request. As another example, the media guidance application may continuously monitor the video program being viewed by the user and periodically initiate audio asset identification requests. As yet another example, the media guidance application may continuously monitor the video program being viewed by the user, predict when the user may be interested in an audio asset currently playing in the video program, and initiate audio asset identification requests accordingly.

[0124] The media guidance application may utilize signal processing circuitry or specialized algorithms to detect the presence of an audio asset or a type of audio asset. For example, the media guidance application may utilize signal processing circuitry or specialized algorithms to continuously sample or process an audio signal and analyze it for audio or acoustic characteristics, particularly for a given type of audio asset (e.g., a song may contain repetitive acoustic characteristics such as beats). Alternatively, the media guidance application may analyze or search through metadata associated with a video program to detect or determine the type of audio asset contained within the video program. For example, closed caption data may indicate the presence of an audio asset and the type of audio asset (e.g., closed caption data may include the word "song" or the phrase "music playing," or

[0125] [ka] "or"

[0126] [ka] "). As another example, the media guidance application may detect the presence of lyrics within the metadata. Upon detecting the presence of an audio asset or type of audio asset using the foregoing methods (or any other suitable methods), individually or in combination, the media guidance application may initiate an audio asset identification request.

[0127] The media guidance application may predict when a user may be interested in an audio asset currently being played in a video program based on a user profile. For example, the user profile may indicate that the user has a preference for audio assets included in a particular video program or television series. As another example, the user may have initiated several previous requests to identify other audio assets while watching the same video program. As yet another example, the user profile may indicate that the user has a preference for audio assets with certain types of audio characteristics (e.g., a particular metrical sequence or centered in a certain frequency range). The media guidance application may also predict when a user may be interested in an audio asset currently being played in a video program using any other data store and using any other suitable method.

[0128] At step 1004, the audio asset identification request is stored in a user profile. As discussed in connection with audio asset identification request 902 of FIG. 9, the audio asset identification request may include information ranging from a simple indication that the request was initiated, to a timestamp of the request, to detailed information about when and how the request was initiated (e.g., which video program or media guidance display screen was being viewed or pointed to when the request was initiated). Additional information associated with audio asset identification request 902 may also be stored, such as an indication that the user initiated the request. As discussed in connection with user profile data store 952, the user profile may be stored locally, remotely, or both, and may be part of a separate data store. The information stored in the user profile may be monitored or analyzed to, among other things, determine the user's audio asset preferences. The information stored in the user profile may also be monitored or analyzed to provide targeted advertising to the user. For example, based on the user's determined musical preferences, advertisements for similar or different favorite songs may be displayed. The media guidance application allows users to request recommendations of audio assets based on a user profile or other suitable criteria.

[0129] In step 1006, the media guidance application may search the video program containing the audio asset for metadata associated with the audio asset or audio asset identification data. The audio asset identification data may include audio asset characterization information (e.g., title, artist, album, etc.), an identification number, an audio signature, or any other unique audio asset identification information. Alternatively, the audio asset identification data may include a reference or link to such information (e.g., information stored in audio database 954 of FIG. 9). The metadata may include the audio asset identification data directly or may include a reference or link to the audio asset identification data. Alternatively, the metadata may include closed caption data or lyrics, which may in turn include the audio asset identification data. The metadata may be provided along with the video program (separately or embedded in the video program), in the video blanking interval of a television broadcast, or using any other suitable technique (e.g., using a network or other means as described above in connection with FIG. 5). The metadata may also be received from any suitable source, such as a local or remote data store or server.

[0130] In step 1008, the media guidance application may determine whether audio asset identification data was located in the metadata. If so, the process continues at step 1010, where the media guidance application displays the audio asset information. The audio asset information may be audio asset identification information contained within or linked to the metadata. In addition, the audio asset information may include any of the information described above in connection with audio asset information 918 of FIG. 9. For example, if the audio asset is a song, the media guidance application may display the song title, artist, album, and album art (e.g., in overlay 802 of FIG. 8A).

[0131] If, in step 1008, the media guidance application determines that the audio asset identification data was not located in the metadata, the process may proceed to step 1012, where the media guidance application may query a server to determine whether the audio asset identification request refers to the same audio asset as a previously fulfilled audio asset identification request. For example, the media guidance application may send a timestamp and channel information associated with the request to a server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5). The server may use the timestamp and channel information to identify the video program and the location of the desired audio asset within the video program. The server may then search previously received audio asset identification requests to determine whether any of the previous requests were associated with the desired audio asset. This determination may be made, for example, based on the proximity of the previous and current requests or based on the timing of the previous and current requests for the same video program. If a previous audio asset identification request is found to correspond to the current request, the audio asset identification data associated with the previous request may be retrieved. This audio asset identification data may be associated with the previous request at the time of fulfillment of that request.

[0132] In step 1014, the media guidance application may determine whether audio asset identification data associated with a previously fulfilled audio asset identification request has been located. If so, the process continues with step 1016, where the media guidance application adds the audio asset identification data to the metadata. For example, the audio asset identification data may be added to the metadata of a video program that includes the identified audio asset. The metadata may include the location of the audio asset within the video program. After the metadata is updated, the process may proceed to step 1010, where the media guidance application displays the audio asset information as described above.

[0133] If, in step 1014, the media guidance application determines that audio asset identification data was not located in response to the query of step 1012, the process may proceed to step 1018, where the media guidance application may capture and process the portion of the audio signal targeted by the audio asset identification request to create an audio signature. For example, step 1018 may be performed by audio capture and process module 906 and audio signature generation module 910 of Figure 9. The result of step 1018 may be audio signature 912 of Figure 9, which was described in detail above in connection with Figure 9.

[0134] At step 1020, the audio signature may be compared to a plurality of known audio signatures to identify a matching known audio signature to associate with the audio asset identification data. The comparison may be performed by searching an audio data store containing known audio signatures, as described above in connection with FIG. 9 and audio database 954, and as described in further detail below in connection with FIG. 11. Upon identifying a matching known audio signature in an audio data store, the media guidance application may retrieve the associated audio identification information, for example, from the same audio data store. The process may then continue with step 1016, where the media guidance application adds the audio asset identification data to the metadata, as described above. After the metadata is updated, the process may proceed to step 1010, where the media guidance application displays the audio asset information, as further described above.

[0135] 11 , an exemplary flow diagram 1100 is shown for creating and utilizing an audio signature to search an audio database of known audio signatures, according to one embodiment of the present invention. For example, exemplary flow diagram 1100 may show a detailed implementation of steps 1018 and 1020 of FIG. 10. In step 1102, the media guidance application may capture and process a portion of the audio signal targeted by the audio asset identification request to create an audio signature. For example, step 1102 may be performed by audio capture and process module 906 and audio signature generation module 910 of FIG. 9. The result of step 1102 may be audio signature 912 of FIG. 9, which was described in detail above in connection with FIG. 9.

[0136] In step 1104, the audio signature may be compared to a plurality of known audio signatures to identify a matching known audio signature associated with the audio asset identification data. The comparison may be performed by searching an audio database containing the known audio signatures, as described above in connection with audio database 954 of FIG. 9. The audio database may be local to the user equipment or located on a remote server. The plurality of known audio signatures may be pre-stored in the audio database, downloaded to the audio database at periodic time intervals, or transferred on request. Additionally, if an audio signature is generated in step 1102 that does not match any known audio signature in the audio database, the generated audio signature may be added to the audio database and flagged to indicate that audio asset identification data was not found. This missing audio asset identification data may be provided by the requesting user (e.g., in step 1112) or by another user (e.g., a system administrator at a remote server), or the system may automatically add the missing audio asset identification data at a later time (e.g., by associating unknown audio signatures with known audio signatures, for example, based on the proximity of the audio asset identification requests that led to the generation of the audio signatures).

[0137] The generated audio signature may be compared to known audio signatures using any suitable method (e.g., binary comparison, audio or signal correlation, acoustic feature recognition, etc.). For example, two audio signatures may match if they contain the same or similar average zero-crossing rate, estimated tempo, average frequency spectrum, spectral flatness, prominent tones, or bandwidth information. More than one matching known audio signature may be identified, or no matching audio signature may be identified. Additionally, one or more audio signatures may be generated and used to search an audio database for matching known audio signatures.

[0138] In step 1106, the media guidance application may determine whether the search of step 1104 resulted in the identification of a matching known audio signature. If no matches were found, the process may continue to step 1108, where the media guidance application may determine whether a threshold number of searches have been performed (the media guidance application may monitor the identification process and record the number of database searches performed). If the threshold has been reached, the process may proceed to step 1112, described in more detail below. Alternatively, if the threshold number of searches has not been reached, the process may return to step 1102, and another audio signature may be generated from the same or a different audio sample. This new audio signature may be used in another search in step 1104.

[0139] If it is determined in step 1106 that one or more matches were identified in step 1104, the process may continue with step 1110, where the media guidance application determines whether multiple matches were found. If matches are found, the process may proceed to step 1114, where the media guidance application may determine whether a threshold number of searches have been performed. This threshold may be the same as or different from the threshold in step 1108. If the threshold has been reached, the process may proceed to step 1116, which is described in more detail below. Alternatively, if the threshold number of searches has not been reached, the process may return to step 1102, and another audio signature may be generated from the same or a different audio sample. This new audio signature may be used in another search in step 1104. Alternatively, the new audio signature may be used to search only the previously identified audio signatures, thus narrowing the match results.

[0140] If the threshold has been reached in step 1114, the process may proceed to step 1116. In step 1116, the media guidance application may display audio asset information associated with each of the multiple matching known audio signatures. The user may then be provided with the option to select the audio asset information associated with the desired audio asset. For example, the media guidance application may allow the user to play a sample of each identified audio asset and indicate which corresponds to the desired audio asset.

[0141] If, in step 1110, the media guidance application determines that only one match was found as a result of the search of step 1104, the process may continue with step 1112. Step 1112 may also continue to step 1116, or may continue to step 1108 if it is determined that the processing threshold for that step has been reached. In step 1112, the media guidance application may allow the user to edit the audio asset information associated with the matching known audio signature of step 1110 or the selected known audio signature of step 1116. The media guidance application may also allow the user to identify audio asset information for audio signatures that did not match (e.g., when step 1112 was reached from step 1108). Any of the aforementioned selected, edited, or added audio asset information may be stored in an audio database or transmitted to a server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5). The process may then continue with step 1016 of FIG. 10, where the audio asset information may be added to metadata associated with the media program that includes the audio asset.

[0142] 12 shows a flow diagram 1200 for identifying and providing audio asset information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Initially, the media guidance application receives and stores audio asset identification requests, as described above (step 1202). Next, the media guidance application determines whether any previously received audio asset identification requests were directed to the same audio asset as the audio asset identification request received in step 1202 (step 1204). If so, audio asset information associated with such previously received audio asset is provided to the user (step 1212). Previously received audio asset identification requests may be recorded on the user equipment and / or a remote server. Data collection server 517 of FIG. 5 may, for example, record all audio asset identification requests transmitted by user equipment 502, 504, or 506 over communications network 514.

[0143] The media guidance application may use any suitable method to determine that two audio asset identification requests are directed to the same desired audio asset. For example, the timing of the audio asset identification requests may be compared, and if received at approximately the same time or within a time interval, they may be considered to refer to the same audio asset. Alternatively, audio asset identification requests may be considered to refer to the same audio asset if the timing of the requests relative to the start of the video program is the same or within close proximity. For example, a first user watching a television program may initiate an audio asset identification request at 488 seconds into the program. Using any of the methods described above, audio asset information associated with the desired audio asset is retrieved and provided to the user. A second (or the same) user watching the same television program (at the same time or in the future) may initiate an audio asset identification request at 490 seconds into the program. The media guidance application may determine that two audio asset identification requests are directed to the same desired audio asset based on the similar timing of the requests. Thus, the second user may be provided with the audio asset information retrieved and provided to the first user. Two audio asset identification requests may also be determined to refer to the same audio asset based on audio analysis, metadata, or another suitable means for detecting that the same audio asset is being played when both requests are initiated.

[0144] If, in step 1204, the media guidance application determines that the audio asset identification request received in step 1202 does not match a previously received request, the media guidance application proceeds with creating an audio signature from the audio sample (step 1206), as discussed in connection with step 1018 of Figure 10 and step 1102 of Figure 11, respectively. Step 1206 may be performed immediately or only after other methods of fulfilling the audio asset identification request have been exhausted. For example, the media guidance application may first attempt to identify the desired audio asset using metadata.

[0145] The media guidance application then searches the audio database or any other data for audio asset identification data (step 1208), as described above in connection with audio database 954 of Figure 9 and step 1104 of Figure 11. The audio asset identification data is then added to the video program metadata (step 1210), as discussed in connection with step 1016 of Figure 10. The audio asset information and / or associated advertisements may then be provided to the user (step 1212), as described in connection with step 1010 of Figure 10.

[0146] A remote server (e.g., data collection server 517 of FIG. 5) may be used to determine whether a threshold number of audio asset identification requests directed to the same audio asset have been received (step 1214). Each user may only be counted once in this tally, such that the remote server only counts one and only one audio asset identification request. If the threshold is not met, the process ends. Alternatively, when the threshold number of requests for the same audio asset is met or exceeded, an indication of the popularity of the audio asset is determined and / or recorded, and the process continues to the next stage.

[0147] In a next step, audio asset information associated with the popular audio asset may be recommended or automatically provided to other users (step 1216). For example, a user viewing a video program that includes a popular audio asset may receive audio asset information associated with the popular audio asset without initiating an audio asset identification request. For example, it is contemplated that a user watching a video program may be automatically presented with audio asset information such as that shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B when the popular audio asset begins to play. Popular audio assets may be determined for a particular group of users based on user profile information. For example, audio asset information associated with the popular audio asset may be selectively provided to users determined to be likely to be interested in such information. Alternatively, popular audio asset information may be provided to user equipment where it is stored and made available only upon user request. For example, popular audio asset information may be provided to user equipment in preparation for an audio asset identification request, thus eliminating the need for searching or audio signature comparison.

[0148] 13, an illustrative flow diagram 1300 for processing an audio asset identification request is shown, according to one embodiment of the present invention. At step 1302, a media guidance application may receive an audio asset identification request along with or including a timestamp of the request. At step 1304, the media guidance application may retrieve metadata associated with the video program that includes the audio asset. The metadata may include, for example, closed caption data.

[0149] In step 1306, the media guidance application may use the timestamp of the audio asset identification request to locate a portion of the audio signal that contains the desired audio asset. The program metadata retrieved in step 1304 may then be used to assist the media guidance application in determining an optimal audio signal segment near the located portion from which a sample will be generated. For example, closed caption data may be used to identify dialogue within a video program. There exists The media guidance application may indicate when dialogue is present. If the desired audio asset type is dialogue or narration, the media guidance application may use closed caption data to ensure that samples are recorded when dialogue is present. Alternatively, if the desired audio asset type is song or music, the media guidance application may use closed caption data to ensure that samples are recorded when dialogue is not present. As another example, if the metadata includes closed caption data that indicates the start and end of lyrics or music, the media guidance application may determine the duration of the song and sample the audio signal somewhere within that duration. Similarly, the metadata may include the start time, end time, or play time of the audio asset, which may be used by the media guidance application to determine boundaries that limit where the audio signal may be sampled.

[0150] In step 1308, the media guidance application may also analyze the audio signal before or after the identified location to determine an optimal segment of the audio signal from which to generate an audio sample. The optimal audio signal segment may be one that has minimal interfering or unwanted audio content (such as background noise). In addition, the optimal audio signal segment may characterize easily detectable audio and acoustic characteristics.

[0151] At step 1310, the media guidance application may generate a sample of the audio signal. The combination of timestamps, metadata, and audio analysis may allow the media guidance application to sample the audio signal at the most ideal location. The audio sample is then used to generate an audio signature representative of the desired audio asset. At step 1312, the media guidance application may search an audio database for known audio signatures that match the generated audio signature, as described in connection with step 1020 of FIG. 10, step 1104 of FIG. 11, and step 1208 of FIG. 12, respectively.

[0152] It should be understood that the steps of flow diagrams 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1300 are illustrative only, and any of the steps of flow diagrams 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1300 may be modified, omitted, or rearranged, two or more of the steps may be combined, or any additional steps may be added, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0153] In various embodiments, in addition to the embodiments described above, features described herein enable, and include, (1) generating new audio signatures based on continuous sampling of audio assets to facilitate database searches; (2) allowing a user to select between multiple matching known audio assets; (3) allowing a user to identify audio assets without viewing a video program (e.g., list selection, request to identify all songs in a series of programs, etc.); (4) allowing a user to instruct a guidance application to automatically identify audio assets; and (5) using audio analysis or metadata to detect the presence or location of audio.

[0154] For example, a media guidance application may be configured to compile, at a user equipment, a list of audio assets (e.g., songs) associated with stored video programs (or other media programs, such as music programs). In some cases, the audio assets are embedded within the stored video programs, while in other cases, the audio assets are stored separately from the stored video programs. The list of audio assets may be compiled by identifying the audio assets using any of the techniques described above. As one illustrative example, the media guidance application may sample each audio asset, create an audio signature corresponding to each audio asset, and provide the audio signatures to a remote server (e.g., a web server accessible via the Internet). The remote server may then provide the audio asset information to the requesting user equipment by comparing the received audio signatures to a database of known audio signatures. The media guidance application may then store the received audio asset information and display it to the user. Media guidance may add all or a portion of the audio asset information to metadata associated with the stored video programs. Additionally, the media guidance application may add metadata indicating the start time, play time, and / or end time of each audio asset within the stored video program. Further, in response to a user's instruction, the media guidance application may be configured to identify and play audio assets in the stored video program to play the audio assets. Identifying and playing audio assets may include identifying the storage location of the audio asset (e.g., using start / play / end time metadata) or identifying the location of the audio asset within the stored video program. The media guidance application may also be configured to allow a user to select one or more audio assets from a list of audio assets and play, download, or record the selected audio assets.In this way, the media guidance application provides the user with quick and seamless access to a list of audio assets associated with stored video programs on the user's equipment, allowing the user to retrieve the audio assets as desired.

[0155] In one exemplary arrangement, multiple user equipment devices, each including a DVR or similar storage component, store music data separately from video data using digital encoding techniques. Each user equipment device is configured to locate and identify music data within stored media programs (e.g., television programs) using media recognition mechanisms such as those described above. Also, many media programs (e.g., dramas, music programs, television programs, etc.) may have embedded music. Currently, creating music metadata requires significant human resources. Advantageously, media guidance applications running on user equipment have sufficient processing power to locally and automatically identify and create music data from stored media programs. The media guidance application can use a network (e.g., Internet) connection to access a remote database of audio and / or other media assets. As a result, a media guidance application implemented on, for example, a DVR or other data storage component, can present a music listing of audio assets associated with each media program and can play one or more audio assets from the media program. In a further arrangement, the media guidance application can provide one or more audio assets via a music download service and / or a CD rental / shipping service.

[0156] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the methods associated with the present invention may be embodied in a computer program product that includes a computer usable and / or readable medium. For example, such computer usable medium may consist of a read-only memory device, such as a CD-ROM disk or a conventional ROM device, or a random access memory, such as a hard drive device or computer diskette, having computer readable program code stored thereon.

[0157] Further to the foregoing, in one approach, a media guidance system includes a data store containing audio asset information associated with a set of known audio assets. The media guidance system also includes a processor capable of: i) receiving a number of requests from a first group of users to identify audio assets embedded within video programming; ii) storing indications of the requested audio assets in the data store; and iii) providing audio asset information associated with the requested audio assets to a second group of users.

[0158] In one embodiment, the requested audio asset is identified by processing data associated with the requested audio asset and data in a data store. The data store may include a set of known audio signatures, each known audio signature associated with one of the audio assets in the set of known audio assets. In addition, each request to identify an audio asset may include a generated audio asset signature. Identifying the requested audio asset may then include comparing the generated audio asset signature with the set of known audio signatures in the data store to determine a matching known audio signature.

[0159] In another embodiment, identifying the requested audio asset may include processing metadata associated with the audio asset to extract audio asset information. Data associated with the requested audio asset may include lyrics.

[0160] The audio asset information may be provided in response to receiving a request from a second group of users to identify audio assets embedded within the video program. Alternatively, the audio asset information may be provided in response to determining that the second group of users has requested to view or record the video program, is currently viewing or recording the video program, or has previously viewed or recorded the video program. As another alternative, the audio asset information may be provided in response to determining that user profile information associated with each of the second group of users matches user profile information associated with each of the first group of users. As yet another alternative, the audio asset information may be provided in response to determining that the number of users in the first group of users matches or exceeds a predetermined threshold number of users for determining popularity.

[0161] The audio asset information may include data such as an audio asset signature, title, artist, album, album art, genre, type, location of the audio asset within the video program, duration of the audio asset within the video program, start time of the audio asset, end time of the audio asset, lyrics, audio text, and / or audio quality. In one embodiment, the media guidance system is capable of i) generating metadata that includes at least a portion of the audio asset information and ii) associating the metadata with the video program.

[0162] In one embodiment, the aforementioned data stores are located remotely from the user equipment, and the media guidance system is capable of i) monitoring the set of user equipment data stores, ii) identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data stores that is not stored in the set of user equipment data stores, and iii) providing the identified audio asset information to the set of user equipment data stores.

[0163] In another embodiment, the media guidance system may i) select an advertisement based at least in part on audio asset information associated with the requested audio asset, and ii) provide the advertisement to the first and / or second set of users. The audio asset may be or include a song, dialogue, narration, sound effects, and / or background music.

[0164] In another approach, an audio asset information storage system includes a data store containing audio asset information associated with known audio assets, the audio asset information including video program information associated with video programs embedding the known audio assets, and a processor capable of: i) receiving a number of requests to identify the known audio assets; ii) storing an indication of each request in the data store; and iii) providing at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with the known audio assets to user equipment.

[0165] The audio asset information may include an audio asset signature, identifier, title, artist, album, album art, genre, type, lyrics, and / or play time. The video program information may include a program title, genre, type, episode, series, broadcast schedule, audio asset location, audio asset start time, audio asset end time, audio asset play time, lyrics, audio text, and / or audio asset quality.

[0166] In one embodiment, the data stores are located remotely from the user equipment, and the storage system is further capable of: i) monitoring the set of user equipment data stores; ii) identifying audio asset information stored in the remote data stores that is not stored in the set of user equipment data stores; and iii) providing the identified audio asset information to the set of user equipment data stores.

[0167] In another embodiment, at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that the user equipment is configured (or previously configured) to view or record a video program that embeds the known audio asset. Alternatively, at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile for the user equipment includes audio preference data that matches characteristics of the known audio asset. The characteristics of the known audio asset may be included in the audio asset information. As another alternative, at least a portion of the audio asset information is provided in response to determining that a user profile for the user equipment includes video preference data that matches characteristics of a video program that embeds the known audio asset. The characteristics of the video program may be included in the video program information.

[0168] In one embodiment, the storage system is capable of: i) receiving a request to view all audio assets associated with a selected video program; ii) searching a data store for audio assets associated with video program information identifying the selected video program; and iii) providing at least a portion of the audio asset information associated with each matching audio asset to the user equipment.

[0169] In another embodiment, the storage system is capable of i) determining that a threshold number of requests for identifying known audio assets has been received, and ii) storing an indication of the threshold determination in audio asset information associated with the known audio assets. At least a portion of the audio asset information may be provided in response to the threshold determination.

[0170] The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be practiced other than by the embodiments described, which have been presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation, and the invention is limited only by the following claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method, comprising: Control circuitry in the user equipment device receiving a request for a video program stored on a remote server; control circuitry in the user equipment device receiving, from the remote server, the video program including known audio assets; based on receiving the request for the video program at the user equipment device, control circuitry at the user equipment device automatically receiving known audio asset information associated with the known audio assets of the video program; control circuitry in the user equipment device receiving a user request to identify the known audio asset of the video program; based on receiving the user request to identify the known audio asset, control circuitry displays the known audio asset information for the known audio asset along with selectable options on a display device associated with the user equipment device; control circuitry in the user equipment device receiving user input via the selectable options; control circuitry performing an operation associated with said selectable option; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the video programming includes at least one of live content, on-demand video content, and recorded video content.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions associated with the selectable options include at least one of purchasing the known audio asset, downloading the known audio asset, recording the known audio asset, storing the known audio asset, and retrieving further information related to the known audio asset.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the known audio asset information includes one or more of a title, an artist, an album, album art, a genre of the audio asset, a type of audio asset, lyrics, a play time of the audio asset, an end time of the audio asset, or an audio quality.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user request to identify the known audio asset is generated in response to one of selecting an option from a video program listings screen or selecting a button from a user input device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the known audio asset information is displayed automatically based on settings associated with a user profile.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: control circuitry in the user equipment device receiving a second user request to identify an unknown audio asset associated with the video program.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the control circuit in the user equipment device transmitting instructions to search for metadata associated with the video program to perform audio asset identification for the unknown audio asset associated with the video program.

9. Based on identifying the unknown audio asset, control circuitry at the user equipment device receives unknown audio asset information related to the unknown audio asset information; control circuitry in the user equipment device displaying the unknown audio asset information for the unknown audio asset on the display device associated with the user equipment device; The method of claim 8 further comprising:

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the known audio asset information is embedded within the video program.

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