Blackout Verification via Set-Top Box Retune Data Correlation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional video data distribution systems face challenges in verifying the execution of geographic content blackouts, as they lack a systematic method to confirm that alternative programming is correctly substituted for restricted areas, leading to potential discrepancies in service delivery and customer experience.
Innovation Solution
A software-based blackout system that correlates retune data from set-top boxes with server-side event data to verify the occurrence and effectiveness of geographic content blackouts, using a data warehouse to analyze and audit the substitution of services during blackout events, ensuring compliance with content providers' demands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional systems use static IRD assignment to geographic regions with channel-by-channel blackout definition, then content restriction is implemented, but verification of blackout execution and service substitution accuracy is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by collecting retune data from set-top boxes and comparing it against expected blackout behavior. The system monitors whether customers in blacked-out areas actually retune to alternative content, providing verification that the blackout is executing correctly. This feedback loop enables accurate verification of service delivery without requiring additional hardware complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification layer that sits between the content delivery system and the customers. This intermediary collects and analyzes retune data to verify blackout execution, acting as a mediator that provides verification capabilities without directly modifying the core content delivery infrastructure or requiring complex additional hardware at customer premises.
2Measurement precision
If the system monitors and verifies blackout execution through data collection and analysis, then service delivery accuracy is improved, but data processing requirements and system overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary verification data from the overall system operations. Instead of processing all content delivery data, the system specifically extracts retune data from set-top boxes that indicates whether customers are receiving alternative content during blackouts. This selective extraction provides accurate verification while minimizing data processing requirements by focusing only on the critical verification signals.
3Reliability
If the system provides detailed verification and auditing capabilities for blackout events, then customer satisfaction and service reliability are enhanced, but system complexity and operational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service verification where the system automatically collects, analyzes, and verifies blackout execution without requiring manual intervention. The set-top boxes automatically report retune data, and the verification system automatically processes this data to confirm proper blackout execution. This automated self-service approach provides detailed verification capabilities while minimizing operational overhead by eliminating the need for manual monitoring and verification processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A system is disclosed for verifying an occurrence of a blackout event in a data distribution system, the system including but not limited to a processor in data communication with a computer readable medium; and computer program comprising instructions to receive restricted content data at the data distribution system; instructions to receive at the data distribution system, blackout event data indicating at least one criterion for selecting client devices subject to a blackout event for the restricted content data; instructions to place at the data distribution system, client devices into a client device group subject to the blackout event in accordance with the event data criterion; and instructions to correlate at the data distribution system, the blackout event data with the retune activity data to verify the occurrence of the blackout event in the client devices.