Dual-Category Content Guide System for Satellite TV Search
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Solution Overview
Problem
Satellite television systems face challenges in efficiently managing and communicating a wide variety of content to users, including the need to inform users of available content and optimize resource usage due to the broadcasting of numerous channels and pay-per-view programs.
Innovation Solution
A content processing and delivery system that includes a content processing system, user devices, and a communication network, which provides a content provider category and a global guide category different from the content provider category, allowing for global searches and displaying content on user devices with provider homepages, enabling users to navigate and select content effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If satellite television systems broadcast a large selection of channels and pay-per-view programs, then content variety is improved, but satellite resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments content categories into two hierarchical levels: content provider categories (e.g., HBO, Showtime) and global guide categories (e.g., Movies, Sports, News). This segmentation allows the system to organize the large variety of content into manageable segments that can be efficiently managed and broadcast, reducing the overhead required to handle content variety while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a dual-category dimension for content organization. Instead of using a single flat category structure, it adds a second dimensional layer (global guide category) that cross-cuts the content provider categories. This dimensional change enables more efficient content grouping and reduces the complexity of content management, allowing the system to handle diverse content with optimized resource usage.
2Ease of operation
If the system provides both content provider category and global guide category for content, then user content access flexibility is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the content categorization system into two distinct but related segments: content provider categories that identify the source, and global guide categories that identify the content type. This segmentation allows users to access content through multiple pathways (by provider or by type) without requiring a complete reorganization of the system architecture, thus improving flexibility while managing complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The global guide categories serve multiple functions: they organize content by type across different providers, enable efficient filtering and searching, and provide a standardized interface for content access. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems for different content organization tasks, thereby improving user flexibility without proportionally increasing system complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system performs global searches across multiple content providers, then content search capability is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-organizing content into both content provider categories and global guide categories during content ingestion and metadata creation. This pre-categorization means that when a user performs a global search, the system can quickly filter and retrieve content using the pre-established global guide category indices, rather than having to scan and categorize content in real-time, thus improving search capability while minimizing processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The global guide categories act as an intermediary layer between the user's search request and the actual content stored across multiple providers. Instead of directly querying all provider databases, the system uses the global guide category structure as a mediator to efficiently narrow down and locate relevant content, reducing the time required for global searches while maintaining comprehensive search capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for performing multi-level searches includes a user device and a display associated with the user device. A guide system receives a content provider category for a first content and receives a global guide category different than the content provider category for the first content. A communication network communicates the global guide category and the provider category to the user device. The user device performs a global search and displays on the display the first content in response to the global guide category and displays on the display a provider homepage with the first content displayed under the content provider category.