Live Versus Time-Shifted Media Content Determination
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video place-shifting systems face challenges in determining whether users are viewing live or recorded programming, as all content is transmitted over the same communication network, making it difficult to distinguish between live and time-shifted media content.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a communication node to receive attribute information and schedule information, comparing media content identities to determine if the content is live or time-shifted, involving the use of a place-shifting device, a communication device, and servers for optical character recognition and electronic program guide data to extract and process banner information and identify media content attributes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If all programming is transmitted over the same communication network, then network resource utilization is improved, but the ability to determine whether content is live or recorded deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the content identification process by extracting and transmitting only relevant attribute information (such as content identifiers, timestamps, and metadata) separately from the main video content stream. This allows the full-content stream to be transmitted efficiently over the network while the segmented attribute data provides the means to identify whether content is live or recorded without consuming additional network bandwidth for the entire content stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (attribute information extraction and comparison system) that acts as a mediator between the content transmission system and the user device. This intermediary extracts key identifying attributes from the content stream, compares them against scheduled programming information, and determines content type without requiring separate transmission channels for live and recorded content.
2Measurement precision
If attribute information is processed and compared to determine content type, then content identification accuracy is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential attribute information needed for content identification (such as content identifiers, timestamps, and program titles) from the full content stream, separating these key attributes from the rest of the data. This extraction approach maintains high identification accuracy by focusing on the most relevant attributes while reducing processing complexity by eliminating unnecessary data analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing attribute extraction and comparison only for specific identifying features rather than analyzing the entire content stream. This selective processing achieves sufficient accuracy for distinguishing live from recorded content without the computational overhead of comprehensive content analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of determining whether live media content or time-shifted media content is received at a computing device such as a server or media player is presented. Attribute information concerning media content received at a communication device at a specific time is received and compared schedule information. The received media content is determined to be live media content if the media content identity agrees with the schedule information. The received media content is determined to be time-shifted media content if the media content identity does not agree with the schedule information.