Zone Control for Targeted Secondary Content Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network service architectures lack precision in delivering targeted content based on geographic or logical boundaries, leading to crude content delivery and errors, especially when serving both IP and legacy devices, and are costly and complex to maintain.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for zone-preserved secondary content delivery that uses user identification to determine the Media Access Control (MAC) address, which is then used to associate with a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) identifier, allowing for precise delivery of program and advertising content to IP-capable devices, ensuring the same advertising content is provided as if requested from a legacy device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional service group-based zone determination is used, then content delivery is simplified, but zone determination precision deteriorates leading to crude content delivery and errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a zone determination server as an intermediary component that receives content requests, determines the appropriate advertising zone based on user information and service group IDs, and returns the zone identifier to the content delivery system. This mediator resolves the contradiction by centralizing the complex zone determination logic, thereby improving precision without significantly increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables devices to self-determine their advertising zone by providing them with service group ID information and user information. The zone determination server processes this information and returns the appropriate zone identifier, allowing devices to autonomously receive targeted content without manual configuration, thus improving precision while maintaining ease of operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If separate content delivery systems are maintained for IP and legacy devices, then device compatibility is improved, but system complexity and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal zone determination server that handles content requests from both IP-capable devices and legacy devices through a single system. The server receives requests from different device types, determines appropriate advertising zones using the same methodology (combining user information and service group IDs), and returns zone identifiers that work across all device types. This universal approach maintains device compatibility while reducing system complexity compared to maintaining separate delivery systems.
3Productivity
If geographic zone-based advertising is implemented, then advertising effectiveness is improved, but content delivery accuracy deteriorates when users access content from different locations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic zone determination system that adapts to the user's current location and device type. When a content request is received, the system determines the advertising zone based on the user's information and the service group ID associated with their current location and device. This dynamic approach allows advertising to remain effective by targeting users based on their current context while maintaining delivery accuracy by using location-specific service group IDs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used for zone determination based on the user's situation. Instead of using fixed geographic boundaries, the system dynamically adjusts the zone determination parameters by combining user information with service group IDs that reflect the user's current location and device type. This parameter adaptation resolves the contradiction by maintaining advertising effectiveness through targeted delivery while ensuring accuracy by using context-specific parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for providing control over targeted secondary content based on a zone associated with a user. In one exemplary embodiment, a user request for primary content from a non-legacy device results in the delivery of the same secondary content which would have been provided had the request been generated at a legacy device (so-called “zone preservation”). To accomplish this, the devices are associated with a user's zone at a zone preservation server in communication with the server providing content to the devices. The zone preservation server associates each user with an advertisement zone identifier, and utilizes the identifier to direct the delivery of primary and secondary content. In another embodiment, a prescribed rule set for one or more zones is employed, such as where certain types of advertisements or secondary content are inserted given a particular device or user context.