WO2009101227A1

WO2009101227A1 - System and method for transmitting personalized content in communication devices

Info

Publication number: WO2009101227A1
Application number: PCT/ES2009/000079
Authority: WO
Inventors: José Manuel MENÉNDEZ GARCÍA; Guillermo CISNEROS PÉREZ; Federico ÁLVAREZ GARCÍA; Iago FERNÁNDEZ-CEDRÓN FERNÁNDEZ-MAQUIEIRA; Silvia Uribe Mayoral; Carlos Alberto MARTÍN EDO; David JIMÉNEZ BERMEJO; José Luis NÚÑEZ FERNÁNDEZ-VIVANCOS; Martín DÍAZ CUESTA
Original assignee: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; Zentym Solutions Sl
Priority date: 2008-02-12
Filing date: 2009-02-11
Publication date: 2009-08-20
Also published as: ES2319606A1

Abstract

The invention described herein relates to a system and a method for transmitting personalized advertising content for communication devices. This system delivers advertising content via one or more mobile communication networks, enabling users to receive personalized advertisements transparently, said advertisements being selected from the transmission centre in accordance with information on the preferences of each user, said information being compiled and processed by an artificial intelligence or statistical unit associated with the communication display device.

Description

TITLE

System and procedure for issuing personalized content on communication devices

TECHNICAL SECTOR

Telecommunications Technology, sound and television broadcasting (UNESCO 3325.01)

STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE The broadcast of content for portable devices has been possible since the arrival of digital mobile telephony. Although the explosion of these services has come up with marketing video services over mobile networks of 3rd generation or standards and audiovisual signal broadcasting technologies for portable devices such as DVB-H or MediaFlo. Audiovisual signal broadcasting for mobile devices is done in the same way as in fixed devices but with adapted features as can be seen in the DVB-H standard. So far, both common and commercial content are made "one for all" in the broadcasting and broadcasting part, arriving at the same content and only by regionalizing it using different content in the transmitters and signal transmitters.

Other systems have been made for the Internet or television distribution systems with fixed receivers, although the possibilities of portable devices are much greater than those mentioned.

Among the patented systems related to advertising management, several can be revered that are more or less similar to this.

Microsoft Corp. has a patent "Automatically Inserting Advertisements into Source Video Contained Playback Streams", US2007204310, which includes a system and methods for the automatic insertion of advertising in video sources. This patent is limited to the insertion of advertising in the video, it does not cover the integration of that video in a mobile communication network, either DVB or 3G as in the present, nor the aspects related to transmission. Google Inc. also has two patents "Targeted Mobile Advertisements", WO2007098487, which defines a method to generate advertising content to transmit to mobile devices after receiving a request from a terminal; and, "Suggesting and / or Providing Targeting Criteria for Advertisements", KR20060130155, which synthesizes a set of keywords with classification terms-categories that serve as support for selecting the ads served to a destination. The first patent works on mobile devices, but unlike the present one only on telephone networks, in addition, the sending of advertising is on demand, not being integrated into the audiovisual flow and transparent to the user as it is in it. The second includes a set of terms to improve personalization, the objective of this patent is to achieve this through the information of the system, without entering into the determination of parameters or ontological classifications.

In a similar vein, Glenbrook Associated Inc. registered a "System and Method for Generating and Delivering Personalized Content" patent, WO2007084793, which configures a multimedia system for personalizing content for an individual user. The Glenbrook patent presents a model for customizing contents but does not include the management of them in the communication network like this, nor the procedural detail for the advertising content that is included in this patent. Discovery Communicat Inc. has three patents in this environment: "Internally Targeted Advertisements using Television Delivery Systems", AU2002356545, "Targeting Advertisiments to Televisions Termináis", HKl 048037, and "Assigning Targeted Advertisements to Multiple Broadcast Channels", HKl 048038. the first describes a multichannel architecture to allow the sending of advertising directed directly to television terminals connected to a data center or a cable header; the second, includes a model of databases, specific hardware and communications of the devices with the central to improve the personalization of the advertising that is managed by the previous patent; and, third, it facilitates methods for managing the advertising personalization model with disconnections by interest groups within the defined architecture. This set of patents is focused on the television broadcasting environment in cable networks with their peculiarities, against the objective of work in mobility networks presented in this patent.

From Product Engine Inc., the "Method, Algorithm, and Computer Program for Optimizing the Performance of Messages Including Advertisements in an Interactive Measurable Medium", US2007050204, detailing the method, procedures, algorithm, system and programming in order to improve and optimize the management of advertising campaigns in markets such as the Internet, where it is possible thanks to interactivity to receive additional information from users. This patent focuses on the collection and management of user information through their interaction, it is of much smaller scope than the present patent, since it integrates the management of the content and the transport network together with that of Acquisition of user information for the purpose of personalization.

Prime Res Alliance E Inc has a "Delivering Targeted Advertisements to the Set-Top-Box" patent, US2005278743, which defines the use of an additional channel to dump personalized advertising content onto a television user receiver.

This patent focuses on the environment of conventional television receivers, not mobility, based on content dump for additional channels and not in their joint and integrated management in media streams.

In Europe, two patents working in a similar environment have been found: "Interactive television broadcast system uses two video sign on single channel with alternative views combined with advertisements" by NPTV (France), FR2793987, and "Switching device for changing television program to alternative program, eg for determining effectiveness of advertisements "by FRAUNHOFER GES FORSCHUNG (Germany), DE 9840522. The first one manages a double sending of information, that of the main program and associated announcements and that of a second sending of announcements; and its final viewing at the user's choice, adjusting the viewing with transmitted control signals and the contents recorded in a memory of the receiver. The second one presents a content management model based on a switch installed on the television receiver or on the recorder and providing a second input signal to the television according to the control information it receives. Both patents are designed to Conventional television receivers, there is direct user interaction when selecting the content which determines the differences with the patent presented since it is possible to use networks in mobility and achieves a transparent viewing of the contents for the end user.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The system and the procedure for the issuance of personalized advertising content according to the characteristics and consumption of the users, for communication devices that are presented, is a solution for delivery through at least one communications network that allows the individual visualization of multimedia files to a number of electronic communication devices with video and audio playback capabilities and that allows this data delivery to be selective based on the characteristics of the user according to an intelligent system that allows the user to extract the characteristics of the user and by so that you receive those personalized advertising contents instead of the reproduction of the commercial contents disseminated to all users.

Thus, at the beginning of an ordinary advertising period, the user of the communication device, which has implemented the system, will begin to visualize a series of commercial multimedia contents selected from the sender itself and previously stored in the terminal, specially designed to satisfy their personal tastes and preferences.

In the context of this invention, the communication device may be any electronic communication device, such as a mobile terminal, a television receiver, a GPS, an electronic agenda, or any other device capable of communicating with the outside.

In a system based on this model, a content provider or broadcaster (2) sends the audio, video or both signal by some method of wave transmission (5). The communication device (1) itself, when executing the option of audio or video reproduction, sends, through a device manager (13) and through a connection in a communications network (6), the request for access to the service of custom content While the user is viewing any audio or video content, on the server (3) the assignment of the personalized content to be delivered begins. For this, both the information provided by the user and the information inferred through their behavior are used with respect to all the content presented, in addition to reading the timestamps introduced in the broadcast by the broadcaster. At the same time, and by connecting in a communications network (6) between server (3) and the communication device (1), a study is made of how much content is necessary within the next block to be presented, for what It should be taken into account how much block time is available and what content is already present in the mass storage device (12) of the communication device (1). Due to the small size of these contents, it can also be sent to the communication device via network connections. The system will work regardless of whether the content files to be sent are encrypted or encrypted or not. At the moment in which the commercial content is shown in the audio and video transmission, the server player (11) must start the presentation of the chosen content; in the case of not having the content on time, a static image previously saved in the communication device will be displayed. During this period, user behavior will continue to be monitored in order to provide information to the evolutionary content selection system (32) of the server (3) and thus facilitate the method of content selection.

All the actions carried out by the user, from the time of connection until their visualization, such as the attitude of the user towards the contents presented, obtained by means of a direct user interaction with the communication device (1) or by means of capturing external user biometric data; or the interaction with the communication device (1), will be saved on the server (3) for statistical processing and the subsequent presentation of the results of this treatment on the web server (4). The data that has been stored on the user's behavior will be sent when the user finishes visualizing the audio and video broadcast, completely or partially, so that the modifications that can be made in the evolutionary system of content selection (32) occur gradually. The statistics to be displayed on the web server (4) can be customized by the system administrator, connecting to it through some type of communications connection (7).

Within this system, the communications device (1), which has the ability to present information and reproduce multimedia content, which each of the registered users will have, will have at least the following modules: a player ( 11), a mass storage device (12), a device manager (13), - a system for capturing consumption and user preferences (14).

The player (11), whose main functionality is to reproduce the multimedia content received, both the audio and video stream and the personalized content (which will be provided by the server content manager (3)), will also offer the possibility of selecting the channel to be presented at any time according to the user's decision. This implies that there may be a change at the moment in which the personalized content chosen for the user is being viewed.

The mass storage device (12) will be responsible for storing entire blocks, or parts, of those customized contents from the server (3) that could not be reproduced, either by user interaction or because the time available for presentation It was shorter than the block's own duration. This device can be both external to the mobile device, and integrated into it. If the communication device does not have this module, or if you do not want to use it, the transmission of content files to the communication device is not stored in the mass storage device (12) but is reproduced without the need for Store it completely before viewing.

The device manager (13) is the main module of the system architecture of the communication device part (1). It will be in charge of coordinating, managing and carrying out communications with the server (3), informing you of the events carried out by the user (such as changing the channel, switching off the device, etc.). its The first function will be to send a message to the server when the application starts up, in order to indicate the availability of the device.

Other information of interest sent can be: the change of channel by the user, if at the time of that change a personalized content was being reproduced or not, what was the last of these contents reproduced, etc. It will also keep a record of the blocks presented and those stored for later reuse.

The system for capturing consumption and user preferences (14) captures the consumption information of the user of the individual programs, and sends it to the database (31) at the end or between media of the audiovisual visualization so that the system of Processing of user data from the server (3) extract the features and adapt the personalized commercial information that will be sent to the user.

The server (3) of the system constitutes a large part of the intelligence of the system. He is in charge of the selection of the information that will be sent to the subscribers, taking into account data about their surroundings as well as their preferences, expressed both by them and induced by their actions. It consists, at least, of: database (31), a selection of contents (32), a content manager (33).

The database (31) will store all user data. It will also include the contents available for dissemination, cataloged according to their content. Finally, you will have a series of labels to finish modeling the relationship between users and personalized content.

The selection of contents (32) is a module based on artificial intelligence and will be in charge of relating the available contents with the users present. It will be an evolutionary system that learns from the interaction of the user, as well as from certain variables of its surroundings. However, this system has the capacity to instead of using an evolutionary system of content selection for the personalization of contents for the user, a statistical predictive algorithm based on the user data stored on the server is used (for example a content selection system based on the socio-economic data of the user) or said selection is made by a person manually.

The content manager (33) is the main module in the server part. Directs the execution of the tasks to be performed. It also incorporates a small database with the connected users, the size in seconds of the next block of personalized content for each of them, as well as the personalized contents that are stored in each communication device (1).

This module directs the selection of content according to user and, once chosen, is responsible for sending it to the user before it is necessary to issue it. Finally, this module will be in charge of making a statistical treatment of all the information handled. The statistics generated will be sent via a communications connection (7) to the web server (4) for later presentation.

The web server (4) is the portal in which the statistics received from the server's content manager will be presented to, in this way, have a complete view, both of the operation of the system and its evolution, making access to all This information is as simple as possible.

The communications that are maintained between all the parts of the system are: the sending of the personalized contents to the mass storage device (12) by means of a connection in a communications network (6) such as by means of cable or wireless system; the channels broadcast by the broadcaster aerially (5); the data sent by the device (1) to the server (3) through a connection in a communications network (6), to register and connect to the service, as well as all information interacting with the system; The statistical data, once processed, is sent to the web server (4) to be displayed, through a communications connection (7). DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 represents the system for the emission of personalized advertising contents proposed in the present invention, where (1) is a communication device, (2) is a content provider or broadcaster, (3) is a server, (4) it is a web server, (5) are the channels broadcast by the broadcaster aerially, (6) a connection in a communications network and (7) the communications connection used to send the user behavior data to the web server (4 ).

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the components of the communications device where (11) a player, (12) a mass storage device, (13) a device manager and (14) a system for capturing consumption and preferences of the Username.

Figure 3 is a representation of the server where (1) is a database of the user and the content files to be disseminated, (32) an evolutionary system of content selection based on evolutionary artificial intelligence, which selects the contents for each user and (33) a content manager (33) which in turn incorporates a database with information of the connected users and the contents for them.

EXHIBITION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In a practical implementation everything would start from the communication device (1), which in this case is a mobile phone or electronic phonebook with internet connection capability, the user starts the device manager (13), this sends to the content manager (33) from the server (3) the username and password and is sent via a secure connection (through the IP protocol) (6). If the user is subscribed to the service, the time table in the television broadcast is requested to know when the next block of commercial multimedia content arrives and its duration. Otherwise the service subscription form is sent to you. The device manager (13) will start the player (11), it makes use of those APIs (such as Mobile Media API JSR 135) that allow the reproduction of multimedia content received from the broadcaster (2) or from the server custom content It also allows the possibility of playing video available on an http link and from there you will get the requested temporary planning. Also, look at your mass storage device (12) if, from any previous session, there were commercial multimedia content not shown. During this period the user's behavior will continue to be monitored in order to provide information to the evolutionary content selection system (32) and thus facilitate the method of content selection.

The interaction with the mass storage block (12) is done with the File Connection (JSR 75) and SATSA (JSR 177) APIs that provide SIM card access capabilities, as well as the device's file system including the card of memory expansion. This information is also sent to the server (3).

This data received by the content manager (33) of the server (3) will be communicated to the evolutionary content selection system (32) which, through an artificial intelligence system (for example based on neural networks or similar expert system), would select the most appropriate contents, taking into account the necessary time as well as the user to whom these contents are directed.

The contents and data of the users will be stored in a relational database (31) controlled by a MySQL manager. The communication device (1) will have a record and will maintain a file with the user's behavior with respect to the commercial multimedia contents shown. This information will be sent to the server content manager (33) at the end of the television viewing. The manager will update the relevant databases.

During this period the user's behavior will continue to be monitored in order to provide information to the artificial intelligence block and thus facilitate the method of content selection.

The web server (4) will show the statistical data selected by the system administrator in charge of maintaining the database and the web portal and that can be selected from a menu, on the same server. To perform this action the administrator will have to identify. For its development in the system, the J2ME platform with the MIDP and CLDC profile and its optional packages has been chosen, due to the advantages offered. As the possibility of having a user friendly interface or the ability to play video on the selected terminals. In the case of the player (11) (or player) use is made of those APIs that allow the reproduction of multimedia content received from the broadcaster (2) or from the customized content server (such as Mobile Media API JSR 135). It also allows the possibility of playing video available on an http link, so it would be unnecessary for the terminal to receive such content and store it but it would be enough to make an IP connection to that link and display it on the screen.

The interaction with the mass storage block will be carried out with the File Connection (JSR 75) and SATSA (JSR 177) APIs that provide SIM card access capabilities, as well as the terminal's file system, including the expansion card of memory The device manager (13) will also be developed in JAVA. Communications with the server (3) of personalized content will be made through secure wireless IP connections (6) (https protocol with SSL), necessary for user authentication and subsequent interaction with the server (3). Through 3G or WiMax if they are available, in the area that the user is, the latter.

The web portal (4) is developed with DHTML and XML for the presentation of operating statistics. To limit access to information only to system administrators, the use of secure https connections (7) is proposed. These pages will be hosted on a web server, in our case Apache. In the case, the channels broadcast by the broadcaster aerial (5), will be made through DVB-H connections, to ensure the correct sending and reception of multimedia content.

All the actions performed by the user, from the time of connection to their attitude towards the contents presented, will be stored on the server (3) in a relational database (31) for statistical processing and the subsequent presentation of the results of this treatment in the web portal (4). The data that is gone storing about the user's behavior will be sent when the user finishes watching the television, so that the modifications that can be made in the artificial intelligence system take place gradually.

Claims

1. System for issuing personalized advertising content for communication devices comprising:

- a communication device (1), which in turn has the following components or modules:

• a media player (11)

• a mass storage device (12) of customized content

• a device manager (13) responsible for coordinating, managing and carrying out communications with the server (3), notifying you via a connection in a communications network (6) the activation of the media player (11) and informing you of the user events related to the reproduction of multimedia content

• a system for capturing consumption and user preferences (14)

- a server (3) for selecting the information that will be sent to the users and which in turn comprises the following modules:

• a database (31) of user data and content files to be disseminated,

• an evolutionary content selection system (32), based on evolutionary artificial intelligence, which selects the contents for each user based on their recorded behavior according to the events related to the reproduction of multimedia content sent by the device manager (13)

• a content manager (33) that also incorporates a database with information on connected users and the contents for them - A web server (4) for the presentation of information, consumption statistics and workload , received from the server content manager (33).

2. Procedure for the issuance of personalized advertising content for communication devices for use with the system described in claim 1 characterized in that it includes the following steps: a) The communication device (1) notifies through the device manager

(13) and through a connection in a communications network (6) the activation of the video, audio or both program to the server (3) and identifying information about the user who connects and about the communication networks used, or about the communication device (1) through which the connection is made b) The server (3) selects, by means of an evolutionary system for selecting content (32) based on evolutionary artificial intelligence and depending on the behavior of each user with respect to the reproduction of multimedia content sent by the device manager (13), the content files to be transmitted to each communication device (1) c ) The server content manager (33) transmits the content files selected in the previous stage to the mass storage device (12) of each communication device (1), through one or more connections in a communications network ( 6), including the indication of the moment at which said selected content files should be displayed on the media player of the co device communication (1) d) At the times indicated by the content manager (33), the selected content files are played on the communication devices (1) replacing the content that was being displayed on the media player with the content files selected for the user transparently and without the need for user interaction. e) The communication device (1) monitors the user's behavior in relation to the contents displayed, during the transmission of the customized content files f) At the end of the connection of the communication device (1) the device manager (13 ) sends the stored information to the database (31) of the server and from it it is analyzed in the evolutionary system of content selection (32) g) The web server (4) will show the consumption and workload statistics received of the server (3) through a communications connection, which may be selected by a system administrator.

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the user's behavior in relation to the displayed content files is obtained by direct user interaction with the communication device (1) or by externally collecting the user's biometric data from said contents. .

4. Method according to claim 2 and 3 characterized in that instead of using an evolutionary system of content selection for the personalization of contents for the user, a statistical predictive algorithm based on the user data stored on the server or Well, this selection is made by a person manually.

5. Method according to claim 2 characterized in that the device manager (13) sends user behavior information only at the end of the video, audio or both playback program.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the terminal has a series of multimedia contents, which are selected within the same terminal by means of a statistical algorithm, stage b) being eliminated and displayed as personalized data in stage e).

Method according to claim 2, characterized in that when the user visualizes the content files in the communication device, if they had not arrived in time, a static image stored in the mass storage device would be displayed.

Method according to claim 2, characterized in that in the stage of transmission of content files to the communication device, the information to be sent is not stored in the mass storage device (12) but is reproduced without the need to store it completely prior to the visualization

9. Method according to claim 2 characterized in that in the stage of transmission of content files to the communication device, the content files to be sent are encrypted or encrypted.