The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Apr. 17, 2007

Filed:

May. 09, 2002
Applicants:

Joseph C. Engle, Carmel, IN (US);

Akinyemi Odutola, Carmel, IN (US);

Inventors:

Joseph C. Engle, Carmel, IN (US);

Akinyemi Odutola, Carmel, IN (US);

Assignee:

Thomson Licensing, Boulogne-Billancourt, FR;

Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 5/76 (2006.01); H04N 7/00 (2006.01); H04N 5/14 (2006.01); H04N 9/64 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract

The invention concerns a method and system for identifying commercial message segments of a video signal. A set of rules is applied for determining the occurrence of commercial messages with a higher degree of accuracy as compared to conventional methods. In general, method includes the steps of monitoring a digital bit stream comprising the video signal, detecting a change in a control field of the digital bit stream, and then selectively generating a commercial event notification responsive to the detecting step. According to one aspect of the invention, a change in at least one of a video sequence header and a sequence display extension can be detected. Alternatively, or in addition to checking for a change in control field, the method can comprise the step of detecting a change in an informational parameter of the video signal exclusive of the audio-visual content.


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