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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 15, 2013
Filed:
Jan. 08, 2003
Stephen P. Dulac, Santa Clarita, CA (US);
Stephen P. Dulac, Santa Clarita, CA (US);
The DIRECTV Group, Inc., El Segundo, CA (US);
Abstract
One or more embodiments of the invention provide a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for processing viewing usage data in a set-top box. A set-top box (STB) receives, via broadcast, distinct programmable instructions for data collection, data manipulation, and data reporting for viewing usage data. The STB then obtains/collects raw viewing usage data in accordance with the instructions for data collection. Once collected, the STB manipulates the raw viewing usage data to create a report in accordance with the instructions for data manipulation. The report is then transmitted from the set-top box to a centralized data mining system in accordance with the instructions for data reporting.