# US 10,321,176 B1 · System and method for retrieving one of multiple media-components associated with a single broadcasting traffic log entry > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,321,176 B1 - Document ID: US10321176B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 14/493,627 - Filed: 2014-09-23 - Granted: 2019-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2011-09-30 - Assignees: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC - Applicants: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC - Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10321176B1 ## CPC - H04N 21/262: Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists {(scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62)} - H04H 20/71: Wireless systems - H04H 60/06: Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services - H04N 21/232: Content retrieval operation {locally} within server, e.g. reading video streams from disk arrays {(storage management G06F3/0604; details of querying and searching of video data from a database G06F16/739)} - H04N 21/2393: {involving handling client requests (scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60)} - H04N 21/2402: {Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available (traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876)} - H04N 21/26216: {involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth (admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61)} - H04N 21/26233: {involving content or additional data duration or size, e.g. length of a movie, size of an executable file} - H04N 21/26241: {involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children programme} - H04N 21/26258: {for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list (retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40)} - H04N 21/26283: {for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic programme guide data} - H04N 21/435: Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream - H04N 21/44209: {Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network (arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896)} - H04N 21/472: End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content {(end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612)} - H04N 21/854: Content authoring - H04N 21/8547: involving timestamps for synchronizing content - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - H04H: BROADCAST COMMUNICATION (multiplex communication H04J; pictorial communication aspects of broadcast systems H04N) ## Abstract Disclosed herein is a system and method for retrieving one of multiple media-components associated with a single traffic log entry. In one example, a method for retrieving a video-component (VC) in a television-broadcasting environment is disclosed. The method includes (i) associating an identifier with an evergreen VC, a time-sensitive VC, and an expiration time of the time-sensitive VC; (ii) determining whether the expiration time has lapsed; (iii) if the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC; (iv) if the expiration time has not lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC; (v) selecting a log entry; (vi) determining that the selected entry includes the identifier; and (vii) responsive to determining that the selected entry includes the identifier, retrieving from a data storage, the one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC that the identifier corresponds to. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause performance of a set of functions to facilitate operation of a television-broadcasting system comprising a master control system and an air-chain system, the set of functions comprising: associating, by the master control system, an identifier with an evergreen video-component (VC), a time-sensitive VC, and an expiration time of the time-sensitive VC; determining, by the master control system, whether the expiration time has lapsed; based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining, by the master control system, that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC, wherein if the determination is that the expiration time has lapsed, the master control system determines that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC and if the determination is that the expiration time has not lapsed, the master control system determines that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC; selecting, by the master control system, a log entry from a television-broadcast traffic-log that specifies a sequence of video components scheduled to be broadcast by the master control system, wherein the selected log entry includes the identifier and a scheduled broadcast start-time; retrieving, by the master control system, from a data storage, the one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC that the identifier in the selected log entry was determined to correspond to; and sending, by the master control system, the retrieved VC to the air-chain system for television broadcast, wherein the air-chain system is configured to (i) receive the VC, encode the received VC, and broadcast the encoded VC. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC comprises based on a determination that the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC comprises based on a determination that the expiration time has not lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether the expiration time has lapsed comprises determining whether the expiration time has lapsed based on a software interrupt event of the expiration time lapsing. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the identifier is included in a house-number field in the selected log entry. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the air-chain system comprises a transmitter, and wherein sending the retrieved VC to an air-chain system for television broadcast comprises sending the retrieved VC to the transmitter. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the identifier is an identifier A, the selected log entry is a log entry A, and the log entry A further includes a start time A; wherein the traffic-log further includes a log entry B, the log entry B includes an identifier B and a start time B, and the identifier B maps to a VC B; and wherein the start time A precedes the start time B, the time-sensitive VC promotes the VC B, and the expiration time is approximately the start time B. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the VC B is a news program. ### Claim 9 A method to facilitate operation of a television-broadcasting system comprising a master control system and an air-chain system, the method comprising: associating, by the master control system, an identifier with an evergreen video-component (VC), a time-sensitive VC, and an expiration time of the time-sensitive VC; determining, by the master control system, whether the expiration time has lapsed; based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining, by the master control system, that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC, wherein if the determination is that the expiration time has lapsed, the master control system determines that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC and if the determination is that the expiration time has not lapsed, the master control system determines that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC; selecting, by the master control system, a log entry from a television-broadcast traffic-log that specifies a sequence of video components scheduled to be broadcast by the master control system, wherein the selected log entry includes the identifier and a scheduled broadcast start-time; retrieving, by the master control system, from a data storage, the one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC that the identifier in the selected log entry was determined to correspond to; and sending, by the master control system, the retrieved VC to the air-chain system for television broadcast, wherein the air-chain system is configured to (i) receive the VC, encode the received VC, and broadcast the encoded VC. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC comprises based on a determination that the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC comprises based on a determination that the expiration time has not lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the expiration time has lapsed comprises determining whether the expiration time has lapsed based on a software interrupt event of the expiration time lapsing. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the identifier is included in a house-number field in the selected log entry. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the air-chain system comprises a transmitter, and wherein sending the retrieved VC to an air-chain system for television broadcast comprises sending the retrieved VC to the transmitter. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the identifier is an identifier A, the selected log entry is a log entry A, and the log entry A further includes a start time A; wherein the traffic-log further includes a log entry B, the log entry B includes an identifier B and a start time B, and the identifier B maps to a VC B; and wherein the start time A precedes the start time B, the time-sensitive VC promotes the VC B, and the expiration time is approximately the start time B. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the VC B is a news program. ### Claim 17 A method to facilitate operation of a television-broadcasting system comprising a master control system and an air-chain system, the method comprising: determining, by the master control system, whether an expiration time of a time-sensitive video-component (VC) has lapsed; based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining, by the master control system, that an identifier corresponds to a particular one of an evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC, wherein if the determination is that the expiration time has lapsed, the master control system determines that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC and if the determination is that the expiration time has not lapsed, the master control system determines that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC; selecting, by the master control system, a log entry from a television-broadcast traffic-log that specifies a sequence of video components scheduled to be broadcast by the master control system, wherein the selected log entry includes the identifier and a scheduled broadcast start-time; retrieving, by the master control system, from a data storage, the one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC that the identifier in the selected log entry was determined to correspond to; and sending, by the master control system, the retrieved VC to the air-chain system for television broadcast, wherein the air-chain system is configured to (i) receive the VC, encode the received VC, and broadcast the encoded VC. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC comprises based on a determination that the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the evergreen VC. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein based on the determination of whether the expiration time has lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to a particular one of the evergreen VC and the time-sensitive VC comprises based on a determination that the expiration time has not lapsed, determining that the identifier corresponds to the time-sensitive VC. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the air-chain system comprises a transmitter, and wherein sending the retrieved VC to an air-chain system for television broadcast comprises sending the retrieved VC to the transmitter.