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US 10,757,475 B2Granted
System and method for utilizing set-top box testing in television distribution network
AssigneeCenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
InventorsSteven M. Casey, Felipe Castro, Misbah ur Rehman, Ronnie S. Dhaliwal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Novel tools and techniques to enable data to be tested on subscriber set-top boxes. Some solutions can connect a sever with a group of subscriber set-top boxes through a television distribution network. In some cases, a plurality of set-top boxes are selected, and at least one set-top box is determined to be inactive. In some cases, data are loaded and tested on the inactive set-top.
Claims18
A method, comprising:
- connecting one or more servers with a group of subscriber set-top boxes through a television distribution network;
- selecting, by at least one of the one or more servers, a plurality of set-top boxes from the group of set-top boxes, wherein selecting a plurality of set-top boxes is based at least in part on a set-top box usage profile, and wherein the set-top box usage profile includes one or more times the set-top is likely to be inactive;
- determining, by at least one of the one or more servers, that at least one of the selected set-top boxes is inactive, wherein determining that the at least one of the selected set-top boxes is inactive comprises querying, by the at least one of the one or more servers performing such determination, a head-end of the television distribution network to determine which of the at least one of the selected set-top boxes is not currently receiving a first video stream;
- loading, by at least one of the one or more servers, data on the inactive set-top box, the data comprising an executable program;
- testing, by at least one of the one or more servers, the data on the inactive set-top box;
- recording, by at least one of the one or more servers, a test result;
- terminating, by at least one of the one or more servers, testing the data on the inactive set-top box in response to detecting that the inactive set-top box has become active and is currently receiving a second video stream;
- determining, by the at least one of the one or more servers, that the inactive set top box has become active and testing the data on the inactive set-top box was not completed;
- and
- based on a determination that the inactive set top box has become active and testing the data on the inactive set-top box was not completed, determining, by the at least one of the one or more servers testing the data, that a second set-top box of the selected set-top boxes is inactive, loading, by the at least one of the one or more servers loading the data to the second set-top box, and testing, by the at least one of the one or more servers testing the data, the data at the second set-top box.
7 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a processor;
- a communication interface in communication with the processor;
- and
- a non-transitory computer readable medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by the processor, the set of instructions comprising:
- instructions to connect, via the communication interface, with a group of subscriber set-top boxes through a television distribution network;
- instructions to select a plurality of set-top boxes from the group of set-top boxes, wherein selecting a plurality of set-top boxes is based at least in part on a set-top box usage profile, and wherein the set-top box usage profile includes one or more times the set-top is likely to be inactive;
- instructions to determine that at least one of the selected set-top boxes is inactive, wherein the instructions to determine that the at least one of the selected set-top boxes is inactive comprises instructions to query a head-end of the television distribution network to determine which of the at least one of the selected set-top boxes is not currently receiving a video stream;
- instructions to load data on the inactive set-top box;
- instructions to test the data on the inactive set-top box;
- instructions to record a test result;
- instructions to terminate testing the data on the inactive set-top box in response to detecting that the inactive set-top box has become active and is currently receiving a second video stream;
- instructions to determine that the inactive set top box has become active and testing the data on the inactive set-top box was not completed;
- and
- based on a determination that the inactive set top box has become active and testing the data on the inactive set-top box was not completed, instructions to determine that a second set-top box of the selected set-top boxes is inactive, instructions to load the data to the second set-top box, and instructions to test the data at the second set-top box.
11 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by a computer system, the set of instructions comprising:
- instructions to connect with a group of subscriber set-top boxes through a television distribution network;
- instructions to select a plurality of set-top boxes from the group of set-top boxes, wherein selecting a plurality of set-top boxes is based at least in part on a set-top box usage profile, and wherein the set-top box usage profile includes one or more times the set-top is likely to be inactive;
- instructions to determine that at least one of the selected set-top boxes is inactive, wherein the instructions to determine that the at least one of the selected set-top boxes is inactive comprises instructions to query a head-end of the television distribution network to determine which of the at least one of the selected set-top boxes is not currently receiving a video stream;
- instructions to load data on the inactive set-top box;
- instructions to test the data on the inactive set-top box;
- instructions to record a test result;
- instructions to terminate testing the data on the inactive set-top box in response to detecting that the inactive set-top box has become active and is currently receiving a second video stream;
- instructions to determine that the inactive set top box has become active and testing the data on the inactive set-top box was not completed;
- and
- based on a determination that the inactive set top box has become active and testing the data on the inactive set-top box was not completed, instructions to determine that a second set-top box of the selected set-top boxes is inactive, instructions to load the data to the second set-top box, and instructions to test the data at the second set-top box.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.