# US 10,771,827 B2 · Monitoring and activity reporting of enhanced media content > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,771,827 B2 - Document ID: US10771827B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/114,729 - Filed: 2011-05-24 - Published: 2012-11-29 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2011-05-24 - Assignees: Comcast Cable Communications, LLC - Applicants: Jan Van Doorn; Brian Field; Daniel P. Groustra; Mark Torluemke; James Hamilton Hall, Jr. - Inventors: Jan Van Doorn; Brian Field; Daniel P. Groustra; Mark Torluemke; James Hamilton Hall, Jr. - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10771827B2 ## CPC - H04N 21/2407: {Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads (arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14)} - H04N 21/252: {Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data} - H04N 21/44204: {Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31)} - H04N 21/4756: {for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie} - H04N 21/6582: {Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number (arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38)} - H04N 21/812: {involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02)} - H04N 21/44224: {Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing} - H04N 21/8126: {involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts} - H04N 21/8352: involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID] - H04N 21/8545: for generating interactive applications - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract A monitoring and analysis system is disclosed that gathers and analyzes information about distributed enhanced content delivery to end user or other equipment. The system may establish communications connections along the content delivery system, filter content received from different locations of the system, and compare the received content with an expected content characteristic. Also, a radio frequency signal from the distribution network may be converted into an Internet Protocol (IP) format by a converter so that the transformed signal may be similarly analyzed as other signals from the system. A report may be consequently generated that is indicative of the received enhanced content and any detected discrepancies with respect to expected enhancement events. Identification of the enhanced content may be based on the program association table and the program map table in order to determine the packet ID of the application signals. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: causing, by one or more computing devices, establishment of connections with a plurality of devices in a content delivery network, wherein each of the plurality of devices is associated with a different distribution portion of the content delivery network; receiving, from the plurality of devices and via the content delivery network, first event data indicating start times of an enhancement event associated with enhanced media content delivered via the content delivery network; receiving, from the plurality of devices and via the content delivery network, second event data indicating end times of the enhancement event; determining, by the one or more computing devices, based on a comparison of each of the start times to a scheduled start time associated with the enhancement event, and based on a comparison of each of the end times to a scheduled end time associated with the enhancement event, one or more discrepancies in delivery of the enhanced media content via the content delivery network; and generating, by the one or more computing devices, a report indicating the one or more discrepancies and indicating at least one device, of the plurality of devices, as a cause of the one or more discrepancies. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: converting the enhanced media content from a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) format to a format for transmission over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating an indicator that is indicative of whether a time of reception of the first enhanced media content is in accordance with the enhancement event. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the causing the establishment of the connections comprises causing joining of an Internet Protocol (IP) multicast group. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining packet IDs (PIDs) for the enhanced media content; and receiving the enhanced media content based on the PIDs. ### Claim 6 An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: cause establishment of connections with a plurality of devices in a content delivery network, wherein each of the plurality of devices is associated with a different distribution portion of the content delivery network; receive, from the plurality of devices and via the content delivery network, first event data indicating start times of an enhancement event associated with enhanced media content delivered via the content delivery network; receive, from the plurality of devices and via the content delivery network, second event data indicating end times of the enhancement event; determine, based on a comparison of each of the start times to a scheduled start time associated with the enhancement event, and based on a comparison of each of the end times to a scheduled end time associated with the enhancement event, one or more discrepancies in delivery of the enhanced media content via the content delivery network; and generate a report indicating the one or more discrepancies and indicating at least one device, of the plurality of devices, as a cause of the one or more discrepancies. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to: convert the enhanced media content from a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) format to a format for transmission over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. ### Claim 8 A method comprising: establishing, by one or more computing devices, connections with a plurality of devices, wherein each of the plurality of devices is associated with a different distribution portion of a content delivery network; receiving, from the plurality of devices and via the content delivery network, first event data indicating start times of an enhancement event associated with enhanced media content delivered via the content delivery network; receiving, from the plurality of devices and via the content delivery network, second event data indicating end times of the enhancement event; determining, by the one or more computing devices, based on a comparison of each of the start times to a scheduled start time associated with the enhancement event, and based on a comparison of each of the end times to a scheduled end time associated with the enhancement event, one or more discrepancies in delivery of the enhanced media content via the content delivery network; and generating, by the one or more computing devices, a report indicating the one or more discrepancies and indicating a corresponding distribution portion of at least one device, of the plurality of devices, as a cause of the one or more discrepancies. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of devices comprise one or more of a user device or an edge modulation device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of devices comprise one or more of a user device or an edge modulation device. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of devices comprise one or more of a user device or an edge modulation device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a missing enhanced media content that has not been received from the at least one device according to the first scheduled start time associated with the first enhancement event. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: converting the enhanced media content from a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) format to a format for transmission over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the enhanced media content is received by the one or more computing devices at a time of reception, the method further comprising: comparing the time of reception with a scheduled time of reception associated with the enhanced media content. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the enhancement event is associated with second enhanced media content delivered via the content delivery network, the method further comprising: receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a time of reception of the second enhanced media content; and generating, by the one or more computing devices, a second report comprising a duration associated with the enhanced media content, wherein the duration comprises an interval between the time of reception of the second enhanced media content and a time of reception of the enhanced media content. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: tracking, by the one or more computing devices, the enhancement event at different distribution portions of the content delivery network based on extracting one or more application signals associated with the enhanced media content. ### Claim 17 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: tracking, by the one or more computing devices, the enhancement event at different distribution portions of the content delivery network based on extracting one or more application signals associated with the enhanced media content. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of devices comprise one or more of a multiplexer, an aggregated multiplexer, an ad splicer, or an edge modulation device. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the enhancement event comprises enhanced television (ETV) applications. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the enhanced media content comprises at least one of an ETV integrated signaling stream (EISS), or a digital storage media command and control (DSM-CC) data carousel. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each distribution portion of the content delivery network corresponds to a physical or logical location of the content delivery network.