# US 2014/0157305 A1 · Advertisement Distribution in a Subscriber Network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0157305 A1 - Document ID: US20140157305A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/691,174 - Filed: 2012-11-30 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-11-30 - Assignees: General Instrument Corporation - Applicants: General Instrument Corporation - Inventors: Christopher S. Del Sordo; Jiong Li; Lei Cao; Ranjeet Kumar; Kok Meng Wong - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140157305A1 ## CPC - H04N 21/812: {involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02)} - H04N 21/41407: {embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop (constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57)} - H04N 21/47202: {for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract A computing device for providing Advertisement Decision Management services to a subscriber network that connects display devices. The computing device acquires a network program media stream associated with a network service from a provider network, delivers the network program media stream to a display device connected to the subscriber network, and collects usage data for the display device. When the computing device detects an advertising opportunity in the network program media stream, it selects an advertisement to fulfill the advertising opportunity, delivers the advertisement to the display device at the start time of the advertising opportunity, and delivers the network program media stream to the display device at the end time of the advertising opportunity. To select the advertisement, the computing device either requests the advertising opportunity from an advertisement server, or retrieves the advertisement from local data storage. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A subscriber device for providing Advertisement Decision Management (ADM) services to a subscriber network that connects a plurality of display devices, comprising: a communication interface to connect the subscriber device to the subscriber network and said plurality of display devices; a memory device resident in the subscriber device; and a processor disposed in communication with the communication interface and the memory device, the processor configured to: acquire a network program media stream associated with a network service from a provider network; deliver the network program media stream to said plurality of display devices; collect usage data for said plurality of display devices; detect an advertising opportunity in the network program media stream, the advertising opportunity having a start time and an end time; select an advertisement to fulfill the advertising opportunity, where the selection of the advertisement is performed by the subscriber device based on the usage data; deliver the advertisement to said plurality of display devices at the start time of the advertising opportunity; and deliver the network program media stream to said plurality of display devices at the end time of the advertising opportunity. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein to acquire the network program media stream, the processor is further configured to: receive a list of network services from an electronic program guide/video on demand metadata server; and select one of the network services, wherein the network program media stream is associated with the selected network service. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein to acquire the network program media stream, the processor is further configured to: receive a selected network service from at least one of the plurality of display devices, wherein the network program media stream is associated with the selected network service. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive control commands from at least one of the plurality of display devices during the delivery of the network program media stream and the advertisement. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein each display device is at least one of a digital television, set top box, personal computer, computer display, mobile phone, smartphone, tablet computer, gaming console, and handheld device. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein the usage data includes at least one of viewing statistics, personal demographic data, psychographic data, and impression reporting data. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein to select the advertisement, the processor is further configured to: send a request to the provider network for the advertisement; and receive the advertisement in response to the request. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The subscriber device of claim 1, wherein to select the advertisement, the processor is further configured to: retrieve the advertisement from a data storage device connected to the subscriber device. ### Claim 9 A method for providing Advertisement Decision Management (ADM) services from a subscriber device to a subscriber network that connects a plurality of display devices, comprising: acquiring a network program media stream associated with a network service from a provider network; delivering the network program media stream to said plurality of display devices; collecting usage data for said plurality of display devices; detecting an advertising opportunity in the network program media stream, the advertising opportunity having a start time and an end time; selecting an advertisement to fulfill the advertising opportunity, where the selection of the advertisement is performed by the subscriber device based on the usage data; delivering the advertisement to said plurality of display devices at the start time of the advertising opportunity; and delivering the network program media stream to said plurality of display devices at the end time of the advertising opportunity. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the acquiring of the network program media stream further comprises: receiving a list of network services from an electronic program guide/video on demand metadata server; and selecting one of the network services, wherein the network program media stream is associated with the selected network service. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the acquiring of the network program media stream further comprises: receiving a selected network service from at least one of the plurality of display devices, wherein the network program media stream is associated with the selected network service. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving control commands from at least one of the plurality of display devices during the delivery of the network program media stream and the advertisement. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein each display device is at least one of a digital television, set top box, personal computer, computer display, mobile phone, smartphone, tablet computer, gaming console, and handheld device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the usage data includes at least one of viewing statistics, personal demographic data, psychographic data, and impression reporting data. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the selecting of the advertisement further comprises: sending a request to the provider network for the advertisement; and receiving the advertisement in response to the request. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the selecting of the advertisement further comprises: retrieving the advertisement from a data storage device connected to the subscriber device. ### Claim 17 A computing device, comprising: a communication interface to connect the computing device to a subscriber network; a memory device resident in the computing device; and a processor disposed in communication with the communication interface and the memory device, the processor configured to: receive a list of network services for a provider network; select one of the network services; send the selected network service to a subscriber device that connects to the subscriber network, and that provides Advertisement Decision Management (ADM) services for the subscriber network; and receive a network program media stream associated with the selected network service from the subscriber device, wherein the subscriber device acquires the network program media stream, collects usage data for the computing device, detects an advertising opportunity in the network program media stream, the advertising opportunity having a start time and an end time, selects an advertisement to fulfill the advertising opportunity, where the selection of the advertisement is based on the usage data, delivers the advertisement to the computing device at the start time of the advertising opportunity, and delivers the network program media stream to the computing device at the end time of the advertising opportunity. ### Claim 18 A method in a computing device, comprising: receiving a list of network services for a provider network; selecting one of the network services; sending the selected network service to a subscriber device that connects to the subscriber network, and that provides Advertisement Decision Management (ADM) services for the subscriber network; and receiving a network program media stream associated with the selected network service from the subscriber device, wherein the subscriber device acquires the network program media stream, collects usage data for the computing device, detects an advertising opportunity in the network program media stream, the advertising opportunity having a start time and an end time, selects an advertisement to fulfill the advertising opportunity, where the selection of the advertisement is based on the usage data, delivers the advertisement to the computing device at the start time of the advertising opportunity, and delivers the network program media stream to the computing device at the end time of the advertising opportunity. ### Claim 19 An advertisement distribution system, comprising: a provider network for connecting and providing access to: an electronic programming guide (EPG)/video on demand (VOD) server to provide a listing of network services from a provider; and an advertisement server to provide advertisements for each network program media stream; a subscriber network for connecting and providing access to: a plurality of display devices; and a subscriber device that provides Advertisement Decision Management (ADM) services to the subscriber network and is configured to: acquire a network program media stream that is associated with a selected network service from the listing of network services from the provider; deliver the network program media stream to said plurality of display devices; collect usage data for said plurality of display devices; detect an advertising opportunity in the network program media stream, the advertising opportunity having a start time and an end time; select an advertisement to fulfill the advertising opportunity, where the selection of the advertisement is based on the usage data; deliver the advertisement to said plurality of display devices at the start time of the advertising opportunity; and deliver the network program media stream to said plurality of display devices at the end time of the advertising opportunity. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The advertisement distribution system of claim 19, wherein to acquire the network program media stream, the subscriber device is further configured to: receive the listing of network services from the provider; select one of the network services; and send the selected one of the network services to at least one the plurality of display devices. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The advertisement distribution system of claim 19, wherein at least one of the plurality of display devices is configured to: send control commands to the subscriber device during the delivery of the network program media stream and the advertisement. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The advertisement distribution system of claim 19, wherein to select the advertisement, the subscriber device is further configured to: send a request to the advertisement server for the advertisement; and receive the advertisement in response to the request. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The advertisement distribution system of claim 19, wherein to select the advertisement, the subscriber device is further configured to: retrieve the advertisement from a data storage device connected to the subscriber device.