US 8,819,661 B2Granted

Systems and methods for determining times to perform software updates on receiving devices

AssigneeEchoStar Technologies L.L.C.

InventorEdward A. Kakos

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Abstract

A monitoring system determines when a receiving device is in stand-by mode by monitoring usage of the receiving device on a daily basis. Periodic status checks are performed (e.g., every minute) and based on these status checks, it is determined what mode the receiving device was in for each half hour (or other selected interval) of the day. The middle of the longest period of the day the receiving device was determined to be in stand-by mode is determined as a desired time of day for software updates or other automated actions to occur. This process repeats every day and these determined times of day for software updates are averaged over the number of days the usage data was collected to use as the time of day going forward (based on a moving average) for software updates or other automated actions to be performed on the receiving device.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, over a plurality of days, at least one indication that a receiving device had been in one or more of a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is a mode in which the receiving device is generating program content or a program guide for display, and wherein the second mode is a mode in which the receiving device has no power;
receiving over the plurality of days at least one indication that the receiving device had been in a third mode other than the first mode and second mode, wherein the third mode is at least one of:
a mode in which the receiving device is in a screen saver mode;
a mode in which, over a specified period, a user had not interacted with the receiving device;
and a mode in which the receiving device has power being supplied to the receiving device, but no display to which the receiving device is connected is powered on;
and
determining a time of day at which to enable an automatic activity to be performed on the receiving device based on the received at least one indication that the receiving device had been one or more of a first mode and a second mode and the received at least one indication that the receiving device had been in the third mode, the determining including:
for each day of the plurality of days:
determining a longest period during the day in which the receiving device had been in the third mode;
determining a particular time within the determined longest period during the day in which the receiving device had been in the third mode;
averaging the particular time determined for each day of the plurality of days by a quantity of days within the plurality of days;
and
determining the time of day at which to enable the automatic activity based on the averaged particular time determined.

10 more elements

A system comprising:

at least one processor;
a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
receive, over a plurality of days, at least one indication that a receiving device had been in one or more of a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is a mode in which the receiving device is generating program content or a program guide for display, and wherein the second mode is a mode in which the receiving device has no power;
receive over the plurality of days at least one indication that the receiving device had been in a third mode other than the first mode and second mode, wherein the third mode is at least one of:
a mode in which the receiving device is in a screen saver mode;
a mode in which, over a specified period, a user had not interacted with the receiving device;
and a mode in which the receiving device has power being supplied to the receiving device, but no display to which the receiving device is connected is powered on;
and
determine a time of day at which to enable software updates to be performed on the receiving device based on the received at least one indication that the receiving device had been one or more of a first mode and a second mode and the received at least one indication that the receiving device had been in the third mode, the at least one processor being configured to determine the time of day at which to enable software updates to be performed by at least being configured to:
for each day of a first plurality of days, determine a longest period during the day in which the receiving device had been in the third mode;
determine a particular time within the determined longest period during the day in which the receiving device had been in the third mode;
average the particular time determined for each day of the plurality of days by a quantity of days within the first plurality of days;
and
determine the time of day at which to enable the software updates to be made on the receiving device based on the averaged particular time determined.

11 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer executable instructions thereon, that when executed by a computer processor, cause the following method to be performed:

receiving over a plurality of days at least one indication that a receiving device had been in one or more of a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is a mode in which the receiving device is generating program content or a program guide for display, and wherein the second mode is a mode in which the receiving device has no power;
receiving over the plurality of days at least one indication that the receiving device had been in a third mode other than the first mode and second mode, wherein the third mode is at least one of:
a mode in which the receiving device is in a screen saver mode;
a mode in which, over a specified period, a user had not interacted with the receiving device;
and a mode in which the receiving device has power being supplied to the receiving device, but no display to which the receiving device is connected is powered on;
and
determining a time of day at which to enable an automatic activity to be performed on the receiving device based on the received at least one indication that the receiving device had been one or more of a first mode and a second mode and the received at least one indication that the receiving device had been in the third mode, the determining including:
for each day of the plurality of days:
determining a longest period during the day in which the receiving device had been in the third mode;
determining a particular time within the determined longest period during the day in which the receiving device had been in the third mode;
averaging the particular time determined for each day of the plurality of days by a quantity of days within the plurality of days;
and
determining the time of day at which to enable the automatic activity based on the averaged particular time determined.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.