Set-top box channel tuning time measurement
AssigneeVerizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
InventorsDongchen Wang, Hong Xiao, Andre Turner, Armando Paul Stettner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A network device receives, across a network, measurements of channel tuning times from multiple, different set-top boxes (STBs), where the channel tuning times are measured internally within each of the multiple, different STBs. The network device stores the measurements of the channel tuning times as data in a data structure and analyzes channel tuning behavior of at least one of the multiple, different STBs based on the data stored in the data structure. The network device generates a report of the channel tuning behavior of the at least one of the multiple, different STBs.
Claims24
A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a network device across a network, measurements of channel tuning times, associated with changing channels, from multiple, different set-top boxes (STBs), wherein the channel tuning times are measured internally within each of the multiple, different STBs and wherein each of the channel tuning times includes a span of time between a start of a channel change and when a program signal has been acquired and locked on a target channel;
- storing the measurements of the channel tuning times as data in a data structure;
- analyzing the measurements of channel tuning times of at least one of the multiple, different STBs based on the data stored in the data structure to determine frequencies of occurrences of different ones of the channel tuning times;
- and
- generating a report of the channel tuning times analysis of the at least one of the multiple, different STBs, wherein the report includes the determined frequencies of occurrences of the different ones of the channel tuning times.
A network device, comprising:
- a communication interface connected to a network and configured to receive measurements of channel tuning times, associated with changing channels, from multiple, different set-top boxes (STBs) from across the network, wherein the channels comprise one or more of quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) high definition (HD) or QAM standard definition (SD) channels, wherein the channel tuning times are measured internally within each of the multiple, different STBs, and wherein each of the channel tuning times includes a span of time between a start of a channel change and when a program signal has been acquired and locked on a target channel of the channels, wherein acquiring and locking on the target channel includes tuning to a correct QAM frequency of the target channel and locating a multiplexed stream on the target channel;
- and
- a processing unit configured to:
- analyze channel tuning behavior of at least one of the multiple, different STBs based on the measurements of channel tuning times, and
- generate a report of the channel tuning behavior of the at least one of the multiple, different STBs.
A set-top box (STB), comprising:
- firmware configured to tune to channels on a network connected to the STB;
- a tuning time measuring module that includes a timer;
- and
- a channel tuning control application configured to:
- simultaneously signal the firmware to tune to a new channel and signal the time measuring module to trigger and record the timer at a start time (t1), wherein the tuning time measuring module is configured to:
- receive a signal from the firmware indicating that the new channel has been acquired and locked,
- record the timer at a stop time (t2) when the new channel has been acquired and locked, and
- calculate and send a channel tuning time to the channel tuning control application, wherein the channel tuning time comprises a difference between the stop time and the start time, and
- wherein the channel tuning control application is further configured to:
- receive the channel tuning time from the tuning time measuring module, and
- send the channel tuning time to a device external to the STB.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.