Back to results
US 9,959,522 B2Granted
System and method for controlling the distribution of electronic media
AssigneeThe Marlin Company
InventorsFrank Kenna, III, Preeti Patel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Distribution of media data to multiple displays is managed by displaying a representation of the access relationships among users, administrators, data, and the displays in the form of a hierarchical tree diagram or corporate organizational chart. The representation can be organized as a number of linked data objects having specific levels of hierarchy, each data object expressing data distribution and access control relationships which are at least partly determined implicitly by their position within the hierarchy. By interacting graphically with the tree, a user can quickly and efficiently manage the distribution of data and the administrative access relationships among displays.
Claims18
A system for controlling delivery of display information to display systems over a network, the system comprising:
- a storage device storing the display information as media data arranged into collections of media content;
- a computer including a processor;
- a graphical user interface (GUI) coupled to the computer, the computer configured to:
- present a hierarchical tree structure including a plurality of data objects represented by icons on the GUI, wherein delivery of the display information to the display systems is controlled via options provided by the data objects;
- assign the display systems to corresponding data objects of the plurality of data objects based on respective geographic locations of the display systems;
- assign users to each of the data objects, wherein assignments of the users are modifiable only by administrators assigned to respective data objects or to data objects at a higher level in the hierarchical tree structure, wherein users assigned to each data object have permission to assign, or modify the display information associated with either that data object or with data objects at a lower level in the hierarchical tree structure;
- assign selected media content from the collections of media content to each of the display systems according to a position of the respective data objects within the hierarchical tree structure and user assignment;
- and
- deliver the selected media content over the network to each of the display systems based on corresponding assignments of the display systems to the corresponding data objects,
- wherein at least one icon represents multiple display systems, and the selected media content delivered to each of the multiple display systems is different, the selected media content customized based on activities conducted at respective geographic locations of the multiple display devices,
- wherein the hierarchical tree structure is modifiable using a drag-drop procedure, and
- wherein a user performing the drag-drop procedure is limited in a location in the hierarchical tree structure where a data object is permitted to be dropped based at least in part on a position of the proposed drop location in the hierarchical tree structure relative to a highest level data object in the hierarchical tree structure assigned to the user.
9 more elements
A method of controlling delivery of display information to display systems over a network, the method comprising:
- presenting, via a graphical user interface (GUI) coupled to a computer, a hierarchical tree structure including a plurality of data objects represented by icons on the GUI, wherein delivery of the display information to the display systems is controlled via options provided by the data objects;
- assign the display systems to corresponding data objects of the plurality of data objects based on respective geographic locations of the display systems;
- assign users to each of the data objects, wherein assignments of the users are modifiable only by administrators assigned to respective data objects or to data objects at a higher level in the hierarchical tree structure, wherein users assigned to each data object have permission to assign, or modify the display information associated with either that data object or with data objects at a lower level in the hierarchical tree structure;
- assign selected media content from the collections of media content to each of the display systems according to a position of the respective data objects within the hierarchical tree structure and user assignment;
- and
- deliver the selected media content over the network to each of the display systems based on corresponding assignments of the display systems to the corresponding data objects,
- wherein at least one icon represents multiple display systems, and the selected media content delivered to each of the multiple display systems is different, the selected media content customized based on activities conducted at respective geographic locations of the multiple display devices,
- wherein the hierarchical tree structure is modifiable using a drag-drop procedure, and
- wherein a user performing the drag-drop procedure is limited in a location in the hierarchical tree structure where a data object is permitted to be dropped based at least in part on a position of the proposed drop location in the hierarchical tree structure relative to a highest level data object in the hierarchical tree structure assigned to the user.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.