FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See section 10; Rule 13]
TITLE: “METHOD AND TUNING CONTROL SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING ROOT CAUSE OF AN ISSUE IN ACTIVE CHANNEL”
Name and Address of the Applicant:
TATA PLAY LIMITED, 3rd Floor, Unit 301 to 305, Windsor, Off C.S.T. Road, Mumbai-400098, Maharashtra, India.
Nationality: Indian
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to Set Top Box (STB) technology. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and a tuning control system for determining the root cause of an issue in an active channel.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Set Top Boxes (STBs) allow users to watch video content from a specific service provider. The STB receives digital signals, decodes the digital signals and converts the digital signals to analog to be viewed on a Television (TV). The STBs of each service provider have their unique channel numbering system. The user calls an operator of the service provider when a channel currently viewed is not successfully displayed on the TV. Upon receiving the complaint, the operator tries to determine the cause related to an issue with the current channel, which requires a lot of manual efforts and is time consuming. Further, the operator must manually check if the issue is caused due to technical/network error at the service provider end or at the satellite end which is used to transmit signals related to the current channel. Manually determining the cause, delays the process of restoring the active channel, which affects the user experience.
[0003] Some of the existing techniques disclose generating an alert based on the services provided by the channel. Further, the channels whose services are not being satisfied, for those channels corrective actions are being taken to resolve the issues. However, in the existing techniques the list of corrective actions is presented to user/operator. The list of corrective actions may or may not be the accurate solution to the issue in the channels. Therefore, this process may consume a lot of time of the user/operator. Further, the existing techniques do not determine the cause of the issue in the channel.
[0004] The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY
[0005] Disclosed herein is a method of determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel. The method comprises receiving, by a tuning control system, an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system. Further, the method comprises retrieving a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database associated with the tuning control system upon receiving the alarm. Thereafter, the method comprises tuning a Set Top Box (STB), of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database,. Finally, the method comprises determining a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0006] Further, disclosed herein is a tuning control system for determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel. The tuning control system comprises a processor and a memory. The memory is communicatively coupled to the processor and stores processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the processor to receive an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system. Further, the processor retrieves a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database associated with the tuning control system upon receiving the alarm. Thereafter, the processor tunes a Set Top Box (STB), of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database. Finally, the processor determines a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0007] Furthermore, disclosed herein is an apparatus for determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel. The system comprises a central monitoring system, and a tuning control system. The tuning control system is configured to receive an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system. Further, the tuning control system retrieves a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database associated with the tuning control system upon receiving the alarm. Thereafter, the tuning control system

tunes a Set Top Box (STB), of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database. Finally, the tuning control system determines a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0008] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0009] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and regarding the accompanying figures, in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 shows an overview of functioning of a tuning control system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 2 shows a detailed block diagram of a tuning control system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.
[0014] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state

transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] In the present document, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
[0016] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
[0017] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.
[0018] The present disclosure relates to a method and system for determining the root cause of an issue in an active channel. In an embodiment, the proposed method receives an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system. Upon receiving the alarm, the proposed method retrieves a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database associated with the tuning control system upon receiving the alarm. As an example, the unique identifier may be a Logical Channel Number (LCN). After retrieving the unique identifier, the proposed method tunes a Set Top Box (STB) of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms identified using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database, to display the affected active channel. Finally, the proposed method

determines a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0019] In an embodiment, the proposed method retrieves unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database when the alarm is received. This helps in reducing the time required to retrieve the unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel and eliminates the manual process of retrieving the unique identifier. When there is more than one affected active channel, the proposed method tunes the STB of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms for each of the affected active channel at a predefined duration of delay. This eliminates an operator intervention to check for more than one channel. Further, the proposed method, tunes STBs of one or more secondary multimedia platforms based on the unique identifier and helps in determining the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. This helps the operator to address the root cause quickly and restore the affected active channel, thereby enhancing the user experience.
[0020] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows an overview of functioning of a tuning control system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0022] In an embodiment, a tuning control system 101 may be any computing unit that may be configured to determine a root cause of an issue in an active channel. As an example, the computing unit may include, without limiting to, a desktop computer, a laptop and the like. The tuning control system 101 may be associated with a central monitoring system 103, a database 105 one or more secondary multimedia platforms 109 and display devices 1111- 111N that are deployed at a location of a primary multimedia platform, through a communication

network. The primary multimedia platform may be the service provider to which the user has subscribed. As an example, the primary multimedia platform may include, without limitation, a Dish to Home (DTH), Multi Service Operator (MSO) and content delivery platforms. The tuning control system 101 may include a tuning device (not shown in FIG. 1). As an example, the tuning device may be an InfraRed (IR) blaster. In some embodiments, the tuning control system 101 may be an existing IR blaster upgraded and configured to perform the functionality of the proposed tuning control system 101. The predefined communication network may include, without limitation, wired connection and a wireless connection. The central monitoring system 103 monitors channels transmitted to a user using a Set Top Box (STB) 107. The STB 107 may belong to the primary multimedia platform.
[0023] Further, the central monitoring system 103 may be configured to generate an alarm when an active channel is not displayed successfully. As an example, the central monitoring system 103 may include, without limitation, Tektronix Sentry which is the network stream analyzer and KaleidoX which is multi-viewer displaying services on video-wall. In an embodiment, the content of the active channel is displayed without any occurrence of technical issues, it may be referred as successful display of the active channel. Further, when the content of the active channel is not displayed and a static noise or a blank screen is displayed, it may be referred as the unsuccessful display of the active channel. In some embodiments, active channel refers to the channel currently viewed. As an example, when the STB 107 of the primary multimedia platform does not receive signals related to the active channel and a static noise is displayed on the TV, the central monitoring system 103 may generate the alarm. In an embodiment, the central monitoring system 103 may generate a predefined trap when the issue is occurred in the affected active channel. As an example, the central monitoring system 103 may generate a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap. The tuning control system 101 may be associated with a Set Top Box (STB) 1091 to STB 109N (also referred as STB 109 of one or more secondary multimedia platforms). In some embodiments, the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may be platforms similar as primary multimedia platforms but hosted by different service providers. The one or more secondary multimedia platforms may provide similar facilities as the primary multimedia platform. As an example, the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may include, without limitation, a Dish to Home (DTH), Multi Service Operator (MSO) and content delivery platforms. Further, the STBs 1091 to STB 109N of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may be connected to a display device 1111 to display device 111N (also referred as display devices of the one or

more secondary multimedia platforms 111), respectively. The tuning control system 101 may monitor the status of the affected active channel on the corresponding display device (1111-111N) of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms 111.
[0024] In an embodiment, the tuning control system 101 may be configured to receive an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from the central monitoring system 103. The active channel is the channel which the user is watching and is displayed successfully, and the affected active channel is the active channel which is not displayed successfully. As an example, the static noise/appearance on the TV indicates that the channel is not successfully displayed, and the central monitoring system 103 may generate the alarm. In some embodiments, the user may also inform the issue in the affected active channel to the service provider by raising a complaint.
[0025] In an embodiment, upon receiving the alarm, the tuning control system 101 may be configured to retrieve a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from the database 105 associated with the tuning control system 101 upon receiving the alarm. As an example, the unique identifier may include, without limitation, a Logical Channel Number (LCN) and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) number. The database 105 may be an internal database 105 available with primary multimedia platform or an external database 105 which may be publicly available at different data sources. In an embodiment, the unique identifier of the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform may be different from the one or more secondary multimedia platforms In an embodiment, the connections with the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may be present at the location of the service provider associated with the primary multimedia platform. The service provider may have the subscriptions to each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. In an embodiment, the tuning control system 101 may send a query to the database 105 to retrieve the unique identifier. As an example, the query may response indicating that the unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform ‘X’ is 320. and the unique identifier assigned to the same affected active channel in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’ is 410. In some embodiments, the unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform may be same in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The database 105 may store the unique identifier assigned to each channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.

The database 105 may be updated regularly to store the updated unique identifier of each channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0026] In an embodiment, upon retrieving the unique identifier, the tuning control system 101 may be configured to tune a STB 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database 105. In an embodiment, the tuning control system 101 may use the IR blaster (not shown in FIG. 1) to tune the STB 109 of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. In some embodiments, the tuning control system 101 may use any other tuning device or a computing/electronic device to tune the STB 109 of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. In some embodiments, the tuning control system 101 may be an existing IR blaster upgraded and configured to perform the functionality of the proposed tuning control system 101.
[0027] In an embodiment, upon tuning the STB 109, the tuning control system 101 may be configured to determine a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The status of the display may be one of a successful display or an unsuccessful display. The STB 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may be connected to each of the display devices 1111- 111N. The display may include, without limitation, a Television (TV). In an embodiment, the tuning control system 101 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform when the status of the display is successful in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms and unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform. As an example, the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform ‘X’ is not displayed successfully. If the status of the display is successful in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’, then the tuning control system 101 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform. Upon determining the root cause of the issue related to the primary multimedia platform, the operator may perform one or more corrective actions to rectify the issue in the affected active channel. Once the operator resolves the issue, the affected active channel may be available.
[0028] In some embodiments, the tuning control system 101 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms, when the

status of the display is unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform and each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. As an example, the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform ‘X’ is not displayed successfully. If the status of the display is unsuccessful in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’, then the tuning control system 101 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The external devices may include, without limitation, a STB of the primary multimedia platform, an antenna installed at end user’s location and a satellite of the primary multimedia platform provider. Upon determining the root cause of the issue related to the external devices, the operator may raise a complaint to the provider of the affected active channel. As an example, the signal may not be generated due to an antenna failure at the provider location of the affected active channel. This causes unsuccessful display of the affected active channel for both the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. Once the provider resolves the issue, the affected active channel may be available to both the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0029] In an embodiment, when more than one active channel may be affected, the tuning control system 101 may receive alarm from the central monitoring system 103 for each of the affected active channel. The tuning control system 101 may retrieve the unique identifier assigned to each of the affected active channel in each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms from the database 105. Upon retrieving the unique identifier, the tuning control system 101 may tune the STB 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms identified using the corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database 105. In an embodiment, each of the affected active channel may be displayed sequentially after a predefined duration of delay. The predefined duration of delay may be set automatically or may be set manually by the operator. As an example, the central monitoring system 103 may raise the alarm for two different affected active channels ‘A’ and ‘B’ of the primary multimedia platform. The tuning control system 101 may tune the affected active channel ‘A’. After the predefined duration of delay, the tuning control system 101 may tune the affected active channel ‘B’. This allows the operator to check both the active affected channels ‘A’ and ‘B’ sequentially. Finally, the tuning control system 101 may determine the root cause of the issue in each of the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of

the display of each of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms, sequentially.
[0030] FIG. 2 shows a detailed block diagram of a tuning control system 101, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0031] In some implementations, the tuning control system 101 may include an I/O interface 201, a processor 203 and a memory 205. In an embodiment, the memory 205 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 203. The processor 203 may be configured to perform one or more functions of the tuning control system 101 for determining the root cause of an issue in an active channel, using the data 207 and the one or more modules 209 of the tuning control system 101. In an embodiment, the memory 205 may store data 207.
[0032] In an embodiment, the data 207 stored in the memory 205 may include, without limitation, an alarm data 211, a tuning data 213, a root cause data 215 and other data 217. In some implementations, the data 207 may be stored within the memory 205 in the form of various data structures. Additionally, the data 207 may be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models. The other data 217 may include various temporary data and files generated by the one or more modules 209.
[0033] In an embodiment, the alarm data 211 may include information related to an affected active channel. In an embodiment, an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform may be received from a central monitoring system 103. The alarm data 211 may include, without limitation, a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel, time and date when the active channel was affected and the STB details.
[0034] In an embodiment, the tuning data 213 may include an unique identifier of each channel in one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The unique identifier may include, without limitation, a Logical Channel Number (LCN) and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) number. The unique identifier data 213 may be used to retrieve the unique identifier of the affected active channel in one or more secondary multimedia platforms due to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform. In an embodiment, a look-up table may include the unique identifiers of each channel provided by the primary multimedia platform mapped with the unique identifiers of the corresponding channel provided by the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. When the active channel is affected, the look-up table may

be used to retrieve the unique identifier of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The unique identifier data 213 may be stored in a database 105 associated with the tuning control system 101 and may be updated regularly to store the updated unique identifier of each channel in the one or more multimedia platforms.
[0035] In an embodiment, the root cause data 215 may include information related to root cause of the issue in the affected active channel. The root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform may be determined based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms on the display devices 1111- 111N. As an example, the root cause may be related to an issue in the satellite of the channel provider which is causing unsuccessful display of the active channel..
[0036] In an embodiment, the data 207 may be processed by one or more modules 209 of the tuning control system 101. In some implementations, the one or more modules 209 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 203 for performing one or more functions of the tuning control system 101. In an implementation, the one or more modules 209 may include, without limiting to, a receiving module 219, a retrieving module 221, a tuning module 223, a determining module 225 and other modules 227.
[0037] As used herein, the term module may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a hardware processor 203 (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. In an implementation, each of the one or more modules 209 may be configured as stand-alone hardware computing units. In an embodiment, the other modules 227 may be used to perform various miscellaneous functionalities on the tuning control system 101. It will be appreciated that such one or more modules 209 may be represented as a single module or a combination of different modules.
[0038] In an embodiment, the receiving module 219 may be configured for receiving an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system 103. Due to the issue the content of the active channel may not be displayed successfully. As an example, the static noise is displayed when the channel is not successfully displayed, then the central monitoring system 103 may generate the alarm which may be received by the receiving module 219. In some embodiments, the the receiving module 219

may receive more than one alarm related to the issue in more than one affected active channel from the central monitoring system 103.
[0039] In an embodiment, the retrieving module 221 may be configured for retrieving a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database 105 associated with the tuning control system 101 upon receiving the alarm. In an embodiment, the connections with the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may be present at the location of the service provider associated with the primary multimedia platform. The service provider may have the subscriptions to each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. As an example, the unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel by primary multimedia platform ‘X’ is 320, the retrieving module 221 may retrieve the unique identifier assigned to the same affected active channel in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’ which may be same or different. The unique identifier assigned to the same affected active channel in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’ is 410. In an embodiment, the retrieving module 221 may send a query to the database 105 to retrieve the unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. In some embodiments, when more than one active channel is affected, the retrieving module 221 may retrieve the unique identifier assigned to each of the affected active channel in each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms from the database 105.
[0040] In an embodiment, the tuning module 223 may be configured for tuning a STB 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms identified using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database 105 to display the affected active channel. Upon tuning the STB 109, the affected active channel may be displayed on the display associated with each of the STBs of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. In some embodiments, when more than one active channel is affected, the tuning module 223 may tune the STB 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms identified using the corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database 105. In an embodiment, each of the affected active channel may be displayed sequentially after a predefined duration of delay. The predefined duration of delay may be set automatically or may be set manually by the operator. As an example, the central monitoring system 103 may raise the alarm for two different affected active channels ‘A’ and ‘B’ of the primary multimedia platform. The tuning module 223 may tune the affected active channel ‘A’ for a predefined duration. Thereafter a

predefined duration of delay, the tuning module 223 may tune the affected active channel ‘B’. This allows to determine a root cause of both the active affected channels ‘A’ and ‘B’.
[0041] In an embodiment, the determining module 225 may be configured for determining a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The status of the display is one of a successful display and an unsuccessful display 111. The STB 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms may be connected to each of the display devices 1111- 111N. In an embodiment, the determining module 225 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform when the status of the display is successful in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms and unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform. As an example, the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform ‘X’ is not displayed successfully. If the status of the display is successful in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’, then the determining module 225 may determine that the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform. Upon determining the root cause of the issue related to the primary multimedia platform, the operator may perform one or more corrective actions to rectify the issue in the affected active channel. Once the operator resolves the issue, the affected active channel may be successfully displayed. In an embodiment, when more than one active channel is affected, the determining module 225 may determine the root cause of each of the affected active channel sequentially.
[0042] In some embodiments, the determining module 225 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms, when the status of the display is unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform and each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. As an example, the affected active channel in the primary multimedia platform ‘X’ is not displayed successfully. If the status of the display in the secondary multimedia platform ‘Y’ is unsuccessful, then the determining module 225 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. Upon determining the root cause of the issue related to the external devices, the operator may raise a complaint to the provider of the affected active channel. As an example, the signal may not be generated due to an antenna failure at the provider location

of the affected active channel. This causes unsuccessful display of the affected active channel for both the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. Once the provider resolves the issue, the affected active channel may be available to both the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
[0043] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0044] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the method 300 may include one or more blocks illustrating a method of determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel using the tuning control system 101 illustrated in FIG. 2. The method 300 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform specific functions or implement specific abstract data types.
[0045] The order in which the method 300 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.
[0046] At block 301, the method 300 includes receiving, by a processor 203 of the tuning control system 101, an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system 103.
[0047] At block 303, the method 300 includes retrieving, by the processor 203, a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database 105 associated with the tuning control system 101 upon receiving the alarm. The unique identifier may include, without limitation, a Logical Channel Number (LCN) and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) number.
[0048] At block 305, the method 300 includes tuning, by the processor 203, a Set Top Box (STB) 109 of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms identified using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database 105, to display the affected active channel.

[0049] At block 307, the method 300 includes determining, by the processor 203, a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. The status of the display is one of a successful display and an unsuccessful display. In an embodiment, the processor 203 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform when the status of the display is successful in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms and unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform. Further, the processor 203 may determine the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms, when the status of the display is unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform and each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
Computer System
[0050] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 400 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the computer system 400 may be the tuning control system 101 illustrated in FIG. 1. The computer system 400 may include a central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor” or “memory controller”) 402. The processor 402 may comprise at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user- or system-generated business processes. A user may include a network manager, an application developer, a programmer, an organization or any system/sub-system being operated parallelly to the computer system 400. The processor 402 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory controllers/memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc.
[0051] The processor 402 may be disposed in communication with one or more Input/Output (I/O) devices (411 and 412) via I/O interface 401. The I/O interface 401 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, stereo, IEEE®-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics Array (VGA), IEEE® 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM), Long-Term

Evolution (LTE) or the like), etc. Using the I/O interface 401, the computer system 400 may communicate with one or more I/O devices 411 and 412.
[0052] In some embodiments, the processor 402 may be disposed in communication with a network 409 via a network interface 403. The network interface 403 may communicate with the network 409. The network interface 403 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE® 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc.
[0053] In an implementation, the preferred network 409 may be implemented as one of the several types of networks, such as intranet or Local Area Network (LAN) and such within the organization. The preferred network 409 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of several types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) etc., to communicate with each other. Further, the network 409 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc. Using the network interface 403 and the network 409, the computer system 400 may communicate with a central monitoring system 103 and a database 105 .
[0054] In some embodiments, the processor 402 may be disposed in communication with a memory 405 (e.g., RAM 413, ROM 414, etc. as shown in FIG. 4) via a storage interface 404. The storage interface 404 may connect to memory 405 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.
[0055] The memory 405 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, user/application interface 406, an operating system 407, a web browser 408, and the like. In some embodiments, computer system 400 may store user/application data 406, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described in this invention. Such databases may be

implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle® or Sybase®.
[0056] The operating system 407 may facilitate resource management and operation of the computer system 400. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, APPLE® MACINTOSH® OS X®, UNIX®, UNIX-like system distributions (E.G., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION® (BSD), FREEBSD®, NETBSD®, OPENBSD, etc.), LINUX® DISTRIBUTIONS (E.G., RED HAT®, UBUNTU®, KUBUNTU®, etc.), IBM® OS/2®, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® (XP®, VISTA®/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE® IOS®, GOOGLE TM ANDROID TM, BLACKBERRY® OS, or the like.
[0057] The user interface 406 may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, the user interface 406 may provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected to the computer system 400, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, widgets, and the like. Further, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, APPLE® MACINTOSH® operating systems’ Aqua®, IBM® OS/2®, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX®, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, AJAX, HTML, ADOBE® FLASH®, etc.), or the like.
[0058] The web browser 408 may be a hypertext viewing application. Secure web browsing may be provided using Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), and the like. The web browsers 408 may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, ADOBE® FLASH®, JAVASCRIPT®, JAVA®, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and the like. Further, the computer system 400 may implement a mail server stored program component. The mail server may utilize facilities such as ASP, ACTIVEX®, ANSI® C++/C#, MICROSOFT®, .NET, CGI SCRIPTS, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, PERL®, PHP, PYTHON®, WEBOBJECTS®, etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), MICROSOFT® exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail client may be a mail viewing application, such as APPLE® MAIL, MICROSOFT® ENTOURAGE®, MICROSOFT® OUTLOOK®, MOZILLA® THUNDERBIRD®, and the like.

[0059] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.
Advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated herein.
[0060] In an embodiment, the proposed method retrieves unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database when the alarm is received. This helps in reducing the time required to retrieve the unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel and eliminates the manual process of retrieving the unique identifier.
[0061] When there is more than one affected active channel, the proposed method tunes the STB of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms for each of the affected active channel at a predefined duration of delay. This eliminates an operator intervention to check for more than one channel.
[0062] Further, the proposed method, tunes STBs of one or more secondary multimedia platforms based on the unique identifier and helps in determining the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms. This helps the operator to address the root cause quickly and restore the affected active channel, thereby enhancing the user experience.
[0063] As stated above, it shall be noted that the method of the present disclosure may be used to overcome various technical problems related to determining the root cause of an issue in an active channel. In other words, the disclosed method has a practical application and provides a

technically advanced solution to the technical problems associated with the existing approach into determining the root cause of the issue in the active channel.
[0064] In light of the technical advancements provided by the disclosed method, the claimed steps, as discussed above, are not routine, conventional, or well-known aspects in the art, as the claimed steps provide the aforesaid solutions to the technical problems existing in the conventional technologies. Further, the claimed steps clearly bring an improvement in the functioning of the system itself, as the claimed steps provide a technical solution to a technical problem.
[0065] The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the embodiment", "the embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some embodiments", and "one embodiment" mean "one or more (but not all) embodiments of the invention(s)" unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0066] The terms "including", "comprising", “having” and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0067] The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0068] A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.
[0069] When a single device or article is described herein, it will be clear that more than one device/article (whether they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device/article is described herein (whether they cooperate), it will be clear that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device/article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of invention need not include the device itself.

[0070] Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
[0071] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral Numerals:

Reference Number Description
101 Tuning control system
103 Central monitoring system
105 Database
107 Primary multimedia platform Set Top Box (STB)
1091-109N Secondary multimedia platform Set Top Boxes (STBs)
1111-111N Display devices
201 I/O Interface
203 Processor
205 Memory
207 Data
209 Modules
211 Alarm data
213 Tuning data
215 Root cause data
217 Other data
219 Receiving module
221 Retrieving module
223 Tuning module
225 Determining module
227 Other modules
400 Computer system
401 I/O Interface of the exemplary computer system
402 Processor of the exemplary computer system

403 Network interface
404 Storage interface
405 Memory of the exemplary computer system
406 User/Application
407 Operating system
408 Web browser
409 Communication network
411 Input devices
412 Output devices
413 RAM
414 ROM

WE CLAIM:
1. A method of determining the root cause of an issue in an active channel, the method
comprising:
receiving, by a tuning control system (101), an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system (103);
retrieving, by the tuning control system (101), a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database (105) associated with the tuning control system (101) upon receiving the alarm;
tuning, by the tuning control system (101), a Set Top Box (STB) of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms (109) to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database (105); and
determining, by the tuning control system (101), a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the status of the display is one of a successful display and an unsuccessful display.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining the root causes comprises performing one of:
determining the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform when the status of the display is successful in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms and unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform; and
determining the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms, when the status of the display is unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform and each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least one of a Logical Channel Number (LCN) and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) number.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when alarms related to a plurality of affected active channels are received parallelly, the method comprises:
tuning, by the tuning control system, the STBs of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms to display each of the plurality of affected active channels, sequentially, by inserting a predefined delay for each tuning iteration.
6. A tuning control system (101) for determining a root cause of an issue in an active
channel, the tuning control system (101) comprising:
a processor; and
a memory, communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions, which, on execution, cause the processor to:
receive an alarm related to an issue in an affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from a central monitoring system (103);
retrieve a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database (105) associated with the tuning control system (101) upon receiving the alarm;
tune a Set Top Box (STB) of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms (109) to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database (105); and
determine a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
7. The tuning control system (101) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the status of the display is one of a successful display and an unsuccessful display.
8. The tuning control system (101) as claimed in claim 6, wherein to determine the root cause of the issue, the processor performs one of:
determining the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to the primary multimedia platform when the status of the display is successful

in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms and unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform; and
determining the root cause of the issue in the affected active channel to be related to external devices associated with the primary multimedia platform and the one or more secondary multimedia platforms, when the status of the display is unsuccessful in the primary multimedia platform and each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.
9. The tuning control system (101) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least one of a Logical Channel Number (LCN) and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) number.
10. The tuning control system (101) as claimed in claim 6, wherein, when alarms related to a plurality of affected active channels are received parallelly, the processor is configured to:
tune the STBs of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms to display each of the plurality of affected active channels, sequentially, by inserting a predefined delay for each tuning iteration.
11. A system for determining a root cause of an issue in an active channel, the system
comprising:
a central monitoring system (103) for monitoring status of a display of an affected active channel; and
the tuning control system (101) configured to:
receive an alarm related to an issue in the affected active channel of a primary multimedia platform from the central monitoring system (103);
retrieve a unique identifier assigned to the affected active channel in each of one or more secondary multimedia platforms from a database (105) associated with the tuning control system (101) upon receiving the alarm;
tune a Set Top Box (STB) of each of the one or more secondary multimedia platforms (109) to display the affected active channel using a corresponding unique identifier retrieved from the database (105); and

determine a root cause of the issue in the affected active channel of the primary multimedia platform based on status of the display of the affected active channel in the one or more secondary multimedia platforms.