A) TECHNICAL FIELD

[1] The present invention generally relates to broadcasting advertisements to a set top box. The present invention more particularly relates to selection of advertisements for broadcasting to the set top box and insertion of advertisements into one or more broadcast applications that run on a set top box.

B) BACK GROUND OF THE INVENTION

[2] Currently there are various techniques to broadcast advertisements to the user through various communication interfaces. In particular digital broadcasting consists of an audio, a video and plurality of data components. The advertisements are broadcast during the breaks of a program or between two programs. The audio and video components are decoded by a hardware element in the digital Set-top box and displayed on the display unit of the receiving device.

[3] In the existing technique, the advertisements include both audio and video components. The audio and video components in the advertisements require huge bandwidth to broadcast when compared to the graphical animation advertisements. Further in the existing technique, the cost of broadcasting such advertisements is very high. In the existing technique, these advertisements are downloaded and stored in the set top box thereby increasing the overall cost of the set top box hardware.

[4] Thus there is a need for a method and system for broadcasting graphical animation advertisements targeting screens of applications that can run on a set top box.

[5] The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.

C) OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[6] The primary object of the present invention is to broadcast graphical animation advertisements to the set top box.

[7] Another object of the present invention is to insert graphical animation advertisements in one or more broadcast applications that can run on a set top box.

[8] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the graphical animation advertisements on demand to the set top box over internet.

[9] Yet another object of the present invention is that the graphical animation advertisements occupy fewer footprints on the Set-top box.

[10] Yet another object of the present invention is that the graphical animation advertisements broadcast to the set top box consume less bandwidth.

[11] Yet another object of the present invention is that the graphical animation advertisements overlay on the display unit of the receiving device and does not replace the existing advertisement.

[12] Yet another object of the present invention is that the graphical animation advertisements broadcast to the set top box provide an additional source of revenue to the network operator.

[13] Yet another object of the present invention is that the graphical animation advertisements, that are displayed on the display unit of the receiving device and pertaining to an application that belongs to premium service, provides revenue to the network operator or broadcaster. This allows the network operator to provide these premium services for free of cost or at a nominal price to the end user.

[14] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

D) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[15] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a method for broadcasting advertisements to a set top box. The method includes selecting a plurality of graphical advertisements to broadcast through a transmission medium. The method includes inserting a plurality of graphical animation advertisements at a particular time interval into one or more broadcast applications run in the set top box. The method includes providing the plurality of graphical animation advertisements to the set top box on demand over internet.

[16] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for enabling advertisements in a screen of an application. The method includes defining the location of the advertisement and the maximum size of the window of the advertisement area. Thus the advertisements can be played by an advertisement player at the set top box side, only when this information is defined.

[17] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for broadcasting advertisements to a set top box. The system includes a graphical advertisement management system. The graphical advertisement management system includes a graphical advertisement server for storing the graphical animation advertisements and an application server for storing the one or more applications, games, and interactive applications. Further the graphical advertisement management system includes a scheduler for selecting the graphical animation advertisements for broadcast and inserting the graphical animation advertisements into the advertisement enabled screens of broadcast applications. The graphical advertisement management system also includes a converter for converting and compiling the graphical advertisements to a target platform or middleware. The graphical advertisement management system also includes an on demand advertisement agent for accepting the set top box request and providing the graphical animation advertisements over the internet.

[18] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical animation advertisements are decoded by the advertisement player. The method includes detecting advertisements in a screen, decoding and playing the advertisement on the display unit of the set top box.

[19] According to one embodiment of the present invention, one or more graphical animation advertisements are selected for broadcasting. The selected advertisements can be targeted for specific advertisement enabled screens of an application. The target screen information is not mandatory. The selected graphical advertisements along with target information (if any) are compiled for a target platform or middleware. The compiled graphical advertisements are broadcast through a transmission medium. The advertisement player component of an application running on the set top box downloads the graphical animation advertisements and plays according to a target information. When the target information is not available, the application picks and plays the best fit advertisement based on the rules set by the network operator.

[20] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical animation advertisements are selected and inserted into screens of an application. The method includes inserting the graphical animation advertisement into the advertisement enabled screens. The application along with the inserted advertisements are compiled for a target platform or middleware. The compiled application along with the graphical advertisements are broadcast through a transmission medium. When the application is downloaded and starts running on the set top box, the advertisement player decodes the advertisements and plays them upon user entering the advertisement enabled screens.

[21] According to one embodiment of the present invention, on demand advertisement are played in the advertisement enabled screens of an application running on a set top box. The method includes an application requesting an on demand advertisement agent for the best fit advertisement. The on demand advertisement agent fetches the best fit advertisement from the advertisement server, compiles the advertisement to the target platform or middleware and passes it to the set top box over internet.

[22] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

E) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[23] The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which:

[24] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the graphical advertisement management system for selecting graphical animation advertisements for broadcasting and a set top box for decoding and playing the broadcast advertisements, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[25] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart illustrating a method of broadcasting graphical advertisements to the set top box, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[26] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the graphical advertisement management system for inserting graphical animation advertisements into advertisement enabled screens of broadcast applications and a set top box for decoding and playing the broadcast advertisements, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[27] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart for a method of inserting graphical advertisements into the one or more applications run on the set top box, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[28] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of the graphical advertisement management system for providing on demand advertisements to a set top box connected to internet, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[29] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for a method for providing on demand advertisements to a set top box connected to internet, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[30] Although specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others. This is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.

F) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[31] In the following detailed description, a reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that the logical, mechanical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[32] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical advertisements that are broadcast to the set top box are either manually selected by the user or automatically selected based on the configuration parameters.

[33] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical advertisements include zero or more images, shapes, text, audio components, a video component, animation rules and compiled source code. Further all of these components are optional and there should be at-least one component to makeup an advertisement.

[34] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical advertisements are broadcast based on the list of advertisements that are authorized and provided to broadcast.

[35] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the graphical animation advertisements are targeted for a screen of an application at a predefined location and predefined size.

[36] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the advertisement player is connected to the graphical advertisement management system to report the graphical animation advertisements that are played. The reported data can be used for further analysis at the Head.

[37] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the graphical advertisement management system for selecting graphical animation advertisements for broadcasting and a set top box for decoding and playing the broadcast advertisements, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG.1, a system for broadcasting an advertisement to a set top box includes a graphical advertisement management system 102, a head end 110, a transmission medium 112 and a set top box 114. The graphical advertisement management system 102 includes a graphical advertisement server 104, a scheduler 106 and a converter 108. Further all the components in the graphical advertisement management system 102 can be on one computer or distributed in the network of computers connected to each other. The set top box includes an application 116, a middleware 118, one or more device drivers and operating system 120 and hardware 122. The application includes an advertisement player 124. The transmission medium includes wired and wireless networks. The transmission medium includes but is not limited to a satellite transmission, a cable network, a terrestrial transmission and internet.

[38] The graphical advertisement management system 102 includes the graphical advertisement server 104 for storing the graphical animation advertisements. The scheduler 106 for selecting the graphical animation advertisements that need to be broadcast and also for inserting the graphical animation advertisements into the advertisement enabled screens of broadcast applications. The converter 108 is used for converting and compiling the graphical advertisements selected in the graphical advertisement management system 102. The graphical advertisement management system 102 is connected to the head-end 110. The Head-end 110 publishes the advertisements into the transmission medium 112.

[39] The graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box 114 by selecting a list of graphical advertisements for broadcasting and published at the head-end 110. The selected advertisements can be targeted for specific advertisement enabled screens of an application. The target screen information is not mandatory. Further the selected graphical advertisements along with the target information are compiled for a target set-top box 114 at the head-end servers. The graphical advertisements compiled are grouped into a bundle to broadcast through the transmission medium. Further the advertisement player 124 component of an application running on the set top box downloads the graphical animation advertisements and plays according to the target information. When the target information is not available, the application picks and plays the best fit advertisement based on the rules set by the network operator.

[40] The graphical advertisement may or may not have an animation. The graphical animation advertisements are targeted for a screen of an application at a predefined location. The advertisement player 124 connects to the graphical advertisement management system to report the graphical animation advertisements that are played. The reported data can be used for further analysis at the Head.

[41] The scheduler 106 is either operated by a user or the process is automated by software. The scheduler 106 gets connected to the graphical advertisement server 104 and gets the list of available advertisements authorized for broadcast and passes them to the converter 108. Further in case of automated software, the scheduler 106 reads periodically the configuration files to find the list of advertisements and retrieves the advertisements from the graphical advertisement server 104. The scheduler 106 is also used to generate the target information such as which graphical animation advertisement is to be shown on the display unit of a particular application at a predefined position.

[42] FIG. 2 illustrates the flowchart for a method of broadcasting graphical advertisements to the set top box, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG.2, the graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box based on the operation of the schedule mode automatically or manually (204). When the graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box automatically, the full list of graphical advertisements that needs to be broadcast automatically is got from the configuration files (205).

[43] The graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box manually based on the list of selected advertisements received from a graphical advertisement server (206). Further a user selects a subset of graphical animation advertisements from the full list of graphical animation advertisements (208). If a conversion is required (210), the converter is used for converting and compiling the graphical animation advertisements selected to the target middleware in the set top box (212). The graphical animation advertisements are published into the transmission medium (216) through the head end (214). The graphical advertisements includes zero or more images, shapes, text, audio components, a video component, animation rules and compiled source code. Further all of these components are optional and there should be at-least one component to makeup an advertisement. The set top box then receives the published graphical animation advertisements from the transmission medium (218). The advertisement player 124 identifies the best fit graphical animation advertisements corresponding to the application run on the set top box and plays the advertisements on the screen (220). The animation advertisement includes but is not limited to an image, one or more shapes, a text, an audio component, a video component, a target information and an animation information.

[44] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the graphical advertisement management system for inserting graphical animation advertisements into advertisement enabled screens of broadcast applications and a set top box for decoding and playing the broadcast advertisements, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG.3, a system for inserting graphical advertisements into one or more applications includes the graphical advertisement management system 102, the head end 110, the transmission medium 112 and the set top box 114. The graphical advertisement management system 102 includes an applications server 302, the graphical advertisement server 104, the scheduler 106 and the converter 108. Further all the components in the graphical advertisement management system 102 can be on one computer or distributed in the network of computers connected to each other. The set top box includes the application 116, the middleware 118, the one or more device drivers and operating system 120 and the hardware 122. The application 116 includes the advertisement player 124.

[45] The graphical advertisement server 104 stores the plurality of graphical animation advertisements. The application server 302 contains all the applications such as games, interactive applications that can run on a Set-top box. The scheduler 106 is used to insert the advertisement in a known application before the application is broadcast. The advertisement is associated or in built into the application.

[46] The pluralities of graphical advertisements are inserted at a particular time interval into the one or more applications run in the set top box 114. Further the graphical advertisements inserted along with the one or more applications are then broadcast to the set top box 114. The graphical advertisements inserted are then played on the display unit of the receiving deice when the one or more applications are downloaded and run on the set top box 114. The graphical advertisements are inserted into the one or more applications at a predefined position that run in the set top box before broadcasting the advertisements. The advertisements are then played at the time of the game or interactive applications. The advertisements are enabled in a screen of an application by defining the location of the advertisement and the maximum size or the window of the advertisement area. Thus the advertisements can be played by advertisement player at the set box side only when the information is defined.

[47] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart for a method of inserting graphical advertisements into the one or more applications run on the set top box, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG.4, the graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box based on the operation of the schedule mode automatically or manually (404). The full list of graphical advertisements and the one or more applications that needs to be broadcast automatically is got from the configuration files (405).

[48] The graphical animation advertisements are received from the graphical advertisement server in the manual mode (406). The application server is used for storing the one or more applications, games, and interactive applications. The list of games present in the application server are extracted and provided to the user (408). Further a user selects the graphical animation advertisements against the applications run on the set top box (410). The graphical animation advertisements are then inserted automatically into the advertisement enable screens of the application run on the set top box (412).

[49] The converter is then used for converting the inserted graphical animation advertisements along with one or more applications to the target middleware in the set top box (414). The applications are then published into the transmission medium (416) through the head end (418). The graphical advertisements includes zero or more images, shapes, text, audio components, a video component, animation rules and compiled source code. Further based on the user requests received, the set up box downloads the applications from the transmission medium (420). The advertisement player then plays the graphical animation advertisements when the screen with the advertisement is found in the downloaded applications (422).

[50] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of the graphical advertisement management system for providing on demand advertisements -to a set top box connected to internet, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG.5, a system for broadcasting graphical advertisements to the set top box includes the graphical advertisement management system 102, the head end 110, the transmission medium 112 and the set top box 114. The graphical advertisement management system 102 includes an on demand advertising agent 502, the applications server 302, the graphical advertisement server 104, the scheduler 106 and the converter 108. Further all the components in the graphical advertisement management system 102 can be on one computer or distributed in the network of computers connected to each other. The set top box 114 includes the application 116, the middleware 118, the one or more device drivers and the operating system 120 and hardware 122. The application includes the advertisement player 124.

[51] The head end 110 publishes the graphical animation advertisements as data components through various transmission mediums such as a cable, a satellite, a terrestrial and an internet protocol. Further when the set-top box 114 is connected to the transmission medium 112, the advertisement player 124 identifies the graphical animation advertisements that are broadcast. The advertisement player 124 identifies the best fit advertisement for the screen based on the browsing history of the user. The on demand advertisement agent 502 fetches the best fit advertisement from the graphical advertisement server 104 and compiles the advertisement to the target platform or middleware 118 and passes it to the set top box over the internet.

[52] The set top box 114 sends a request to the on demand advertisement agent 502 about the graphical advertisements that needs to be played on the display unit of the receiving device. The graphical advertisements are then downloaded by the set top box 114 based on the response received for the request sent by the set top box 114.

[53] The set-top box 114 gets connected to the application server 302 situated at the head-end 110 side and downloads the graphical advertisements to be played. The on demand advertisement agent 502 fetches the best fit graphical animation advertisement from the scheduler 106. The best fit graphical animation advertisement is then passed on to the converter 108 for compiling the graphical animation advertisements. The compiled graphical animation advertisement is sent back to the set-top box 114 as a response. The advertisement player 124 decodes the advertisements and plays the advertisement upon a user entering the advertisement enabled screens.

[54] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for a method for providing on demand advertisements to a set top box connected to internet, according to one embodiment of the present invention. With respect to FIG.6, the set top box downloads the application from the transmission medium and starts running on the set top box based on user requests (602). The one or more applications that are run on the set top box are checked for the graphical animation advertisements associated with the applications (604).

[55] When the applications include the graphical animation advertisements, then the graphical animation advertisements are played on the display unit of the receiving device (610). Further if the applications do not include the graphical animation advertisements then the graphical animation advertisements that are broadcast are checked (606) and if available the best fit of graphical animation advertisements are then determined from the broadcast advertisements (608) and played on the display unit of the receiving device (610).

[56] Further if the broadcast advertisements are not available, the application requests the on demand advertisement agent for the best fit advertisement. The on demand advertisement agent fetches the best fit advertisement from the advertisement server and compiles the advertisement to the target platform or middleware and passes it to the set top box over the internet and the graphical animation advertisements are played on the display unit of the receiving device (610).

G) ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

[57] The various advantages of the invention are that the graphical animation advertisements consume less bandwidth and occupy fewer footprints on the Set-top box. Further the graphical animation advertisements overlay on a screen or a video and do not replace the existing advertisement. The advertisements provide an additional source of revenue to the network operator. The graphical animation advertisements displayed on the display unit pertaining to an application that belongs to premium service brings revenue to the network operator or broadcaster. Further this allows the network operator to provide these premium services at free of cost or at a nominal price to the end user. Thus the on screen advertisement in turn helps the network operator to offer the games or internet applications to the end user for free as the revenue generated by the graphical advertisements compensates the other costs.

[58] Although the invention is described with various specific embodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art to practice the invention with modifications. However, all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the claims.

[59] It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the present invention described herein and all the statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall there between.

CLAIMS

What is claimed is:

1. A method for broadcasting advertisements to a set top box, the method comprising:

selecting a plurality of graphical advertisements to broadcast through a transmission medium;

broadcasting the selected graphical advertisements through the transmission medium; decoding the graphical advertisements broadcast in the set top box; and displaying the graphical advertisements decoded and picked in the set top box through a display unit of a receiving device;

Wherein the graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top by identifying a best fit advertisement corresponding to an application run on the set top box. .

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected plurality of graphical advertisements are compiled.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the compiled graphical advertisements are targeted to the set top box through the transmission medium.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the compiled graphical advertisements are grouped into a bundle to broadcast through the transmission medium.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the grouped graphical advertisements is broadcast through the transmission medium to the set top box.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box automatically by identifying the best fit advertisement by an advertisement player.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical advertisements are broadcast to the set top box manually based on the list of selected advertisements received from a graphical advertisement server.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the set top box sends a request to an on demand advertisement agent about the graphical advertisements that needs to be played on the display unit of the receiving device.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the graphical advertisements are downloaded by the set top box based on the response received for the request sent by the set top box.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission medium includes a wired network or a wireless network.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the transmission medium includes a satellite transmission, a cable network, a terrestrial transmission and internet.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical advertisements comprises at least one component selected from a group comprising an image, one or more shapes, a text, an audio component, a video component, a target information, an animation information, and a compiled source code.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical advertisements are broadcast based on the list of advertisements that are authorized and provided to broadcast.

14. A method for inserting advertisements in a set top box, the method comprising:

inserting a plurality of graphical advertisements at a particular time interval into an application run in the set top box;

broadcasting the graphical advertisements inserted along with the application; and

playing the graphical advertisements inserted when the application is downloaded and run on the set top box.

Wherein the graphical advertisements are inserted into the application when a request is received from the set top box for the best fit advertisement corresponding to the application.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the graphical advertisements are inserted dynamically into the one or more applications that run on the set-top box.

16. A system for broadcasting advertisements through a set top box, the system comprising:

a graphical advertisement management system and wherein the graphical advertisement management system comprises a graphical advertisement server for storing the graphical animation advertisements, an application server for storing the one or more applications, games, and interactive applications, a scheduler for providing a list of graphical advertisements that are authorized to broadcast, a converter for converting and compiling the graphical advertisements selected and an on demand advertisement agent for providing a graphical animation advertisement from the scheduler to the converter for compiling.

17. A system for inserting advertisements in a set top box, the system comprising: a graphical advertisement management system; wherein the graphical advertisement management system comprises a graphical advertisement server for storing the graphical animation advertisements to be inserted, an application server for storing the one or more applications, games, and interactive applications, a scheduler for inserting the plurality of graphical advertisements at a particular time interval into the one or more applications and a converter for converting and compiling the graphical advertisements inserted.