FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10, rule 13)
1. Title of the in vention:
AUTOMATIC CHANNEL SWITCHING
2. Appficant(s)
NAME NATIONALITY ADDRESS
TATA CONSULTANCY Nirmal Building, 9th Floor, Nariman Point,
Indian
SERVICES LIMITED Mumbai-400021, Maharashtra, India
3. Preamble to the description
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it
is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present subject matter relates, in general, to broadcast signals and, in
particular, automatic switching of broadcast signals in a user device.
BACKGROUND
Entertainment devices, such as radios, televisions, and mobile phones, have
seemingly become ubiquitous part of today's lifestyle. The entertainment devices are configured to receive media content provided by broadcast signals to users. With the recent advance in technology and growing competition, a large number of channels are accessible using the entertainment devices. Owing to the large number of channels, a large variety of the media content is available. For example, today there are multiple news channels, music channels, movie channels, and so on.
A user may surf these channels for selecting a channel that broadcasts media
content of his interests. Further, while viewing a particular channel, a user may wish to switch
from one channel to another. However, with increasing number of channels it's often a
tedious and time-consuming task to surf a number of channels to select a desired channel.
Further, it may be inconvenient for the user, in certain situations, to switch among multiple
channels to select the one that interests him. For example, it is common these days for a user
to listen to music while driving or exercising. In such a case, the user may find it inconvenient
to surf various channels to find a channel that is broadcasting the desired media content.
Also, users while surfing various channels may not know beforehand what
they may like to watch. Hence, the users may have to manually browse some channels to select a channel that is broadcasting media content corresponding to their interests. Such manual tuning may result in the selection of a channel that is broadcasting media content, which may not be best match according to preferences of a user. Further, such manual tuning is often a non-interesting and time consuming task for a user.
SUMMARY
This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to automatic switching
of channels in a user device, which are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Systems and methods for automatic switching of channels in a user device are
described herein. In one implementation, it is determined if a primary switching event has occurred during reception of a current broadcast signal. If it is determined that the primary switching event has occurred, at least one other broadcast signal is identified from among a plurality of preferred broadcast signals. The preferred broadcast signals are selected based on channel access pattern associated with a user.
In one implementation, the other broadcast signal is identified based on one or
more predefined identification rules, which are based on the channel access pattern associated with a user. Further, a signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal is compared with a plurality of reference signal fingerprints. If on comparison it is determined that the signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal does not match with any of the reference signal fingerprints, a switching action is performed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures.
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.
Fig. 1 illustrates a network environment implementing an automatic channel
switching system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. Fig. 2 illustrates exemplary components of the automatic channel switching system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
Fig. 3 illustrates a method for performing a switching action for automatically switching channels in a user device, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The subject matter described herein relates to systems and methods for
automatically switching channels in a user device. Examples of the user devices include, but
are not limited to, televisions (TVs), radios, mobile phones, and computing devices.
Generally, a user tunes a user device to a particular frequency to enable
reception of a broadcast signal that provides media content of his interest. The tuning of the

user device to enable reception of a broadcast signal may be understood as selecting a channel corresponding to the broadcast signal. For example, consider a channel, say channel 40, Is broadcasting news, so it may be understood that the broadcast signal corresponding to the channel 40 is broadcasting news. A broadcast signal can be understood as real-time distribution of media content, such asaudio, video, image, or any combination thereof, by various media sources. Further, the media content provided by a broadcast signal may include ' primary content and secondary content. The primary content can be understood as the actual content, for example, songs, news, sports programs, movies, etc., while the secondary content can be understood as unwanted media content, i.e., the media content that the user may not wish to view and/or listen, for example, the secondary content may be advertisements, public services announcements, casting information broadcasted when a particular program begins or ends, etc.
Often times, when a user is tuned to a particular channel and the secondary
content is being broadcasted by the particular channel, the user tends to tune to other channels to search if any other channel is broadcasting primary content of his interest. However, with the increasing number of channels, switching to another channel that is broadcasting primary content that matches user's interests may be time and energy consuming task since the other channels may also be broadcasting secondary content or the primary content broadcasted by these channels may not be of a user's interest.
Alternately, a user may rely on external sources, such as programming guide to
determine if any other channel is broadcasting the primary content preferred by the user. Nonetheless, this may be non-interesting task for a user since a user may not want to refer to the programming guide every now and then. Further, the other channel selected based on the programming guide may also be broadcasting secondary content, again resulting in waste of time and energy. Furthermore, the user may pre-program the user device to switch to a particular channel at a particular time, however in case of any change in the schedule of the program or a change in the channel number corresponding to a particular broadcast signal, the user may be provided with the primary content, which he does not intend to view and/or listen.

According to an embodiment of the present subject matter, automatic channel
switching systems and methods are described herein. In one implementation, during reception of a current broadcast signal, i.e., while a user device is tuned to a channel corresponding to the current broadcast signal, it is determined if a primary switching event has occurred. The primary switching event can be, for example, trigger by a user to perform a switching action and start of broadcasting of the secondary content, such as start of an advertisement, start of a program, ending of a program, start of a public announcement, or any other repetitive media content.
Upon determining that the primary switching event has occurred, at least one
other broadcast signal is identified from amongst preferred broadcast signals. The preferred broadcast signals can be understood as those broadcast signals that provide primary content that matches a user's preferences. In one implementation, the preferred broadcast signals may be selected dynamically based in part on a user's channel access pattern. The preferred broadcast signals may also be selected based on user inputs, for instance, user may select favorite channels or the user may select particular kind of programs, for example, news shows. Further, in one example, upon determining that the primary switching event has occurred, the other broadcast signal may be identified from the preferred broadcast signals based on predefined identification rules. The predefined identification rules may be based in part on the channel access pattern associated with a user.
Further, a signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal is obtained. The
signal fingerprint for example, a bit string hash code, of a broadcast signal is indicative of the
media content that is carried by the broadcast signal at the instant when the signal fingerprint
is obtained. The signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal is compared with a
plurality of reference signal fingerprints. The reference signal fingerprints include signal
fingerprints of various kinds of the secondary content. The reference signal fingerprints may
be stored in a reference repository, which may be updated dynamically or by a user.
In case the signal fingerprint of the other broadcast signal does not match with
any of the reference signal fingerprints, it may be determined that the second broadcast signal is broadcasting primary content and accordingly a switching action is initiated. Examples of switching action include, but are not limited to, switching to a channel corresponding to the

identified broadcast channel and providing options to switch to multiple channels in case multiple broadcast signals are identified to provide primary content.
However in case the signal fingerprint of the second broadcast signal matches
any of the reference signal fingerprint, it may be determined that the identified broadcast signal includes secondary content. Subsequently, another broadcast signal may be identified from among the preferred broadcast signals. As mentioned previously, the signal fingerprint of the next identified broadcast signal is obtained and compared with the reference signal fingerprints and accordingly the switching action is initiated.
In another implementation, upon determining the occurrence of the primary
switching event and identifying the preferred broadcast signal based on the channel access
pattern associated with the user, the switching action is performed without having to compare
the signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal with the reference signal fingerprints.
Thus, in said implementation, the switching action is performed agnostic of the fact that
whether the identified broadcast signal is providing primary content or secondary content.
In one implementation, a next primary switching event may also be determined
when the user is viewing and/or listening to the identified broadcast signal. Additionally or alternately, a secondary switching event may also be determined. The secondary switching event can be, for example, end of the secondary content provided by the broadcast signal that the user was viewing and/or listening prior to the switching event and a user provided trigger to switch back to the broadcast signal that the user was viewing and/or listening prior to the switching event. If it is determined the secondary switching event has occurred, the user device may be tuned back to a channel corresponding to the previously received broadcast signal.
Thus, the present subject matter facilitates automatic switching of channels
with minimal or zero human intervention, thereby providing comfort to users and saving on lime and energy. Further, as described herein, channels are switched based on a user's preferences without having the user to surf through multiple channels to find a channel of his interests, which in turn adds to user's comfort or user experience.

While aspects of the automatic channel switching system can be implemented
in any number of different user devices, environments, and/or configurations, the
embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary system(s).
Fig. 1 illustrates a network environment 100 implementing an automatic
channel switching system 105, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. The
network environment 100 includes a plurality of user devices 110-1, 110-2...110-n,
hereinafter referred to as the user device(s) 110, communicatively coupled to one or more
media source(s) 115 via a network 120. The network 120 may be a wireless network, wired
network or a combination thereof. The network 120 can be implemented as one of the
different types of networks, such as, direct to home (DTH) network, cable TV service,
Frequency Modulation (FM) or Amplitude Modulation (AM) radio in standard and/or high
definition format, satellite communication, cellular communication networks, intranet, local
area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the internet, and such.
The media source 115 can be any source for proving media content by way of
broadcast signals. Examples of the media source 115 include, but are not limited to, broadcasting stations, over the air radio or TV, satellite radio or TV, internet radio, internet TV, cable TV, and internet streaming broadcasts. The media source 115 may transmit media content in analog form, digital form, or any combination thereof. The user devices 110 are communicatively coupled to the media source 115 to receive the broadcast signals transmitted by the media source 115. The user devices 110 can be, for example, televisions, radios, computing devices, mobile devices, or other entertainment devices.
In one implementation, the user devices 110 include the automatic channel
switching system 105, which facilitates switching of channels in the user devices 110, In order to receive particular media content, the user device 110 may be tuned to a channel corresponding to the broadcast signal providing the media content. For the purpose of explanation, the broadcast signal providing the media content that a user is currently receiving, , i.e., the media content that the user is viewing and/or listening, is referred to as current broadcast signal. The media content may include primary content and secondary content. The primary content can be understood as actual media content, while the secondary content can be understood as media content, which a user may not wish to view and/or listen.

The automatic channel switching system 105, hereinafter referred to as system
105, monitors the current broadcast signal being received by the user device 110. Based on monitoring it may be determined if a switching event has occurred. The switching event can be start or end of the secondary content, end of a program, a user provided trigger to switch the current channel in case the primary content broadcasted by the current channel no longer matches his interests, etc. Upon determining that a switching event has occurred, the automatic channel system identifies one or more other broadcast signals from among a plurality of preferred broadcast signals. The preferred broadcast signals can be understood as broadcast signals those typically provide the primary content that matches with a user's preferences. For example, the preferred broadcast signals may include all the broadcast signals with the primary content as news, music shows, or both. The preferred broadcast signals may be automatically detected by the system 105. Additionally, a user may also provide one or more preferred broadcast signals, for example, a user may select the channels corresponding to the preferred broadcast signals as favorites.
In one implementation, once one or more other broadcast signals are identified,
signal fingerprints of the identified broadcast signals are obtained. The obtained signal fingerprints are compared with reference signal fingerprints. The reference signal fingerprint facilitates identification of secondary content. In an example, every secondary content has a corresponding signal fingerprint, for instance, each advertisement may have a corresponding signal fingerprint. Further, based on the comparison a corresponding switching action is initiated. For example, the user device 1 JO may be automatically tuned to receive one or more of the identified broadcast signals. Thus, the user is provided with the primary content of his interest without him having to surf multiple channels.
In one implementation, once the channel switching is performed, a user may
forget to switch back to original broadcast signal, i.e., the broadcast signal that was being received prior to channel switching. In said implementation, the system 105 may be configured to determine that the secondary content that was previously being broadcasted has ended. Accordingly, based on the determination, the user device 110 may tune back to the original broadcast signal. Thus, the user need not monitor the original channel to check if the broadcasting of the primary content has resumed.

Fig. 2 illustrates exemplary components of the system 105, according to an
embodiment of the present subject matter. In one implementation, the system 105 includes an antenna coupled to a primary tuner 210, which in turn is controlled by a controller 215. The antenna 205 picks up broadcasting signals from various media sources 115 and the primary tuner 210 selects one of these broadcasting signals based on the inputs provided by the controller 215. In one implementation, when the user device 110 is activated, a user may provide an input to the controller 215 indicating selection of a particular channel, i.e., indicating selection of a particular broadcast signal. The user may provide inputs to the controller 215 via a remote control, for example, infrared remote control, radio frequency remote control, and voice commands; or a user interface of the user device 110, for example, a real or virtual keypad associated with the user device 110; or any combination thereof. Based on the user inputs, the controller 215 tunes the primary tuner 210 to a channel selected by the user. According to the tuning of the primary tuner 210, the system starts receiving corresponding broadcast signal.
The received broadcast signal may be decoded by a detector 220 to generate
audio, video or a combination of the audio and video signals. The decoded signals may then be amplified by an amplifier 225. The amplifier 225 increases the strength of the decoded audio and/or video signals to a desired level. These amplified audio and/or video signals are provided to an output unit, for example, speaker, and audio-video display unit, of the user device 110.
In one implementation, to facilitate automatic switching of the channels, the
system 105 includes a switching unit 230. The switching unit 230 includes a reference repository 235. at least one secondary tuner 240, an analyzer 245. and a comparator 250. During reception of a broadcast signal, the switching unit 230 monitors the broadcast signal being received, i.e., current broadcast signal. For the purpose, the controller 215 may tune the secondary tuner 240 to receive the current broadcast signal. The analyzer 245 may periodically poll the current broadcast signal to determine if the switching event has occurred. For example, the analyzer 245 may obtain a signal fingerprint of the current broadcast signal at predetermined time-intervals, such as, 10 milliseconds, to determine if the current broadcast signal is providing the secondary content.

The analyzer 245 may provide the obtained signal fingerprint to the
comparator 250, which compares the obtained signal fingerprint with the reference signal fingerprints. Based on the comparison it may be determined whether the switching event has occurred. For example, if the obtained signal fingerprint matches with any of the reference signal fingerprints, it may be determined whether the switching event has occurred, otherwise it may be determined that no switching event has occurred and user may continue to receive the current broadcast signal. Additionally or alternately the controller 215 may also determine that the switching event has occurred based on user input, for example, the user may provide a trigger to perform a switching action.
In one implementation, the reference repository 235 includes the reference
signal fingerprints and data pertaining to user preferences. In one example, the reference repository 235 may already include signal fingerprints of secondary content, such as, common advertisements, beginning or end of the programs, and common public announcement, as the reference signal fingerprints. In another example, the reference repository 235 may be updated as and when new secondary content is identified. For instance, a user may provide an input to select currently broadcasted media content as the secondary content. In such a case, the controller 215 may command the analyzer 245 to obtain a signal fingerprint of the current broadcast signal and store the obtained signal fingerprint as reference signal fingerprint in the reference repository 235. Further, the reference repository 235 may be updated with the new reference signal fingerprints on a periodic basis.
As mentioned previously, the reference repository 235 also includes data
pertaining to user preferences. Further, the system 105 may include separate user profiles, reflecting user preferences, of the various users, of the same user device. It will be understood that the system 105 may have a common user profile for all the users as well. In one implementation, the user preferences corresponding to a user profile are automatically determined by the system 105 based on a user's channel access pattern. In said implementation, the controller 215 may first determine the user profile currently associated with the user device 110 and compute the time period for which the user device 110 is tuned to a particular channel.

If the user device 110 is tuned to the channel for a time period greater than a
threshold time period, a broadcast signal corresponding to this channel may be identified as a preferred broadcast signal for the concerned user profile. Additionally, the controller 215 may also select a broadcast signal corresponding to a particular channel as the preferred broadcast signal based on a user input, for example, based on like or unlike option selected by the user. In one example, such options may be provided on a remote control of a television or on a user interface of a computing system or mobile phone. The broadcast signals selected as the preferred broadcast signals may be associated with a corresponding user profile and data, which may be stored in the reference repository 235. For example, channel identifiers and frequency associated with the preferred broadcast signal, indentifying the preferred broadcast signals may be stored in the reference repository 235.
Further, based on the channel access pattern, priorities may be set with the
various preferred broadcast signals. For example, the priorities may be set based on a particular time or for a particular day of week, for instance, a first broadcast signal providing movies as the primary content may be given higher preference on Sunday as compared to other preferred broadcast signals. Further, a broadcast signal, which is received by the user device 110 for a maximum time in a given time period may be given the highest priority, for instance, if in a previous week, a broadcast signal is viewed and/or listened by a user for maximum amount of time, say, 50 hours, this broadcast signal may be given the highest priority and so on. Thus, the system 105 continuously updates itself with the channel access pattern of a user, which is indicative of the user behavior to provide the user with the primary content that matches user's current preferences.
In another example, the controller may compute scores corresponding to
various broadcast signals. Based on the scores, degrees of preference of various broadcast channels and/or degree of preference of the primary content broadcasted by a channel may be determined. The calculation of the score may be understood with reference to Table 1 and Table 2:

TABLE 1
User - ABC
Channel Id Tags Multiplier Duration of Watch (Mins) Time Slot Score Day of Week
23 Like 1 30 Early Morning 30 Monday
23 Unlike -2 20 Night -40 Monday
124 Like 1 100 Afternoon 100 Monday
5 Like 10 240 Evening 2100 Monday
67 Unlike -4 25 Late Night -100 Monday
84 Unlike -6 10 Afternoon -600 Monday
3 Neutral 0.5 144 Morning 72 Tuesday
34 Like 13 35 Early Morning 455 Wednesday
25 Like 4 42 Evening 168 Thursday
98 Neutral 0.5 64 Late Night 32 Thursday

TABLE 2
Time Slot Time Frame
Late Night 00:00 - 04:00
Early Morning 04:00 - 08:00
Morning 08:00 - 12:00
Afternoon 12:00-16:00
Evening 16:00-20:00
Night 20:00-00:00
Table 1 indicates channel access pattern associated with a user for a given time
period, say. 4 days. As indicated in table 1, the user ABC may provide tags, such as, like or unlike channel for a particular time slot and for a particular day of week. The user may provide like or unlike multiple number of times to a particular channel. For the purpose of explanation, N is the number of "like" tags; M is the number of "Unlike" tags the user gives

for a channel in a particular time slot and in a particular day of week; and a parameter Multiplier is taken to be:
Multiplier = (N-M), for every (N-M) not equal to zero; and
Multiplier = 0.5, if (N-M) is equal to zero.
The controller 215 may calculate scores for the time slot and for the day of the
week, based on past behavior of the user, which may be computed as:
Score — Multiplier X Duration of Watch Based on the scores, broadcast signals corresponding to a predetermined number of channels. for example, broadcast signals corresponding to top 5 channels, may be selected as the preferred broadcast signals. Thus, based on the channel access pattern, a priority, a score, or both may be computed for each of the broadcast signals to select the preferred broadcast signals from among the plurality of the broadcast signals.
Further, in one example, the controller 215 may also identify one or more other
broadcast signals that are likely to be preferred by the user based on a similarity criterion. In said example, the controller 215 may identify the broadcast signals that provide primary content similar to a broadcast signal that has already been identified as the preferred broadcast signal. The controller 215 may identify such signals as the preferred broadcast signals based on metadata associated with the already identified preferred broadcast signal. For example, metadata of an already identified preferred broadcast signal indicates that its corresponding channel broadcasts business news, other broadcast signals, which provide business news as primary content are also identified as the preferred broadcast signals.
For example, an electronic program guide may be used to identify similar
channels. The electronic program guide may have information, such as, kind primary content provided by a channel, genre of music provided by the channel, pertaining to the channels may be used to identify similar channels. Further, the controller 215 may be associated with the electronic program guide to update the reference repository 235 in case data pertaining to a channel is altered, for example, in case channel number of a particular channel corresponding to a preferred broadcast signal is changed, the same change may be reflected in the reference repository 235.

Referring back to determination of the switching event, if it is determined that
the switching event has occurred, at least one other broadcast signal from among the preferred
broadcast signals is identified. As previously mentioned, the other broadcast signal may be
identified based on predefined identification rules. The predefined identification rules are
based in part user's channel access pattern. Further, identification of the other broadcast signal
may also be based on a user profile of a user, who is currently viewing and/or listening to the
media content. Further, in case multiple users are viewing and/or listening to the media
content, in one example, the analyzer 245 may identify the broadcast signal, that may be
common for all the users. In another example, the analyzer 245 may also identify a user
profile that has highest priority among all the current user profiles and a broadcast signal may
identified based on the user profile with highest priority. The user profile includes preferences
of a user, which are determined based in part on channel access pattern of the user.
It will be understood that based on the channel access pattern predefined
identification rules may be defined by a user and/or the system 105 for identifying a broadcast signal from among the preferred broadcast signals. For example, the predefined identification rules may involve identification of a preferred broadcast signal based on priorities tagged with the preferred broadcast signal by a user or by the controller 215. In another example, the predefined identification rules may include identification of the broadcast signal based on scores associated with the preferred broadcast signals.
In one implementation, the analyzer 245 tunes the secondary tuner 240 to a
channel corresponding to the identified broadcast signal. The secondary tuner 240 may be
coupled to the antenna 205; however it will be appreciated that a separate antenna may also be
provided. Further, a broadcast signal to which primary tuner is to be switched, may be
identified randomly by the analyzer 245 or it may be identified based on the predefined
selection rules. The secondary tuner 240 selects the identified broadcast signal and the
analyzer 245 obtains a signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal. The obtained
signal fingerprint is compared with the reference signal fingerprints by the comparator 250.
Based on the comparison, if the analyzer 245 determines that the obtained
signal fingerprint matches a reference signal fingerprints, implying that the identified broadcast signal is providing the secondary content, the analyzer 245 identifies a next

preferred broadcast signal. As mentioned previously, the secondary tuner 240 is accordingly
tuned to a channel corresponding to the identified broadcast signal and the analyzer 245
obtains the signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal. Again, the obtained signal
fingerprint is compared with the reference signal fingerprints and so on.
Based on the comparison, if it is determined that the obtained signal fingerprint
does not match any of the reference signal fingerprint, implying that the identified signal
fingerprint is providing primary content of a user's preference, the analyzer 245 provides
details pertaining to the identified broadcast signal to the controller 215. The controller 215
may accordingly perform a switching action. In one example, the switching action includes
switching from a channel that the user device 110 was previously tuned to, to a channel
corresponding to the identified broadcast signal. In said example, the controller 215 tunes the
primary tuner 210 to the channel corresponding to the identified broadcast signal.
In another example, in case the analyzer 245 is configured to identify multiple
preferred broadcast signals, the switching action includes providing the user with the option to switch to any one of these multiple broadcast signal. In said example, upon the identification, the analyzer 245 may provide details pertaining to the multiple preferred broadcast signals to the controller 215. The controller 215 may, in turn, provide the user with the option to switch to any one of the multiple broadcast signal, for example, the controller 215 may provide multiple options in a picture-in-picture (PIP) format or provide a list of such preferred broadcast signals.
It will be understood that the switching action described in the above examples
may differ for various applications. Further, it will be appreciated that the switching action discussed above are merely for illustration and not as limitations.
In another implementation, upon determining that the primary switching event
has occurred, one or more preferred broadcast signals are identified as discussed above. Further, based on the identification of the preferred broadcast signals the switching action id performed without having to check that whether the identified broadcast signal is providing secondary content or not. In said implementation, the analyzer 245 upon identifying the one or more preferred broadcast signals, provides the information pertaining to the identified preferred broadcast signals to the controller 215,

For example, a user may provide trigger to perform a switching action in case
the user does not wish to view and/or listen to media content provided by the current broadcast signal. In response to the trigger, the analyzer 245 may identify a preferred broadcast signal based on predefined identification rules, which in turn are based on the channel access pattern associated with user, for instance, the analyzer 245 may identify the preferred broadcast signal with maximum score or highest priority. Upon identifying the preferred broadcast signal, the controller 215 may tune the primary tiiner 210 to channel corresponding to the identified preferred broadcast signal. Further, in case the user does not wish to view and/or listen to this identified broadcast signal, the user may again provide a trigger to perform the switching action. In such a case, the analyzer 245 may identify a preferred broadcast signal having second highest score or second highest priority. Accordingly, the controller 215 tunes the primary tuner 210.
In another example, where multiple preferred broadcast signals are identified,
the controller may provide an option to switch to any of these preferred broadcast signals. Accordingly, the user may switch to any of these preferred broadcast signals based on his preferences. Thus, in said implementation, the switching action is performed agnostic of the fact that whether the identified broadcast signal is providing primary content or secondary content.
In one implementation, once the switching action is performed, the switching
unit 230 may be configured to determine a secondary switching event, another primary switching event, or both. For the purpose, the switching unit 230 may include multiple tuners as well. For example, once the switching action is performed, the secondary tuner 240 may be tuned to a channel corresponding to the broadcast signal, the user was viewing and/or listening prior to the switching action. The analyzer 245 may periodically poll this broadcast signal to determine if a secondary switching event has occurred. The secondary switching event can be end of the secondary content being broadcasted by the broadcast signal, for example, end of a commercial break and start of the next program. If it is determined that the secondary switching event has occurred the primary tuner 210 may be tuned back to the channel corresponding to the broadcast signal that was provided to the user prior to the switching action.

Additionally or alternately, the switching unit 230 may monitor the identified
broadcast signal, i.e., the broadcast signal the user is viewing and/or listening after the switching action to determine if the primary switching action is occurred. As explained previously, the determination of the primary switching event, identification of a preferred broadcast signal, and triggering of a switching action is performed by the switching unit 230 and the controller 215.
Fig. 3 illustrates a method 300 for performing a switching action for
automatically switching channels in a user device, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. In one implementation, the method 300 is performed by the system 105 provided in the user device 110.
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, or an alternative method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method 300 without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method 300 can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software,, firmware, or combination thereof. For example, the method 300 may be embodied in a computer readable medium, for example, volatile memory such as Static random access memory (RAM) and Dynamic RAMs and/or non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
At block 305, reception of a broadcast signal is enabled in a user device. In one
implementation, the controller 215 tunes the primary tuner 210 to a channel corresponding to
the broadcast signal, for example, when the user device 110 is activated or in response to a
determination made by the switching unit 230. The broadcast signal currently being viewed
and/or listened by a user may be referred as the current broadcast signal.
At block 310, it is determined if a primary switching event has occurred during
the reception of the current broadcast signal. Examples of the primary switching event include, but are not limited to, start of a secondary content and user provided trigger to switch channel. In one implementation, the switching unit 230 may automatically determine if the primary switching event has occurred. For example, the switching unit 230 may monitor the

current broadcast signal to determine if the primary switching has occurred. In another
implementation, the controller 215 may determine that the primary switching event has
occurred based on a trigger provide by a user.
If it is determined that no primary switching event has occurred, block 310
branches to block 305, where the user device continues to receive the current broadcast signal.
However, if it is determined that the primary switching event has occurred, block 310
branches to block 315.
At block 315, at least one broadcast signal, other than the current broadcast
signal, is identified from among a plurality of preferred broadcast signals. The preferred
broadcast signals are the signals that provide primary content that matches user's interests. In
one implementation, the other broadcast signal is identified based on a user profile. The user
profile indicates preferences of a user, which are determined based in part on user's channel
access pattern. For example, the analyzer 245 identifies another broadcast signal based on the
preferred broadcast signals stored in the reference repository 235.
At block 320, a signal fingerprint of the identified broadcast signal is obtained.
The signal fingerprint is indicative of the media content provided by a broadcast signal at an
instant when such a signal fingerprint is obtained. For example, the analyzer 245 tunes the
secondary tuner 240 to a channel corresponding to the identified broadcast signal.
At block 325, it is determined if the obtained signal fingerprint is matches with
a reference signal fingerprint. The reference signal fingerprint is indicative of secondary
content provided by a broadcast signal. In one implementation, the reference signal
fingerprints are stored in the reference repository 235.
If at block 325 it is determined that the obtained signal fingerprint matches
with any of the reference signal fingerprints, block 325 branches to block 315, where another
preferred broadcast signal is identified. However, if at block 325 it is determined that the
obtained signal fingerprint does not match with any of the reference signal fingerprints, block
325 branches to block 330.
At block 330, a switching action is performed. Examples of the switching
action include, but are not limited to, switching to a channel corresponding to the identified
broadcast signal and providing a user with options to switch to one of a channel from multiple

preferred broadcast signals. In one implementation, block 330 branches back to block 310, where it is determined if the primary switching event has occurred. In one implementation, the switching unit 230 monitors the identified broadcast signal to determine if the primary switching event has occurred.
Additionally or alternately, at block 335, it is determined if a secondary
switching event has occurred. For example, the secondary switching event can be end of
broadcast of the secondary content by broadcast signal that was being received at block 305.
In one implementation, once the switching action is performed at block 330, the switching
unit 230 monitors the broadcast signal the user device was receiving at block 305.
If it is determined that the secondary switching has occurred, block 335
branches to block 305, where the user device is tuned back to a channel corresponding to the previously broadcasted signal. However, if it is determined that no secondary switching event has occurred, block 335 branches to 340, where the user device continues to receive a broadcast signal based on the switching action. For example, in case the switching action is to switch to a channel corresponding to the identified broadcast signal, the user device continues to receive the identified broadcast signal. In another example, in case multiple broadcast signals are identified at block 315 and the switching action is to provide an option to switch to a channel from among channels corresponding to the multiple broadcast signals, once the user selects one of the channels, the reception of the broadcast signal corresponding to this channel is continued at block 340.
Although embodiments for automatic switching of channels in a user device have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as exemplary embodiments for the automatic switching of channels in the user device.

I/We Claim;
1. A method comprising:
determining occurrence of a primary switching event during reception of a current broadcast signal;
identifying, based on the determining, at least one broadcast signal from amongst a plurality of preferred broadcast signals, wherein the preferred broadcast signals are selected based in part on channel access pattern associated with a user;
comparing a signal fingerprint of the at least one identified broadcast signal with a plurality of reference signal fingerprints; and
performing a switching action based on the comparing.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identifying the at least one broadcast signal is based on one or more predefined identification rules, wherein the one or more predefined identification rules are based in part on the channel access pattern.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the primary switching event includes one of a start of broadcasting of a secondary content and a user provided trigger to perform the switching action.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
upon performing the switching action, determining occurrence of a secondary switching event, wherein the secondary switching event is one of an end of broadcasting of secondary content by the current broadcast signal, and a user provided trigger to switch back to the current broadcast signal; and
switching back to a channel corresponding to the current broadcast signal based on the determining.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identifying further comprises:
determining at least one user profile associated with a user device (110); and identifying the at least one broadcast signal, based on the at least one user profile.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switching action includes switching to a
channel corresponding to the at least one broadcast signal.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a priority and a score for each of a plurality of broadcast signals based on the channel access pattern, wherein the score indicates a degree of preference of a broadcast signal; and
selecting the plurality of preferred broadcast signals from among the plurality of the broadcast signals, based on the determining.
8. An automatic channel switching system (105) comprising:
an analyzer (245) configured to
determine whether a primary switching event has occurred during reception
of a current broadcast signal; and
when the switching event has occurred, identify one or more other broadcast
signals from among a plurality of preferred broadcast signals, wherein the plurality
of the preferred broadcast signals are selected based in part on a channel access
pattern associated with a user:
a comparator (250) configured to compare a signal fingerprint of the one or more identified broadcast signals with a plurality of reference signal fingerprints; and
a controller (215) configured to perform a switching action based on the comparison.
9. The automatic channel switching system (105) as claimed in claim 8 further comprising a reference repository (235) including data pertaining to the plurality of the preferred broadcast signals and the plurality of reference signal fingerprints.
10. The automatic channel switching system (105) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the controller (215) is further configured to update the reference repository (235).
11. The automatic channel switching system (105) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the analyzer (245) is configured to identify the one or more broadcast signals based on predefined identification rules, wherein the predefined identification rules are based in part on the channel access pattern.

12. The automatic channel switching system (105) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the switching action includes providing an option to switch to a channel from among channels corresponding to the one or more broadcast signals.
13. The automatic channel switching system (105) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the analyzer (245) is configured to
determine at least one of a priority and a score for each of a plurality of broadcast signals based on the channel access pattern, wherein the score indicates a degree of preference of a broadcast signal; and
select the plurality of preferred broadcast signals from among the plurality of the broadcast signals, based on the determining.
14. A computer readable medium having computer executable instruction which when
executed, implement a method comprising:
determining occurrence of a primary switching event during reception of a current broadcast signal;
identifying, based on determining, at least one broadcast signal from among a plurality of preferred broadcast signals, wherein the preferred broadcast signals are selected based in part on channel access pattern associated with a user;
comparing a signal fingerprint of the at least one identified broadcast signal with a plurality of reference signal fingerprints; and performing a switching action based on the comparing.
15. The computer readable medium as claimed claim 14, wherein the computer readable
medium further comprises instructions for:
determining at least one of a priority and a score for each of a plurality of broadcast signals based on the channel access pattern, wherein the score indicates a degree of preference of a broadcast signal; and
selecting the preferred broadcast signals from among the plurality of the broadcast signals, based on the determining.
16. A method comprising:

determining occurrence of a primary switching event during reception of a current broadcast signal;
identifying, based on the determining, at least one broadcast signal from amongst a plurality of preferred broadcast signals, wherein the preferred broadcast signals are selected based in part on channel access pattern associated with a user; and
performing a switching action based on the identifying.
17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the identifying the at least one broadcast signal is based on one or more predefined identification rules, wherein the one or more predefined identification rules are based in part on the channel access pattern.
18. An automatic channel switching system (105) comprising:
an analyzer (245) configured to
determine whether a primary switching event has occurred during reception of a current broadcast signal; and
when the switching event has occurred, identify one or more other broadcast signals from among a plurality of preferred broadcast signals, wherein the plurality of the preferred broadcast signals are selected based in part on a channel access pattern associated with a user; and
a controller (215) configured to perform a switching action based on the identification of the one or more other broadcast signals.
19. The automatic channel switching system (105) as claimed in claim 18, wherein the
analyzer (245) is configured to identify the one or more other preferred broadcast signal
based on at least one predefined identification rule, wherein the at least one predefined
identification rule is based in part on the channel access pattern.