FR3031265A1 - METHOD FOR FORMULATING RECOMMENDATIONS, DEVICE, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND CORRESPONDING STORAGE MEDIUM - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of recommending content by a device of a set of content consuming devices belonging to a communication network is described. The method includes collecting information about the contents consumed in the device; receiving information on the content consumed in at least one content consumption device belonging to said communication network; formulating a content recommendation based on the information on the content consumed in said device and information on the content consumed in the other content consumption devices of the communication network. According to a particular embodiment, the information collected on the consumed content is broadcast to at least one other content consumption device of the communication network.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The field of the invention relates to communication networks, in particular to personal networks such as home networks, and to consumption. content on the different devices of the communication network. In particular, a method of formulating content recommendations by a device of a set of content consuming devices connected by a communication network is described. 2. PRIOR ART A personal network, for example a LAN in the home of a user or more generally a communication network, comprises devices capable of communicating with each other. By way of non-limiting example, a device of a personal network is a personal computer, a connected television, an access modem, a digital decoder, a mobile phone (possibly smart type called "smartphone"), an assistant personal digital assistant (PDA), an electronic tablet, or a game console. A user may consume, i.e., access and view, audio or video content on any of the devices in the network. According to various embodiments, the content is stored in a hard disk of the network, the content broadcast by an operator is decoded for example in a digital decoder, the content is obtained by streaming on a tablet or on a mobile phone. According to other embodiments, several users share the devices of the network. If there are recommendation systems based on a user's profile, recommendation systems specific to each consumer device, or recommendation systems based on keyword searches, these systems are often limited to one case of use of the content or a case of access to the content. For example, the decoder is able to offer content among the programs that will be broadcast shortly by means of information from a program guide, or to recommend by default the programs of the most used channel on the decoder. For example, a browser is able to offer content similar to the content most displayed by a user on his tablet, his computer or his smartphone when they are paired by a user profile of a service provider. For example, US2010 / 0211636 A1 discloses a system in which a user profile attached to a personal network is stored on a server, which profile includes personal data and information relating to the user's activity on the devices. network. This user profile is used to provide content recommendations in a common navigation interface to all devices in the network or to provide information on the device of the most appropriate user to record the recommended contents. Thus US2010 / 0211636 A1 describes a centralized system where the user profile is used to synchronize the information in the different devices. US2010 / 0211636 A1 requires a centralized infrastructure that is not very compatible with the heterogeneity of the network devices on the one hand and with the heterogeneity of access to the contents on the other hand. Thus none of these systems will offer a user who usually watches a television series via the decoder, the version accessible via streaming via the tablet, the episode of the series which he missed the broadcast. A solution would therefore be desirable to the problems of partitioning of access to content and consumption of content in the various devices of a communication network. 3. SUMMARY The invention therefore aims in particular to improve the situation, and more specifically to make it intuitive and user-friendly content recommendation in a private network. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of formulating content recommendations by a device of a set of content consuming devices belonging to a communication network. According to a particular embodiment, the method for formulating recommendations comprises: collecting information on the contents consumed in said device; - receiving information on the contents consumed in at least one other content consumption device of the communication network from said at least one other consumption device; 5 - a formulation of a content recommendation based on the information on the content consumed in the device and information on the content consumed in the other content consumption devices of the communication network. According to a particular embodiment, the method is implemented in any of the devices belonging to the communication network. The disclosed method is thus distributed in each of the devices of the network, thus advantageously making it possible to overcome the non-availability of the other devices of the network to establish a recommendation or a complex centralized infrastructure.

According to another particular embodiment, the method for formulating recommendations further comprises broadcasting, to at least one other content consumption device of the communication network, information collected on the contents consumed in said device. Thus, the device receives the consumption information collected by the other devices and sends the information it collects on consumption in the same device. According to other particular embodiments, the information collected on the content consumed in the device is broadcast on demand or subscription. In a dual manner, the information on the content consumed in the other devices is received on demand or on subscription. According to a particular embodiment, the formulation of a content recommendation comprises the selection of contents from among a set of contents accessible by said device according to said information on the consumed contents and the presentation of said contents selected by said device. According to another embodiment, the content selection is furthermore based on a recommendation criterion. The recommendation criterion chosen from a set comprising, in a non-exhaustive manner, a content consumption device, an identifier of consumed content, metadata associated with the consumed content, a user name, a consumption time slice, a date of taking into account the information, a frequency of consumption of a content. The criteria of recommendations are 5 able to be combined to form a new criterion of selection of the contents. According to a particular embodiment, the method comprises a recording of the accessible contents selected by the device and a broadcasting of the information of the recording of the selected accessible contents to at least one content consumption device of the communication network. In particular, in some embodiments, the programming may be done automatically by the device itself without interaction with the user of the device. In other embodiments, the recommendations are broadcast in the network and the user schedules the registration via any of the devices. By recording, reference is made to broadcast content or downloaded content. Although not explicitly described, the embodiments presented can be implemented in any combination or sub-combination. For example, an embodiment in which the information collected on consumed content is exchanged on subscription can be combined with an embodiment in which the method comprises a registration step. Other embodiments, easily conceivable by a person skilled in the art upon reading the present description, are also included in the scope of the invention. According to another aspect, the invention relates to a content consumption device, comprising at least one processor configured to formulate content recommendations from a set of content consumption devices belonging to a communication network.

According to the invention, said at least one processor is characterized in that it is configured to: collect information on the contents consumed in the device; Receiving information collected on the contents consumed in at least one other content consumption device of the communication network from said at least one other consumption device; 5 - formulating a recommendation of contents from the information on the contents consumed in said device and in the other content consumption devices of the communication network. According to another aspect, the invention relates to a consumption device 10 of contents of a set of audiovisual content consumption devices connected by a communication network, comprising at least one processor configured to: - collect information on the consumed contents in the device; 15 - broadcast the collected information on the contents consumed in said device to at least one other content consumption device of said communication network. This device is compatible with the device implementing the method of recommendations.

In yet another aspect, the invention relates to a computer program product. According to the invention, such a computer program product includes program code instructions for performing the above content formulation method, in any of the aforementioned embodiments, when said program is executed by a computer. .

According to yet another aspect, the invention relates to a storage medium. Such a computer readable storage medium may be in the form of a computer program product loaded onto at least one computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code instructions executable by a computer.

Thus, in the present description, a computer-readable storage medium is considered to be a non-transitory storage medium having the intrinsic capability of storing information as well as the intrinsic ability to allow retrieval of the information it stores. stores. A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not only, a system, apparatus or electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infra-red, semiconductor equipment, or implementing a combination of the following: previously mentioned techniques. It should be noted that the following elements, which provide more specific examples of computer-readable storage media to which the principles of the invention may apply, are essentially cited for illustrative purposes and in no way constitute an exhaustive list. As will be easily understood by a person skilled in the art: a portable computer diskette, a hardware disk, a ROM memory (for Read Only Memory according to the English terminology), an erasable EPROM memory (for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory according to the English terminology) or flash memory, a compact portable disk having a ROM (or CD ROM according to the English terminology), an optical storage equipment, a magnetic storage equipment, a SDD disk (for Solid-State -Drive) or any suitable combination of the previous elements. As would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be implemented by a computer readable terminal, method, or storage medium. Also, aspects of the present invention may be implemented in some embodiments as fully hardware components (e.g. an electronic component or an electronic card with components), or as fully software components (including, for example, firmwares components, software called "resident", microcode, etc ...). Other embodiments may implement both hardware and software components. The term "module" will generally be used herein to refer to a component that may correspond to a hardware component or a software component. In addition, aspects of the present invention may be implemented as a computer readable storage medium. Any combination of one or more computer readable storage media may be used. 3031265 7 4. List of figures. The invention will be better understood, and other features and advantages will appear on reading the detailed description which follows, relating to a particular embodiment, the description referring to the appended drawings among which: FIG. a set of content consumption devices connected by a communication network in which the invention is implemented. FIG. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating the method of formulating recommendations according to a particular embodiment of the invention, compatible with an implementation of one of the communication devices described with reference to FIG. 1; - Figure 3 shows a content consumption device according to a particular embodiment of the invention.

The same element is designated in the set of figures by the same reference sign. The figures presented are for illustrative purposes only and in no way limit the invention to the illustrated embodiments. 5. Description of embodiments of the invention. 5.1 General Principle The general principle of the invention is to collect the uses of content consumption on each device of the house and to distribute distributed these uses on the home network so that each device 25 can offer recommendations adapted to the uses of consumption of content in all the devices of the house, so not only in the device that formulates the recommendations. In the house, various devices are used to visualize audio and / or video content: televisions, cable or satellite decoders, 30 tablets or televisions connected via an Internet access gateway (via a wired connection such as DSL, wired or not). -filaire such as Wifi, LTE), smartphones, Blu-ray players, webradio, Media Center. Also available on each device are electronic program guides or EPG (satellite, TNT, 3031265 8 IP), catalogs of content available on video on demand (VOD), catalogs of content accessible on demand audio (podcast) lists of content stored in the home network such as recordings, catalogs of programs (TV or radio) available for rebroadcast on specialized sites (also called catch-up TV). The invention thus proposes to exchange on the home network information on the contents displayed via the various devices of the house to highlight content adapted to the consumption of the house among the program guides or content catalogs. More generally, we will talk about recommendations from a list of 10 contents accessible by one of the devices of the house. Thus, the invention can notably allow a user who usually watches a television series via the decoder, to see, highlighted on his tablet, the version accessible in streaming the episodes of the series. In addition, according to a particular embodiment, the user will be recommended on his tablet version accessible streaming 15 which he missed the broadcast using at least one criterion of recommendation. According to a particular embodiment, the collected information is distributed in a distributed manner between the devices of the home network. Thus, the recommendation system is freed from a centralized control device and remains operational if one or more of the devices are out of service (idle or disconnected). 5.2 Presentation of a particular embodiment FIG. 1 shows a set of content consumption devices, according to a particular embodiment of the invention, belonging to a communication network in which the invention is implemented. FIG. 1 illustrates a communication network 100. This communication network is a private type network, for example a home network, and makes it possible to connect the various devices of a user's home. It should be noted that the term user, or group of users, for example users of the same family, sharing the same home, are used interchangeably in the present description. According to one embodiment, the network is actually located in the home of a user and the devices are connected for example by WIFI, Bluetooth, Ethernet. According to another embodiment, the network is virtually attached to the home (relying for example on VPN technology) and the devices are connected for example by LTE. Thus, the communication network 100 implements one or more communication protocols, for example the WIFI, Bluetooth, Ethernet, LTE or bearer communication protocol for connecting the various devices of the house. A gateway device 110, connected to a network of an Internet access provider on the one hand and connected to the communication network 100 on the other hand, provides access to online content, type VOD. A television 120 communicates with the communication network 100 and provides access to content broadcast on digital terrestrial television. A Blu-ray player 130 can play content stored on storage media such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays. A smartphone 140, connected to a network of a telecommunication access provider for example LTE on the one hand and connected to the communication network 100 on the other hand, also allows access to online content. A hard disk or solid-state drive (SSD) for storing data on flash memory 150 serves as a storage medium for contents thus accessible through the network 100. This communication network 100 thus comprises devices with heterogeneous access to content. A user (or group) can consume content on the smartphone or TV. Advantageously, devices, i.e the access gateway 110, the television 120, the Blu-ray player 130 or the smartphone 140, manage a database comprising information on the contents consumed on each of the devices of the communication network. FIG. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating the method of formulating recommendations of the invention, in a particular embodiment, compatible with an implementation of one of the communication devices described in connection with FIG. a first step E21, the device collects information on the contents consumed by the user by the same device. By audiovisual content or content is meant a digital representation of an audio-visual creation such as a television or radio show, a video, a music. By consumed content is meant according to different embodiments of the invention, a content that has been displayed by the device on a screen, so seen by a user, or content that has been reproduced by the device on an amplifier 3031265 10 audio, so heard by a user. It will indistinctly use the term present, display, reproduce or consume in the following description. According to another variant, the content must have been consumed for a minimum of time to overcome visualizations or intermittent listening (in the case of a program change). According to another variant, content consumed means content whose trailer has been displayed on a screen. According to non-limiting examples, for each content consumed on the device, the information collected includes: an identifier of the consumed content, for example the title, the name of the program, associated with a start and end time, a numerical identifier unique if it exists; a source of the consumed content, for example the terrestrial digital broadcasting channel, the VOD platform or the Catch-up TV platform; metadata relating to the content, for example a description, keywords, a genre, the names of the actors, directors or producers, a reading position in the content; - the device for consuming the content; - a date of consumption of the content; - an user.

Advantageously, this collected information is stored in a database of the device. According to a particular embodiment, the method of formulating recommendations by a device also comprises, during the first step E21, a broadcast of the information collected on the contents consumed in this device to at least one other content consumption device. belonging to the communication network. Network devices use a common language to inform other devices in the home of the programs consumed. According to a first embodiment, the broadcast relies on a multicast model (or "multipoint broadcast") from the source device to a group of network devices, for example periodically (every hour, or every night). ). Multicasting is based on a subscription / subscription model. Each device can therefore subscribe and be notified of the content consumptions of the other devices. According to a second embodiment, the broadcast of the collected information is done point-to-point on demand, another device of the network sending a request to this device to receive the collected information. According to yet another mode, another network device sends a request to receive only a part of the collected information for example according to a time slot (marked by a start time and an end time), a genre (for example sports genre content). Thus all or only part of the collected information is sent to the other devices of the communication network.

In a second step E22, dual of the broadcast step, the information collected on the content consumed in the other content consumption devices belonging to the communication network are received. The distributed system of the invention makes it possible to receive the information collected in at least one of the other devices. It is not necessary for all devices 15 to be connected to the network and to exchange information. The embodiments described for the information dissemination step are also adapted to the step of receiving the information. Thus, according to various embodiments, the device subscribes and is notified consumptions of at least one of the other devices of the communication network. The device is, for example, woken to receive the notification. According to another embodiment, the device sends a request to receive all or part of the information collected by a device or group of devices of the network. This step of receiving the information collected by the other devices also includes a step of storing the data received in a database. Advantageously, this database has the same structure as the database of information collected by the device. Advantageously, the information collected in any of the devices of the network (ie the one in which the invention is implemented or another) is stored in a single and unique database of the device. In this variant, the "consumer device" field makes it possible to identify the source of the consumption information. In a third step E23, a content recommendation is formulated from the information on the contents consumed in said device and in the other content consumption devices belonging to the communication network 3031265 12. A recommendation is a specific form of filtering the contents accessible by the device to present the contents likely to interest the user. In the context of the invention, a catalog is filtered in relation to the uses, i.e. the consumption of a user on all 5 devices belonging to his private network. Thus, the method makes it possible to cross, the database relating to the consumption on all the devices belonging to the private network, with the catalogs for example of VOD or Catchup TV (of type IPTV or of type "Over-the- Top Technology "OTT), or with the programs of operators of paid television broadcasting (subject to subscription 10 of access rights) or free (of type" Free to air "English wording meaning" free access ") or with the lists of contents recorded on a storage element of the communication network (of "Media Center" type). More generally, the method therefore comprises a step of selection (or filtering) in a set of contents accessible by the device via the technologies described above. This selection is based on the information on the content consumed in the network and stored locally. Thus content consumption and access to content are decompartmentalized for the formulation of recommendations. In a first substep of the formulation of recommendations, the device analyzes the consumptions in order to define a consumption profile. Advantageously, this profile is a function of one or more recommendation criteria chosen from a set including, in a non-exhaustive manner, a device for consuming content, an identifier of consumed content, metadata associated with the consumed content, a user, a time slot or a date of consumption, a date of taking into account information, a frequency of consumption of a content. Thus, a consumption profile will include, according to non-limiting examples, the title of the films, series and television programs watched, the names of the actors playing in the films, series watched, the title of the content consumed on a given device, the title of the 30 contents consumed since a given date for example less than 1 month, the genre of the most watched content ... Those skilled in the art will readily understand using these examples that the recommendation criteria are suitable for to be combined to form complex criteria. Then, during a second sub-step of the recommendation formulation, the set of accessible contents is filtered according to the consumption profile, i.e according to the information on the consumed contents and optionally according to the recommendation criteria. Among all the accessible contents, a subset of 5 contents will be selected and put forward during a last sub-step of presentation of the contents selected by the device. Thus a television series usually viewed via the decoder, will be stored in the information on the content consumed via the decoder, this information will be broadcast in the home network and the version accessible in streaming, for example via the tablet, or episodes of the series, or the episode of the series whose user has missed the broadcast on the decoder will be highlighted on the tablet. Thus the user can easily access a proposed content recommendation on the tablet. In an optional fourth step E24, a record of the accessible content (s) selected by the device is automatically programmed. This recording includes a download (for example by podcast) or a capture of the broadcast (TV or radio) of the content by the recommendation device. Advantageously following the recording, the information of the recording is broadcast to at least one content consumption device belonging to said communication network. The broadcasting modes in the communications network described above are compatible with this step. In another embodiment, in the optional fourth step E24, the recommendations, i.e the accessible contents selected by the device, are broadcast to at least one other content consuming device belonging to the communication network. Advantageously following the dissemination of the recommendations, the latter are presented to a user on a device different from the latter who accesses the contents. For example, a user will be able to consult on his decoder the list of contents recommended by the tablet and accessible in streaming. According to another variant, the user can himself program recording or downloading. The modes of broadcast (subscription, request) in the communications network previously described are compatible with this step.

The steps described for the recommendation formulation method can be performed sequentially in any order, repeatedly. Thus, the step of formulating the recommendations is made from the information stored in the database of the device and coming from any of the devices of the network. These steps can also be operated in parallel. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a hardware embodiment of the content consumption device 3 adapted to formulating a content consumption recommendation. The device 3 corresponds, for example, to a gateway device 110, a connected television 120, a Blu-ray player 130, a set top box, and a laptop. , to a tablet or to a smart phone 140 (from the English "smart phone"). In the particular embodiment illustrated, the device 3 comprises the following elements, interconnected by an address and data bus 300 which also carries a clock signal: a microprocessor 31 (or CPU); A graphics card 32; one or more I / O devices (of the English "Input / Output") 34, such as for example a keyboard, a mouse, a webcam, a microphone, etc. ; a non-volatile memory of ROM type (of the English "Read Only 25 Memory") 35; a random access memory (Random Access Memory) 36; an R 37 communication interface configured for receiving data via a wireless connection (for example of the WIFI® or Bluetooth type) or wired connection (for example of the Ethernet type); a TX communication interface 38 configured for the transmission of data via a wireless connection (for example of the WIFI® or Bluetooth type) or wired connection (for example of the Ethernet type); The device 3 also comprises or is connected to a display screen display device 33 connected directly to the graphics card 32 via a dedicated bus 330. According to a variant, a device for displaying is external to the device 3 and is connected to the device 3 by a cable transmitting the display signals. The device 3, for example the graphics card 32, comprises a transmission means or connector (not shown in FIG. 3) adapted to transmit a display signal to an external display means such as, for example, an LCD or plasma screen. , a video projector.

It will be observed that the word "register" used in the description of a memory designates in each of the memories mentioned, as well a memory area of small capacity (a few binary data) that a large memory area (for storing an entire program or all or part of the representative data data calculated or display).

At power-up, the microprocessor 31 loads and executes the instructions of the program contained in a register 360 of the RAM 36, and in particular the algorithms implementing the method steps of the invention and described below. The database of information collected by the device and information received from other devices is also stored in RAM 36. Alternatively, the terminal includes several microprocessors. According to another variant, the power supply 39 is external to the device 3. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the microprocessor 31 may in particular be configured to: collect information on the contents consumed in the device; receiving information collected on the content consumed in at least one other content consumption device of the communication network by the same other consumption device; 30 - formulating a recommendation of contents from the information on the contents consumed in said device and in the other content consumption devices of said communication network.

According to another variant, these steps are implemented in a component which can correspond as well to a software component or to a hardware component.

Claims (12)

REVENDICATIONS1. A method for selecting contents from a set of audiovisual contents accessible by a device of a set of devices for consuming audiovisual contents connected by a communication network, said method being characterized in that it comprises, implemented in said device : a collection (E21) of information on the contents consumed in said device; said consumed content information comprising an identifier of the consumed content, a source of the consumed content, metadata relating to the consumed content, the consumption device of the content, a consumption date of the content, a user; a reception (E22) of information on the contents consumed in at least one other content consumption device of said communication network by said at least one other consumption device; a selection of contents from said set of contents accessible by said device from the information on the contents consumed in said device; information on the content consumed in the other consumer content devices of said communication network and from accessible content information comprising at least one identifier of the accessible content. 2. Content selection method according to claim 1, characterized in that said method is implemented in at least one of the devices of said communication network. 3. Content selection method according to one of claims 1 to 2, further comprising a broadcast, to at least one other content consumption device of said communication network, said collected information on the contents consumed in said device. 3031265 18 4. The content selection method according to claim 3, wherein said information collected on the consumed content is received and broadcast on demand or subscription. 5 5. Content selection method according to one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: - the presentation of said selected contents by said device. 10 The content selection method according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said selection of content is furthermore function of a selection criterion selected from a set comprising a content consumption device, a content identifier consumed, metadata associated with said consumed content, a user, a consumption time slot, a date of taking into account the information, a frequency of consumption of a content, the consumed contents being classified according to the selection criterion and the contents. accessible corresponding to the highest ranked content being selected. 20 The content selection method according to one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a record of said accessible contents selected by said device and a broadcast of the information of the recording of said selected accessible contents to at least one other device for consuming content of said communication network. The content selection method according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the contents consumed in said content consumption devices of said communication network are consumed by a group of users comprising at least two users. A content consumption device, comprising at least one processor configured to select among one of a set of audiovisual contents accessible by said consumer device, said device being connected to a communication network comprising a set of communication devices. consumption of audiovisual contents, said at least one processor being characterized in that it is configured to: collect information on the contents consumed in said device; said consumed content information comprising an identifier of the consumed content, a source of the consumed content, metadata relating to the consumed content, the device for consuming the content, a consumption date of the content, a user; receiving information on the contents consumed in at least one other content consumption device of said communication network by said at least one other consumer device; selecting contents from said set of contents accessible by said device from the information on the contents consumed in said device, information on the contents consumed in the other content consumption devices of said communication network and from information on the accessible contents comprising at least one identifier of the accessible content. 10. Device for consuming contents of a set of. devices for consuming audiovisual contents connected by a communication network, comprising at least one processor configured to: collect information on the contents consumed in said device; Distributing the collected information on the contents consumed in said device to at least one other content consumption device of said communication network. 3031265 20 11. Computer program product, characterized in that it comprises program code instructions for executing the recommendation method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, when said program is executed by a computer. 12. A computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a computer program comprising program code instructions for executing the method of formulating recommendations, according to any one of claims 1 to 8, when said program is executed by a computer.