Cross platform application control in an interactive, multi-platform video network

Abstract

In one aspect, the invention provides an interactive, multi-platform video network. In another aspect, the invention provides a dynamic scheduling method.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A broadcast system comprising:
 broadcast equipment, the broadcast equipment being configured to transmit a video stream so that it may be received by a plurality of end user, interactive communication devices (end user devices), the video stream containing video data corresponding to a particular video; and 
 a broadcast automation system, wherein 
 the broadcast automation system is operable to send trigger messages to the broadcast equipment and is further operable to transmit trigger messages to the end user devices, and 
 the broadcast automation system is operable to affect at least some of the content that is displayed on the end user devices by transmitting trigger messages to the end user devices. 
 
     
     
       2. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger messages sent to the end user devices are sent via a different communication path than the video stream. 
     
     
       3. The broadcast system of  claim 2 , wherein the trigger messages sent to the end user devices are informative or control the end user devices behavior and are synchronized with the video data. 
     
     
       4. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger messages sent to the end user devices are sent via the same communication path as the video stream. 
     
     
       5. The broadcast system of  claim 4 , wherein messages sent to the end user communication devices are sent using a first elementary stream of a transport stream and the video stream is sent using a second elementary stream of said transport stream, wherein the first elementary stream is associated with a first packet identifier (PID) and the second elementary stream is associated with a second PID that is different than the first PID. 
     
     
       6. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a server configured to provide an application to the end user devices, wherein the application is operable to (1) receive the video stream and (2) use the received video data to display on a display of the communication device the particular video. 
 
     
     
       7. The broadcast system of  claim 6 , wherein the server is configured to provide the application to an end user device in response to receiving a particular request from the end user device. 
     
     
       8. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , wherein the broadcast automation system is operable to transmit a particular trigger message so that the particular trigger message is received by each of the plurality of end user devices substantially simultaneously. 
     
     
       9. The broadcast system of  claim 8 , further comprising a message relay, wherein the broadcast automation system is configured to transmit said particular trigger message to said message relay and the message relay is configured to multicast said particular trigger message so that it is received by each of the plurality of end user devices. 
     
     
       10. The broadcast system of  claim 8 , wherein said plurality of end user devices are located remotely from said broadcast automation system. 
     
     
       11. The broadcast system of  claim 10 , wherein the particular trigger message is configured to cause an application running on an end user device that receives the message to perform an action. 
     
     
       12. The broadcast system of  claim 11 , wherein
 the particular trigger message is configured to cause an application running on an end user device that receives the message to transmit a request for information to a server, which is configured to respond to the request for information by transmitting requested information to the application, and 
 the application is configured to display at least some of the requested information after receiving the information from the server. 
 
     
     
       13. The broadcast system of  claim 10 , wherein the particular trigger message is configured to cause an application running on the end user device to update a graphical user interface displayed on a display screen of the device. 
     
     
       14. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , wherein the broadcast equipment is configured such that, in response to receiving a particular type of trigger message from the broadcast automation system, the broadcast equipment includes an overlay element in the video stream. 
     
     
       15. The broadcast system of  claim 14 , wherein the overlay element is a still image. 
     
     
       16. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , wherein the broadcast equipment is configured such that, in response to receiving a particular type of trigger message from the broadcast automation system, the broadcast equipment queues a video file for transmission. 
     
     
       17. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the broadcast system further comprises a server, and 
 the broadcast automation system is configured such that, based on a schedule, the broadcast automation transmits a particular trigger message to the server and to the plurality of end user devices. 
 
     
     
       18. The broadcast system of  claim 17 , wherein
 the broadcast system further comprises a message relay, and 
 the broadcast automation system is configured to transmit the particular trigger message to plurality of end user devices by providing the message to the message relay. 
 
     
     
       19. The broadcast system of  claim 1 , further comprising a storage device storing a schedule, wherein
 the schedule is configured to cause the broadcast automation system to send, at a first point in time specified in the schedule, i) a first trigger message to the broadcast equipment and ii) a second trigger message to each of the plurality of end user devices, the first trigger message including a video identifier identifying a video and the second trigger message including a video identifier identifying said video; 
 the schedule is further configured to cause the broadcast automation system to send, at a second point in time specified in the schedule, i) a third trigger message to the broadcast equipment and ii) a fourth trigger message to each of the plurality of end user devices. 
 
     
     
       20. A method for providing interactive video programming to a plurality of end users, the method comprising:
 creating a schedule for an episode of a show, wherein the schedule specifies a first time at which a first trigger message should be sent and also specifies a second time at which a second trigger message should be sent; 
 using broadcast equipment to broadcast a first video stream encoding video data corresponding to the episode of the show; 
 in accordance with the schedule, transmitting the first trigger message from a broadcast automation system to the broadcast equipment; and 
 in accordance with the schedule, transmitting, from the broadcast automation system, the second trigger message so that the second trigger message is received by (1) a first application running on a first communication device that is located remotely from the broadcast equipment and the broadcast automation system and (2) a second application running on a second communication device that is located remotely from the broadcast equipment, the broadcast automation system, and the first communication device, wherein the second trigger message is configured to cause (1) the first application to display information to an end user using the first communication device and (2) the second application to display the information to an end user using the second communication device. 
 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 using the broadcast equipment to transmit a second video stream encoding said video data, wherein the first and second video streams are transmitted substantially simultaneously. 
 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21 , wherein the first video stream contains a video element not included in the second video stream. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving from a third communication device a request message; 
 in response to the request message, transmitting to the third communication device a third application, wherein the third application is configured to receive the second video stream and display the vide data encoded in the video stream using a display screen of the communication device. 
 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , further comprising:
 receiving from the third application a subscribe request; and 
 as a consequence of receiving the subscribe request, transmitting the second trigger message to the third application.