Enhanced television metadata processor for efficient broadcast operations

1. A method comprising:

receiving an enhanced video signal;

generating a plurality of metadata describing the enhanced video signal;

processing the plurality of metadata; and

determining which channel to utilize for transmission of the enhanced video signal to a plurality of viewers

calculating percentage of available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the content file;

calculating percentage of back-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the content file; and

transmitting the content file over the forward-channel if the percentage of the available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation file is less than the percentage of the available back-channel bandwidth necessary to transmit said enhanced video signal over said back-channel.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the metadata comprises cues.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of metadata identify content to be integrated into the enhanced video signal.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein a format of a cue of the plurality of the cues is !<URL>{[attr1:value1][attr2:value2] . . . [attrN:valueN]}{[checksum]}.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining which channel to utilize for transmission is based on cost/benefit analysis.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

estimating a transportation time necessary for transportation of an enhanced content file;

determining whether forward-channel bandwidth allows transportation of the content file in an amount of the transportation time.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining probability of a set-top box requiring transmission of the content file.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising determining whether the content file is to be preloaded to the set-top box based on the probability.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a plurality of cues describing an enhanced content of an enhanced video signal;

processing the plurality of cues based on a platform of set-top box out of a plurality of platforms of set-top boxes provided by an operator;

transmitting the enhanced video signal over a channel out of a set of channels, wherein the transmission channel is determined based on a determining a percentage of available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the enhanced video signal;

determining a percentage of back-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the enhanced video signal; and

transmitting the enhanced video signal over the forward-channel if a percentage of available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation is less than a percentage of the available back-channel bandwidth necessary to transmit said enhanced video signal over said back-channel.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the set of calculations is based on cost/benefits analysis.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a cues generator for generating a plurality of cues describing enhanced content of an enhanced video signal;

a content host for storing the enhanced content; and

a cues processor for processing the plurality of cues describing the enhanced content and for accessing the stored enhanced content via a content host interface, the cues processor calculating a percentage of available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the enhanced content, calculating a percentage of available back-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the enhanced content, and transmitting the enhanced content to a plurality of video signal receivers over the forward-channel if the percentage of the available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the enhanced content is less than the percentage of the available back-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the enhanced content.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the content host further provided the enhanced content in a specified set-top platform.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the cues processor includes a content model.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the cues processor includes a user model.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the cues processor includes a bandwidth model.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the content model generates a content table including information about the enhanced content model.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the user model includes information about a set-top box requiring the enhanced content.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the information includes probability of the set-top box requiring the enhanced content.

19. A processing system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processing system to perform a process comprising:

receiving an enhanced video signal;

generating a plurality of metadata describing the enhanced video signal;

processing the plurality of metadata; and

determining which channel to utilize for transmission of the enhanced video signal to a plurality of viewers;

calculating percentage of available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the content file;

calculating percentage of back-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the content file; and

transmitting the content file over the forward-channel if the percentage of the available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the content file is less than the percentage of the available back-channel bandwidth.

20. The processing system of claim 19 wherein the plurality of metadata identify content to be integrated into the enhanced video signal.

21. The processing system of claim 19 wherein the determining which channel to utilize for transmission is based on cost/benefit analysis.

22. A processing system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processing system to perform a process comprising:

receiving a plurality of cues describing an enhanced content of an enhanced video signal;

processing the plurality of cues based on a platform of a set-top box out of a plurality of platforms of set-top boxes provided by an operator; and

transmitting the enhanced video signal over a channel out of a set of channels, the transmission channel is determined based on a set of calculations, wherein the set of calculations includes transmitting the enhanced video signal over the forward-channel if the percentage of available forward-channel bandwidth necessary for transportation of the content file is less than the percentage of available back-channel bandwidth necessary to transmit said enhanced video signal over said back-channel.

23. The processing system of claim 22 wherein the set of calculations is based on cost/benefits analysis.