Systems and methods for linking segments of media guidance data for efficient operation of memory constrained devices

1. A method for generating segmented media asset identifiers, the method comprising:

retrieving a first media guidance data segment of a plurality of media guidance data segments, wherein the plurality of media guidance data segments was generated by dividing a set of media guidance data into one or more portions such that each one of the media guidance data segments contains media guidance data that was adjacent to media guidance data contained in at least one other media guidance data segment, wherein each respective media guidance data segment of the plurality of media guidance data segments comprises a plurality of media asset identifiers and a plurality of navigational links, wherein the plurality of navigational links link the respective media guidance data segment to a plurality of other media guidance data segments, and wherein the plurality of other media guidance data segments comprises at least a first media guidance data segment containing media guidance data that was adjacent to media guidance data contained in the respective media guidance data segment and at least a second media guidance data segment containing media guidance data that was not adjacent to media guidance data contained in the respective media guidance data segment;

generating for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment;

while generating for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment, receiving a first user input corresponding to navigating to the media asset identifiers of a linked media guidance data segment;

in response to receiving the first user input, retrieving the linked media guidance data segment; and

generating for display the media asset identifiers of the linked media guidance data segment.

2. A method for generating segmented media asset identifiers, the method comprising:

retrieving, from a remote server, a first media guidance data segment of a plurality of media guidance data segments, wherein the plurality of media guidance data segments was generated by dividing a set of media guidance data into one or more portions such that each one of the media guidance data segments contains media guidance data that was adjacent to media guidance data contained in at least one other media guidance data segment, wherein each respective media guidance data segment comprises a plurality of media asset identifiers and a plurality of navigational links, wherein the plurality of navigational links link the respective media guidance data segment to a plurality of other media guidance data segments, and wherein the plurality of other media guidance data segments comprises at least a first media guidance data segment containing media guidance data that was adjacent to media guidance data contained in the respective media guidance data segment and at least a second media guidance data segment containing media guidance data that was not adjacent to media guidance data contained in the respective media guidance data segment;

generating for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment;

while generating for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment:

retrieving, from the remote server, a first plurality of media guidance data segments linked to the first media guidance data segment;

storing the first plurality of media guidance data segments; and

receiving a first user input corresponding to a navigation direction for navigating to a media asset identifier that is not generated for display;

determining which navigational link of the plurality of navigational links of the first media guidance data segment to read based on the navigation direction of the first user input, wherein each navigational link corresponds to a different navigation direction;

reading contents of the navigational link corresponding to the navigation direction of the first user input;

determining, based on the contents of the navigational link corresponding to the navigation direction of the first user input, a second media guidance data segment, wherein the second media guidance data segment comprises the media asset identifier that is not generated for display;

retrieving, from the remote server, a second plurality of media guidance data segments linked to the second media guidance data segment; and

generating for display the media asset identifiers of the second media guidance data segment.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment and the second media guidance data segment are arranged in an ordered list, and the second media guidance data segment contains at least one of:

media asset identifiers on the ordered list immediately above a first media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment;

media asset identifiers on the ordered list immediately below a last media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment;

an initial media asset identifier on the ordered list if the first media guidance data segment contains a last media asset identifier on the ordered list; and

the last media asset identifier on the ordered list if the first media guidance data segment contains the initial media asset identifier on the ordered list.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining which navigational link of the plurality of navigational links of the first media guidance data segment to read comprises:

for each of the plurality of navigational links, comparing the navigation direction of the first user input to a direction associated with the navigational link; and

selecting the navigational link with the associated direction that matches the navigation direction of the first user input.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein retrieving the first media guidance data segment further comprises:

receiving a second user input selecting a first source;

accessing an index data structure containing pointers to media asset identifier data structures corresponding to sources;

determining a first media asset identifier data structure corresponding to the first source; and

retrieving, from the remote server, the first data segment from the first media asset identifier data structure.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein retrieving the second plurality of media guidance data segments comprises:

determining a subset of the media guidance data segments linked to the first media guidance data segment; and

retrieving, from the remote server, the subset of media guidance data segments.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein receiving the first user input corresponding to a navigation direction for navigating to a media asset identifier that is not generated for display comprises:

determining that the first user input corresponds to a request for data outside a boundary of the first media guidance data segment.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first media guidance data segment corresponds to a first category, the method further comprising:

retrieving, from the remote server, a third segment of media guidance data comprising a plurality of categories of media assets; and

generating for display the categories of media assets of the third segment of media guidance data.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first media guidance data segment corresponds to a first category, and the second media guidance data segment corresponds to a second category, the method further comprising:

while generating for display the media asset identifiers of the second media guidance data segment, receiving a second user input corresponding to a navigation direction for navigating to a media asset identifier in the first category; and

generating for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

prior to receiving the first user input for navigating to the media asset identifiers of the second media guidance data segment, visually distinguishing a first media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment; and

after receiving the second user input for navigating to the media asset identifiers of the first category, visually distinguishing the first media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment.

11. The method of claim 2 , wherein multiple sets of media guidance data segments are available for retrieval from the remote server, each set of media guidance data segments comprising media guidance data segments of a different size, the method further comprising:

selecting a set of media guidance data segments for retrieval from the remote server based on a display characteristic.

12. A system for generating segmented media asset identifiers, the system comprising:

communications circuitry; and

control circuitry configured to:

retrieve, from a remote server, using the communications circuitry, a first media guidance data segment of a plurality of media guidance data segments, wherein the plurality of media guidance data segments was generated by dividing a set of media guidance data into one or more portions such that each one of the media guidance data segments contains media guidance data that was adjacent to media guidance data contained in at least one other media guidance data segment, wherein each respective media guidance data segment comprises a plurality of media asset identifiers and a plurality of navigational links, wherein the plurality of navigational links link the respective media guidance data segment to a plurality of other media guidance data segments, and wherein the plurality of other media guidance data segments comprises at least a first media guidance data segment containing media guidance data that was adjacent to media guidance data contained in the respective media guidance data segment and at least a second media guidance data segment containing media guidance data that was not adjacent to media guidance data contained in the respective media guidance data segment;

generate for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment;

retrieve, from the remote server, using the communications circuitry, a first plurality of media guidance data segments linked to the first media guidance data segment;

receive, while generating for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment, a first user input corresponding to a navigation direction for navigating to a media asset identifier that is not generated for display;

determine which navigational link of the plurality of navigational links of the first media guidance data segment to read based on the navigation direction of the first user input, wherein each navigational link corresponds to a different navigation direction;

read contents of the navigational link corresponding to the navigation direction of the first user input;

determine, based on the contents of the navigational link corresponding to the navigation direction of the first user input, a second media guidance data segment, wherein the second media guidance data segment comprises the media asset identifier that is not generated for display;

retrieve, from the remote server, using the communications circuitry, a second plurality of media guidance data segments linked to the second media guidance data segment; and

generate for display the media asset identifiers of the second media guidance data segment.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment and the second media guidance data segment are arranged in an ordered list, and the second media guidance data segment contains at least one of:

media asset identifiers on the ordered list immediately above a first media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment;

media asset identifiers on the ordered list immediately below a last media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment;

an initial media asset identifier on the ordered list if the first media guidance data segment contains a last media asset identifier on the ordered list; and

the last media asset identifier on the ordered list if the first media guidance data segment contains the initial media asset identifier on the ordered list.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

compare, for each of the plurality of navigational links, the navigation direction of the first user input to a direction associated with the navigational link; and

select the navigational link with the associated direction that matches the navigation direction of the first user input.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive a second user input selecting a first source;

access an index data structure containing pointers to media asset identifier data structures corresponding to sources;

determine a first media asset identifier data structure corresponding to the first source; and

retrieve, from the remote server, using the communications circuitry, the first data segment from the first media asset identifier data structure.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry configured to retrieve the second plurality of media guidance data segments is further configured to:

determine a subset of media guidance data segments linked to the first media guidance data segment; and

retrieve, from the remote server, using the communications circuitry, the subset of media guidance data segments.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

determine that the first user input corresponds to a request for data outside a boundary of the first media guidance data segment.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first media guidance data segment corresponds to a first category, and the control circuitry is further configured to:

retrieve, from the remote server, using the communications circuitry, a third segment of media guidance data comprising a plurality of categories of media assets; and

generate for display the categories of media assets of the third segment of media guidance data.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first media guidance data segment corresponds to a first category, the second media guidance data segment corresponds to a second category, and the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive, while generating for display the media asset identifiers of the second media guidance data segment, a second user input corresponding to a navigation direction for navigating to a media asset identifier in the first category; and

generate for display the media asset identifiers of the first media guidance data segment.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

prior to receiving the first user input for navigating to the media asset identifiers of the second media guidance data segment, visually distinguish a first media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment; and

after receiving the second user input for navigating to the media asset identifiers of the first category, visually distinguish the first media asset identifier of the first media guidance data segment.

21. The system of claim 12 , wherein multiple sets of media guidance data segments are available for retrieval from the remote server, each set of media guidance data segments comprising media guidance data segments of a different size, and the control circuitry is further configured to:

select a set of media guidance data segments for retrieval from the remote server based on a display characteristic.