Customized over-the-air television channel mapping for geographical area using crowdsourcing of over the air television channels
Embodiments are directed toward providing a customized over-the-air channel mapping to each content receiver in a geographical area based on crowdsourced mappings of available channels from at least a subset of the content receivers in that geographical area. When a new content receiver is installed in the geographical area, the customized over-the-air channel mapping is provided to the new content receiver and used by the new content receiver as its internal list of available over-the-air channels without performing a scan of its own. At least a portion of the content receivers in the geographical area perform a round-robin-type scan to identify new or missing channels in the geographical area. The customized over-the-air channel mapping is then updated when a new channel or missing channel threshold is reached. And the updated customized over-the-air channel mapping is provided to each content receiver in the geographical area.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a content receiver and from a channel management server, an over-the-air channel mapping that is customized for a geographical area that includes the content receiver;
storing, by the content receiver, the over-the-air channel mapping as a list of current over-the-air channels available to the content receiver without the content receiver scanning for available over-the-air channels;
receiving, by the content receiver and from the channel management server, a schedule identifying a first plurality of time periods in which to perform scans for over-the-air channels, wherein each time period in the first plurality of time periods is non-overlapping with a second plurality of time periods in which another content receiver in the geographical area is scheduled to perform scans;
performing, by the content receiver, a scan for over-the-air channels that are available to the content receiver during each of the first plurality of time periods; and
providing, by the content receiver, a scan result from at least one scan to the channel management server to update the over-the-air channel mapping for the geographical area.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the scan result to the channel management server further comprises:
generating, by the content receiver, the scan result by identifying at least one new channel that is not in the over-the-air channel mapping but is identified during the at least one scan as being available to the content receiver; and
providing, by the content receiver, an identity of the at least one new channel to the channel management server.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the scan result to the channel management server further comprises:
generating, by the content receiver, the scan result by identifying at least one missing channel that is in the over-the-air channel mapping but is unavailable to the content receiver during the at least one scan; and
providing, by the content receiver, an identity of the at least one missing channel to the channel management server.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the content receiver and from the channel management server, an updated over-the-air channel mapping based on scan results from other content receivers in the geographical area.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during the scan, identifying, by the content receiver, a missing channel that is in the over-the-air channel mapping but unavailable to the content receiver; and
determining an alignment correction for an antenna utilized by the content receiver to receive the missing channel.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
sending a control signal to a motor that changes a position or orientation of the antenna based on the determined alignment correction.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the alignment correction for the antenna further comprises:
determining a direction to move the antenna based on a known location of a broadcast tower associated with the missing channel.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the alignment correction for the antenna further comprises:
determining a direction to move the antenna based on signal strength associated with the missing channel received by other content receivers.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during the scan, identifying, by the content receiver, a missing channel that is in the over-the-air channel mapping but unavailable to the content receiver; and
presenting a message to a user of the content receiver to adjust an alignment of an antenna.
10. A content receiver, comprising:
a memory that stores computer instructions and an over-the-air channel mapping that identifies a plurality of over-the-air channels; and
a processor that executes the computer instructions to perform actions, including:
receiving, from a channel management server, the over-the-air channel mapping that is customized for a geographical area that includes the content receiver;
storing the over-the-air channel mapping in the memory without scanning for available over-the-air channels;
receiving, from the channel management server, a schedule identifying a first plurality of time periods in which to perform scans for over-the-air channels, wherein each time period in the first plurality of time periods is non-overlapping with a second plurality of time periods in which another content receiver in the geographical area is instructed to perform scans;
performing a scan for over-the-air channels that are available to the content receiver during each of the first plurality of time periods; and
providing a scan result from at least one scan to the channel management server to update the over-the-air channel mapping for the geographical area.