Granted Patent B2

US 12,363,370 · App. 18/142,669 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Inventors: John Sweet (Englewood, CO); Horatio Derrick Kipchoge Boothe (Denver, CO); Cristian G. Vyhmeister (Franktown, CO)

Assignee: Charter Communications Operating, LLC

H04N21/4302H04N21/439H04N21/458H04N21/47217H04N21/812H04N21/8126

Abstract

Claims (67)

1. A method comprising:

based on detected progress of playing back content on a primary playback system, synchronizing playback of supplemental media associated with the played back content on a secondary playback system;

detecting an advertisement window associated with the playback of the content on the primary playback system, the advertisement window detected based on a manifest file including pointers to segments of the content played back on the primary playback system; and

in response to detecting the advertisement window, discontinuing playback of the supplemental media associated with the content on the secondary playback system.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the manifest file includes a time stamp indicating a start time of the advertisement window.

3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the supplemental media provides an audio description of the segments of content played back on a display screen of the primary playback system.

4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

utilizing the manifest file to identify a start time at which the advertisement window is scheduled to occur during playback of the content on the primary playback system; and

discontinuing playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system at the identified start time.

5. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

at a time specified by a time stamp indicating the advertisement window, start execution of a synchronization process to resynchronize playback of the supplemental media with the playback of the content on the primary playback system.

6. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a start time of the advertisement window via a time value retrieved from the manifest file, the time value indicating the start time of the advertisement window, the primary playback system operative to use the manifest file to retrieve and playback different segments of the content.

7. The method as in claim 6 further comprising:

determining occurrence of the start time of the advertisement window via matching of the time value to a count value of a counter.

8. The method as in claim 7 , wherein playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system includes playback of an audible description of images associated with the content played back on the primary playback system, the playback of the audible description by the secondary playback system synchronized with the playback of the images by the primary playback system.

9. The method as in claim 1 , wherein detecting the advertisement window associated with the playback of the content on the primary playback system includes:

determining a timestamp associated with the playback of the content on the primary playback system, the timestamp included in the manifest file.

10. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the primary playback system is operative to use the manifest file to control playback of the content on the primary playback system.

11. The method as in claim 1 , wherein detecting the advertisement window includes: deriving advertisement timing information from the manifest file; and

wherein discontinuing playback of the supplemental media includes: using the advertisement timing information to determine a start time of discontinuing the playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system.

12. The method as in claim 1 , wherein detecting the advertisement window includes: deriving advertisement timing information from the manifest file, the advertisement timing information indicating a first time value and a second time value.

13. The method as in claim 12 , wherein the advertisement window is a first advertisement window;

wherein the first time value indicates timing associated with the first advertisement window; and

wherein the second time value indicates timing associated with a second advertisement window.

14. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a signal from the primary playback system, the detected progress of playing back the content determined via the received signal, the detected progress indicating a time value.

15. The method as in claim 14 further comprising:

discontinuing playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system based on comparison of the time value of playing back the content to a timestamp in the manifest file.

16. The method as in claim 15 , wherein the timestamp indicates a start time of the advertisement window.

17. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a start time of the advertisement window via a time value retrieved from the manifest file associated with the content being played back on the primary playback system, the primary playback system operative to use the manifest file to retrieve and playback the segments of the content; and

subsequent to the start time of the discontinued playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system during the advertisement window:

receiving an audio signal associated with playback of the content on the primary playback system;

determining a playback location of the audio signal in the content;

mapping the playback location of the audio signal to a playback location in the supplemental media; and

initiating playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system starting at the playback location of the supplemental media.

18. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

via the secondary playback system, implementing a counter to track which of the segments of the content is currently being played back by the primary playback system.

19. The method as in claim 18 , wherein implementing the counter includes:

incrementing a count value in the counter prior to occurrence of the advertisement window; and

maintaining the count value in the counter at a constant value during the advertisement window.

20. The method as in claim 18 further comprising:

detecting a start time of the advertisement window via a time value retrieved from the manifest file, the primary playback system operative to use the manifest file to retrieve and playback the segments of the content; and

determining a time at which to discontinue playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system via comparison of the count value in the counter and the time value retrieved from the manifest file.

21. A system comprising:

communication management hardware operative to:

based on detected progress of playing back content on a primary playback system, synchronize playback of supplemental media associated with the played back content on a secondary playback system;

detecting an advertisement window associated with the playback of the content on the primary playback system, the advertisement window detected based on a manifest file including pointers to segments of the content played back on the primary playback system; and

in response to detecting the advertisement window, discontinue playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system.

22. The system as in claim 21 , wherein the manifest file includes a time stamp indicating a start time of the advertisement window.

23. The system as in claim 21 , wherein the supplemental media provides an audio description of the segments of content played back on a display screen of the primary playback system.

24. The system as in claim 21 , wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to:

utilize the manifest file to identify a start time at which the advertisement window is scheduled to occur during playback of the content on the primary playback system; and

discontinue playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system at the identified start time.

25. The system as in claim 11 , wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to:

at a time specified by a time stamp indicating the advertisement window, start execution of a synchronization process to resynchronize playback of the supplemental media with the playback of the content on the primary playback system.

26. The system as in claim 21 , wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to:

detect a start time of the advertisement window via a time value retrieved from the manifest file, the time value indicating the start time of the advertisement window, the primary playback system operative to use the manifest file to retrieve and playback different segments of the content.

27. The system as in claim 26 , wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to:

determine occurrence of the start time of the advertisement window via matching of the time value to a count value of a counter.

28. The system as in claim 27 , wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to:

via playback of the supplemental media on the secondary playback system, playback an audible description of images associated with the content played back on the primary playback system, the playback of the audible description by the secondary playback system synchronized with the playback of the images by the primary playback system.

29. Computer-readable storage hardware having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when carried out by computer processor hardware, cause the computer processor hardware to:

based on detected progress of playing back content on a primary playback system, synchronize playback of supplemental media associated with the played back content on a secondary playback system;

detect an advertisement window associated with the playback of the content on the primary playback system, the advertisement window detected based on a manifest file including pointers to segments of the content played back on the primary playback system; and

in response to detecting the advertisement window, discontinue playback of the supplemental media associated with the content on the secondary playback system.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (20)