EPG DATA FUNCTIONS
An EPG data service for an Intelligent TV includes various of source plugins receiving EPG information from various respective EPG information sources, an EPG subservice aggregating the EPG information received by source plugins, an EPG database storing the aggregated EPG information from the EPG subservice, and an EPG provider providing a relevant portion of the aggregated EPG information to an application of the Intelligent TV. The EPG data service further includes a tag subservice receiving notification from a second application of the Intelligent TV to set or unset tags for programs or channels, storing the tag in a database, and serving the EPG subservice with information regarding tagged programs or channels. The EPG data service further includes a thumbnail cache manager storing thumbnails in a database and serve the thumbnails to the application.
1 . An EPG data service for an Intelligent TV, comprising:
a plurality of source plugins configured to receive EPG information from a plurality of respective EPG information sources;
an EPG subservice configured to aggregate the EPG information received by the plurality of source plugins;
an EPG database configured to store the aggregated EPG information from the EPG subservice; and
an EPG provider configured to provide a relevant portion of the aggregated EPG information to an application of the Intelligent TV.
2 . The EPG data service of claim 1 , wherein the EPG database is configured to store the aggregated EPG information relevant to programs within a pre-defined time interval.
3 . The EPG data service of claim 1 , wherein the aggregated EPG information comprises data fields that includes one or more of an identifier, a name description, a start date and/or time, and a duration.
4 . The EPG data service of claim 1 , further comprising a tag subservice configured to receive notification from a second application of the Intelligent TV to set or unset tags for programs or channels, store the tag in a database, and serve the EPG subservice with information regarding tagged programs or channels.
5 . The EPG data service of claim 4 , wherein, on a startup of the Intelligent TV, the tag subservice is configured to reschedule alarms in an alarm manager of the Intelligent TV for programs or channels tagged as reminder, wherein the alarm manager is configured to notify the tag subservice when a time for a scheduled reminder is reached, and wherein the tag subservice is configured to notify the second application regarding the scheduled reminder.
6 . The EPG data service of claim 1 , further comprising a thumbnail cache manager configured to store thumbnails in a database and serve the thumbnails to the application.
7 . The EPG data service of claim 6 , wherein the EPG subservice is configured to serve to the application a uniform resource identifier (URI) for each thumbnail in the aggregated EPG information, and wherein the thumbnail cache manager is configured to serve a thumbnail to the application based on the URI.
8 . A method of managing Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) information for an Intelligenttelevision (TV), comprising:
receiving EPG information from a plurality of EPG sources;
aggregating the EPG information from the plurality of EPG sources;
storing the aggregated EPG information in a database; and
providing a relevant portion of the aggregated EPG information to an application of the Intelligent TV.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the storing step comprises storing the aggregated EPG information relevant to programs within a pre-defined time interval.
10 . The method of claim 8 , the aggregated EPG information comprises data fields that include one or more of an identifier, a name description, a start date and/or time, and a duration.
11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving notification from a second application of the Intelligent TV to set or unset tags for programs or channels, storing the tag in a second database, and retrieving EPG information from the database based on information regarding tagged programs or channels.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising, on a startup of the Intelligent TV, rescheduling alarms in an alarm manager of the Intelligent TV for a programs or channels tagged as reminder, wherein the alarm manager is configured to notify the tag subservice when a time for a scheduled reminder is reached; and notifying the second application regarding the scheduled reminder.
13 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising serving to the application a uniform resource identifier (URI) for each thumbnail in the aggregated EPG information; and serving a thumbnail to the application based on the URI.
14 . An Intelligent TV comprising an application configured to display EPG information on the Intelligent TV and an EPG data service, the EPG data service comprising:
a plurality of source plugins configured to receive EPG information from a plurality of respective EPG information sources;
an EPG subservice configured to aggregate the EPG information received by the plurality of source plugins;
an EPG database configured to store the aggregated EPG information from the EPG subservice; and
an EPG provider configured to provide a relevant portion of the aggregated EPG information to the application.
15 . The Intelligent TV of claim 14 , wherein the EPG database is configured to store the aggregated EPG information relevant to programs within a pre-defined time interval.
16 . The Intelligent TV of claim 14 , wherein the aggregated EPG information comprises data fields that includes one or more of an identifier, a name description, a start date and/or time, and a duration.
17 . The Intelligent TV of claim 14 , further comprising a second application configured to output and receive user input regarding tags for programs and channels, wherein the EPG data service further comprises a tag subservice configured to receive notification from the second application to set or unset tags for programs or channels, store the tag in a database, and serve the EPG subservice with information regarding tagged programs or channels.
18 . The Intelligent TV of claim 17 , further comprising an alarm manager, wherein, on a startup of the Intelligent TV, the tag subservice is configured to reschedule alarms in an alarm manager of the Intelligent TV for a programs or channels tagged as reminder, wherein the alarm manager is configured to notify the tag subservice when a time for a scheduled reminder is reached, and wherein the tag subservice is configured to notify the second application regarding the scheduled reminder.
19 . The Intelligent TV of claim 14 , wherein the EPG data service further comprises a thumbnail cache manager configured to store thumbnails in a database and serve the thumbnails to the application.
20 . The Intelligent TV of claim 19 , wherein the EPG subservice is configured to serve to the application a uniform resource identifier (URI) for each thumbnail in the aggregated EPG information, and wherein the thumbnail cache manager is configured to serve a thumbnail to the application based on the URI.