Location logging and location and time based filtering

ES 2 571 337 T3

DESCRIPTION

Location recording and filtering based on location and time

BACKGROUND

I. Field

This disclosure is generally about communications and, more specifically, about techniques for receiving broadcast information.

II. Background

A communications network can broadcast various types of information, such as commercial announcements, news, weather bulletins and travel advisory, movie segments, educational news, television programs, sporting events, public notice messages, etc. Broadcast information can thus include any type of information sent to more than one user and can also be called broadcast content. A given user may be interested in receiving only some of the broadcast information sent over the network. The user can manually identify the broadcast information of interest to the user and can save or display the broadcast information on a receiver, for example a cell phone. This manual filtering of broadcast information can be tedious. It may be desirable to automatically identify broadcast information of potential interest to the user.

Document US 2006/0121912 A1 discloses an alert signal that is generated based on a geographical position of a device and / or based on time or date. The alert signal is generated once the device is within a certain distance of a predefined location. A current device position, the location of a landmark, and a request for an alert signal associated with the location of the landmark are stored. The current position of the device is compared with the location of the place of interest. The alert signal is generated when the distance between the current position of the device and the location of a landmark is less than a predetermined value.

RESUME

According to the present invention, there are provided a method as set forth in claim 1, and an apparatus as set forth in claim 9. Embodiments of the invention are claimed in the dependent claims.

Techniques for performing location registration and filtering based on location and time are described in this document to receive broadcast information. In one aspect, a terminal periodically records its location and maintains a location log to support location- and time-based filtering. The terminal periodically determines your location during its notification slots while operating in an idle mode. The terminal determines if there is a change in your location and saves your location and optionally a time stamp if a change in location is detected. In a layout, the terminator can periodically determine his server sector and check for a change in the server sector. The terminal can save a server sector sector identity (ID) and a time stamp if a change is detected in the server sector.

Various aspects and features of the disclosure are described in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary network deployment.

FIG. 2 shows a layout of a location record.

FIG. 3 shows an example of location registration by a terminal.

FIGs 4A, 4B and 4C show the evaluation of a location and time criterion.

FIG. 5 shows the transmission of a service guide with broadcast metadata.

FIG. 6 shows the transmission and presentation of broadcast information.

FIG. 7 shows a filtering design based on location and time.

FIG. 8 shows a procedure for performing location- and time-based filtering.

FIG. 9 shows a procedure for carrying out a location registration.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a terminal, a network, a server / location center, and a broadcast center.

ES 2 571 337 T3

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The techniques described herein can be used to receive information from various wired and wireless communication networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. For example, the techniques can be used to receive information from cellular networks, broadcast networks, etc. The techniques can be used to receive broadcast information sent to all users, multicast information sent to a specific user group, and unicast information sent to a specific user. For the sake of clarity, certain aspects of techniques for receiving information broadcast from a communication network are described below.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary network deployment 100 that supports the techniques described herein. A terminal 110 can communicate with one or more wireless and / or wired networks 120 to obtain communication services and / or data connectivity. Terminal 110 can communicate with one or more base stations on a wireless network and / or one or more servers on a wired network. Terminal 110 may also receive broadcast information from a broadcast network 130. Terminal 110 can be stationary or mobile and can also be called a mobile station, user equipment, access terminal, subscriber unit, station, and so on. Terminal 110 can be a cell phone, PDA, wireless device, wired device, wireless modem, laptop, personal computer (PC), broadcast receiver, and so on. The functions of the terminal 110 can also be extended to more than one device. For example, in a cell phone or PDA, transmission and reception can be supported, while an associated laptop or PC can carry out filtering of broadcast information and presentation of the filtered broadcast information to a user. In addition, the terminal 110 can receive and transmit signals through a mobile satellite system, which can be a Globalstar system, an Iridium system, an OmniTracs system, etc. Terminal 110 may also receive signals through a fixed satellite broadcast system, such as a DirecTV system, an EchoStar system, or an ICO Global receive-transmit system.

Terminal 110 can also receive and measure signals from satellites 190 to obtain pseudo ranges for the satellites. The 190 satellites can be part of the US Global Positioning System (GPS), the European Galileo system, the Russian GLONASS system, the Japanese Quasi-Zenith satellite system, the Chinese Compass / Beidou system, the Indian regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS), some other global navigation satellite system (GNSS), or a combination of these systems. The pseudo ranges and known locations of the satellites can be used to derive a location estimate for terminal 110. Terminal 110 can also receive and measure signals from base stations in a wireless network to obtain timing and / or signal strength measurements. the signs. The timing and / or signal strength measurements and the known locations and / or coverage areas of the base stations can be used to derive a location estimate for the terminal 110. In general, a location estimate can be derived based on measurements for satellites, base stations, pseudo-satellites and / or other transmitters and using one of the positioning procedures or a combination thereof.

Network (s) 120 may include a wireless network that supports radio communication for terminals located within its coverage area. A wireless network can be a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal FDMA network (OFDMA ), a single carrier FDMA network (SC-FDMA), etc. A CDMA network can implement broadband CDMA (WCDMA), 1X CDMA, high-speed packet data (HRPD), or some other CDMA radio technology. A TDMA network may implement Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology or some other TDMA radio technology. An OFDMA network can implement Long Term Evolution Technologies (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), iEeE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, or some other OFDMA radio technology. The WCDMA, LOTE, LOTE-A and GSM technologies are described in documents of an organization called “Project of Association of 3^toGeneration ”(3GPP). CDMA 1X, HRPD and UMB technologies are described in documents from an organization called “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2).

A wireless network can include multiple base stations. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the smallest coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving this coverage area. In 3GPP2, the term "sector" or "cell sector" can refer to the smallest coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving this coverage area. For the sake of clarity, much of the description that follows uses the 3GPP2 concept of sector. A base station can support one or multiple sectors (for example, three).

Alternatively, or additionally, the network (s) 120 may include a wired network, such as a local area network (LAN), a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a packet cable network, a network of a Internet service provider (ISP), a telephone network, the Internet, etc.

The broadcast network 130 may provide broadcast services and may implement the technologies

MediaFLO ™, digital video broadcasting for portable terminals (DVB-H), digital service broadcasting

ES 2 571 337 T3 for terrestrial television broadcasting (ISDBT) or some other digital transmission technology. Broadcast network 130 may also assist terminal 110 in determining its location. For example, terminal 110 may measure the timing information of the signals from one or more broadcast transmitters and may determine their location by triangulation, trilateration, or some other means.

A location server / center 140 may comprise a location server that supports positioning service for terminal 110 and other location service clients (LCS). Positioning refers to a method of determining a geographic or civil location estimate for an LCS target, for example obtaining latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates for a geographic location or an address for a civil location. The location server can perform various functions for positioning support, for example calculating location estimates, providing attendance data to terminals, performing functions for security, etc. The location server can support one or more location architectures / solutions, such as Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) secure user plane location (SUPL), 3GPP control plane, 3GPP2 control plane, etc. The location server may comprise a SUPL location center (SPC), a 3GPP mobile location server center (SMLC), a location determination entity (PDE) 3GPP2, a Skyhook location server (802.11), etc.

The location center / server 140 may also comprise a location center that supports location services for the terminal 110 and other LCS clients. The location center can perform various functions, such as location service support, privacy support, authorization, authentication, subscriber charging or billing, service management, and so on. The location center may comprise a SUPL location center (SLC), a SUPL location platform (SLP), a 3GPP gateway mobile location center (GMLC), a 3GPP2 mobile location center (MPC), etc. The location server and location center can be integrated (as shown in FIG. 1) or they can be separate entities. A location database 142 may store location information that can be used to support positioning and / or location based services.

A broadcast center 150 can provide broadcast information for broadcast services. Broadcast information can comprise any information that may be of interest to users, for example general television (TV), radio, advertisements, news, etc. The broadcast center 150 or some other entity may also provide broadcast metadata for the broadcast information, as described below. A storage unit 152 can store the broadcast information and the broadcast metadata. The broadcast center 150 may provide the broadcast information and broadcast metadata to the broadcast network (s) 120 and / or broadcast network 130. The broadcast information and the broadcast metadata may be transmitted jointly or separately by the network (s) 120 and / or by the broadcast network 130.

The broadcast metadata may allow a terminal (eg, terminal 110) to perform location and time-based filtering of broadcast information, typically in conjunction with the user's saved preferences and / or profile. The broadcast metadata may allow the terminal to make a decision as to whether to receive the broadcast information and present this information to the user. The user's preferences or profile may have been previously entered by the user in the terminal or they may be verified in other ways, for example by looking at the user's preferences for manual selection of previously broadcast information and the criteria that are applied to the information. Broadcast selected in the construction of a set of heuristic criteria related to user behavior. Filtering based on location and time by the terminal can reduce the burden on the user of having to analyze and select particular emissions from possibly a large number of emissions. Based on the result of the filtering, the terminal can alert the user to the presence of the broadcast information before, during or after it has been received. The terminal can also save and / or display the broadcast information if it is of potential interest to the user or it can silently ignore (eg, neither receive nor save) the broadcast information. How the user is alerted to broadcast information that passes the filtering may also depend on the filtering. For example, an audible alarm may be provided for broadcasts of an emergency nature, while commercial broadcasts can be (i) saved and provided to the user upon an explicit request or (ii) automatically inserted for presentation alongside the main program.

The user can define elements of interest to the user and a procedure to be informed when such elements of interest are detected. The terminal can filter broadcast information by examining the associated broadcast metadata taking into account user preferences. If there is a match, the terminal can then alert the user, as specified, and can also save and / or present the broadcast information to the user.

In a layout, the broadcast metadata can include location and time criteria. The terms "criteria" and "requirements" are used interchangeably in this document. A location and time criterion can be related to the location and time of an event associated with the broadcast information, for example a sale, a sporting event, etc. An event can be in the past, present, or future. A

ES 2 571 337 T3 location and time criterion may comprise a location criterion and an associated time criterion. A location criterion may be given by a target area within (or outside) of which a potential receiving terminal would have to be for the broadcast information to be relevant. A time criterion can be given for a period of time in which the terminal should be inside (or outside) the target zone. This period of time can be in the past, present, or future. If the terminal is inside (or outside) the target area for the specified period of time (that is, if the location and time criteria are satisfied), then the terminal can give higher priority to receiving the associated broadcast information. and to provide this information to the user. Alternatively, the terminal may refuse to provide the user (eg by deleting) the associated broadcast information if the location and time criteria are not satisfied.

In one design, the location and time criteria for broadcast information may specify the presence or absence of a terminal for each of a set of target zones as follows:

Location and time criteria = (PA1 in L1 during D1) LO1 (PA2 in L2 during D2)

LO2 (PA3 in L3 during D3) ... LOn-1 (PAn in Ln during Dn), Ec (1) in which Ln denotes a target zone for the nth location and time criterion, for 1 <n <N , Dn denotes a period of time or an instant of time for the nth criterion of location and time, PAn denotes a requirement of presence or absence for the nth criterion of location and time, and LOn denotes a logical operation, which can be a logical OR or a logical AND.

In the design shown in Equation (1), the location and time criteria are defined by a set of N target zones, L1 to Ln, being, in general, N> 1. Each target zone can be defined as follows. describes in what follows. N time periods, D1 to Dn, can be provided for the N target regions L1 to Ln, respectively. Each time period Dn can be defined by a start time TSn and an end time TEn.TSn and TEn can each be defined in the past, present or future, with TEn occurring at TSn or later.

In a design, the PAn presence or absence requirement for each location criteria can have one of the following values:

1. Present in part of the time period with a probability of at least Pn,

two. Present throughout the time period with a probability of at least Pn,

3. Absent for part of the time period with a probability of at least Pn, or

Four. Absent throughout the time period with a probability of at least Pn.

The probability Pn can be any value between 0 and 1, or 0 <Pn <1.

The location and time criteria in Equation (1) combine N individual location and time criteria to obtain an overall requirement for a terminal. Each location and time criteria can be expressed as:

LRn = PAn in Ln during Dn, Ec (2) denoting LRn the nth criterion of location and time.

In another design, the location and time criteria can be specified as follows:

Location and time criteria = LTCa LOa LTCb LOb LTCc ..., Ec (3) where LTCi denotes a location and time criteria for ie A, B, C, ..., and

LOi denotes a logical operation, which can be a logical AND or a logical OR

LTCi can be defined as shown in Equation (1). The design of Equation (3) allows multiple time and location criteria to be logically combined to form more complex time and location criteria. The multiple location and time criteria can be combined into an arbitrary tree of expressions, using parentheses to indicate the order of evaluation for each expression.

In yet another design, the location and time criteria can be specified recursively as follows:

Location and time criteria = Expression (i) {Expression (j) of binary operation}, Ec (4) where {...} denotes an optional extension, which may or may not be present,

Expression () denotes {Expression () of binary operation}, or {Expression () of unary operation}, or (unique criterion of location and time), binary operation denotes a logical OR, a logical AND or some other operation with two arguments, and

ES 2 571 337 T3 unary operation denotes a logical NOT or some other operation with one argument.

The unique criterion of location and time can be given as shown in Equation (2).

To evaluate Equation (4), the truth value of each unique location and time criterion can first be determined as either true or false, as described for Equation (1). The truth values ​​for all the unique location and time criteria can be combined using the unary and / or binary operations that join them to give a final true or false value for the global requirement of Equation (4). A true value for the global requirement may indicate that the location and time criteria for the broadcast information are satisfied. A false value may indicate that the location and time criteria are not met.

The location and time criteria for the broadcast information may also be defined in other ways. Time and location criteria are described in additional detail in Law Transferred US Patent Publication Application Number 12 / 244,654, entitled "LOCATION AND TIME BASED FILTERING OF BROADCAST INFORMATION," filed October 2, 2008 and published as US 2009/0093259 A1.

Filtering of broadcast information based on location and time can be illustrated by the following example. In this example, a department store in a shopping center is holding a big sale on an imminent Saturday and would like to announce these sales to people who live in the vicinity, to people who are likely to be present during the sales because they have visited the shopping center. on past recent Saturdays, and to people expected to be in the neighborhood of the store during sale hours. To select these users in a sale announcement, the location and time criteria for the broadcast announcement can be given as follows:

Location and time criteria = LTCa Ó LTCb Ó LTCc. Ec (5)

In Equation (5), LTCa can define a criterion of location and time that a terminal (and, therefore, a user) has to be present in the shopping center on at least one of the three previous Saturdays with a probability of at least 50%. This means that the user is likely to visit the mall at least occasionally on Saturdays and may be interested in the sales. LTCb can define a criterion of location and time that a terminal has been present in the area surrounding the shopping center on each of the three previous nights with a probability of at least 70%. This makes it likely that the user lives near the shopping center and may be interested in the sales. LTCc can define a criterion of location and time that a terminal is in the area of ​​the city that contains the shopping center at some point during the sales with a probability of at least 50%.

LTCa in Equation (5) can be expressed as follows:

LTCa = (PA1 in L1 during D1) OR (PA2 in L2 during D2) O (PA3 in L3 during D3) in which PA1, PA2, PA3 = present in part of the time period with a probability> 50%, L1, L2, L3 = shopping center area, and

D1, D2, D3 = each of the three previous Saturdays, for example with a start time at 9:00 am and an end time at 6:00 pm.

LTCb in equation (5) can be expressed as follows:

LTCb = (PA1 in L1 during D1) AND (PA2 in L2 during D2) AND (PA3 in L3 during D3) in which PA1, PA2, PA3 = present throughout the time period with a probability> 70%,

L1, L2, L3 = area of ​​the city that contains the shopping center, and

D1, D2, D3 = each of the three previous consecutive days; for example, D1 = Monday, D2 = Tuesday, D3 = Wednesday, with a start time at midnight and an end time at 6:00 am.

LTCc in Equation (5) can be expressed as follows:

LTCc = (PA1 in L1 during D1) in which PA1 = present in part of the time period with a probability of at least 50%,

L1 = area of ​​the city that contains the shopping center, and

D1 = the Saturday of the sales, for example with a start time at 9:00 am and an end time at 6:00 pm.

The parameters for the expressions LTCa, LTCb and LTCc can be sent in the broadcast metadata for the announcement of the rebates to potentially interested selected users. Additional information such as the type of items on sale, the level of price discounts, the interest rate on the credit, the name of the store, etc. can also be included in the broadcast metadata. The additional information may allow

ES 2 571 337 T3 terminals filter based on other user preferences, so that users can only be alerted if both location and time criteria are met, as well as other user preferences.

Other examples of filtering broadcast information based on location and time criteria are described in the aforementioned US patent application No. 12 / 244,654 and published as US 2009/0093259 A1.

In one aspect, terminal 110 may periodically record its location and maintain a location log to support filtering of broadcast information and / or other location- and time-based applications. The location record can also be called a history database, etc. The terminal 110 can perform a location registration such that its battery power is conserved as much as possible.

FIG. 2 shows a layout of a location record. Terminal 110 may operate in an idle mode when communication is not required and may be on standby in a server sector. Terminal 110 can be configured with a T second notification cycle and specific paging slots in which notifications can be sent to terminal 110. The notification slots are spaced T seconds apart, which can be configurable for terminal 110 and can be set to be approximately 5 seconds or some other value. While in idle mode, terminal 110 may wake up every T seconds prior to its notification slot, listen for notifications, and make pilot intensity measurements for the server sector and neighboring sectors. Terminal 110 can determine if another sector is more suitable to serve terminal 110 based on pilot intensity measurements and further, according to a set of rules specified by a wireless network, on parameters provided by the server sector and / or other information. If there is no server sector change or notification, terminal 110 can then go back to idle. If not, if there is a change in the server sector, then the terminal 110 can sign up to receive notifications of the new server sector.

In one design, the terminal 110 can register a sector ID whenever there is a change in the server sector. The sector ID of the new server sector can be used to determine a rough estimate of the location for the terminal 110. This rough estimate of the location may be given by a coverage area of ​​the new server sector. The Sector ID can provide sufficient resolution of the user's location for filtering and other applications based on location and time. The sector ID can be easily obtained by terminal 110 and can be available from normal idle mode processing to detect better sectors. Hence, no additional processing may be required to obtain the sector ID. Additionally, registering the sector ID only when there is a change to the server sector can reduce the number of entries to store in the registry, which can reduce memory requirements. This technique of recording items only when there is a change is commonly called walkthrough encoding.

Terminal 110 may perform a notification area registration (or a location area update) whenever it moves to a new notification area. Some wireless networks may require terminal 110 to log in only when it leaves a large notification area, which can cover many sectors. Other wireless networks may require registration only when terminal 110 has traveled more than a threshold distance, that is, as long as the GPS distance between cell towers is greater than the threshold distance. For these wireless networks, instead of recording the sector ID whenever registration occurs in the notification area, the terminal 110 can record sector changes more frequently to obtain sector-by-sector accuracy.

In one design, hysteresis and low-pass filtering can be used to avoid frequent recording of sector changes. For example, terminal 110 may switch between two or more server sectors due to fluctuations in channel conditions, which may be caused by screen effect and / or other phenomena. To avoid frequent registration, terminal 110 may retain a sector ID for a new server sector for a particular time interval as long as a sector ID is registered. This time interval can be called the logging interval. Terminal 110 can ignore server sector changes that occur within the logging interval. Terminal 110 may register a new sector ID if there is a change in the server sector after this registration interval. This scheme can avoid excessive registration by terminal 110 due to frequent changes in the server sectors. For example, if the logging interval is 15 minutes and only one new sector ID can be logged after each logging interval, then only a maximum of 96 entries can be logged daily.

In one layout, terminal 110 can record a sector ID whenever there is a change in the server sector (for example, with application of hysteresis and / or low-pass filtering), as well as the time of the change, to which it can be called the start time or timestamp. In one design, each log entry can comprise up to seven bytes for the sector ID and up to four bytes for the start time. These input sizes are sufficient for current 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks and for precision in the seconds range using Network Time Synchronization Protocol (NTP) time. In general, any number of bytes can be used for the sector ID and any number of bytes can be used for the start time. The format of an ID entry in a location record and the number of bytes to use for the sector ID entry can be network dependent. For CDMA 1X, a Sector ID entry may comprise a System Identification (SID), a

ES 2 571 337 T3 network identification (NID) and a base station identification (BaseID). For HRPD, a Sector ID entry can comprise a SID, a NID, a Packet Zone ID (PZID), and a Base ID. For GSM, a sector ID entry may comprise a mobile country code (MCC), a mobile network code (MNC), a location area code (LAC), and a cell ID. For WCDMA, a sector ID entry may comprise an MCC, an MNC, a radio network controller ID (RNC-ID), and a cell ID. The amount of information to record can be reduced by omitting the redundant country and network portions of the sector ID when operating on the same wireless network.

FIG. 3 shows an example of location registration by terminal 110. Terminal 110 can be served by sector n ° 56 at home during the night, by sector n ° 59 during commuting to work in the morning, by sector n ° 142 at work, by sector n ° 23 during lunch, by sector n ° 142 at work in the afternoon, by sector n ° 59 during the late afternoon commute, and by sector n 56 at home after work. Table 1 shows an exemplary location record for terminal 110 for the example shown in FIG. 3.

Table 1 -Register of locations for one day

<td>Entry</td><td>Location</td><td>Start time</td><td>Description</td>

<td> 1</td><td>Sector n ° 56</td><td>6:30 pm</td><td>At home at night (dinner ... breakfast)</td>

<td> 2</td><td>Sector n ° 59</td><td>7:45 pm</td><td>Commuting to work</td>

<td> 3</td><td>Sector n ° 142</td><td>8:00 pm</td><td>At work in the office in the morning</td>

<td> 4</td><td>Sector n ° 23</td><td>12:05 pm</td><td>Eating</td>

<td> 5</td><td>Sector n ° 142</td><td>1:05 pm</td><td>At work (office, meeting room)</td>

<td> 6</td><td>Sector n ° 59</td><td>6:00 pm</td><td>Moving home</td>

<td> 7</td><td>Sector n ° 56</td><td>6:30 pm</td><td>At home</td>

In the example shown in Table 1, the location register for terminal 110 can include (i) seven entries in 77 bytes for a day, (ii) 42 entries in 462 bytes for a week, or (iii) 630 entries in 6930 bytes for three months. Thus, a relatively small location register can store the sector ID and start time for a relatively long period of time.

In one design, a record of locations for a given period of time can be condensed using a histogram. The histogram may include a percentage of time that terminal 110 is within a given zone (eg, a polygon) in the given period of time. Table 2 shows an exemplary histogram for the location record in Table 1. The histogram may indicate that terminal 110 is within coverage (i) of sector # 56 (at home) 55% of the time, (ii) of sector # 142 (at work) 38% of the time, (iii) from sector 59 (during commuting) 4% of the time, and (iv) from sector 23 (during lunch) 3% of the time.

Table 2 - Histogram of the location register

<td>Location</td><td>Percentage of time</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Sector n ° 56</td><td> 55%</td><td>At home</td>

<td>Sector n ° 142</td><td> 38%</td><td>At work</td>

<td>Sector n ° 59</td><td> 4%</td><td>Scrolling</td>

<td>Sector n ° 23</td><td> 3%</td><td>Eating</td>

In the example shown in FIG. 3, each sector is represented by a hexagon. In general, a sector can be represented by a polygon that has any shape and size. A polygon can be a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, and so on.

The location record in Table 1 and the histogram in Table 2 are two exemplary designs for storing a location history for terminal 110. The past location of terminal 110 can also be stored using other formats and other structures. In another design, terminal 110 can store multiple sector IDs for multiple sectors received with sufficient signal strength by terminal 110. Terminal 110 may also store the received signal strength of each sector and / or the probability that terminal 110 is within the sector. In yet another design, terminal 110 may periodically obtain a location estimate for itself based on a satellite positioning procedure and / or a network positioning procedure. Terminal 110 may save the location estimate to the location register. Thus, the location register can save the location of terminal 110 in any suitable format. The past location of terminal 110 can be used for filtering and / or other location- and time-based applications.

ES 2 571 337 T3

A target zone for a location and time criterion can be defined in several ways. In a design, a target zone can be defined based on one or more zones. Each zone can have one of the following formats:

1. Shape: the area is given by a polygon defined with GPS coordinates,

two. Country code: the zone is a country specified by a country code,

3. Name zone: the zone is a city, a region or a neighborhood with a given name,

Four. Postal code: the zone corresponds to a postal code, and

5. Cell target zone: the zone corresponds to the coverage of a cell or a sector.

Different wireless networks can support different types of cellular target zone. For example, a terminal in a broadcast network (eg for DVB-H, MediaFLO ™, etc.) can collect broadcast sector information for a large area (eg 80 kilometers (km) in diameter). A terminal in a WCDMA network can collect 3GPP cell IDs for cells that span approximately 2 km in diameter. A terminal on a CDMA 1X network or HRPD network can collect 3GPP2 sector IDs for sectors that span approximately 2 km in diameter. A terminal with GPS capabilities can collect GPS coordinates, which can be accurate to about 30 feet in diameter. Some wireless networks can provide GPS coordinates of the center of the cell or the sector.

In a design, a target zone for a location and time criterion can be defined by one or more "shape" polygons. The target area can be of any arbitrary shape and size and can be decomposed into polygons (eg, triangles) based on any triangulation algorithm known in the art. An exemplary triangulation algorithm is described by JR Shewchuk in "Triangle: Engineering a 2D Quality Mesh Generator and Delaunay Triangulator", Appl. Comp. Geom .: Towards Geom. Engine, ser. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 1148, pp. 203-222, May 1996, which is public knowledge. The location of terminal 110 (or the location of the user) can also be defined by polygons. The location and time criteria can then be evaluated by comparing the polygons for the user's location with the polygons for the target area. For example, once triangulation has been carried out for a polygon for the target area, each triangle in this polygon can be "clipped" relative to another polygon for the user location to derive an intersection polygon. This clipping can be based on a Sutherland-Hodgeman algorithm (in which the target polygon is convex) or on a Weiler-Atherton algorithm, which are known in the art.

FIG. 4A shows an exemplary target zone defined by polygons. A shopping center can be a target area for a criterion of location and time and can be defined by three polygons A, B and C. These polygons can correspond to three sectors or cells. The location and time criteria can query whether a user is in the mall with a probability of at least 50% for a specific time interval in the last two weeks. A determination can then be made as to whether the user is located within polygon A, B, or C for the specified duration in the last two weeks with at least a 50% probability.

FIG. 4B shows the evaluation of the location and time criteria in FIG. 4A for a single polygon case. In this example, the user's location can be determined based on the location record and can be moved to polygon D. The user can be located in polygon D for the specified duration in the last two weeks with a probability of 100 %. Polygon D for the user location can be compared to Polygon A for the target area. An intersection zone X corresponds to the portion of polygon D that overlaps with polygon A and is shown with shading in FIG. 4B. Zone X can be 30% of the total area of ​​polygon D, which can mean that the user is in the zone defined by polygon A with a probability of 30%. This 30% probability is less than the 50% probability required by the location and time criteria.

FIG. 4C shows the evaluation of the location and time criteria in FIG. 4A for a multi-polygon case. Polygon D for the user location can be compared to polygons A, B and C for the target area. An intersection zone X corresponds to the portion of polygon D that overlaps with polygon A. An intersection zone Y corresponds to the portion of polygon D that overlaps polygon B. A zone Z of intersection corresponds to the portion of polygon D that overlaps with polygon C. The zones X, Y and Z of intersection can be 90% of the total area of ​​polygon D, which can mean that the user is in the target zone defined by the junction of the AOBOC polygon with a probability of 90%. This 90% probability is greater than the 50% probability required by the location and time criteria, which means that the location and time criteria are satisfied.

As shown in FIGURES 4A to 4C, the location and time criteria can be evaluated with an iterative procedure that (i) compares a polygon for the user's location with each polygon in a target area and (ii) accumulates the probability corresponding to the percentage of intersection between the two polygons. The procedure can be repeated until all polygons in the target area have been considered or until the desired probability is reached.

In a design, an algorithm to evaluate a criterion of location and time can be implemented with the following pseudo-code.

ES 2 571 337 T3 polygon_set = shapel cc1 ... NameAreal ... zipl CellTargetAreal ...

if (presence_or_absence = ABSENCE) {polygon_set = COMPLEMENT (polygon_set);

} (start_time_ptr, end_time_ptr) = split_log_entries_if_needed ();

sum_probability = 0.0;

for (i = start_time_ptr; i! = end_time_ptr; i ++) {intersection_area = user_location {i} polygon_set time_fragment = time_duration_ {i} / (end_time - start_time);

100 presence_fragment = AREA (intersection_area) / AREA (user_location {i})

110 net_probabil ity = time_fragment * presence_fragment;

120 sum_probability = sum_probability + net_probability;

130 }

140 return (sum_probability&gt; presence_or_absence_probability);

In line 10 of the above pseudocode, a target zone named "polygon_set" can be defined as a union (denoted by the symbol (V) of all zones of different types used to define the target zone. In lines 20 to 40, you can The target area should be supplemented if the location and time criteria are defined as the user being absent from the target area (instead of being present in it). The time period covered by the location and time criteria can be given by a start time and an end time. On line 50, the location register entries can be split, if necessary, so that only entries within the time period covered by the location and time criteria are considered. A variable named "sum_probability" can store the cumulative probability that the user is within the target zone and can be initialized to zero on line 60.

Lines 70 through 130 loop through to evaluate each location register entry within the time period covered by the location and time criteria. For each input, a zone of intersection between the user's location polygon for that input and the target zone can be determined on line 80. In line 90 the percentage of the time covered by the entry can be determined in relation to the period of time for the criterion of location and time. On line 100, the amount or percentage of overlap between the user's location polygon and the target area can be determined. In line 110 the probability that the user is within the target zone can be calculated, given the user's location polygon and the hourly duration for the entry. The cumulative probability that the user is within the target zone can be updated with the calculated probability for the entry. The procedure on lines 80-120 can be repeated for each registry entry to be evaluated.

After evaluating all registry entries within the time period covered by the location and time criteria, on line 140 the cumulative probability can be compared to the specified probability of presence or absence for the location and time criteria. The result of the comparison can be provided as a result of the location and time criteria.

In another design, the location record can be converted to a histogram, for example as described above for FIG. 3. Each histogram entry can include a polygon and a probability that the user is inside the polygon and can be given as {polygon (i), probability (i)}. The sum of the probabilities for all histogram entries can be equal to one, or Σ_ip robab ility {i} = 1. The polygons for the histogram entries may not overlap, so polygon {i} polygon {j} = Null, for i / j. Histogram entries can be evaluated relative to the target area in a manner similar to that described above for pseudocode.

As noted above, a target area can be converted to polygons to facilitate the evaluation of a location and time criterion. A target area can be defined based on one or more of the formats described above. For certain broadcast information (for example, advertisements), queries based on postal codes may be particularly desirable, because census data from different countries can provide demographic data and income levels for each postal code. In a layout, a postal code conversion table can be used to translate postal codes into polygons. The conversion table can receive a postal code for a target area and can provide one or more polygons corresponding to the postal code. In general, a conversion table can be used to convert a zone of a first format to a zone of a second format. The first and second formats can be each of the formats described above or some other format.

In one design, a master conversion table may be stored in a network entity or it may be accessible to the network entity; for example, stored in location database 142 and accessible to location server / center 140 of FIG. 1. The master conversion table can include entries for all zones of interest;

for example, for the full coverage of a wireless network and / or a broadcast network. Terminals can

ES 2 571 337 T3 send queries with target zones in the first format to the network entity, which can provide the terminals with zones in the second format.

In another design, a conversion table may be stored in terminal 110. This translation table can include entries for the user's local zone only, and can be a small subset of the master conversion table. This conversion table may be provisioned at terminal 110 or downloaded to the terminal periodically or based on its past, present, and / or future location. The conversion table can be sub-set extraction according to a location query, downloaded on demand and buffered using a buffering protocol such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http). The terminal can query the conversion table to obtain zones of the desired format.

The algorithm given by the pseudo-code above can be used to evaluate location and time criteria having target zones given in any format and user information given in any format. The target zones and / or the user's selection can be converted to a selected format with one or more conversion tables. In a layout, the target zones can be converted to the same format as the user's location. in another design, the user's location can be converted to the same format as the target zones. In yet another design, the target areas and the user's location can be converted to a selected format, which may be different from the formats for the target areas and the user's location. For all designs, the algorithm can operate on zones in the selected format instead of polygons. For example, all references to polygons in the pseudocode can be replaced with units of zones in the selected format; for example, with the zip code zone, the sector zone, and so on. The algorithm can treat the location record either as a ZIP code record or as a sector record looking for the user's location in the entire conversion table.

The use of sector IDs or postcodes for the target zones and the user's location can avoid the need for geographic calculations and can be accurate enough for many applications. In one design, terminal 110 may keep track of sector ID locations of server sectors that terminal 110 communicated with or was on standby, for example, as described above. The target zones for the location and time criteria can also be given by a set of sector IDs. The algorithm given by the above pseudocode can be simplified when using sector IDs for user location and target zones. In particular, the calculation of the area of ​​intersection between a polygon for the user location and a target area can be substituted with a comparison between the sector ID for the user location and the sector IDs for the target area. The presence fragment can be assumed to be equal to 1.0 if there is a match or to be equal to 0, 0 if there is no match. The calculation can be simplified by using sector IDs for user location and target zones.

A location and time criteria can be defined that covers the user's location in the past; for example, if a user was in the vicinity of a shopping center in the last two weeks. In this case, appropriate entries in the location register can be used to evaluate location and time criteria, as described above.

A location and time criteria can be defined to cover the user's location in the future; for example, whether a user will be in the vicinity of a shopping center for a specific length of time next week. The user's location in the future can be predicted in a number of ways. In a design, the future location of the user can be predicted based on the past location of the user. This can be accomplished by translating or shifting the location record forward in time, such that the translated location record spans the time period for a location and time criterion. For example, to determine whether the user will be within a given target zone in a given period X of time in the future, the location register can be shifted a minimum number of weeks, so that the period X of time is covered by the recent past in location record moved. In another design, information from calendars and / or appointment books can be used to predict the future location of the user. For example, the user can mark an impending vacation or a business trip in a particular city in an appointment book. This information can be used to find out the user's location during the period of the trip. The future location of the user can also be predicted in other ways.

Time and location criteria that encompass the user's future location can also be converted to time and location criteria that encompass the user's past location. For example, a location and time criterion that asks if a user will be in the vicinity of a shopping center next week can be converted into a location and time criterion that asks if the user was in the vicinity of the shopping center in one or more more recent weeks. The presence of the user in the vicinity of the shopping center in the recent past may be indicative of a greater likelihood that the user will be present in the vicinity in the future.

Broadcast information and broadcast metadata can be sent in various ways. In one design, broadcast information and broadcast metadata can be delivered via broadcast service delivery according to the OMA Mobile Broadcasting Services Standard (BCAST), which is described in

ES 2 571 337 T3 the documents OMA-TS-BCAST_Services-V1_20090212-A, OMA-TS-BCAST_Service_Guide-V1_0-20090212-A and OMA-TS-BCAST_Distribution-V1_0-20090212-A, of public knowledge.

In one design, the broadcast metadata can be sent in a service directory. The service guide may include an element that can be used to specify parameters for filtering the associated broadcast information based on location and time. If a match occurs, then a terminal may give higher priority to receiving and presenting the associated broadcast information to the user.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary broadcast of a service guide that carries metadata, such as a program description, gender and parental rating information, and location and time criteria. For an OMA BCAST service guide, the component, as shown, represents either a service chunk or a content chunk. A service snippet describes a broadcast service that can be considered a "TV channel", while a content snippet describes individual content items or "programs" carried by the broadcast service. A broadcast program (or content item) can be a movie trailer, newsletter, or other information broadcast with a particular broadcast schedule. The same service or content snippet may also carry broadcast metadata, for example location and time criteria for the associated broadcast service or content that may be sent after this snippet. Although not shown in FIG. 5, the broadcast metadata may include other information, such as language, subject categories (for example, weather, news, traffic information, emergency information, announcements, etc.), multimedia type (for example, text, video, image , etc.), duration, size, transmission schedule and / or other information related to the associated broadcast information.

The location and time criteria described herein may allow the transmission of broadcast information and / or broadcast metadata prior to an event related to the broadcast information. The broadcast information can be presented to the user at the moment of its reception and / or at later moments. Thus, the time of delivery of the broadcast information (eg for announcements, alerts, etc.) can be decoupled from the time of presentation.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary broadcast and presentation of broadcast information containing an announcement of a sale that occurs from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm on a given Saturday. In this example, the broadcast information and broadcast metadata for the ad can be sent in a distribution window prior to the sale. This distribution window can be selected to improve the utilization of network resources. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the distribution window is between 2:00 am and 2:30 am during non-rush hour hours on Saturday. A terminal can download the broadcast metadata and broadcast information in the distribution window. If there is a match for the location and time criteria in the broadcast metadata, then the broadcast information can be presented to the user prior to and / or during the sale.

Sending broadcast information and broadcast metadata prior to sales can (i) prevent or reduce broadcasting during sales, which can occur during peak traffic hours, and (ii) give users notice of sales. sales in advance. If the ad is sent during the sales itself, then the cost of sending the ad may be higher and the notice to users may be given less in advance. Therefore, there may be an advantage in sending the ad ahead of time, which can be filtered with more precise criteria of location and time in the broadcast metadata.

FIG. 7 shows a design of a filtering based on location and time for broadcast information. Terminal 110 may receive a service directory with broadcast metadata (step 1). A broadcast client 710 within terminal 110 may receive the broadcast metadata, extract relevant location and time criteria from the broadcast metadata, and provide the location and time criteria to a location application 730 (step 2). The broadcast client 710 can also analyze the location and time criteria and can pass the location application 730 the target zones and filter rules for the location and time criteria.

A location agent 720 may periodically obtain the location of the terminal 110, which may be given by the sector ID, a geographic coordinate, or some other format. Location agent 720 may provide the location of terminal 110 to location application 730 (step 3). The location application 730 may maintain a record of locations for the user's location. the location application 730 may also predict the future location of the user based on the user's past location, when necessary, as described above. The location application 730 may evaluate the location and time criteria received from the broadcast client 710 based on the location registration (step 4). For example, the location application 730 can calculate the probability of a location behavior based on the target zones and filtering rules, and further using the location register. The location application 730 may implement the algorithm given by the above pseudo-code or by some other algorithm.

ES 2 571 337 T3

The location application 730 may provide the result or decision of the location and time criteria to the broadcast client 710 (step 5). The broadcast client 710 may determine whether to download and / or display the associated broadcast information based on the decision of the location application 730 (step 6). Thus, the broadcast client 710 can selectively download broadcast information based on the past, present, and / or future location of the terminal 110.

The location- and time-based filtering techniques described herein can be used for a variety of applications. For example, the techniques can be used for one or more of the following applications:

to. Advance site-specific announcements - for example, an announcement of a reduction in the price of gasoline directed at drivers commuting to or from work, or residents and workers in the area,

b. Disaster announcements: for example, alert travelers heading to a certain destination of a fire found there,

c. Weather information: for example, alert drivers traveling to or from work of torrential rain in certain areas,

d. Traffic information: for example, suggest an alternative route (manual or automatic) for commuting to or from work based on the intensity of traffic or the closure of a road or lane on the normal route of travel,

and. Local news while away from home: continue to receive high priority local news based on previous history of home location,

F. Selective shopping center advertisements: receiving advertisements for areas of a shopping center that a buyer has not visited or is in the immediate vicinity of; for example, to filter them into two separate queues, and

g. Vacation Ads - For example, receiving ads for restaurants for dinner and evening entertainment related to an area where a user is staying while they can go sightseeing away from this area during the day.

FIG. 8 shows a design of a procedure 800 for performing location- and time-based filtering. The procedure can be carried out by a terminal (as described below) or by some other entity. The terminal may keep a record of its location (block 812). The terminal may obtain a location and time criterion that comprises a target zone and a time period in which the location and time criterion is applied (block 814). The terminal can determine your location during the time period; for example, based on the record (block 816). The terminal can evaluate the criteria of location and time in the target zone and its location during the time period (block 818). The location and time criterion may further comprise a target probability that the terminal is present in the target area or absent from the target area and can be expressed as shown in Equation (2). The location and time criteria can also be evaluated based on the target probability. The terminal may determine whether to download and / or display the broadcast information based on the result of the evaluation of the location and time criteria (block 820).

In one design of block 816, the terminal can determine the ID of at least one sector for the target zone. The terminal can also determine the IDs of one or more sectors for its location during the time period. The terminal can evaluate the location and time criteria based on the ID of at least one sector for the target zone and the IDs of one or more sectors for its location.

In another design of block 816, the terminal can determine at least one polygon for the target zone. The terminal can also determine one or more polygons for its location during the time period. The terminal can evaluate the location and time criteria based on the at least one polygon for the target zone and the one or more polygons for its location.

In a layout, the terminal can get at least one entry for its location from the location registry. The terminal can determine the probability of being in or out of the target zone for each registry entry. The terminal can accumulate at least one probability for the at least one registry entry to obtain an overall probability that it is in or out of the target zone, for example, as shown with the pseudo-code above.

The terminal can determine the target area based on a union of one or more areas, which can be given in one or more formats. The terminal can convert the target area and / or its location to a selected format. The selected format can represent areas based on sector ID, postal code, etc. The terminal can download information for a conversion table used to convert the target area and / or its location to the selected format. The terminal can evaluate the location and time criteria based on the target zone and its location in the selected format.

ES 2 571 337 T3

In a layout, the terminal can predict your future location based on your past location. For example, the terminal can move its past location in a certain amount of time based on the time period for the location and time criteria. The terminal can evaluate the location and time criteria based on your future predicted location.

FIG. 9 shows a layout of a 900 procedure for recording location. Procedure 900 can be carried out by a terminal (as described below) or by some other entity. The terminal may periodically determine its location (block 912). The terminal can determine if there is a change in its location (block 914). The terminal may save its location to a location register if a location change is detected (block 916). The terminal can also save a timestamp with its location if a location change is detected (block 918).

In one design of block 912, the terminal can determine its location in each time slot of a particular duration, for example as shown in FIG. 2. The terminal can also determine its location during notification slots in which the terminal detects notifications from a wireless network; for example, as FIG. two. The time interval in which the location of the terminal is determined can span a particular number of notification cycles, which can reduce the number of entries that must be stored for the location of the terminal.

In one design, the terminal can periodically determine its server sector, which can be used to estimate the location of the terminal. The terminal can determine if there is a change in the server sector of the terminal. The terminator can save a server sector sector ID and a timestamp if a change is detected in the server sector.

In a layout, the terminal can determine a histogram of its location for a particular length of time. The histogram may comprise a plurality of inputs. Each entry can comprise a zone and a percentage of time that the terminal is within the zone.

The terminal may comprise entries for its location in the location register to eliminate redundant location information that is common for entries that are compressed. The terminal can also encrypt entries for their location. In one layout, the terminal can encrypt the entire location record except the last entry. The terminal can decrypt the location register and save the decrypted location information in local memory when evaluating a location and time criteria. The terminal can also perform encryption and decryption in other ways.

FIG. 10 shows a layout of terminal 110, network 120, location server / center 140, and broadcast center 150 of FIG. 1. For the sake of simplicity, FIG. 10 shows (i) a controller / processor 1010, a memory 1012 and a transmitter / receiver (TNT / VCR) 1014 for terminal 110, (ii) a controller / processor 1020, a memory (Mema) 1022, a transmitter / receiver 1024 and a communication unit 1026 (com.) for the network 120, (iii) a controller / processor 1030, a memory 1032 and a communication unit 1034 for the server / location center 140, and (iv) a controller / processor 1050, a memory 1052 and a communication unit 1054 for the broadcast center 150. In general, each entity can include any number of controllers, processors, memories, transceivers, communication units, etc.

On the downlink, network base stations 120 can transmit traffic data, broadcast information, broadcast metadata, signaling, and pilots to terminals within their coverage areas. These various types of data can be processed by processor 1020, conditioned by transmitter 1024, and transmitted on the downlink. At terminal 110, downlink signals from base stations can be received via an antenna, conditioned by receiver 1014, and processed by processor 1010 to retrieve various types of information sent by base stations. Processor 1010 may perform or direct procedure 800 of FIG. 8, method 900 of FIG. 9 and / or other procedures for the techniques described herein. Memories 1012 and 1022 can store program codes and data for terminal 110 and network 120, respectively. On the uplink, terminal 110 can transmit traffic, signaling, and pilot data to network base stations 120. These various types of data can be processed by processor 1010, conditioned by transmitter 1014, and transmitted over the link. upward. In network 120, uplink signals from terminal 110 and other terminals can be received and conditioned by receiver 1024 and further processed by processor 1020 to retrieve the various types of information sent by terminal. Network 120 can communicate with other network entities through communication unit 1026.

Broadcast network 130 can be implemented with one or more transmitters, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, and one or more communication units that can operate in a similar manner as network 120.

Within the server / location center 140, the processor 1030 can perform positioning for the terminals, provide attendance data to the terminals, support location services for the terminals, and

ES 2 571 337 T3 other LCD clients, etc. Memory 1032 can store program codes and data for the location center. Communication unit 1034 may allow location server / center 140 to communicate with other entities.

Within broadcast center 150, processor 1050 can generate and send broadcast information and broadcast metadata. Memory 1052 can store program codes and data for the broadcast center. Communication unit 1054 may allow the broadcast center to communicate with other entities.

Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a number of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and segments that can be referenced throughout the above description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles or any combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design limitations imposed on the system as a whole. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or realized with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a matrix field programmable gates (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete software components or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices; for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a procedure or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented directly on hardware, on a software module run by a processor, or a combination of both. A software module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. . An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information thereto. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium can reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions can be saved or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one site to another. A storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable medium may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to transport or store desired media of program codes in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or by a general-purpose or desktop processor. special use. Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from an electronic page, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves are included in the definition of medium. Disc (disk or disc in English) as used herein includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), removable floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc. ray, usually reproducing the discs called disk in English the data magnetically,

ES 2 571 337 T3 while discs called discs in English reproduce the data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also fall within the scope of computer-readable media.

The above description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications of the disclosure will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be given the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed.