EP0355697B1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Multimedia bidirectional broadcast system
Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
•
Filing: 1989-08-16
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Granted: 1995-03-29
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Expires: 2009-08-16
Abstract
No abstract record available.
Inventors
- 👤 Toru Baji
- 👤 Yukio Nakano
- 👤 Shiro Tanabe
- 👤 Tetsuya Nakagawa
- 👤 Hirotsugu Kojima
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 01:28
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04H; H04H60/00; H04H60/29; H04H60/31; H04H20/00; H04H20/28; H04H20/65; H04H20/76; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/20; H04N21/25; H04N21/254; H04N21/2543; H04N21/40; H04N21/47; H04N21/472; H04N21/4722; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/812; H04N7/00; H04N7/16; H04N7/173; H04N7/17309; H04N7/17336; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0478; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L2012/5638
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 38
Claim 1
Independent Claim
221 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system comprising a broadcast station (115, 117) including a motion picture program data base (102), and a program transmitter (103) for accessing said motion picture program data base (102) and transmitting the motion picture program data onto transmission lines (5, 19); said broadcast system further comprising subscriber systems (116, 120) each including a network terminal (111, 113) connected to a respective one of said transmission lines (15, 19) for receiving the transmitted data, a decoder (112) connected to the network terminal (111, 113) for decoding the received date and generating a video signal, and a television monitor (114) for displaying said video signal, wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) further includes a commercial data base (131), a commercial transmitter (132) for accessing said commercial data base (131) and for transmitting the commercial data onto said transmission line (5, 19) and a main control unit (106, 118) having a data base control table (134) in which, for a subscriber, information identifying a motion picture program and an advertisement desired by said subscriber is stored, said main control unit (106, 120) controlling said program transmitter (103) and said commercial transmitter (132) to access the motion picture program data base (102) and the commercial data base (131) so as to insert said desired advertisement into said desired motion picture program.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
58 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 wherein said main control unit (106, 118) includes therein an access sequence table (155) disposed for an adjustment of time associated with a commercial insertion so as to control an access sequence for each subscriber and for a group of video buffers (160, 161) related to said each subscriber.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
82 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 wherein for an adjustment of time associated with a commercial insertion: each subscriber system (116, 120) is provided with a mixer (162) for effecting a change-over operation between a video signal of a program buffer (161) and a video signal of a commercial buffer (160); and said main control unit (106, 118) in said broadcast station (115, 117) includes therein an access sequence table (155) for controlling an access sequence for each subscriber.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
89 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 wherein in a free area of a motion picture frame or a still picture frame, there are recorded particular coordinates in an image and a command associated therewith such that data of the coordinates and the command are transferred, in a playback operation, to a visual command memory (150) disposed as a content addressable memory so that setting a cursor to said coordinates and instructing an execution of the command effects reading out the command from the content addressable memory.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 further including a remote controller (135) for effecting a remote control of said each subscriber system, said remote controller (135) having a tablet (136) for controlling a cursor.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) further includes a data base (127) in which, for each program of said motion picture program data base, a short version of said each program is stored.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 6 wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) further includes a data base (129) for recording therein, for each program of said motion picture program data base and the short version of said each program, titles of said program and said short version.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 4 further including means for storing, through a down load operation, pointers to access title coordinates on a screen, a pertinent short version, and a motion picture in said visual command memory (150) such that when the cursor is operated to point to a desired title, the short version and the program are accessed.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
72 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 8 further including a 2-port cache memory (166) and control means (167, 168) thereof, said cache memory (166) being disposed, for a high-speed preview of short versions, to store beforehand therein, through a down load operation, data of short versions in the neighborhood of the short version which is read out from the short version data base (127) and which is being currently previewed.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
78 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 8 wherein a terminal control unit (124) of the subscriber system includes a playback control function, said playback control function being employed to effect a remote control of a fast feed, a normal playback, a slow playback, a still picture display, a slow rewind, and a normal rewind on the short version data base (127) and on the motion picture program data base (102) in the broadcast station (115, 117).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
67 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) includes a video mail file (198) and a video mail control unit (199), wherein a commercial sponsor or a subscriber can register desired data in the video mail file in the broadcast station so as to deliver the data to a specified subscriber or to display the data for a general use.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
93 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said subscriber systems (116, 120) includes a video recorder (133) to record the video signal from the decoder (112), said main control unit (106, 118) being provided for transmitting an identification code of a subscriber system (116, 120) and for issuing information to be employed to descramble a control signal and broadcast data for the video recorder (133) in said subscriber system and to record program and commercial down load sequences depending on a setting effected by a subscriber.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
69 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 12 wherein in a free area of a data frame signal of said motion picture program data base (102), there is located index information indicating a number of remaining frames up to a commercial insertion such that the number can be read out therefrom so as to set a commercial playback operation to a standby state (Fig. 7-9, 11).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
67 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 12 wherein in a free area of a data frame signal of said commercial data base (131), there is located index information indicating a number of remaining frames up to a commercial termination such that the number can be read out therefrom so as to set a program playback operation to a standby state (Fig. 7-9, 11).
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
53 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 further including a channel for effecting a down load operation of a program to the subscriber system in a state where a commercial is inserted into the program depending on a commercial and program transmission sequence stored in the data base control table (134).
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 further including a channel dedicated to an operation in which down load operations of a commercial and a program are achieved in an independent fashion.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 further including a second motion picture recorder (172) dedicated to a commercial on a side of the subscriber system (120).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
51 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 further including a channel dedicated to down-link information so as to deliver therethrough a packet comprising an identification code of a subscriber terminal (111, 116, 120), a control signal of an image recorder in the terminal, and descramble information of broadcast data.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 18 further including means for cryptographically encoding the down-link control information packet such that the packet can be decoded only by a subscriber terminal (111, 116, 120) associated with the identification code.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 18 further including a dedicated channel for a desired program and desired commercial environment setting information to be transferred to the broadcast station (115, 117).
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
22 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 20 wherein said channel is of a carrier sense multiple access/collision detect (CSMA/CD) system.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
51 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 wherein when a desired program and desired commercial environment setting information is transferred to the broadcast station (115, 117), the broadcast station achieves a polling on each said terminal such that a terminal thus polled transmits setting information to the broadcast station.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
109 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 wherein in a free area of a motion picture frame or a still picture frame, there are recorded particular coordinates in an image and a command associated therewith such that data of the coordinates and the command are transferred, in a playback operation, to a visual command memory (150) disposed as a content addressable memory so that setting a cursor to said coordinates and instructing an execution of the command effects reading out the command from the content addressable memory (150) so as to execute the command and to initiate a graphic processor (141) in the subscriber system (116, 120).
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
81 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 4 or 23 wherein in a case where data associated with input cursor coordinates is missing in the content addressable memory (150), a 2-dimensional bit map memory storing therein an image data area is accessed such that when the cursor coordinates relate to image data, a 3-dimensional rotation program is initiated so as to effect a computation of a rotation of a 3-dimensional object depending on a movement of the cursor (Fig. 34).
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
63 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 23 including a remote controller (135) for effecting a remote control on a terminal having a ten key unit for selecting a television channel or a cable television channel and keys for controlling a motion picture recorder and a still picture recorder, said remote controller being provided with a tablet (136) for controlling a cursor.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
50 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 5 or 25 wherein: depending on a direction in which a finger moves on said tablet (136), a direction of a movement of the cursor is determined; and depending on a pressure of the finger, an initiation of a command is judged.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 23 further including a terminal control unit (124) for setting, while the command is being executed, the video recorder (133) to a standby state.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
59 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 23 wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) includes a support information data base and a support information transmitter such that when a help key is depressed on the television monitor, an explanation text and/or an explanation voice is/are transmitted from the broadcast station at the same time (Fig. 37).
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
72 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 23 wherein said broadcast station and said subscriber system each is provided with an operator's terminal and voice transmit means such that when an operator help key is depressed on the television monitor an operator in the broadcast station is called so as to interactively receive an explanation about selection branches, said terminal being charged depending on a connection period of time.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
123 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 further including means for preparing a channel without a commercial and a channel having a commercial field of a predetermined period of time for programs requiring a realtime feature such a news program, a sport program, an event program, and a weather forecast program such that a commercial which is supplied by use of the commercial channel and which conforms to a commercial setting environment of a subscriber is stored, through a down load operation by use of a separate commercial dedicated line, in a video recorder (172) or a motion picture recorder dedicated to a commercial in each subscriber system (116, 120) so as to insert the commercial into the commercial time field.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
32 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 12 wherein said subscriber system (116, 120) includes a mixer (162, 174) for displaying a program and a commercial on a screen.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
28 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 31 wherein a mixing of said mixer (162, 174) is indicated by an index in data of a commercial frame.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
61 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 further including a standby frame for correctly setting a down load start timing of a program or a commercial, said standby frame including index information representing the number of remaining frames from a point of several hundred frames before the data down load start to a point of the down load start.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
102 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 12 wherein a commercial environment is selectable from seven kinds of enironments including (1) without a commercial, (2) a commercial between programs and a selective commercial type, (3) a commercial between programs and without a selective commercial type, (4) a commercial in a program and a selective commercial type, (5) a commercial in a program and without a selective commercial type, (6) a commercial broadcast, and (7) a commercial retrieval, wherein a charge computation is achieved so as to reduce a charged amount as the item number of the environment is increased.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
48 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 12 further including a traffic monitor/channel exchange control unit (100) and a channel exchanger (179) for monitoring a traffic of a realtime broadcast and a down load broadcast so as to effect an optimal allocation of dedicated channels.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
41 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 1 or 12 wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) includes an external communication port for transferring a request issued from a subscriber to organizations such as a financial facility and/or a sales agent.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
120 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to Claim 12 wherein a commercial sponsor or a subscriber is able to once register registration data in a video mail file (198) being subjected to a broadcast to a motion picture recorder (133) or a still picture recorder in a terminal of the commercial sponsor or the subscriber (120) such that the registration data thus registered is sequentially fed, through an up load operation, to the broadcast station (115, 117) so as to be stored in a data base by means of the main control unit (106, 118) and a video mail control unit (199) of the broadcast station (115, 117) and the terminal control unit (113) of the subscriber system (116, 120).
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
68 words
A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system according to any of claims 1 to 37, wherein said broadcast station (115, 117) further includes an image encoder (107) for achieving a band width compression of the data to be transmitted, a cell assembler (108) for generating cells of the data to be transmitted, and an asynchronous transfer mode exchange means (109) for delivering the cells to said transmission lines (5, 19).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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