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EP1098534A2
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An interactive television system
Assignee: ACTV Inc
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Filing: 1996-05-17
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-05-17
Abstract
Abstract An interactive cable television system utilizes a standard cable television distribution network for simultaneously providing a plurality of viewers with an interactive television program comprising a plurality of signals related in time and content. Video signals (1) are transmitted in a digital format, more than one signal being multiplexed onto a data stream on a single channel. The video signals (1) may be compressed for efficiency. A receiver (7), in conjunction with a signal selector (8), selects a particular NTSC channel for playback, then selects a particular video signal from the data stream, and decompresses the video signal for playback. Seamless switching between video signals on different channels is provided. In an alternative embodiment, the various signals which comprise the interactive program are switched at the head end (300) rather than at the receiver (7). The multiple choice control unit (9) selects a desired signal by relating the multiple choice selections of the user through a relay box (17) back to a remotely located switching station. The switching station routes the correct video signal down the appropriate cable channel for the particular user.
Inventors
- 👤 Gregory W. Harper
- 👤 Michael J. Freeman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 12:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04H; H04H20/00; H04H20/28; H04H20/30; G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/40; H04H20/10; H04H20/103; H04H20/106; H04H20/38; H04H60/00; H04H60/29; H04H60/33; H04N; H04N11/00; H04N11/04; H04N11/042; H04N21/00; H04N21/20; H04N21/23; H04N21/234; H04N21/23424; H04N21/236; H04N21/2365; H04N21/40; H04N21/41; H04N21/426; H04N21/42607; H04N21/4263; H04N21/43; H04N21/434; H04N21/4347; H04N21/438; H04N21/4383; H04N21/4384; H04N21/44; H04N21/44004; H04N21/44016; H04N21/45; H04N21/4508; H04N21/4532; H04N21/454; H04N21/60; H04N21/63; H04N21/643; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/812; H04N7/00; H04N7/08; H04N7/0806; H04N7/087; H04N7/088; H04N7/0882; H04N7/10; H04N7/16; H04N7/173; H04N7/17309; H04N7/17318; H04N7/17345; H04N7/17354; H04H20/65; H04H20/76; H04H20/77; H04H20/81; H04H20/86; H04H20/95; H04N5/00; H04N5/44
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
180 words
An interactive television reception system (7, 17, 232, 234, 236) for
receiving interactive television programming, the interactive television
programming comprising one or more interactive television program signals
placed at one or more communication frequencies, each interactive television
program signal comprising a data stream containing a plurality of digitally
compressed video signals, the reception system comprising: a user interface (9, 130) for receiving subscriber selections; a microprocessor (108), connected to the user interface (9, 130), for
selecting one of the video signals and directing a seamless switch to the
selected video signal; a multi-frequency receiver (7), for tuning to one or more frequencies and
demodulating an interactive television program signal on the tuned-to frequency; means for demultiplexing (106) the demodulated interactive television
program signal to obtain a selected video signal; a memory for storing (120, 190) the selected video signal; and a decompressor/decoder (110) for decompressing the selected video
signal and converting the decompressed video signal into an analog television
signal; means for displaying (10) the selected video signal; and wherein subscribers are enabled to independently select said interactive
television programming.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
101 words
A reception system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said memory (190) is
connected to the demultiplexing means for storing the demultiplexed video
signals, and the memory contains a pointer under microprocessor control which
identifies the memory contents to be output; wherein the decompressor/decoder (110) is connected to the memory for
decompressing the stored video signals; the reception system further comprising: an RF encoder (170), connected to the decompressor/decoder, for
encoding the converted video signals into standard video broadcast signals; and synchronizing means (140, 170) for generating synchronization pulses; and wherein said display means is connected to the RF encoder (170).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
68 words
A reception system as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the memory
is a buffer, and the microprocessor monitors the contents of the buffer to
determine the identity of the stored video signals, and wherein the memory
contains a pointer which is positioned at the selected video signal only when
there is enough stored information to enable the decompression and decoding of
the selected video signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
A reception system as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein one of
the digital video signals contains a standard broadcast signal of an event.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
A reception system as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein one of
the digital video signals contains a close-up view of an event.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
A reception system as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein one of
the digital video signals contains a continuously updated view of event
highlights.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
A reception system as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein one of
the digital video signals contains statistical information.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
184 words
A method of receiving an interactive television program, where the
interactive program is comprised of one or more interactive program signals
located on one or more communication frequencies, wherein the interactive
program signals comprise digitally compressed video signals containing video
and command information, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an interactive program signal (7); demultiplexing (106) the received interactive program signal to obtain
digitally compressed video signals; storing (190) the digitally compressed video signals in at least one
memory; decompressing (110) the demultiplexed digitally compressed video
signals to obtain the command information; receiving user inputs (130) relating to interactive program choices; and processing (108) the command information and the received user inputs
to obtain a selected video signal; determining a switch time (130, 140) when the current video signals may
be seamlessly replaced with the selected video signal; switching (8) at the switch time, to a memory output for the selected video
signal so that the selected video signal is output and a seamless switch from the
current video signals to the selected video signal results; and displaying (10) the selected video signal.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
190 words
A method of receiving an interactive television program, where the
interactive program is comprised of one or more interactive program signals
located on one or more communication frequencies, wherein the interactive
program signals comprise digitally compressed video signals containing video
and command information, the method comprising the steps of: receiving one or more interactive selections (130) from a user; receiving an interactive program signal (7); demultiplexing (106) the received interactive program signal to obtain a
compressed video signal; storing the compressed video signal in a memory (190); outputting contents of the memory at a location indicated by a memory
pointer, wherein the pointer successively points from older stored memory
contents to the more recently stored memory contents; decompressing and decoding (110) the memory output in a
decompressor/decoder to obtain a selected video signal, the
decompressor/decoder requiring a predetermined number of video signals
before the step of decompressing and decoding may begin; RF encoding (170) the selected video signal to obtain a standard video
broadcast signal; controlling (108) the memory, memory pointer, RF demodulator (170),
and demultiplexer to seamlessly switch between video signals; and displaying (10) the standard video broadcast signal.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
61 words
A method as claimed in Claim 9, further comprising the steps of: managing the memory contents, comprising the steps of: buffering the memory so that the contents of the memory shift to
overwrite the memory location that was most recently output; altering filling and emptying rates of the buffering step so that the
pointer may be reset to a predetermined location.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
173 words
An interactive television system comprising: means for receiving user selections (130, 232); means for receiving digitally compressed interactive television
programming (232), the interactive television programming comprising a plurality
of video signals related in time and content; means, connected to the receiving means, for providing selected video
signals, the selected video signals based on the user selections; a memory (190, 160), connected to the providing means, for storing the
selected video signals; means (160), connected to the memory means, for outputting an analog
video signal based on the memory contents; synchronization means (140, 150), connected to the outputting means, for
synchronizing the analog video signal; means, connected to the synchronization means, for encoding (170) the
synchronized analog video signal into a format compatible with a television
display; processor means (108), connected to the memory means, for controlling
the output of the memory so that the memory seamlessly switches between
selected video signals; and wherein the encoded signal is related to the user's selections and the
user may interactively and seamlessly switch between video signals.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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