US6108706A — Transmission announcement system and method for a…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 114 words

A transmission announcement system for announcing upcoming transmissions to be delivered over a broadcast network, comprising: a server and a client; the server being configured to create announcements containing information pertaining to upcoming transmissions to be delivered over the broadcast network and to make the announcements over a secondary link to the s client that is separate from the broadcast network; and the client being configured to receive the announcements from the secondary link and filter the announcements received from the server using at least one filter automatically created at the client from user behavior patterns, the filter parsing the announcements to determine whether the announcements match predefined expressions or satisfy a predefined rule.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 114 words

A transmission announcement system for announcing upcoming transmissions to be delivered over a broadcast network, comprising: a server and a client; the server being configured to create announcements containing information pertaining to upcoming transmissions to be delivered over the broadcast network and to make the announcements over a secondary link to the s client that is separate from the broadcast network; and the client being configured to receive the announcements from the secondary link and filter the announcements received from the server using at least one filter automatically created at the client from user behavior patterns, the filter parsing the announcements to determine whether the announcements match predefined expressions or satisfy a predefined rule.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 23 words

A transmission announcement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the announcements contain information which enable the client to locate the broadcast transmission.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 45 words

A transmission announcement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the transmissions are broadcast over the broadcast network according to the information contained in the announcements, the client being configured to receive the transmission from the broadcast network using the information contained in the announcements.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 123 words

In a system having a broadcast network over which data transmissions served by a server are broadcast to multiple clients, each client and server having a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable media on the server and at least one client hang computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating announcements, at the server, containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network, the announcements being made available to the clients via means other than other than the broadcast network; automatically creating a filter from user behavior patterns; filtering, at the client, the announcements received from the server using the filter; and using the announcements, at the client to prepare the client to receive at least one of the transmissions.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 123 words

In a system having a broadcast network over which data transmissions served by a server are broadcast to multiple clients, each client and server having a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable media on the server and at least one client hang computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating announcements, at the server, containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network, the announcements being made available to the clients via means other than other than the broadcast network; automatically creating a filter from user behavior patterns; filtering, at the client, the announcements received from the server using the filter; and using the announcements, at the client to prepare the client to receive at least one of the transmissions.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 35 words

Computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions as recited in claim 4, further comprising computer-executable instructions to create the announcements as including a broadcast protocol specifying a format in which the associated transmissions are to be broadcast.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 116 words

In a system having a broadcast network over which data transmissions served by a server are broadcast to multiple clients, each client and server having a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable media on the server and at least one client having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating announcements, at the server, containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network, the announcements being made available to the clients; automatically creating an announcement filter based upon user behavior patterns; filtering the announcements using the announcement filter to selectively choose certain ones of the announcements; and using the announcements to prepare the client to receive the certain ones of is the transmissions.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 116 words

In a system having a broadcast network over which data transmissions served by a server are broadcast to multiple clients, each client and server having a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable media on the server and at least one client having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating announcements, at the server, containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network, the announcements being made available to the clients; automatically creating an announcement filter based upon user behavior patterns; filtering the announcements using the announcement filter to selectively choose certain ones of the announcements; and using the announcements to prepare the client to receive the certain ones of is the transmissions.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 126 words

In a system having a broadcast network over which data transmissions served by a server are broadcast to multiple clients, each client and server having a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable media on the server and at least one client having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating announcements, at the server, containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network, the announcements being made available to the clients; filtering the announcements using an announcement filter that is automatically created based upon user behavior patterns: using the filtered announcements to prepare the client to receive the certain ones of the transmissions; and launching a software application at the client to receive said certain ones of the transmissions from the broadcast network.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 126 words

In a system having a broadcast network over which data transmissions served by a server are broadcast to multiple clients, each client and server having a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable media on the server and at least one client having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating announcements, at the server, containing information specifying how associated upcoming transmissions are to be delivered over the broadcast network, the announcements being made available to the clients; filtering the announcements using an announcement filter that is automatically created based upon user behavior patterns: using the filtered announcements to prepare the client to receive the certain ones of the transmissions; and launching a software application at the client to receive said certain ones of the transmissions from the broadcast network.

Claim 12

Independent Claim 78 words

A method for announcing delivery of upcoming data transmissions over a broadcast network, comprising the following steps: multicasting announcements containing information pertaining to the upcoming data transmissions; automatically creating an announcement filter based upon user behavior patterns; filtering the announcements using the announcement filter: parsing each announcement using Regular Expression Parsing; and preparing to receive at least one of tie upcoming transmissions from the broadcast network based upon the information contained in an announcement tat survives the filtering.

Claim 13

Independent Claim 78 words

A method for announcing delivery of upcoming data transmissions over a broadcast network, comprising the following steps: multicasting announcements containing information pertaining to the upcoming data transmissions; automatically creating an announcement filter based upon user behavior patterns; filtering the announcements using the announcement filter: parsing each announcement using Regular Expression Parsing; and preparing to receive at least one of tie upcoming transmissions from the broadcast network based upon the information contained in an announcement tat survives the filtering.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 31 words

A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the step of preparing comprises the step of launching a software application to receive said at least one transmission from the broadcast network.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 33 words

A method as recited in claim 8, further comprising the step of transmitting said at least one transmission over the broadcast network and receiving said at least one transmission from the broadcast network.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 17 words

Computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of the method as recited in claim 8.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 14 words

Computers programmed to perform the steps of the method as recited in claim 8.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 90 words

In a system where transmissions are broadcast over a broadcast network and announcements of the transmissions are made available prior to the broadcasts, a method for handling one of the announcements comprising the following steps: automatically defining criteria based upon user behavior; comparing the announcement with the criteria; in an event that the announcement complies with the criteria, searching the announcement for information specifying how to receive the transmission over the broadcast network; and using the information from the announcement to prepare to receive the transmission over the broadcast network.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 90 words

In a system where transmissions are broadcast over a broadcast network and announcements of the transmissions are made available prior to the broadcasts, a method for handling one of the announcements comprising the following steps: automatically defining criteria based upon user behavior; comparing the announcement with the criteria; in an event that the announcement complies with the criteria, searching the announcement for information specifying how to receive the transmission over the broadcast network; and using the information from the announcement to prepare to receive the transmission over the broadcast network.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 22 words

A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising the step of defining the criteria according to parameters entered by a user.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 21 words

A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising the step of launching a software application to receive the broadcast transmission.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 26 words

A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising the step of tuning a broadcast receiver to a designated broadcast channel to receive the broadcast transmission.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 18 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of the method as recited in claim 13.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 15 words

A computer programmed to perform the steps of the method as recited in claim 13.

Claim 25

Independent Claim 115 words

A method for announcing delivery of upcoming data transmissions over a broadcast network, comprising the following steps: forming, at a server, announcements containing information pertaining to the upcoming data transmissions, the information including a broadcast protocol for broadcasting the transmissions; sending the announcements from the server in multicast packets to a predetermined multicast address; monitoring the multicast address from a client to receive the multicast packets containing the announcements; automatically defining a filter based upon user behavior; filtering the anouncements at the client using the filter; searching the certain announcements to extract the broadcast protocol; and using the broadcast protocol to prepare to receive upcoming transmissions associated with the certain announcements from the broadcast network.

Claim 26

Independent Claim 115 words

A method for announcing delivery of upcoming data transmissions over a broadcast network, comprising the following steps: forming, at a server, announcements containing information pertaining to the upcoming data transmissions, the information including a broadcast protocol for broadcasting the transmissions; sending the announcements from the server in multicast packets to a predetermined multicast address; monitoring the multicast address from a client to receive the multicast packets containing the announcements; automatically defining a filter based upon user behavior; filtering the anouncements at the client using the filter; searching the certain announcements to extract the broadcast protocol; and using the broadcast protocol to prepare to receive upcoming transmissions associated with the certain announcements from the broadcast network.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 18 words

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of the method as recited in claim 19.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 15 words

A computer programmed to perform the steps of the method as recited in claim 19.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 114 words

A transmission announcement system for announcing upcoming transmissions to be delivered over a broadcast network, comprising: a server and a client; the server being configured to create announcements containing information pertaining to upcoming transmissions to be delivered over the broadcast network and to make the announcements over one of the broadcast network or a secondary link to the client that is separate from the broadcast network; and the client being configured to receive and filter the announcements from the broadcast network or the secondary link using filters automatically created at the client from user behavior patterns, the filters parsing the announcements to determine whether the announcements match predefined expressions or satisfy a predefined rule.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 114 words

A transmission announcement system for announcing upcoming transmissions to be delivered over a broadcast network, comprising: a server and a client; the server being configured to create announcements containing information pertaining to upcoming transmissions to be delivered over the broadcast network and to make the announcements over one of the broadcast network or a secondary link to the client that is separate from the broadcast network; and the client being configured to receive and filter the announcements from the broadcast network or the secondary link using filters automatically created at the client from user behavior patterns, the filters parsing the announcements to determine whether the announcements match predefined expressions or satisfy a predefined rule.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2003-08-22	2004-02-21	2004-08-22	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2007-08-22	2008-02-21	2008-08-22	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2011-08-22	2012-02-21	2012-08-22	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Transmission announcement system and method for announcing upcoming data transmissions over a broadcast network

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