KR20020036967A - Television program guide - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a television program schedule guidance system for transmitting data to a set top box using the terminal frequency (18). The present invention also relates to a television program schedule guide for displaying a scoring status of an ongoing sporting event.

Description

Television Program Guide {TELEVISION PROGRAM GUIDE}

There are several known systems that control the operation of televisions and video recorders and provide information on television screens. One of the prototypes of information displayed to the viewer is programming information including current program information as well as future program information. Viewers often need access to current and future schedule information and require the appropriate television directory to be published in newspapers or weekly magazines.

Over the years, users have had considerable difficulty programming video recorders. Recently, a system has been developed that simplifies the recording process so that the user is easy to program. However, such a system (eg, a VCR system) needs to store a list of programs in some other source before the user can program the VCR for recording. If the program listing contains code information (called "plus code"), the user programs the VCR using a depress key on the VCR's infrared remote control device in a pattern determined by the code information. . The code information identifies the channel, broadcast time, and program show time that the user wants to record. This should be done for each program to be recorded, for example for a weekly episode.

In many known systems that provide programming information to a user, the programming information is loaded periodically. However, television stations often change the program to be broadcast and there is no way to update the system, such as minor programming changes that have passed. Therefore, if a user has a plan to watch programming information on a television and set up a recorder to record a program or watch a program at a certain time, but the broadcaster changes the programming information, the wrong program will be recorded and the user may want to watch it. You cannot watch program to say.

In another system, called "Starsight", television stations broadcast television programs, especially in part of a television signal called a "vertical blanking interval", in an interlaced manner. Can be. When the information is displayed, it can be selected as a program for viewing or recording by moving the highlight cursor to the program title on the display and pressing a button on the remote control. However, it is not economical to obtain information in the vertical blanking intervals of all the transmitted channels, so such a system cannot receive information updates while watching a channel other than the channel carrying the information.

The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling the broadcasting and recording of television programs and for distributing information displayed on a television screen.

1 is a block diagram of a wide area system for transmitting broadcast information of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a pager terminal used in the system shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram of set-top box components used in the system and processor of the present invention for providing information and controlling the operation of a television and associated external devices.

4 is a circuit diagram of an RF receiver used in the set top box shown in FIG.

FIG. 5A is a circuit diagram of the data deserialization module 74 shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5B is a circuit diagram of another embodiment of the comparator operation used in the data deserialization module shown in FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of the bit sampling module shown in FIG. 5A.

7A and 7B are representative diagrams of signal samples processed by the bit sampling module of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 8 is another representative diagram of signal samples processed by the bit sampling module shown in FIG. 5A.

9 is a flow diagram of the operation of a CPU of the present invention to provide task scheduling and communication facilities to a system.

10 is a functional diagram of information processed by the system of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a data representative diagram of the data record transmitted by the system of the present invention.

12 illustrates data flow in certain applications of the systems and methods of the present invention.

13 is a block diagram illustrating the relationship between various functional elements of the system and processor of the present invention used to display information on a television screen.

Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating the steps associated with memory requested by the system and method of the present invention.

15 is a functional diagram of a remote controller used in the system of the present invention.

16 is a representative view of a main screen display generated by the system of the present invention.

17 is a representative view of a navigation screen generated by the system of the present invention.

18 is a representative view of a program guide screen generated by the system of the present invention.

19 is a representative view of a sports ticket screen generated by the system of the present invention.

20 is a representative view of a news screen generated by the system of the present invention.

21 is a flowchart of an automatic recording processing step used by the system of the present invention.

22 is a flow chart of the steps used by the system of the present invention to implement the " recording " advertisement avoidance feature.

23 is a flowchart of steps used by the system of the present invention to implement a " viewing " advertisement avoidance feature.

24 is a block diagram of components of an advertisement avoidance system of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram of the advertisement monitoring center shown in FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is a diagram of another embodiment of the advertisement monitoring center shown in FIG.

27 is a diagram of components used by the system of the present invention to process remotely generated commands.

The present invention provides new and improved systems and methods for controlling the recording of broadcasts and television programs and for distributing displayed information on television screens.

In summary, the new system includes a central broadcast computer that receives television schedules, programming, news, sports and other information from various sources. The central broadcasting computer transmits this information over a wide area network to a plurality of radio transmitters covering the United States and the wide area. The transmitter uses the registered nationwide pager frequency to send the information to individual set-top boxes deployed in homes and businesses. Each set top box includes a CPU and a storage device. The broadcast information is processed by the CPU and stored in the storage device until the user accesses it.

Each set-top box is configured to allow a user to use a single, ergonomically designed user control device, such as an IR remote control that controls televisions and external devices such as VCRs, video disc players, cable decoders and antennas. The user can display the broadcast information on the television in a variety of easy-to-understand forms using the user adjustment device. Among these displays are channels and times, news headlines and articles, and a grid of television and cable programming that combines the latest sport scores and highlights. The user can program the VCR to change the channel to the desired program or to record a predetermined program by selecting an option different from the program on this screen. The user can select a different menu option to have the television silently or switch to another channel while advertising, or to skip advertising when recording a program.

In a preferred embodiment, the RF transmitter broadcasts information using a national pager bandwidth around 931 MHz. The information is encoded using several known protocols, such as the POCSAG protocol or the Motorola FLEX protocol. The system includes a unique way of reducing noise and translating broadcast data in this format.

The foregoing and related objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A. Transport Network

1 shows a wide area TV information transmission and use system 5 according to the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 5 includes an information transmission subsystem 6 that transmits television schedule information and other information, which will be described later, to a plurality of user locations 7. Each user location 7 includes a conventional TV receiver, including a conventional video cassette recorder (VCR), and a user device that receives and uses TV schedule information and other information with the user's input, As described later, it controls the TV receiver and VCR.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information transmission subsystem 6 includes a central information broadcast computer 10, which includes TV schedule information, TV episodes, news, sports, weather, and other information. Any commands and systems used by the system from various external sources of information 12, i.e. third parties, vendors, other parts of the subsystem 7 and internal databases, as well as [generally referred to as "miscellaneous information"). Receive information (commonly referred to as "system information"). The broadcast computer 10 stores this schedule information, other information and system information in its own database 14 and via a wide area network (“WAN”) 16 to a plurality of pager terminals 18 (in the manner described below). ) Electrically transmit periodically. In a preferred embodiment, wide area network 16 is a conventional commercial frame relay digital data transmission network that transmits data using conventional TCP / IP communication protocols.

According to FIG. 2, each pager terminal 18 comprises a computer 20 connected to a WAN. Computer 20 is connected to transducer 22, which converts information received in conventional digital form from WAN 16 into a radio frequency (RF) signal for wireless transmission. The transducer 22 is connected to the high power RF transmitter 24, which broadcasts information from the terminal 18 in the form of an analog radio pager signal at the 931 MHz frequency. The 931 MHz frequency here is the frequency band designated for the pager by the Federal Communications Commission. In a preferred embodiment, one hundred pager terminals are used to cover the entire continental United States. The information sent to each pager terminal, in particular the schedule information, is tailored to reflect the exact data (program list, time, etc.) for the area covered by the terminal. The broadcast computer 10 retrieves schedule information, other information and system information. It is preferable to transmit to the terminal 18, and the pager terminal 18 preferably provides the information to the user location 7 at night when the pager frequency band is low in use. The pager terminal 18 provides its information using many known call transfer protocols, including POCSAG or Motorola FLEX protocols.

B. User Location (7)

Referring again to FIG. 1, as mentioned above, the information transmission subsystem 6 provides schedule information, other information and system information to the user location 7 via the pager terminal 18. Each user location 7 includes a user device (here settop box 30), a conventional TV receiver 32, and may also include a conventional VCR (not shown). The set top box 30 receives schedule information, other information and system information, generates an information display using the schedule information and other information in particular and supplies it to the TV receiver 32 at the user location 7. In addition, using the user control device 50 (see FIG. 3) such as a remote control device, the user provides the user information to control the set top box 30, thereby also controlling the TV receiver 32, For example, you can switch channels, display programs at scheduled times, and make it easier for the VCR to record certain programs. For example, the set-top box 30 receives and stores user information related to the broadcasting of a specific program to be broadcast at a specific time, and generates a corresponding infrared control signal received by a remote control infrared detector of a TV receiver at an appropriate time. Turn on the television (if it's off), turn the channel, and watch the program. At the end of the program, the set top box 30 allows the TV set 32 to turn to another program or stay on the same channel (if the user is able to do so) or turn off by itself. In addition, the set-top box 30 receives and stores user information related to recording of a specific program broadcast at a specific time, and generates a corresponding infrared signal to be received by the remote control infrared detector of the VCR so that the VCR can be programmed to record. will be. The set top box 30 also allows the VCR to play back recordings on the TV receiver 32 at a selected time.

3 shows a functional block diagram of the set top box 30 suitable for the user location 7. Referring to FIG. 3, each set top box 30 includes an RF receiver 34 tuned at 931 MHz to receive schedule information, other information, and system information. RF receiver 34 includes, in one embodiment, a conventional receiver used in a conventional calling device, which converts this schedule information, other information and system information from analog to digital, and converts the schedule information and system information in digital form. The bus 38 supplies the central processing unit ("CPU") 36 embedded in the set top box 30. In a preferred embodiment, the CPU 36 is a standard 16-bit microprocessor and, according to one embodiment, includes the Motorola MC 68000 microprocessor family. The CPU 36 processes digital schedule information and system information and stores it in the memory 38. According to one embodiment, the memory 38 includes a battery-implemented battery implemented in a conventional random access memory (RAM) chip. backed) RAM. The set top box 30 also includes an EEPROM 40 that stores device information such as serial number, subscription information, and specific installation information provided during installation of the box 30, as described below. The set top box 30 also includes a read-only memory (ROM) 42 containing a program to control the CPU 36. In one embodiment, ROM 42 provides an 8-bit word, and latch and state device 44 enables ROM 42 to communicate with CPU 36 to emulate 16-bit devices.

The user adjustment device 50 is, according to one embodiment, a battery powered infrared remote control device (IR remote) and generates a low power, wide angle infrared ray 52. The infrared ray 52 is modulated in response to an input provided by the user to provide the user information in the form of a user command to the set top box 30. The infrared ray 52 is detected by the IR decoder 54 built in the set top box 30, and the received infrared signal is converted into a digital signal and processed by the CPU 36.

An RF switch 58 is provided so that the set top box 30 can generate an RF signal to be displayed on the TV receiver 32. The RF signal allows the system 5 to show the information to the user by allowing the video receiver to video show the schedule and other information provided by the information transmission subsystem 6. The RF switch is connected to the set top box 30 via a cable 56 and connected to an external device 64 (eg, VCR, video disc player, cable decoder or TV antenna) to receive a signal, and coaxial cable 66 The signal is supplied to the television 32 through the TV. If the set top box 30 does not provide an RF signal to the RF switch 58, the RF switch 58 will send a signal provided by the external device 64 to the television 32. Conversely, if the set top box 30 is providing an RF signal to the RF switch 58, the RF switch 58 blocks the signal provided by the external device 64 and displays the signal supplied by the set top box 30 to the television. Will send to 32. When the set top box 30 is supplying an RF signal to the TV receiver 32 via the RF switch 58, it will simultaneously generate the corresponding infrared control signal, which is then sent to the remote control infrared signal detector of the TV receiver. Is received and the television will turn to that channel to broadcast the RF signal generated by it (set-top box 30).

As mentioned above, the set top box 30 may also use the infrared control signal to control the TV receiver 32 and the VCR as well as other external devices 64. The infrared control signal is provided by an infrared output terminal ("IR output") 60. The IR output 60 generates an infrared signal with a range of frequencies, duty cycles, and bit-cell times based on instructions from the CPU 36 to emulate most commercial consumer remote controls, as described below.

In one embodiment, the system 5 operates as follows. Day and night, the information transmission subsystem 6 transmits updated schedule information, other information and system information, and the RF receiver 34 of the set top box 30 receives it and stores it in the memory 38. While the television 32 is on, the user can send a command directly to the set top box 30 using the user control device 50. Some commands allow the set top box 30 to broadcast schedule information and other information to the TV receiver 32 via the RF switch 58. While schedule information and other information are being broadcasted on the television 32, signals and programs from the external device 64 are blocked by the RF switch 58. When schedule information and system information are coming out of the television 32, the set top box 30 is said to be in the "display mode". The user adjusting device 50 allows the user to broadcast certain schedule information and system information to the television. Based on the user's choice, the set-top box 30 uses the IR input 60 to send a channel switch, program play or record command to the television 32 or an external device 64 or to send the command to the memory 38. Can be saved to, or sent later. In another "TV mode", the user can view this on a television by using the user control device 50 to control the external device 64 to supply a broadcast or recorded program.

C. Deserialization of RF Receiver 34 and Data

4 shows a functional block diagram of an RF receiver 34 useful for a set top box 30. As described above, this RF receiver 34 receives schedule information, other information and system information broadcast by the information transmission subsystem 6. Referring to FIG. 4, in one embodiment of the present invention, the RF receiver 34 includes a tuned RF receiver 70 that can be tuned within the range of 931 MHz to approximately 2 MHz. Wide area This frequency range was chosen because it corresponds to the frequency used by the national pager network and the local pager network. The tuned RF receiver 70 is also coupled to a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) 80 coupled to the CPU 36. This RSSI 80 determines the relative strength of the signal received by the tuned RF receiver 70. This relative signal strength data enables this CPU 36 during initialization to help the user install the set-top box 30 so that the information transmission subsystem 6 with the appropriate signal strength as described below. Allows the user to position the set top box 30 at a location from which signal can be received.

The tuning RF receiver 70 is also connected to a demodulator 72 which converts the received analog signal into a two-level or four-level analog signal according to the paging protocol used by the subsystem 6 without blocking. In one embodiment of the invention in which the information transmission subsystem 6 can broadcast information in the POCSAG or FLEX transport protocol, the demodulator 72 first assumes that the information transmission subsystem 6 uses the POCSAG protocol. Decrypt information If demodulator 72 determines that it is unable to identify the appropriate code word in the broadcast information, assuming that information transmission subsystem 6 utilizes the FLEX protocol, demodulator 72 obtains broadcast information for a good FLEX packet as possible. It searches and decodes this broadcast information. When demodulator 72 identifies the appropriate protocol, the demodulator 72 generates an analog signal in response to the received signal, which in turn converts the analog signal into a digital signal and provides the signal to the CPU 36. Is supplied to the data deserialization module 74.

It will be appreciated that the data of the information received by the set top box is generally sent in serial form, and the data deserialization module 74 deserializes this data to form parallel word data. As shown in FIG. 5A, the data deserialization module 74 receives an analog signal from a demodulator 72 and converts it to a typical transistor-transistor logic (TTL) voltage level (A / D converter). It contains (78). This A / D converter 78 then sends this digital signal to comparator 82. Comparator 82 compares each digital signal with one or more thresholds, and generates one or more digital output signals in accordance with the comparison result. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 5A, the comparator 82 compares the input signal with three threshold values (specified as thresholds 1, 2 and 3), according to the following table [MSB 86 and LSB]. Generate two output voltages.

The threshold voltage of the comparator 82 is set by the CPU 36 during setup by measuring the input value while the received signal is high and obtaining a statistical value for the generated digital value. This threshold voltage can be adjusted by the CPU 36 in accordance with the change in the statistical value resulting from this change, such that the module 74 compensates for the voltage draft of the demodulator 72 due to temperature or other environmental changes. The temperature measuring device 84 is connected to the CPU 36.

In another embodiment of the data deserialization apparatus shown in FIG. 5B, the comparator 82 compares the signal with only one threshold to produce a one bit output signal. This embodiment is mainly useful for example in connection with the Motorola FLEX protocol. Using one threshold instead of three thresholds creates a wide voltage gap between different signal levels, allowing more noise to be removed than embodiments using three thresholds. However, less information is transmitted during the same time by a signal having two values rather than a signal having four possible values.

Referring again to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A, to eliminate any noise related error, comparator 82 compares its input signal with a threshold voltage several times during the "bit cell period". This " bit cell period " consists of one unit consisting of schedule information and system information (including one or two information bits depending on the number of voltage thresholds used by the comparator 82). The time window broadcast by. In one embodiment of the present invention, comparator 82 performs eight voltage comparisons during each bit cell period. In addition, since the analog signal received by the RF receiver 34 does not include clock information, the CPU 36 allows the phase of the input signal to coincide with the bit cell period of the comparator 82. The time interval between comparison operations is controlled by the clock signal output from the modulo-8 counter 96 connected to the comparator 82 and the CPU 36. For example, in FIG. 7A, the input signal indicates that the comparison operation coincides with the input signal. That is, the comparator performs all comparison operations while the input signal represents a single data bit. In this case, comparator 82 is in phase with the input signal. On the other hand, in FIG. 7B, the input signal is a data bit conversion during the bit cell period, i.e., the first three comparison operations (0, 1 and 2) are performed during the data bit having a low value, and the last five comparison operations (3 to 7). Shows what is done during the data bits with high values. The system 5 prevents the situation shown in Fig. 7B from occurring while broadcasting the information. This action consists of predefined data bits, such as a series of signals representing "0" in binary in the upstream signal at the beginning and end of each series of data segments, followed by a series of signals representing "1" in binary. This is done by including a sequence of. This sequence can be used by the CPU 36 so that the bit cell period can match the phase of the transmitted data. As shown in Fig. 7B, when the CPU 36 detects that the signal value has changed during the bit cell period, the value of the modulo-8 counter 96 is increased by one so that the sample window of Fig. 7B is actually moved to the left. This procedure is repeated until the bit cell period approximately corresponds to the beginning and end of the received information segment.

By the CPU 36, during normal operation after the phase of the comparator 82 coincides with the bit cell period of the received signal, wireless transmission noise prevents accurate interpretation of schedule information, other information, and system information. As shown in FIG. 8 indicating that noise is present in the received signal, an output value of six of the eight comparison operations performed by the comparator 82 during the illustrated bit cell period is " 00 " (MSB-LSB combination) While the other two have an output value of "01". To determine which of these outputs, the next step in interpreting the data, the bit sampling modules 90 and 92 are used. Bit sampling module 90 receives MSB 86 as input, while bit sampling module 92 receives LSB 88 as input.

The bit sampling modules 90 and 92 determine the values for the most significant bit and the least significant bit, respectively, based on the number of comparisons by the comparator 82 during the bit cell period rising to each bit value. That is, when the comparison value generated by the comparator 82 is identified as "0" during the bit cell period through the third comparison operation for the most significant bit representing the value of "1", the bit sampling is performed. Module 90 assumes the value for the most significant bit as " 0 ". On the other hand, when the value through the fourth to seventh comparison operations for the most significant bit indicates "1", the bit sampling module 90 considers the value for the most significant bit as "1". This bit sampling module 92 operates the same with respect to the least significant bit.

More specifically, the logical operation for bit sampling module 90 is shown in FIG. The bit sampling module 92 operates in a similar manner and will not be described in detail. The most significant bit signal output from the comparator 82 is transmitted to the 3-bit counter 100 via line 86. Each time the most significant bit signal is identified as "1", the value of the counter 100 is incremented by one. Each time the comparator 82 provides a new identification, it increments the value of the bit counter 108. When the value of the counter 108 reaches 8, it generates a reset signal at the end of each bit cell period. The counter 100 is reset. At the end of each bit cell period before the counter 100 is reset, the gate array 102 evaluates the state of the counter 100. If the value of the counter 100 is 000, 001, 010, or 011 (0, 1, 2, or 3), the most significant bit value is "0" as it is connected to the gate array 102 through the output terminal 104. Becomes On the other hand, if the value of the counter 100 is 100, 101, 110, or 111 (4, 5, 6, or 7), the most significant bit value is "1".

The bit sampling module 90 also generates a value that identifies the quality of the bit sample depending on how close the final value of the counter 100 is to the "ideal" or "noise" value corresponding to 0 or 7. do. In one embodiment of the invention, the gate array 102 achieves this by comparing the first two bits of the counter 100. If these two bits are different (representing a "noise" value corresponding to 2, 3, 4, or 5), the gate array 102 has an "alert" flag that can be accessed by other devices in the system. (106) is set. If the two bits are the same (representing a "clean" value with no noise corresponding to 0, 1, 6, or 7), reset the "warning" flag 106 to "0". The warning flag 106 is connected to the output terminal of the D flip-flop 109 having a data input terminal connected to the output of the gate array 102 and a clean input terminal connected to the counter 108.

Thus, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, when the bit sampling module 90 counts "0" for the most significant bit eight times and does not count "1" during the bit cell period, the output value of the most significant bit is When the bit sampling module 92 counts "0" six times and "1" twice, the output value of the least significant bit becomes "0". Since the counter 100 of each bit sampling module 90 is not 2, 3, 4 or 5, the warning flag 106 is not set to any bit representing a relatively noise free bit.

Referring to FIG. 5A, at the end of each bit cell period, the outputs of the bit sampling modules 90 and 92 are shifted in the 16-bit shift registers 110 and 112, respectively. After this 16-bit shifting operation, the modulo-16 counter 114 is reset to allow the contents of the shift registers 110 and 112 to be shifted into each of the 16-bit hold registers 120 and 122. This shifting operation sends an interrupt signal to the CPU 36 so that the CPU 36 can read the data in the hold registers 120 and 122. In another embodiment of the present invention, the value of the modulo-16 counter 114 is increased by the CPU 36 so that the phase of the sample period matches the phase of the input data as described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. do.

D. Create Video

The set top box 30 stores the video image data used for defining the video image transmitted to the TV receiver 32 in the memory 38. This video image data is retrieved from the memory 38 in a conventional manner for use in generating an RF signal transmitted to the RF switch 58.

E. Data Processing

Control flow of the system. As shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 36 operates under the control of a commercially available real-time operating kernel (in one embodiment, the Nucleus Plus kernel from Accelerated Technologies) that provides a communications facility and work schedule for the system. Information received from the RF input 34 is sent to a software queue waiting for a destination process, while IR commands from the user coordination device 50 are processed by an interrupt based driver and received by the currently active application. It is delivered to the global event queue whenever possible. In addition, some processes, such as VCR recording control, are suspended until a planned event occurs, such as starting or stopping the VCR.

Data de-interleaving. Data sent to the system in the Motorola Flex paging format is 8-way interleaving for additional noise immunity:

Data is received at the bottom of the column starting at bit A0 of the table above, followed by B0, C0, ..., A1, ..., H3. The CPU 73 has a register set consisting of eight registers that " rotate " the data 90 degrees to deinterleave the data. That is, data is loaded into these registers as follows:

When the CPU 36 reads, this data is rotated and shown as follows:

Since the CPU 36 addresses the registers and memory 38 on a byte-by-byte basis, a total of 256 bits (32-bit word 8) before the entire 8 words can be assembled. Dogs) must be read, but only one byte at a time is needed to be rotated using the method described above.

Data storage. As shown in FIG. 10, the information received from the CPU 36 includes three classes of schedule information, auxiliary information, and system information, that is, user information 150, command information 152, and system information 154. have. As shown in FIG. 11, the schedule information, assistance information, and system information received at set top box 30 includes a series of individual segments associated with classification bits 174 where each segment identifies a class of segments.

"User information" includes text information related to news, weather, sports, and other topics, as well as schedule information and supplemental information, including program title information, program schedule information, and episode description information, each of which has a plurality of subordinates. Is associated with one of the classes. As the CPU 36 recognizes, the user information is sent by the CUP 36 to one of the plurality of database writers 162 corresponding to the lower class. The database writer 162 may then write the schedule information and system information to the memory 38 in the appropriate database 164, which may later be recalled and displayed therefrom.

"Command information" includes information for generating an IR output 60 to an external device such as a TV receiver 32 or a VCR to issue a specific command, such as a command to avoid real-time commercials. The CPU 36 receives control commands in a genetic format, corresponding IR control corresponding to the user's external device in the IR library 166, which holds specifications for the user's specific device configuration. Search for code and sequences. The control command may be generated from the broadcast received by the user coordination apparatus 50 or the RF receiver 38.

"System Information" includes instruction information that automatically changes the programming of the CPU to fix software bugs and add new services or databases without user interaction. System information is generally generated in the information transmission subsystem 6.

Database output. An arrangement for retrieving information from the database using the set top box 30 is shown as an example in FIG. 12, in which the user has made a choice to view news information using the user adjustment device 50. . When the user selects "News" in the screen display, the news is optional, and the program calling the news display device 182 is called by the operating kernel 180. The news display device 182 downloads data from the news database 182 and downloads the data to the memory display list 136 based on a user command. The memory indication list 186 sends this data to the video hardware 188 for generating the RF output for transmission in video form via the RF switch 58 to display this data on the television 32.

Set the order of automatic display. The set-top box 30 enables the TV receiver 32 to order program schedule information to be displayed on the basis of channel number or channel name or alphanumeric based on user's viewing habits. Referring to FIG. 13, the channel order is determined based on the user's viewing habits. The set-top box 30 may be configured based on the amount of free viewing by viewers who watched several channels during a selected period of time. Maintain a running record for, based on, for example, a rating of a viewing time that is a function of actual viewing time during the current viewing period, such as the previous day, a previous week, and also for a viewing period before the current viewing period. Channel ordering is based on a reduction function of time. The set top box 30 also allows for ordering of other forms of information, such as news information, which allows the TV set 32 to display based on the user's viewing habits. In this operation, each item of news information is paired with one of the category numbers, and the set top box 30 keeps a class track of news information that the user watches.

The set top box 30 will also order the items of news information according to the priority value assigned by the system 5 and the age of the item.

Automatic memory recovery. Since the information in the database of the set top box is constantly updated, the set top box 30 includes a device for recovering database storage while deleting old items. Any of many conventional memory recovery methods can be used to select existing memory space to overwrite new data. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14, if an application or database management tool needs memory for storing schedules and system information, the kernel initiates a " memory request " If not enough free memory is available, each application is invoked with a "automatic memory recovery" request that executes a "clear routine" to free up low priority memory entries. In one particular embodiment, memory recovery is realized in three ways:

(1) Some database items are tagged with a particular "data type identifier", (or slot identifier "), so that future items with the same data type identifier can simply be replaced with them to recover the memory occupied by the prototype. If this is used, for example, a particular news story replaces old information with new information.

(2) Most database items contain aging information, such as when added to a database, so that they can be deleted after a certain time after they are added to the database. For example, memory parts in which auxiliary information such as news, weather and sports information are stored may be used for new information after a selected time period, and the part in which the television program schedule information is stored may have a program transmission time. After it can be used for new information.

(3) In the display order determination system therein, memory portions having a database item having a lower rank can be used for new information shortly after the information is loaded into the memory. Since a fla user rarely or never accesses some form of supplemental information, the portion of memory where such form of information is stored may be reused before it ages much. If the user rarely or never watches a particular channel, or if the user rarely watches television during a certain period of time (morning early, noon, etc.), certain applications may delete "schedule information" related to the channel or time period if additional memory is needed. Can be. In another embodiment, the order of display of an item is considered jointly with the age of the item in determining whether to reuse the memory portion in which the item is stored therein.

F. User Interface

I. Infrared Remote Control

action. In response to instructions from the CPU 36, the infrared decoder interprets the infrared control signal transmitted from the user control device 50 in one of two modes, either "raw" or "demodulated" mode. . The "raw" mode is used during setup of the system as described above. In the "demodulation" mode, the infrared decoder generates a continuous digital "1" and outputs it to the CPU when a specific infrared control signal is detected, and generates and outputs a digital "0" in other cases. The " demodulation " mode is used to allow the user to select the highlighted tile from various display screens using the user control device 50, and to provide the set top box 30 with other commands. Used to.

In the "raw" mode, the infrared decoder generates a time stamp for each infrared input it receives and stores the data such as the infrared card frequency, duty cycle and method of encoding such inputs.

In an embodiment according to the invention, the user adjustment device 50 has a carrier frequency of approximately 80 KHz. This carrier frequency protects the infrared decoder from stray signals generated by other appliances, most of which are in the 40-50 KHz range at the carder frequency, and the user control device 50 also has other appliances with infrared inputs. In particular, it protects it from interoperating with external devices such as TVs and video systems.

layout. As shown in Fig. 15, the infrared remote controller according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has the following eight keys.

GUIDE key (250)

TV key (251)

UP key (252)

DOWN key (253) ("directional pad" button)

LEFT key (254)

RIGHT key (255)

LEFT SOFTKEY (256)

RIGHT SOFTKEY (257)

How to use the universal remote control. When the system is in TV mode, the directional pad buttons and softkeys function to control the television and external devices. In this mode, the UP and DOWN keys 252 and 253 are used to increase or decrease the channel respectively, the RIGHT and LEFT keys 254 and 255 are used to increase or decrease the volume, and the LEFT SOFTKEY 256 is Used to turn the power off and on, RIGHT SOFTKEY 257 is used to control muting.

II. Screen display

1. Basic display features. The set top box can display various screens on the television. As mentioned above, the set-top box 30 may be connected to the RF switch 58 to display a screen using an RF signal, and when the set-top box 30 displays such a screen, the infrared remote control control input of the TV receiver. By sending an appropriate infrared signal, the TV receiver 32 can switch to the selected channel (for example, channel 3 or 4) to display the screen. As shown in Fig. 16, all screen displays have a common banner area 240 that describes the function of the SOFTKEY for that screen. Most screen displays also have a number of boxes, each referred to as a "tile" 244 and containing text in which each tile gathers to form a "grid" 242.

When the user selects a tile or moves the cursor over the tile using the direction keys on the infrared remote control, the tile changes color and is "highlighted." In the screen display including the program title, various different types of programs may be represented by tiles having different colors.

If the highlighted tile is near a corner of the screen, the display will automatically "scroll" the highlighted tile and move it to the center of the screen. Certain screen displays ensure that the highlighted tile is not in the corner of the display screen unless there is any information on the off screen above the corner of the display screen.

Every screen display also has an information area 246 that displays additional information about the selected tile, such as episode information about the selected program or additional information about news headlines.

Navigation on screen display. The buttons on the user control device 50 provide the user with access to all screen displays and system properties that the user can control. By pressing the direction buttons 252-255 of the infrared remote control, the cursor and the highlighted tile can be moved up, down, left or right on the grid. Pressing the GUIDE key 250 selects the highlighted tile and allows the system to switch to the next display screen (if the user is currently watching a television program, switch it to the navigation screen). You can return to the television program from the on-screen display by pressing the TV key 250 ', or if the program grid screen display is activated to take precedence over pressing the TV, it may change to a new station, and the program highlighted in the program grid You can view or change it, or you can return to the first station you were viewing. In a screen display (ie, program grid, program title, TV movie and sports breaking news, etc.) displaying television program broadcast schedule information, LEFT SOFTKEY 256 causes the highlighted program to be stored. The functions for each screen display can be arranged as shown in the table below.

Current screen GUIDE Key Function TV key features The function of the LEFT key RIGHT key function Up / Down Key Function Left / Right Key Function TV view Go to the navigation screen Go to the previous screen MUTETV TV Power On / Off Channel up / down Volume up / down Navigation screen Go to the selection screen Go to TV view Etc Etc Select screen options Select screen tile Program grid Go to the TV Movies screen Go to selection program Select program record Next day screen Grid select up / down Grid selection left / right TV movie screen Go to the sports screen Go to selection program Select program record not used Grid select up / down Grid selection left / right (selected day) Sports screen Go to the news screen Return to TV view [Selection record] not used Grid select up / next Grid selection left / right News screen Go to TV view Return to TV view [Previous page of text] [Next page of text] Grid Selection Up / Down (Headline) Before / after text page selection

Navigation screen. Referring to FIG. 17, the navigation screen 258 is the first screen that appears when the user presses the GUIDE key 250 of the user control device 50. The navigation screen lists the main screen according to an embodiment of the present invention, that is, a list of TV programs, TV movies, sports and news. In addition, certain non-screen attributes of the system, including the ad avoidance attributes mentioned below, have a tile on the navigation screen. The navigation screen may also include other information, such as personal messages, reminders, or paid advertisements.

Program grid. In the program grid 260 illustrated in FIG. 18, a tile includes a television program title 262 arranged vertically for each broadcasting station such as a station or a network and horizontally for each time. Information area 263 displays additional episode information about the highlighted tile. RIGHT SOFTKEY 257 advances the screen display one day forward.

Breaking sports. As shown in Fig. 19, the sports breaking news screen shows information on other sporting events and their scores. When a highlighted tile represents a particular sporting event, additional information related to that event appears in the information area. If the event is on television, a small icon representing the TV receiver is displayed on the tile. For this television broadcast event, the TV receiver 32 selects and highlights the tile associated with the event in the same way as the user selects the program from the title screen program via the set top box 30. Can be switched to.

news. As shown in FIG. 20, the news screen uses a scrolling list to represent a simple headline of a news story. The user can select a tile using the user control device 50, where the information area shows the full text of the news story associated with the selected tile.

Miscellaneous screen. Other embodiments according to the present invention may include screen displays with attributes such as fortune telling, crossword puzzles, and the like.

I. Other Features

1. Recording program

Select the program for recording. On the display screen including the program title, the user can highlight a tile of the program and press LEFT SOFTKEY 256 to select a program for recording. When a program is scheduled to be recorded, the background color of the tile is changed to another color selected, which in one embodiment is red. The program may be scheduled to be recorded at selected time intervals including "once" or "always". Once a program is scheduled to be recorded once, the VCR by the CPU will record the program at the selected date and time. The user can select recording once by pressing LEFT SOFTKEY 256 on the tile once. If a program is scheduled to be recorded on a regular basis, the VCR by the CPU will record the program each time the program appears in the time slot you initially selected. The user can select regular recording by pressing LEFT SOFTKEY 256 twice when the tile is highlighted.

As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 21, the automatic recording procedure changes according to the individual system configuration. In step 270, the recording procedure is initiated by pressing LEFT SOFTKEY 256, and if it is determined that the system does not include a cable decoder, as indicated in the setup procedure described above, the IR output of the set-top box when the program scheduled for recording is broadcast, 60) will transmit a channel change command in step 272 and a "record" command to the VCR in step 273. And a "stop" command will be sent to the VCR when the scheduled program ends. If a cable decoder is used in the system, a channel change command will be sent to the cable decoder prior to the selected time in step 274 by the selected time, and at step 273 the " record " It will be sent to the VCR, and a "stop" command will be sent to the VCR at the end of the scheduled broadcast.

2. Avoiding advertising

In one embodiment, set-top box 30 allows a user in any region of the United States to avoid advertising while watching or recording a television program of a channel. The user selects this feature through a tile on the navigation screen. While this tile is selected, move the direction controller up or down to select “Off”, “While Viewing”, “While Recording” and “While Viewing and Recording”. Choose between options. The implementation of each of these options is described.

"Recording": Referring to Figure 22, if the program is recording when the advertisement starts as described below, in step 304 the IR output 60 sends a "pause enable" signal to the video recorder. If a break in the advertisement is detected in step 306, it will send a " pause disable " signal to the video recorder in step 308. So the video recorder will not record the advertisement. This feature will save videotape while recording a program when no one is present.

"Viewing": Referring to FIG. 23, if the user who selected this option in step 320 is watching a channel ("channel A") when the advertisement starts as detected in step 322, the set-top in step 324; The IR output 60 of the box will send a “mute enable” command to the television 32. The television will then substantially reduce the sound of the television during the commercial at step 326 and, at the end of the commercial at step 328, send a "mute disable" command to the television 32 to recover the sound at step 332. . If the system detects that the user has changed the channel [to "channel (B)" using the custom device 50 after the "mute enable" command has been sent in step 334, the IR in step 336 The output 60 will automatically send a “mute disable” command, recovering the sound to watch channel B in step 338. Also, if it is detected in step 340 that the advertisement on channel A has been stopped, then at step 342 the IR output 60 will automatically send a command to the television or cable decoder to turn to channel A at step 344. Next, in step 346, channel B will be stored in memory as a " alternate channel " to switch from channel A to this channel during the commercial. When the next commercial on channel A starts, the system will automatically tune the television to channel B during the commercial. The channel B may also be a display screen (such as a sports ticker or news).

The system 5 implements the following "avoidance of advertisement". As shown in FIG. 24, in one embodiment where a television program is sent to a local broadcaster and rebroadcasted without delay (usually Eastern and Pacific time zones), the advertising monitoring center 380 monitors the television program on this channel. Determine when your ad starts and ends. At the beginning and the end of each advertisement, the advertisement monitoring center 380 transmits a message indicating the channel where the advertisement is started to the central broadcasting computer 10. The central broadcasting computer 10 then transmits the control information as system information to the area where the advertisement occurred using transmission by the RF transmitter 386 (corresponding to the paging terminal 18 of FIG. 1) via the WAN 16. do. The individual set-top box 30 receives the control information, decodes it into its CPU, and interprets it as advertisement avoidance information.

As shown in FIG. 25, in one embodiment, the advertisement monitoring center 380 includes at least one observer who monitors the television 385 set to the channel being monitored. At the beginning and end of the advertisement in the channel monitored by the observer 384, the observer 384 will press the button 387 to inform the computer 388 of the start and end of the advertisement in this channel. The computer 388 will then send the message to the central broadcast computer 10 described above. In the variant shown in Fig. 26, since the plurality of observers watch each channel and press each button at the start and end of the advertisement, the mistake of the individual observer is minimized. The logic module 390 of the computer 388 then logically combines the signals generated by the buttons of the observers watching the same channel, so as to confirm the start and end of advertisements on the channel (e.g., three or more). Upon receiving an instruction from the observer, the advertisement is sent to the central broadcasting computer.

It is also possible to provide advertisement avoidance features in areas where program transmission is delayed than the original transmission, without the need to provide the regional observer described above. In this operation, the advertisement monitoring center 380 may transmit command information confirming the start and end of the advertisement in the original transmission region, that is, the region where the program transmission is not delayed, and the advertisement in the delayed transmission region starts and Command information may be sent to confirm the end time, and the set top box 30 in this area will store it in their respective memory 38. When the user uses the set top box 30 to control the display or recording of the program provided with the advertisement avoidance information, the set top box 30 uses the display of the program on the TV receiver 32 using the advertisement start and end times in the memory. It controls the sound and also controls the recording of programs on the VCR and the pause of the VCR.

3. Remote operation

As shown in FIG. 27, the system includes a central office 430 having a plurality of telephone connections, an operator 434, and a terminal or standalone PC 436 network connected to the central broadcasting computer 10. If a user 350 wants to command a set-top box when he is away from the set-top box, for example, if he forgets to program the VCR to record a program, call the central office 430 to prove his or her identity and The security code will be provided to the operator 434. Once the operator has verified the user's identity (in a preferred embodiment, using a commercially available database that includes the user name, security code, and set-top box serial number), the user wants to remotely set the box on the set-top box 30 to the operator. Will tell the command. The operator then accesses the central information broadcast computer 10 via a terminal or PC 436, instructs the central information broadcast computer 10 to issue a " individualized command " To the RF transmitter 18. A "personalized command" is a control command that includes the user's set top box 30 serial number and will be ignored for all set top boxes other than the set top box 30 having this serial number. As soon as the user's set top box 30 receives and recognizes the personalized command, the user's set top box 30 will execute the command.

The foregoing description is limited to specific embodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention in order to achieve one or all of the advantages of the present invention. It is an object of the appended claims to cover various modifications and variations within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (25)

A. A central facility for periodically broadcasting television program schedule information that is broadcast separately from the television program, and B. A wireless remote control input for receiving a wireless remote control signal for controlling a television receiver and a program input for receiving program information and used in connection with a television receiver for receiving television programs on a plurality of channels, A wireless remote control input for receiving a wireless remote control signal for controlling a television receiver and a program input for receiving program information, and connected to and used with an auxiliary television program receiving device for receiving television programs on multiple channels. , Iii. A program schedule receiver for receiving and storing the television schedule information; Ii. A switch for selectively providing the stored television program schedule information and program signals from the program source to the program input unit as the program information to be displayed by the television receiver in response to an operator input for connection with the television receiver; Iii. A program identifier for receiving an operation input relating to the television program schedule information to be displayed that identifies a program, and Iii. A television receiver control signal generator for generating a wireless remote control signal for transmission to the wireless remote control input for controlling a channel of the television receiver in response to the identified program determined by the program identifier Control device including Including; The control device receives program signals from the auxiliary television program receiving device and provides the program information to the program input unit of the television receiver, wherein the television receiver control signal generator is responsive to the identified program determined by the program identifier. Generating a wireless remote control signal for transmission to the wireless remote control input of the auxiliary television receiving device to control a channel of the auxiliary television program receiving device. system. In claim 1, And said central facility comprises a pager terminal for transmitting said television program schedule information in the form of a radio frequency signal, said program schedule receiver receiving a radio frequency signal. In claim 2, And wherein said radio frequency signal has a frequency within a range reserved for a wide area pager. In claim 2, The radio frequency signal has a frequency of about 931 MHz. In claim 1, The program schedule receiver comprises an RF receiver for receiving a signal from the central facility as information receiving means. In claim 1, The central facility further broadcasts at least one additional type of information, the program schedule receiver further receives and stores the additional type of information, and the switch is to be displayed by the television receiver in response to an operator input. Providing the stored additional form of information. In claim 1, Further comprising a video cassette recorder, The program identifier receives operator input related to the television program schedule to be displayed identifying a program to be recorded, and the control device further comprises a videocassette recorder control unit for controlling the video cassette recorder to record the identified program. doing system. In claim 7, The video cassette recorder receives recording control information by an electromagnetic signal link, and the video cassette recorder control unit includes a transmitter for transmitting an electromagnetic signal for controlling the video cassette recorder to record a program identified for recording. . In claim 1, And the television receiver receives channel control information by an electromagnetic signaling link, and the television receiver control includes a transmitter for transmitting electromagnetic signals for controlling the television receiver to display the identified program. In claim 1, And the auxiliary television program receiving device is a cable box. In a method of setting a channel selector of a television receiver to a desired channel using a display monitor having a screen, Displaying a plurality of tiles on a screen; Displaying progress scores of a sporting event being broadcast on different channels, Highlighting one of the tiles, and Setting the selector to receive a channel on which a sporting event displayed on the highlighted tile is broadcast; Channel selector setting method of the television receiver comprising a. In claim 11, Some of the progress scores displayed on the tile are for a sport event that is not being broadcast, and further comprising displaying an icon on each tile on which the progress score for the sport event being telecast is displayed. How to set up selectors. In claim 12, And displaying an information area on a screen and displaying information on a sporting event displayed on the highlighted tile in the information area. In claim 13, Changing the highlighted tile and changing information displayed in an information area corresponding to a sporting event displayed on the changed highlighted tile. In claim 11, And displaying an information area on the screen and displaying information on the sporting event displayed on the highlighted tile in the information area. The method of claim 15, Changing the highlighted tile and changing information displayed in an information area corresponding to a sporting event displayed on the changed highlighted tile. In claim 11, Generating a television mode switching command to which the setting step is responsive, and displaying a television program broadcast for a receiving channel on a screen instead of a tile. In claim 11, Generating a recording command to which the setting step is responsive, and recording a television program broadcast for the receiving channel in a VCR in response to the recording command. In a method for providing a television viewer with a list of television programs, Broadcasting television program list data from a plurality of pager terminals covering a particular region; Receiving said data in the vicinity of each of a plurality of television receivers having a display screen, Storing the received data in a memory associated with each television receiver; and Processing the data to display a television program list on a screen; Television program list providing method comprising a. The method of claim 19, And the broadcasting step broadcasts a television program list at night. The method of claim 19, And the broadcasting step broadcasts the television program list when there is little use of the pager terminal. The method of claim 19, And the data is broadcast in the 931 MHz frequency band. The method of claim 19, And the data is broadcast in analog form. The method of claim 23, And said data is converted into digital form prior to said storing step. The method of claim 19, Transmitting information including a list of program schedules from various sources to a central computer and storing the information in its own database, Transmitting the stored information to a pager terminal in a TCP / IP communication format over a wide area network; and Converting the information in the pager terminal into program schedule data suitable for broadcasting from the pager terminal. The television program list providing method further comprising.