CN1249995C - 用于交互式电视的系统和方法 - Google Patents

用于交互式电视的系统和方法 Download PDF

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CN1249995C
CN1249995C CNB028120728A CN02812072A CN1249995C CN 1249995 C CN1249995 C CN 1249995C CN B028120728 A CNB028120728 A CN B028120728A CN 02812072 A CN02812072 A CN 02812072A CN 1249995 C CN1249995 C CN 1249995C
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virtual channel
microprocessor
channel
user
itv
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CN1516957A (zh
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M·纳卡诺
T·阿基亚马
T·基特苏卡瓦
S·康多
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Sony Electronics Inc
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
    • H04N21/426—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
    • H04N21/426—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof
    • H04N21/42676—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof for modulating an analogue carrier signal to encode digital information or demodulating it to decode digital information, e.g. ADSL or cable modem
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
    • H04N21/25866—Management of end-user data
    • H04N21/25891—Management of end-user data being end-user preferences
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/266—Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
    • H04N21/2668—Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
    • H04N21/422—Input-only peripherals, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
    • H04N21/42204—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/435—Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/437—Interfacing the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. for transmitting client requests to a VOD server
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
    • H04N21/462—Content or additional data management, e.g. creating a master electronic program guide from data received from the Internet and a Head-end, controlling the complexity of a video stream by scaling the resolution or bit-rate based on the client capabilities
    • H04N21/4622—Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47—End-user applications
    • H04N21/478—Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
    • H04N21/4782—Web browsing, e.g. WebTV
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
    • H04N21/84—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/173—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
    • H04N7/17309—Transmission or handling of upstream communications
    • H04N7/17318—Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

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  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
  • Circuits Of Receivers In General (AREA)
  • Television Systems (AREA)

Abstract

用于交互式电视(ITV)(22)的系统和方法包括在ITV(22)上呈现电视频道和“虚拟频道”。虚拟频道可以是存储在ITV(22)(或远离它)的存储器(44)中的网页，并且当用户采用传统电视遥控器(30)选择虚拟频道编号时由ITV(22)中的微处理器(46)来访问。特定的网页可根据用户数据、如用户响应随频道显示的提示而提供的人口统计数据来建立。通过电视信号的VBI或经由因特网(24)通过ITV(22)上的调制解调器(48)向ITV(22)发送数据，可以更新或改变与虚拟频道相关的网页。

Description

用于交互式电视的系统和方法
技术领域
一般来说，本发明涉及电视系统。
背景技术
电视无处不在，正如因特网计算机一样。但是，目前用户通常购买和使用两套独立的系统来欣赏电视节目以及进行因特网访问。也就是说，用户必须购买电视来观看电视节目，购买计算机以访问因特网。结果不仅在于费用加倍以及要求大量空间，而且还在于在一个房间里同时进行这两种活动可能比较困难。
此外，对于两套系统的需要加重了熟悉操作电视及其遥控器但可能不熟悉操作因特网计算机的一部分用户的负担。尽管如此，在可能不要求复杂的因特网支持时，这些用户仍然能够从简便、易懂、直观的因特网互动所提供的优点中获益。例如，许多用户可能只希望简便地访问天气站点或交通信息站点以便在早晨上班之前获取最新信息，而不需要知道关于如何操作万维网浏览器的大量知识。因此，如本文所认识的一样，提供使用起来简便、直观的因特网接入设备、例如就象使用电视遥控器一样的设备是极为有利的。
在已经进行的将电视与因特网功能相结合的尝试方面，仍未能满足上述用户需求。例如，在称作“WebTV”的系统中，把预选因特网页面在制作过程中一次性装入电视中，随后无法更新，其中预选页面可利用计算机键盘通过电视来访问，键盘具有附带的复杂性。但是，由于页面不能更新，诸如最新交通信息、天气预报、新闻之类的许多因特网相关的功能不能直接利用。相反，用户必须利用一个预选页面来访问中心站点，然后再重定向到所需网页。按照目前预计的因特网接入的速度，这种操作过度地耗费时间。此外，它还要求必须由用户启动浏览器或类似浏览器的操作，但用户可能仅仅希望打开电视、使用较简便的电视遥控器直接访问最新信息而不用再费力气。
另外，目前的系统对所有用户提供同样的预选网页。如本文所了解的一样，为每个用户定制在电视中提供给该特定用户的网页是有利的。这样，与其它方式相比，用户更可能得到有用且满意的因特网接入。
此外，如上所述，在上述WebTV系统中，需要键盘供用户进行输入以访问网站。但是，对于电视功能，用户习惯于使用简便得多的输入装置、即遥控器。
尝试结合电视和因特网计算机的现有系统没有无缝地完成这项工作，而是要求操作正好放置在一起并且需要两个独立输入装置的两套独立系统。这对用户来说使事情复杂化，并且让人无所适从。
发明内容
本发明的目的是针对一个或多个上述用户需求提供一种改进的电视系统。
在一个方面，本发明提供了一种交互式电视(ITV)，包括外壳、所述外壳中的电视调谐器、与所述调谐器相关联的微处理器以及与所述微处理器通信的用户输入装置，所述电视还包括：存储系统，与所述微处理器通信，并且存储用户数据和虚拟频道，所述用户数据至少部分基于从所述用户输入装置接收的信号；以及计算机通信装置，连接所述微处理器和计算机网络，所述存储系统中的所述虚拟频道根据从所述通信装置接收的数据进行更新，所述虚拟频道至少部分基于所述用户数据来建立；其中所述虚拟频道通过访问相应的网站而自动更新。
优选地，所述计算机通信装置是调制解调器。所述虚拟频道是网页。所述微处理器位于所述外壳中或者位于与所述外壳分开的机顶盒中。
所述电视还包括与所述微处理器、存储系统以及电视调谐器进行通信的数据总线，所述微处理器使频道编号与虚拟频道相关。
所述的电视还包括显示在所述电视上的电子频道指南，在所述电子频道指南上按照频道编号以及名称列出所述虚拟频道。
本发明还提供了一种交互式电视(ITV)，具有外壳、所述外壳中的电视调谐器、微处理器以及与所述微处理器通信的用户输入装置，所述电视还包括：存储系统，它与所述微处理器通信并且存储用户数据，所述用户数据至少部分基于从所述用户输入装置接收的信号，其中所述存储系统还存储可显示在所述电视上的虚拟频道，以及所述微处理器响应用户输入而访问所述存储系统，从而显示虚拟频道，其中所述用户数据是用户对多个主题的个人偏好或是用户的个人人口统计状况。
其中，所述的电视还包括连接所述微处理器和计算机网络的计算机通信装置，所述存储系统中的所述虚拟频道根据从所述通信装置接收的数据进行更新。
所述微处理器位于所述外壳中或者位于与所述外壳分开的机顶盒中。
所述的电视还包括显示在所述电视上的电子频道指南，在所述电子频道指南上按照频道编号和名称列出所述虚拟频道。
附图说明
参照附图能够最佳地理解本发明的有关结构和操作的详细情况，图中类似的标号表示类似的部件，其中：
图1是本发明的交互式电视(ITV)系统的框图；
图2是本发明的ITV的框图；
图3是本发明的整体方法的流程图；以及
图4是建立和/或更改虚拟频道的方法的流程图。
具体实施方式
先参照图1，说明总体表示为10的交互式电视(ITV)系统。如图所示，系统10包括一个或多个内容提供商12，这些提供商向一个或多个万维网服务器14提供各种类型的内容(为了本公开清楚，仅示出一个内容提供商12和一个万维网服务器14)。万维网服务器14访问内容数据库16以在其中存储数据。万维网服务器14中的内容可以是任何适当内容，包括但不限于超文本标记语言(HTML)页面、.jpeg和.gif图像文件、.avi和.mpeg电影文件、音频文件、流视频等。
在一个最佳实施例中，系统10还包括ITV系统服务器18，它可以是例如Sony Corporation Web入口。ITV系统服务器18可以是访问用户数据库20的万维网服务器计算机。如以下的详细说明所述，用户数据库20可以存储可用于将虚拟频道定制成简档的用户或消费者简档。虚拟频道实质上是下载的内容，为其提供类似于传统电视频道的编号，例如可用电视频道的序列之后的频道编号。一旦用户使用电视遥控装置选择某个虚拟频道的频道编号时，这个虚拟频道就被作为网页或一系列网页显示在以下所述的ITV上。在一种实现中，虚拟频道的内容存储在ITV上装有的存储器中，并且经因特网或传统电视信号的垂直消隐期间(VBI)定期更新。在另一种实现中，虚拟频道内容以远离ITV的方式存储，例如存储在万维网服务器上，并且经由高速因特网接入连接实时地流向ITV。
本发明的服务器14、18可由任何适当的计算机来实现，例如因特网服务器计算机、个人计算机、膝上型计算机、大型计算机等。服务器14、18访问软件以执行本发明的若干部分。
多个用户ITV 22(为清楚起见，仅示出单个ITV 22)经由因特网24访问服务器14、18。另外，各用户ITV 22从电视信号源28接收电视信号26。源28可以是多个广播公司、有线电视公司或者圆盘式卫星电视天线，等等。根据以下公开，当用户查看ITV 22的显示区32以便向ITV 22输入各种选择时，用户可操作传统的手持式电视遥控器30。应当理解，遥控器30不是与计算机相关联的键盘或小键盘。它是传统的电视遥控器，具有数字按钮、上/下和左/右按钮、电源按钮以及可按传统方式设置在电视遥控器上的其它按钮。遥控器30的功能也可由ITV 22本身上面的传统电视机按钮来承担。但是，也可使用键盘、小键盘、运动感应(手势)装置以及语音识别输入装置。
现在参照图2，说明ITV 22。虽然下述实施例通过不仅支持显示器而且还支持微处理器、虚拟频道存储器以及图2所示的全部电子部件的单个外壳来论述ITV 22，但要理解，术语“交互式电视”包含具有电视调谐器和下述虚拟频道功能的任何设备。例如，术语“ITV”包含图2所示的单外壳电视以及与按照本发明工作的机顶盒结合的传统电视。在后一个实例中，机顶盒可包括例如下述微处理器和存储器。
如图2所示，ITV 22包括外壳34，其中容纳传统的电视调谐器36。电视调谐器36接收电视信号26，并将其输出到双位开关42，双位开关42又由用户接口40控制，从而向ITV 22的显示器32输出用户选择的电视频道(在第一位置)或虚拟频道(在第二位置)。应当理解，用户接口40可包括红外接收器或其它接收器，用于检测来自遥控器30的遥控信号。另外，用户接口40可包括可视部分，例如但不限于可通过遥控器30在显示器32上呈现的电子频道指南、网页图标等上到处移动的光标，使用户能够选择要显示的频道。
如上所述，用户不仅能够选择电视频道，而且能够选择虚拟频道。根据本发明，“虚拟频道”不是电视频道本身，而是能够存储在外壳34中的存储器或其它数据存储器44中的基于万维网的频道。也就是说，存储器或其它数据存储器44可以是计算机存储器或硬盘驱动器、光盘驱动器、固态存储器、磁带驱动器或者任何其它适当的数据存储媒体。
在外壳34中还支持微处理器46，以便执行下述逻辑步骤，其中微处理器46、存储器44、电视调谐器36以及开关42均可经由内部数据总线47来访问。微处理器46对虚拟频道分配频道编号或者维护频道编号对电视频道和虚拟频道的列表。因此，例如，当电子频道指南显示在ITV 22的显示器32上时，通常在传统电视频道之后的指南结尾处按照频道编号和名称列出虚拟频道。
或者，虚拟频道可以存储在远离ITV 22的位置，例如，它们可存储在ITV系统服务器18中，用于在数据传输速率高得足以支持实时传输时，经因特网(或其它网络)实时显示频道(根据用户对频道的选择)。在任何情况下，ITV 22包括与因特网24通信的调制解调器48。调制解调器48可以是电缆调制解调器、传统的双绞线调制解调器、DSL、无线调制解调器或者其它适当的通信装置。应当理解，可以提供单一的高数据速率电缆(例如导线或光纤)来同时传送因特网数据以及电视信号。
在任何情况下，调制解调器48向混合器49输出信号，混合器49可将来自调制解调器48的基于万维网的信号与来自电视调谐器36的相关信号进行混合。例如，如果选取有线新闻广播的虚拟频道，则基于万维网的内容可与来自相关新闻电台的实际广播新闻相结合，用于在虚拟频道的窗口中同时显示新闻广播。当用户选择虚拟频道时，来自混合器49的信号发送到开关42，从而发送到显示器32。混合器49可通过National Semiconductor制造的“Geode”芯片来建立。如上所述，一个或多个微处理器46、存储器44、调制解调器48、混合器49以及开关42可安装在与容纳调谐器36和显示器32的独立电视外壳电连接的机顶盒中。
现在可以理解，微处理器46根据以下逻辑来控制ITV 22的功能。本文的流程图说明以计算机程序软件实现的本发明的逻辑模块的结构。本领域的技术人员应当明白，流程图说明根据本发明进行工作的逻辑单元、如计算机程序代码单元或电子逻辑电路的结构。显然，在本发明的主要实施例中，通过提供指示数字处理设备(即计算机或微处理器)执行对应于所述的一系列功能步骤的逻辑单元的机器部件来实施本发明。内部逻辑能够与状态机一样简单。
换句话说，本逻辑可建立为通过例如本微处理器/服务器中的处理器作为一系列计算机可执行指令来执行的计算机程序。除了驻留在硬盘驱动器上之外，这些指令也可驻留在例如适当计算机的RAM中，或者这些指令也可存储在磁带、电子只读存储器或其它适当的数据存储装置中。
现在参照图3，可以看出整体逻辑。从框50开始，在调谐器36上接收实时电视信号26。假定ITV 22已上电，在框52，通过用户接口40接收用户频道选择，这些频道选择可供微处理器46使用。在框54，根据这些选择，微处理器46控制开关42来显示所选电视频道或虚拟频道。
选择虚拟频道时，微处理器46从存储器44中检索相关网页以便显示该频道。当虚拟频道的内容存储于远离ITV 22的万维网服务器14时(例如当ITV 22具有高速因特网接入时)，微处理器46直接从特定服务器中检索相关网页，以便显示该频道。因此，在最佳实施例中，ITV 22能够直接访问不同于ITV系统服务器18的万维网服务器14。
根据本发明，虚拟频道不是在ITV 22使用期限内保持静态的简单网页。相反，它们随着相应万维网服务器14上的基础网页更新而定期更新。因此，逻辑从框54进入框56，其中在万维网服务器14和ITV系统服务器18其中之一或两者上进入DO循环。可定期进入这个DO循环，或者可响应来自微处理器46、经因特网24发送的用户产生或自动产生的命令来进入这个DO循环。
在菱形判定框58，对于各虚拟频道判定在相应的网站是否已经发生更新。假定服务器知道ITV 22的虚拟频道的当前内容(当虚拟频道存储在远离ITV的服务器时通常是这种情况)，菱形判定框58上的判定可通过服务器14/18进行；或者可由微处理器46进行(当虚拟频道存储在本地存储器44时通常是这种情况)。例如，服务器14/18可向微处理器46发送有关更新的信息，微处理器46则可在测试中确定存储器44是否存储了虚拟频道的最新版本。如果是的话，则逻辑返回框56。但是，在更新的情况下，逻辑进入框60，下载建立虚拟频道的全部新网页，最好是仅下载其中改变的部分。
下载内容可以经由信号的VBI中的电视信号26发送，或者可经由因特网24(或其它网络)和调制解调器48(通过DSL或电缆调制解调器线路或者无线调制解调器线路)发送到存储器44。在任何情况下，虚拟频道定期更新。
图4说明微处理器46建立或改变对于特定ITV 22可用的虚拟频道所采取的逻辑。从框62开始，如果希望提示用户输入，则显示提示。通过查看的电视频道的VBI或者在查看虚拟频道时通过因特网发送提示，可在正查看的频道中显示该提示。或者，用户频道选择被记录并用于产生用户简档。
进入框64，接收用户的响应。响应通常通过遥控器30来输入，但也可使用上述的其它输入装置。因此，提示可直接询问用户所关注的虚拟频道的类型。或者可以询问有关用户对多个主题的个人偏好，或有关用户的个人人口统计状况。
在任何情况下，在框66，在存储器中存储响应。进入框68，把响应发送给服务器14、18其中之一(通常发送给ITV系统服务器18)。这种传输经由因特网进行，有时可在存储了用户输入之后、例如在低使用率时段中进行。或者，当ITV 22连续与因特网通信时，响应可在它由微处理器接收之后、在没有首先存储的情况下立即发送。
然后，在框70，可由服务器18根据用户响应、采用本领域已知的模型以预测用户在ITV 22的虚拟频道中可能希望的内容类型来构建用户简档。在框72，通过经由VBI或调制解调器48下载新内容，把简档用于建立和/或改变ITV 22的虚拟频道。
虽然本文所示及详细描述的特定“用于交互式电视的系统和方法”完全能够达到本发明的上述目的，但应当理解，它是本发明的当前最佳实施例，因此代表本发明广泛考虑的主题，本发明的范围完全包含本领域的技术人员可能想到的其它实施例，因此本发明的范围仅受所附权利要求书的限制，权利要求书中以单数形式所指的某个要素表示“至少一个”。本领域的技术人员已知或将来知道的上述最佳实施例的各要素的所有等效结构和功能通过引用明确地结合于此，意在包含于本权利要求书中。此外，不需要装置或方法针对本发明设法解决的每一个问题，因为它将包含在本权利要求书中。另外，本公开中没有要素、部件或方法步骤意在专用于公众，无论该要素、部件或方法步骤是否在权利要求中明确说明。

Claims (10)

1.一种电视，包括外壳(34)、所述外壳(34)中的电视调谐器(36)、与所述调谐器(36)相关联的微处理器(46)以及与所述微处理器(46)通信的用户输入装置(30)，所述电视还包括：
存储系统(44)，与所述微处理器(46)通信，并且存储用户数据和虚拟频道，所述用户数据至少部分基于从所述用户输入装置(30)接收的信号；以及
计算机通信装置(48)，连接所述微处理器(46)和计算机网络(24)，所述存储系统(44)中的所述虚拟频道根据从所述通信装置(48)接收的数据进行更新，所述虚拟频道至少部分基于所述用户数据来建立；
其中所述虚拟频道通过访问相应的网站而自动更新。
2.如权利要求1所述的电视，其特征在于，所述计算机通信装置(48)是调制解调器。
3.如权利要求1所述的电视，其特征在于，所述虚拟频道是网页。
4.如权利要求1所述的电视，其特征在于，所述微处理器(46)位于所述外壳(34)中或者位于与所述外壳(34)分开的机顶盒中。
5.如权利要求4所述的电视，其特征在于还包括与所述微处理器(46)、存储系统(44)以及电视调谐器(36)进行通信的数据总线(47)，所述微处理器(46)使频道编号与虚拟频道相关。
6.如权利要求1所述的电视，其特征在于还包括显示在所述电视上的电子频道指南，在所述电子频道指南上按照频道编号以及名称列出所述虚拟频道。
7.一种电视，具有外壳(34)、所述外壳(34)中的电视调谐器(36)、微处理器(46)以及与所述微处理器(46)通信的用户输入装置(30)，所述电视还包括：
存储系统(44)，它与所述微处理器(46)通信并且存储用户数据，所述用户数据至少部分基于从所述用户输入装置(30)接收的信号，其中所述存储系统(44)还存储可显示在所述电视上的虚拟频道，以及所述微处理器(46)响应用户输入而访问所述存储系统(44)，从而显示虚拟频道，其中所述用户数据是用户对多个主题的个人偏好或是用户的个人人口统计状况。
8.如权利要求7所述的电视，其特征在于还包括连接所述微处理器(46)和计算机网络(24)的计算机通信装置(48)，所述存储系统(44)中的所述虚拟频道根据从所述通信装置(48)接收的数据进行更新。
9.如权利要求7所述的电视，其特征在于，所述微处理器(46)位于所述外壳(34)中或者位于与所述外壳(34)分开的机顶盒中。
10.如权利要求7所述的电视，其特征在于还包括显示在所述电视上的电子频道指南，在所述电子频道指南上按照频道编号和名称列出所述虚拟频道。
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AU2002247418A1 (en) 2002-11-05
CN1893642A (zh) 2007-01-10
KR20030088144A (ko) 2003-11-17
WO2002087220A2 (en) 2002-10-31
CN1516957A (zh) 2004-07-28
WO2002087220A3 (en) 2003-03-06
JP2004532573A (ja) 2004-10-21
CN1794810A (zh) 2006-06-28
EP1382197A2 (en) 2004-01-21
US20020157109A1 (en) 2002-10-24

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