MXPA96004279A

MXPA96004279A - Consumer interface to program undisposit

Info

Publication number: MXPA96004279A
Application number: MXPA/A/1996/004279A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Reynolds Wehmeyer Keith; Howard Miller Robert
Original assignee: Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc
Priority date: 1995-09-25
Filing date: 1996-09-24
Publication date: 1997-08-01

Abstract

The present invention relates to a programming device in a television system, characterized by: programming means for inserting data to program the selection of a television event in the future, and control means for generating control signals and for generating suitable signals to display data indicative of such television event scheduled to be selected in the future, said control means, after the completion of such programming of said event, generate a suitable signal to show a confirmation screen display indicating inserted instructions for the television event scheduled in the form of a sentence substantially and grammatically correct

Description

CONSUMER INTERFACE TO PROGRAM A DEVICE This invention relates to the field of screen display generation for programming or planning systems for television receivers including video players, and for other devices and devices operated by timers. With respect to television systems, the invention is described primarily with reference to a digital satellite television system, but is equally applicable to such systems as a cable system, terrestrial transmission system, or a communication system that uses lines telephone With respect to other domestic appliances, the use of screen displays to control items such as garage door opener systems, thermostats, and lights is contemplated. It is notoriously well known that many people have great difficulty in programming their television receiver and video player programmers to receive and record a desired particular television program. The consumer electronics industry has tried to correct this problem in a variety of ways over the past few years, with varying degrees of success. In particular, it was assumed that typical text-type timer programming screens might be suitable for use by computer programmers and engineers, but may seem very intimidating to non-technical consumers. The remote control units having data input type rotating wheel control are known for a user to fill the spaces in a programming plan, but the user is required to associate the act of turning a wheel rotary control located in the control remote with the appearance of data in a particular location on a television screen in the room. For some users, this task may be impossible. A graphical display of an existing or currently happening television matrix, showing where a "point-and-press" selection can be made from, is a recent improvement, but has no feedback of any kind to assure the user that everything It has been programmed correctly. In summary, users are still not comfortable with the programming process, because electronic equipment communicates with them in a rare and unfamiliar way. In a first embodiment of the invention, a television system for receiving a plurality of television programs includes a programming unit for making the television system receive and record a particular television program transmitted on a given channel, on a date and particular time in accordance with programming data inserted by a user. The television system includes a controller to generate on-screen displays in response to the data inserted by the user. At the end of the program entry, the controller produces a substantial and grammatically correct sentence display summarizing the inserted programming instructions and acting as a confirmation screen. In a second mode, the confirmation screen is interactive because certain parts of the speech of the sentence are variable so that the user can modify to change the meaning of the sentence, and thus modify the programming instructions. In another additional embodiment of the invention, other electronic devices such as lamps, thermostats and electric garage door openers are controlled in accordance with the principles of the invention. Figure 1 is an illustration of a program guide screen display known from the prior art, and suitable for use with the invention. Figure 2 is an illustration of a confirmation sentence exhibited in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 is an illustration of an interactive confirmation sentence shown in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. Figure 4, is a simplified block diagram of a satellite reception / transmission system suitable for use with the invention. Figure 5 is an illustration of a timer program screen display, known from the prior art, and suitable for use with the invention. Fig. 6 is an illustration of an interactive confirmation sentence shown in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Figure 7 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of the satellite receiver system suitable for use with the embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 6. Figure 1 shows a screen display of Guide of Program produced, for example, by a direct transmission satellite receiver system RCA® DSS®, manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Indianapolis, IN. A user selects a television program from a Program Guide to view, by moving a cursor (via the operation of the control keys of the remote control up, down, left, right, not shown) to a display block. program guide screen that contain the name of the desired program. When a SELECT key is pressed on the remote control, the position x and y of the cursor is evaluated to derive program time and virtual channel information. In this example, a particular television program, "STAR TREK: VOYAGER" has been illuminated for selection by using the cursor keys on a remote control unit (for example 450R of Figure 4). Illumination is illustrated by the dark box delineating the title in Figure 1. By pressing the selection key, the relevant programming data is transferred to a programming unit. At first glance, the process of selecting the television program described above seems easy and foolproof. However, an unwanted program can be recorded if the user inadvertently illuminated the wrong program box. The probability of occurrence of such error is not very improbable when it is considered that there are certain programs that are repeated at different times of the day, and in different days (as shown by the second occurrence of STAR TREK: VOYAGER in the channel guide on channel 1 13 at 8:30 pm), so a user may have selected the correct title but may have inadvertently selected its occurrence at an unwanted time or on an unwanted day Now the present invention will be described with reference to the displays on television screens 200 and 300 of Figures 2 and 3. By pressing the SELECT key of the remote control unit, the apparatus according to the present invention forms and exhibits a substantial and grammatically correct sentence 210, shown in Figure 2, which summarizes the instructions of the present invention. which will be executed to record the selected television program. The information for this confirmation screen is written in the form of a complete sentence so that it is easily understood by non-technical users, who feel much more comfortable communicating in the form of a complete sentence, than reading a list of inserted data. The "fixed" (ie, non-variable) portions of the sentence, such as the phrase "the timer is set to" are stored in the read-only memory (ROM) (which may be included within the microprocessor 415R of the Figure A). Alternatively, the sentence can be constructed "at time1" by obtaining data for each word of auxiliary information transmitted with the television signal.The sentence includes the action to be performed (eg, OBSERVE or RECORD) 215, the title of the program 220, the channel that is broadcasting the program 230, the start time, 245, the end time 250, 255, the recording frequency 260 (for example, record U NON TIME), and the date or date 270 (for example, Tonight) . If the user agrees that the confirmation sentence correctly expresses his intention to program, then he uses the cursor keys to transmit the information of the X and Y coordinate to a microcontroller to make the microcontroller select the "soft button" (or " soft key ") of OPERATING TEMPORARILER 290 displayed near the bottom of the screen 200. Then, the user presses the SELECT key on his remote control unit to transmit his acceptance of the programming instructions. However, if the confirmation sentence does not correctly express your intention to program, then he uses the cursor keys to select the "soft button" of CLEAR TIMER 295 displayed near the bottom of screen 200, and press the SELECT key on your remote control unit to return to the screen display in Figure 1. In a second embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 3, the confirmation sentence is interactive, which means that the user can modify the sentence to change its meaning, and thereby change the programming instructions. A television screen 300 has a confirmation sentence 310 shown therein. The information to fill in the confirmation sentence may have come from a display similar to that in Figure 1, or it may be inserted through a standard timer recording screen display, as shown in Figure 5. The articles in the sentence 310 which are surrounded by a round rectangle such as articles 320, 345, 360, 375, and 387, are soft buttons which, if selected, switch to a different function or label. For example, article 320 is a verb that switches between RECORD and O BSERVAR, by accessing by microprocessor 415R of Figure 4 a portion of the ROM containing the appropriate word. Articles 345 and 360 are modifiers of the time of day that commute between am and pm. Article 375 is a Time Period indicator increased or decreased by the use of the soft arrow keys 370. The Time Period indicator 375 may show the individual months, the day of the week, or user-friendly entries such like, Today, Tonight, Tomorrow, or Tomorrow at night. Article 387 is an adjective phase modifying the speed of the tape that changes between SLP (super long duration), LP (long duration), and SP (standard duration), to user selection. Those items in sentence 310 that are surrounded by a standard rectangle such as articles 30, 340, 355, and 385, are articles that can be changed by "soft arrow keys" associated 325, 335, 350, 370 and 380 graphically located near the item to be changed, or through direct data entry The soft arrow keys are activated by illuminating the desired one of them using the cursor keys of the remote control unit, and pressing the select key For example, article 330 is a channel number indicator that is increased or decreased by the use of soft arrow keys 325. Articles 340 and 355 are indicators of the time of day increased or decreased by the use of soft arrow keys 335 and 350, respectively The Title 322 block, Transmission Station Identifier 332, and the Day of Week 386 indicator, placed in parentheses, are automatically changed to n response to a change in channel, time or date, to reflect the current station, program and day that will be tuned or recorded if the prayer instructions currently displayed are carried out. If the user agrees that the confirmation prayer has been made recently Modified expresses your programming intent, then he uses the cursor keys to illuminate the "soft button" (or "band key") of FUNCTION TIMER 390 displayed near the bottom of the 300 screen, and press the SELECT key on your remote control unit to accept the programming instructions However, if the confirmation sentence does not correctly express your programming intent then you can continue to edit the sentence as described above or you can use the cursor keys to illuminate the "soft button" of DELETE TIMER 395 shown near the bottom of screen 300, and then press the SELECT key on your remote control unit to return to the screen display in Figure 1. As shown in noted above, the channel guide data used by the controller of the apparatus of the invention to form the confirmation or interactive sentences described above may be received from a satellite television communication system. Figure 4 shows said satellite television communication system in which a 400S satellite receives a signal representing audio, video, or data information from a ground-based transmitter 400T. The satellite amplifies and retransmits this signal to a plurality of 400T receivers, located in the residences of consumers, via responders operating at specified frequencies and having given bandwidths. Said system includes a portion of uplink transmission (earth to satellite), a satellite transmitting and receiving unit orbiting the earth, and a downlink (satellite to ground) portion including a receiver located in the user's residence. In a satellite system of this type, the information necessary to select a given television program is not fixedly programmed in each receiver, but is downloaded from the satellite continuously in each responder. The television program selection information comprises a data set known as the Master Program Guide (MPG), which refers to television program titles, their start and end times, a virtual channel number to be displayed to the user. , and information designating virtual channels at the frequencies of the responder and a position in the data stream multiplexed in time transmitted by a particular responder. In such a system, it is not possible to tune any channel until the first master program guide is received from the satellite, because the receiver (IRD, or Integrated Receiver Decoder) literally does not know where any channel is located, in terms of frequency and position (for example the data time slot) within the data stream of any responder. A guide of the master program is preferably transmitted in all the responders with the audio and video data of the television program, and is repeated periodically, for example, every 2 seconds. The master program guide, once received, is kept in a memory unit in the receiver, and is updated periodically, for example every 30 minutes. The retention of the master program guide allows instantaneous selection of the television program because the necessary selection keys are always available. If the master program guide was to be discarded after using it to select a television program, then a delay of at least two seconds would be incurred, as long as a new program guide was acquired, before additional selections could be made. of television programs. Once the channel responder carrying a television program is tuned, the data packets containing the audio and video information for that program can be selected from the data stream received from the responder by examining the data packets for the program. appropriate 12-bit code SCI D (Service Component Identifier). If the SCI D of the data package currently received corresponds to the SCI D of the desired television program as listed in the program guide, then the data packet is directed to the appropriate data processing sections of the receiver. If the SCI D of a particular packet does not correspond to the SCI D of the desired television program as listed in the program guide, then the packet of data is discarded. A brief description of the system equipment is now presented, suitable for implementing the invention described above. In Figure 4, a transmitter 400T processes a data signal from a source 401 (e.g., a television signal source) and transmits it to a 400S satellite that receives and retransmits the signal to a receiving antenna 400A that applies the signal to a 400R receiver. The transmitter 400T includes an encoder 410T, a modulator (eg, error anticipator modulator / corrector (FEC)) 420T, and an uplink unit 430T. The encoder 410T compresses and encodes signals from the source 401 according to a predetermined standard such as M PEG. MPEG is an international standard developed by the Expert Group on Cinematographic Films of the International Standards Organization for encoded representation of cinematographic films and associated audio stored in digital storage media. A coded signal from the 410T unit is provided to the anticipated error modulator / corrector (FEC) 420T, which encodes the signal with data correction data, and modulates in Quaternary Phase Displacement Manipulation (QPSK) the signal coded to a carrier. The uplink unit 430T transmits the compressed and coded signal to the 400S satellite, which transmits the signal to a selected geographic reception area. The signal from the satellite 400S is received by an antenna dish 400A coupled to an input of a so-called top set receiver 400R (for example an interface device located on top of a television receiver). The receiver 400R includes a demodulator (Early Error Correction desmoduator / decoder (FEC)) 410R for demodulating the signal and decoding the error correction data, an IR receiver 412 for receiving remote IR control commands, a microprocessor 415R, which operates interactively with the demodulator unit / FEC 410 R, and a transport unit 420 R for transporting the signal to an appropriate decoder 430R within the 400R unit depending on the content of the signal, i.e., audio information. ov ídeo. An NTSC 440R Encoder encodes the decoded signal into a suitable format for use by signal processing circuits in a standard NTSC consumer video player 402 and a standard NTSC consumer television receiver 403. The microprocessor 8 or microcontroller, or microcomputer) 415R receives infrared (IR) control signals from the remote control unit 450R, and sends control information to the video player 402 via an IR 418R link. The 415R microprocessor also generates the on-screen display (OSD) signals necessary to present the interactive sentence, or confirmation sentence, to the user. The 415R microprocessor also receives and interprets the X and Y information of the cursor key in order to control the illumination of the user's selections in on-screen displays. Figure 5 is an illustration of a standard video player timer display screen where the channel number, in time, out of time and date are entered by the user by pressing the keys of the remote control unit. In such a system, the confirmation sentence in Figure 2, and the interactive sentence in Figure 3 can still be used but the title information will be absent. It is noted that the information of the day of the week can be derived from the complete date in a known way and can be displayed, if desired. It is envisioned that the teachings of the present invention can be applied to the control of other devices apart from those related to television. In this regard, Figure 6 shows an interactive sentence to control a thermostat. It is envisaged that the soft button 620 may be "pressed" to change the devices to be controlled. For example, a garage door can be controlled to open at a certain time, a lawn sprinkler can be controlled to water the lawn, or a lamp can be controlled to turn on or off, via the interactive prayer of Figure 6 In the same way that the control parameters (eg, modifiable speech arts) of the interactive sentence of Figure 4 are changed, the temperature parameter 630 of Figure 6 can be set by the use of soft keys of arrows 625 or the direct recording of a temperature point. An apparatus for controlling representative devices is shown in Figure 7, where articles having reference numbers similar to those in Figure 4 have the same function and do not need to be described again. The I RD 700R unit includes a 745R DEVICE LINK CONTROLLER for encoding control commands of the apparatus in the proper format for transmission via a 755 transmission link. The transmission link can be any of a permanent wiring collector, a link RF (that is, a radio frequency transmission path), an IR link (ie, an infrared transmission path) or an FM signal embedded in the home's AC wiring, or any other suitable transmission link . Each of the units 760, 770, and 780 includes suitable decoding circuits to allow each to receive their particular control signals, and perform their individual function. Such circuits are well known in the art, for example from U.S. Patent No. 4,386,431, entitled REMOTE TELEVISION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING A PLURALITY OF EXTERNAL APPLIANCES THROUGH THE AC POWER LINE (Kocher, et al), issued May 31, 1983, and United States Patent No. 4,392,822, entitled REMOTE TELEVISION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING A PLURALITY OF EXTERNAL APPLIANCES (Carlson), Issued on July 5, 1983.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A programming device in a television system, characterized by: programming means for inserting data to program the selection of a television event in the future; and control means for generating control signals and for generating signals suitable for displaying data indicative of such a television event scheduled to be selected in the future; said control means, after the termination of such programming of said event, generates a suitable signal to display a confirmation screen display indicating inserted instructions for the scheduled television event in the form of a substantially grammatically correct sentence.
2. A programming device in a television system, characterized by: programming means coupled to input means and control means for inserting data in order to program the selection of a television event in the future; and on-screen display means operating under the control of such control means to display data indicative of said scheduled television event to be selected in the future; upon termination of such programming of such an event, the display means display a confirmation screen display indicating inserted instructions for such a scheduled event in the form of a substantially grammatically correct sentence containing several parts of speech representing variables in the instructions of programming; and means for modifying some of the various parts of the speech of said substantially substantive and grammatically correct sentence, and thus changing the programming instructions.
3. A programming device in a television system, characterized by: a television signal input to receive a plurality of television signals; television signal selection means for selecting a particular television signal of said plurality of television signals; means of entry for a user to insert data; control means for controlling said selection means in response to the data inserted by the user; programming means for coupling them to such input means and said control means for inserting data in order to schedule the selection of a given television event in the future; and screen display means operating under the control of such control means to display data indicative of such television event scheduled to be tuned in the future; at the termination of such programming of such an event, the display means on the screen display a confirmation screen display indicating inserted instructions for such a scheduled event in the form of a substantial and grammatically correct sentence.
4. The programming apparatus of claim 3, characterized in that said television system is a satellite television receiver, such television programming data is provided by a satellite television service provider, and said user selects a television set. desired television program of a displayed channel guide display, generated in accordance with such television schedule data.
5. The programming system of claim 4, characterized in that said user can modify one of the various parts of the speech of said substantially substantive and grammatically correct sentence, in order to change the sense of the sentence, and change in this way, the programming instructions.
6. The programming system of claim 5, characterized in that several parts of the speech of said substantial and grammatically correct sentence that are modifiable include nouns, adverbs, and verbs, indicative of a channel designation, date and time.
The programming system of claim 6, characterized in that several parts of the speech of said substantially grammatically correct sentence that are modifiable include nouns, adverbs, and verbs, of the title of the television program, recording frequency such as weekly, daily, or once, and an action such as watching or recording.
The programming apparatus of claim 3, characterized in that said television system is a transmission television receiver, said television programming data being provided in certain television lines during the vertical interval of a given television program, and said user selects a desired television program from a displayed channel guide display generated in accordance with such television schedule data.
9. The programming system of claim 8, characterized in that said user can modify several of the speech parts of the said sentence substantially and grammatically correct to change the sense of the sentence, and thus change the programming instructions 10.
The system of The programming of claim 9, characterized in that various parts of the speech of said substantially substantive and grammatically correct sentence that are modifiable include nouns, adverbs, and verbs, indicative of a channel designation, date and time. eleven .
The programming system of claim 10, characterized in that several parts of the speech of said substantially grammatically correct sentence that are modifiable include substantives, adverbs, and verbs, of the television program title, recording frequency such as weekly, daily, or once, and an action such as watching or recording.
12. A programming device for a device, characterized by: programming means for inserting data to program the operation of a device in the future; and control means for generating control signals and for generating signals suitable for displaying data indicative of such a device programmed to be operated in the future; said control means, after the termination of such programming of said device, generate a suitable signal to show a confirmation screen display indicating inserted instructions for said programming of said device in order to operate in the future in the form of a substantive and grammatically correct sentence.
13. The programming apparatus of claim 12, wherein said device is an electronic device for the home, and said substantially substantive and grammatically correct sentence is modifiable to adjust parameters for controlling said apparatus. SUMMARY A television system for receiving a plurality of television programs includes a programming unit for making the television system receive and record a particular television program transmitted on a given channel, at a particular time and date in accordance with the data of programming inserted by a user. The television system includes a controller to generate on-screen displays in response to data inserted by the user. Upon completion of a programming entry, the controller produces a substantially grammatically correct sentence display summarizing the inserted programming instructions and acting as a confirmation screen. In one modality, the confirmation screen is interactive because the user can modify certain variables within the sentence to change the meaning of the sentence, and thus modify the prog ramming instructions.