MXPA96005621A - A programming device that uses a search agent to be used on a televis receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a television system in which is transmitted in advance at least program title information for programs to be transmitted in the future, to form a channel guide list, an apparatus for searching is provided the list for specific information entered by the user, and on the successful completion of the search, the device programs the tuning of the desired program, or as an alternative, notifies the viewer of the availability of the program. In those cases where a descriptive text accompanies the list of programs, the apparatus of the present invention performs a search of the text for a particular text file, which may be related to the title, the protagonist, the director, or the context of the program, among other search criteria

Description

A PROGRAMMING APPLIANCE THAT USES A GOPHER AGENT TO BE USED ON A TELEVISION RECEIVER The present invention concerns an apparatus for programming the selection of a television program to watch or record at some future date. The programming of modern television systems, such as television programmers, video tape players, and satellite receivers has become more complicated because lately the number of available channels has increased dramatically. For example, the RCAR DSSR direct transmission satellite receivers provide as many as 150 channels from which to choose. In the past, a user who wanted to record a specific television program not regularly scheduled, such as the broadcast of a particular movie, regularly consulted a television program printed in his local newspaper, in the hope that he would finally find that film listed. Such a practice might work well when there are only a few television channel programs to examine, however, it is unlikely that a viewer will be able to examine the complete programs for 150 television channels each week. This task would be intimidating even if all the films were listed separately, as do some lists of television programs. Consequently, it seems that as the number of channels increases, the chances of successfully locating a single occurrence of a program (such as a needle in a haystack) become more and more unlikely. In a television system in which at least the title information is transmitted in advance for programs that are to be transmitted in the future to form a channel guide listing, an apparatus is provided to search the list for specific information requested by the channel. the user, and upon the successful completion of the search, the device programs the tuning of the desired program, or alternatively, notifies the viewer of the program's availability. In those cases - in which a descriptive text accompanies the list of programs, the apparatus of the present invention performs a search of the text for a particular text file that may be related to the title, the protagonist, the director, or the context of the program, among other search criteria. FIGURES la-lc are illustrations of a visual screen display of a portion of the channel guide, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. FIGURE 2 is an illustration of a visual screen display showing a search request screen, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention. FIGURE 3 is an illustration of a visual screen display of a portion of a channel guide showing auxiliary program information. FIGURE 4 is a block diagram illustration of an apparatus suitable for use with the present invention. FIGURE 5 is an illustration of a search requisition list in accordance with the present invention. FIGURE 6 is an illustration of a visual screen display useful for entering text search phrases in accordance with the present invention. FIGURE 7 is a flowchart useful for understanding the present invention. Television systems such as the direct-broadcast satellite system RCAR DSSR and StarsightR transmit channel guides for visual display on the subscribers' television receivers. FIGURES la-lc show visual displays of the Program Guide screen produced, for example, by a direct transmission satellite receiver system RCAR DSSR, manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Indianapolis, IN. A user selects a television program from a Program Guide 100 to view it, by means of moving a cursor (by operating the direction control keys up, downleft, right, and left of the remote control, which are not displayed) to a block of the visual screen display of the program guide that contains the name of the desired program. When a SELECT key is pressed on the remote control, the cursor position x and current is evaluated to derive the virtual channel and program schedule information. In this example of FIGURE la, a particular television program, AFTERNOON NEWS has been highlighted for selection by using the cursor keys on a remote control unit (eg, 450R of FIGURE 4). The highlight is illustrated by the dark box outlining the title in FIGURES la-lc. Normally, after pressing the select key, the relevant programming data is transferred to a programming unit. However, note the phrase "ENTER ALL THE NAME OF A PROGRAM OR PART OF THE TO SEARCH" that appears in the lower part of FIGURE. In this case a user has entered the word "HOME". Upon pressing the MENU key, a search of the channel guide information is performed for the next occurrence of a television program that includes the word "HOME" in its title. When the search is finished, the visual display of FIGURE Ib is generated. Note that a television program on channel 106 titled "HOME IMPROVEMENT" is now highlighted. If desired, another search can be started by pressing the MENU key again. In the visual screen display of FIGURE lc, the result of that additional search is shown. Note that in FIGURE lc a television program on channel 305, "HOME AND GARDEN", is highlighted, because the title includes the word "HOME", and therefore satisfies the search criteria. The present apparatus can also perform "sub-file search" where the keyword (search term) is contained within another word. For example, a sub-file search on the word HOME would find the movie title "HOMEGUARD BOUND". In a similar way, the search can be made sensitive to the case, or insensitive to the case, as desired. FIGURE 2 shows a visual screen display 210 of "PROGRAM GOPHER" useful to enter a text to be searched, and to enter instructions to be executed in the event that the search is completed. The search entered in the visual display screen 210 will perform the logical function "Y" in the search term "ZULÚ" (the title of a movie) and "MICHAEL CAINE" (one of the protagonists of ZULÚ). While a "Y" logic function is displayed, the logical functions "O" and "NO" are also provided. In fact, only a logical "0" function can be performed by entering the search terms as two different searches. That is, if the search term "ZULÚ" had been entered by itself, the movie "ZULÚ" and any television program concerning the ZULÚ tribe would be selected. If the search term "MICHAEL CAINE" was introduced as a separate search, the movie "ZULÚ" and any other movie with Michael Caine would be selected. From the visual screen display 210 note that when the movie "ZULÚ" is found, it will be recorded. That is, after entering the search terms and instructions through the visual display of screen 210, the user does not have to perform any other function (apart from making sure that the video tape player has a tape) to ensure a recording of the movie "ZULÚ" whenever it is broadcast. At the appropriate time the apparatus of the present invention will automatically transmit the recording commands to the video tape player. Alternatively, the user may have checked the box labeled VISUALLY DISPLAY A "LOCALIZED PROGRAM" MESSAGE in which case the program will not be recorded, but rather a reminder will be displayed visually indicating that the search has been successfully completed upon finding the required business FIGURE 3 shows a Program Guide screen 310, including a visual display of auxiliary information 320. The text of auxiliary visual display 320 includes the search terms "ZULÚ" and "MICHAEL CAINE" in the program description. The GOPHER PROGRAM will search for this text and the search will reach a successful conclusion. Note that a search for "ZULÚ" and "STANLEY BAKER" would have been equally successful. It is important to note that not only the text of the Program Guide is being searched, but also the auxiliary information associated with the television programs. As noted above, the channel guide data used by the controller of the present apparatus to form the interactive or confirmation sentences described above could have been received from a satellite television communication system. FIGURE 4 shows such a satellite television communication system in which a 400S satellite receives a signal representing audio, video, or data information from a transmitter based on the ground 400T. The satellite amplifies and retransmits this signal to a plurality of 400R receivers, located in the residences of consumers, by means of response radio beacons operating at specified frequencies and having given bandwidths. Such a system includes a portion of upper link transmission (earth to satellite), a unit of reception and transmission of a satellite rotating around the earth, and a lower link portion (satellite to ground) including a receiver located in the residence of the user. In such a satellite system, the information necessary to select a given television program is not fixedly programmed within each receiver, but rather is continuously loaded downward from the satellite in each response beacon. The television program selection information comprises a data set known as a Master Program Guide (MPG), which describes the titles of the television program, its start and end times, a virtual channel number to be displayed visually to the user, and information that distributes virtual channels to the radio beacon frequencies and to a position in. the data stream multiplexed by time transmitted by a particular response beacon. 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 (ie, data time slot) inside the data stream in no response beacon. A master program guide is preferably transmitted on all radio beacons with the video and audio data of the television program, and is repeated periodically, for example, every 2 seconds. Once received, the master program guide is maintained in a memory unit in the receiver, and it is updated periodically, for example, every 30 minutes. The retention of the master program guide allows the instantaneous selection of the television program because the necessary selection data are always available. If the master program guide is to be discarded after using it to select a television program, then a delay of at least two seconds will be incurred while a new program guide is acquired, before any other selections can be made. TV shows. Once the channel reply radio beacon is tuned it takes a program of. desired television, data packets containing audio and video information for that program can be selected from the data stream received from the answering beacon, by examining the data packets for the 12-bit SCID code (Identifier of the Service Component). If the Service Component Identifier of the newly received data packet matches the Service Component Identifier of the desired television program, as listed in the program guide, then the data packet is routed to the appropriate processing sections. receiver data. If the Service Component Identifier of a particular packet does not match the Service Component Identifier of the desired television program, as listed in the program guide, then the data packet is discarded. Following is a brief description of the hardware of the system, suitable for the implementation of the present invention described above. In FIGURE 4, a 4OOT transmitter processes a data signal from a source 401 (e.g., a television signal source) and transmits it to a 400S satellite, which receives and relays the signal to a receiving antenna 400A, which applies the signal to a 400R receiver. The transmitter 400T includes an encoder 410T, a modulator (i.e., front error modulator / corrector (FEC)) 420T, and a top link unit 430T. The encoder 410T compresses and encodes the signals from the source 401, in accordance with a predetermined standard such as MPEG. MPEG is an international standard developed by the Moving Picture Expert Group of the International Standards Organization for the encoded representation of motion pictures and the storage medium of audio or associated digital storage . A coded signal is supplied from the 410T unit to the Modulator / Front Error Corrector 420T, which encodes the signal with error correction data, and the Quaternary Phase Shift Key (QPSK) modulates the encoded signal on a carrier. The upper link 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 400S satellite is received by an antenna dish 4OOA coupled to an input of a so-called up-receiver 400R (i.e., an interface device located on the top of a television receiver). The receiver 400R includes a demodulator (forward error correction demodulator / decoder) 410R for demodulating the signal and for decoding the error correction data, an infrared receiver 412 for receiving infrared remote control commands, a microprocessor 415R, which operates interactively with the forward error correction / scrambler unit 410R and a transport unit 420R to transport the signal to an appropriate decoder 430R within the unit 400R, depending on the content of the signal, i.e. audio or video information. An NTSC 440R encoder encodes the decoded signal into a format suitable for use by signal processing circuits in a standard NTSC consumer tape player 402 and a standard NTSC consumer television receiver 403. The microprocessor (or microcontroller, or microcomputer) 415R receives infrared control signals from the remote control unit 450R, and sends the control information to the video cassette player 402 via an infrared link 418R. The 415R microprocessor also generates the on-screen visual display signals needed to present the interactive sentence, or confirmation sentence, to the user. The 415R microprocessor also receives and interprets X and Y information from the cursor key in order to control the highlighting of the user's selections in the visual displays on the screen. FIGURE 5 shows a search requisition list that can be displayed visually as a visual screen display. In this embodiment of the present invention, three actions are possible. First, as noted above, a show can be scheduled to be recorded in its next broadcast without further intervention by the user. Second, as noted above, a reminder that the desired program has been found can be visually displayed. Third, a report can be prepared and displayed visually listing various programs that meet the search criteria and will be transmitted in the immediate future (for example, the next three hours). In the example in FIGURE 5, the user has requested to be reminded whenever an episode of Star Trek appears in the Program Guide. The user has also required that the movie "The Shining" be recorded the next time it is in the gluttony. The user has also required to be reminded whenever the word "robot" appears in the guide or in the program descriptions of the guide. These instructions will be executed until the user turns them off. The remaining search (ie, movie, drama, now) is a requisition that indicates that the user wants to know what dramas will be transmitted in the immediate future (ie, within the next three hours). The controller will prepare a report listing all the dramatic films that will be broadcast on all channels in the next few hours. After doing so, this entry will be automatically deleted. It is also expected that a user can review and edit or delete search terms in order to modify searches in progress. FIGURE 6 shows a visual screen display of a "virtual board" useful for entering search data. Four "Search Gophers" called "Guard Dogs" can be programmed to perform simultaneous searches of the Program Guide and auxiliary information data streams. By using the cursor and selection keys, a user can "press" one of the guard dog buttons to the left of the screen to select it. You can then use the alphabet keys to enter your search request. (Although they are not shown explicitly, alphanumeric keys are also provided). When the user is satisfied with the text of their search request, you can press the Save key to save the search terms for this watchdog search process. If you make a mistake, you can erase that error with the clean key. The Gopher program is introduced in step 700 of FIGURE 7. In step 705 the search terms are retrieved. In step 710, the data of the Program Guide is acquired. In step 715 a comparison is made to see if there is any match. If not, the program is removed in step 720. If there is a match, then the instructions entered by the user are retrieved. A check is made in step 725 to determine if a record instruction has been entered, if so, the routine proceeds to step 730 in which the recording commands are transmitted to the video tape player either immediately or in an appropriate later moment as a "last minute reminder" before the desired program is transmitted, or both. The routine is then removed in step 735. Although the present invention was described with reference to a satellite television system, it can equally be applied to ground-based television transmission systems, both digital and analog,

Claims (9)

1. In a television system in which at least some program title information is transmitted in advance for programs that are to be transmitted in the future to form a channel guide list, an apparatus comprising: a memory element (420R) for store data representing the channel guide list and to store data entered by the user; a data entry element (412R) for entering the data entered by the user; a control element (415R) for performing a search of the channel guide list for a match with specific information entered by the user; an on-screen visual display element (403) for visually displaying text or graphics under the control of the control element; and an element (400R) for selecting a television program to watch it, characterized in that: upon successful completion of the search, the control element (415R) programs a selection of that television program, or controls the visual display element in screen (403) to notify the user that the television program is available.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that: when a descriptive text of the television program accompanies the list of the channel guide, the control element (415) performs a search of that descriptive text of the television program for a record of particular text that can be related to the title, the protagonist, the director, or the context of said television program. The apparatus of claim 2, characterized in that: in response to the data entered by the user, the control element (415) controls the visual display element on the screen (403) to visually display a list of the search criteria entered by the user, and instructions entered by the user for execution after the successful completion of each search. The apparatus of claim 3, characterized in that: the instructions entered by the user on the screen for execution after the successful completion of each search include instructions for recording said television program, and instructions for notifying the user that said program Television is available. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that: the control element (415R) notifies the user of the availability of the television program by means of modifying a portion of the visual display (410) of the channel guide related to said Program. The apparatus of claim 1 also including a remote control unit (450R), characterized in that: the data entered by the user is entered by means of a board displayed visually on the screen operated by means of the selection keys of said keyboard by means of the cursor commands transmitted by means of the remote control unit (450R). The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that: the search criteria entered by the user form search terms logically with 0. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that: the search criteria entered by the user form terms logically with Y. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that: the search criteria entered by the user form logical composite statements using logical operators, such as Y, O, NO, or XO to logically connect search terms . COMPENDIUM In a television system in which less program title information is transmitted in advance for programs to be transmitted in the future, to form a channel guide list, an apparatus is provided to search the list for specific information introduced by the user, and upon successful completion of the search, the device programs the tuning of the desired program, or as an alternative, notifies the viewer of the program's availability. In those cases where a descriptive text accompanies the list of programs, the apparatus of the present invention performs a search of the text for a particular text file, which may be related to the title, the protagonist, the director, or the context of the program, among other search criteria.