System for selecting, accessing, and viewing portions of an information stream(s) using a television companion device
First Claim
1. A television companion device (TCD) comprising:
- a communication transceiver capable of receiving a signal, the signal having a plurality of streams split from a broadcast signal, each stream converted to at least one packet, the signal comprising multiplexed packets, each packet comprising an address, the transceiver identified by an assigned address, the transceiver adapted to determine, by comparing addresses in the packets with the assigned address, which packets are destined for the TCD, the transceiver thereby determining streams destined for the TCD;
a selector that selects destined streams to be presented; and
an output that presents the selected streams.
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Abstract
A television companion device (TCD) is a device comprising a communication transceiver capable of receiving a signal from a television set, the signal having one or more types of information split from a broadcast signal received by the television set and an output that presents one or more segments of one or more of the types of information. This device enables the personal viewing of information selected specifically for the individual. This information can be different than and/or unrelated to that displayed on the television. The information displayed on each individual TCD may be video clips or video programs, audio clips or audio programs, data, graphical images, still images, and/or animations. The device may also comprise an input that sends one or more messages through the communication transceiver to the television, thereby allowing the viewer to send requests for information to the television or send messages to other television companion devices.
222 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A television companion device (TCD) comprising:
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a communication transceiver capable of receiving a signal, the signal having a plurality of streams split from a broadcast signal, each stream converted to at least one packet, the signal comprising multiplexed packets, each packet comprising an address, the transceiver identified by an assigned address, the transceiver adapted to determine, by comparing addresses in the packets with the assigned address, which packets are destined for the TCD, the transceiver thereby determining streams destined for the TCD;
a selector that selects destined streams to be presented; and
an output that presents the selected streams. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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13. A television companion device (TCD) comprising:
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a communication interface capable of receiving a signal, the signal having a plurality of streams, each stream converted to at least one packet, the signal comprising multiplexed packets, each packet comprising an address;
a demultiplexer that demultiplexes the packets;
a profile subsystem that contains a profile of profile items in a database of information of interest to a viewer;
a selector that determines packets destined for the TCD by comparing addresses in the packets with an assigned address that identifies the TCD, the selector thereby determining streams destined for the TCD, the selector additionally adapted to select the destined streams for presentation when one or more destined streams contain one or more profile items; and
an output that presents one or more of the selected streams.
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Specification