Video combiner

• US 20020147987A1
• Filed: 03/20/2002
• Published: 10/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intellocity USA, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Original Assignee: Intellocity USA, Inc. (Kudelski SA)
• Inventors: Lemmons, Thomas, Reynolds, Steven
• Application Number:
  US10/103,545
• Publication Number:
  US 20020147987A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/110
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234318 by decomposing into objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44 Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 directed to client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64792 Controlling the complexity of the content stream, e.g. by dropping packets intermediate media network packet handling H04L65/765; proxy provisioning conversion or adaptation for reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data H04L67/5651; negotiation of resources in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/654 Transmission by server directed to the client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 : Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 : the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 : Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Disclosed is a system that generates correlated video signals that are a combination of separate video signals that interrelate to each other in some fashion. The separate video signals are transmitted through a transmission channel to a viewer location. Separate video decoders decode the video signals at the viewer location. Presentation description instructions are also transmitted to the viewer location and are used to generate control signals to control the combination of the video signals at the viewer location.

Claims

1. A method of locally generating a composite video signal at a viewer location comprising:

generating a first video signal;

generating a second video signal;

generating a presentation description at a location that is remote from the viewer location;

transmitting said presentation description to said viewer location;

transmitting said first video signal and said second video signal as multiple video signals to said viewer location;

generating control signals from said presentation description; and

combining said multiple video signals in accordance with said control signals to produce a composite video signal, said composite video signal comprising a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said second video signal wherein said portion of said first video signal and said portion of said second video signal are displayed simultaneously.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the composite video signal generates a correlated image.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of generating control signals is performed by a set top box.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of combining the multiple video signals is performed by a set top box.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said presentation description is transmitted as part of said first video signal.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting said first video signal and second video signal substantially simultaneously.

7. A method of creating customized composite video signal at a plurality of viewer locations comprising:

creating a plurality of video signals;

creating a plurality of presentation descriptions, each presentation description comprising instructions for combining a portion of at least one of said plurality of video signals with a portion of at least one other of said plurality of video signals;

selecting a specific presentation description for each of a plurality of set top boxes;

transmitting said specific presentation descriptions to each of set top boxes, said set top boxes located at a viewer location;

creating control signals at each set top box based upon said specific presentation description;

transmitting said plurality of video signals to said set top boxes; and

creating a composite video image at each of said set top boxes based upon said control signals wherein a first portion of at least one of said plurality of video signals is merged with a second portion of at least one other of said plurality of video signals such that said first portion of said plurality of video signals and said second portion of said plurality of video signals are displayed simultaneously.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said step of transmitting said plurality of video signals is done substantially simultaneously.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein said presentation descriptions are embedded into at least one of said video signals.

10. A method of generating an interactive video signal at a viewer location comprising:

generating a first video signal;

generating a second video signal, said second video signal including interactive content;

generating a presentation description;

transmitting said presentation description to a viewer location;

transmitting said first video signal and said second video signal as multiple video signals to said viewer location;

generating control signals from said presentation description; and

combining said multiple video signals in accordance with said control signals to produce a composite video signal, said composite video signal comprising a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said second video signal wherein said portion of said first video signal and said portion of said second video signal are displayed simultaneously.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of separating said video signals is performed by a set top box.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of generating control signals is performed by a set top box.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of combining the multiple video signals is performed by a set top box.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said presentation description is transmitted as part of said first video signal.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein said presentation description is transmitted as part of said second video signal.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising transmitting said first video signal and said second video signal substantially simultaneously.

17. A method of creating a correlated composite video image at a viewer location comprising:

creating a first video image, a portion of said first image having specifically colored pixels;

creating a second video image;

transmitting said first image and said second image to a set top box at a viewer location; and

creating a composite video image using said set top box wherein said specifically colored pixels of said first video are replaced with the corresponding pixels of said second video image.

18. A method of creating customized correlated composite video images at a plurality of viewer'"'"'s locations comprising:

creating a first video image, a portion of said first image having specifically colored pixels;

creating a plurality of secondary video images;

creating a plurality of presentation descriptions, each presentation description comprising instructions for combining said first video image with at least a portion of said secondary video images;

selecting a specific presentation description for each of a plurality of set top boxes;

transmitting said presentation descriptions to said set top boxes, said set top boxes located at a viewer'"'"'s location,

transmitting said first image and said secondary images to said set top boxes; and

creating a composite video image at each of said set top boxes wherein said specifically colored pixels of said first video are replaced with the corresponding pixels of at least a portion of at least one secondary video image wherein a portion of said first video images and a portion of said secondary video images are displayed simultaneously.

19. A system for generating a composite video signal comprising:

a first video signal;

at least one additional video signal;

a presentation description that describes the manner of combining said first video signal and said at least one additional video signal;

a set top box adapted to receive said first video signal and said at least one additional video signal substantially simultaneously, said set top box having a video combiner that combines said first video signal and said at least one additional video signal in accordance with said presentation description to produce a composite video signal, wherein said composite video signal comprises a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said at least one additional video signal to be displayed substantially simultaneously.

20. A system for generating a composite interactive video signal comprising:

a first video signal, said first video signal being an interactive video signal;

a second video signal;

a presentation description that describes the manner of combining said first video signal and said second video signal;

a transmission system capable of conveying said first video signal and said second video signal substantially simultaneously; and

a set top box, said set top box being capable of receiving said video signals substantially simultaneously, said set top box being further capable of separating said first video signal, said second video signal, and said presentation description;

said set top box being further capable of combining a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said second video signal to create a composite video signal wherein said portion of said first video signal and said portion of said second video signal are displayed simultaneously.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein said presentation description is embedded into said first video signal.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein said presentation description is embedded into said second video signal.

24. The advertisement of claim 23 wherein said presentation description is embedded into said first video signal.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said step of transmitting said plurality of video signals is done substantially simultaneously.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein said presentation descriptions are embedded into at least one of said video signals.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein said selection method comprises a personalized remote.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein said selection method comprises stored preferences in said set top box.

23. A composite video advertisement on a television comprising:

a first video signal, said first video signal being a broadcast signal received by a set top box;

a second video signal, said second video signal being a broadcast signal received by said set top box at substantially the same time as said first video signal;

a presentation description that is transmitted to said set top box; and

a composite video advertisement, said composite video advertisement being a combination of a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said second video signal, said composite video advertisement being further combined in substantially real time by said set top box to produce said composite video advertisement wherein said portion of said first video signal and said portion of said second video signal are displayed simultaneously.

25. A system for distributing and creating correlated video signals that are customized at each viewer'"'"'s location comprising:

a plurality of video signals;

a plurality of presentation descriptions, each presentation description comprising instructions for combining a portion of at least one of said plurality of video signals with a portion of at least one other of said plurality of video signals;

a selection method for determining which specific presentation description is to be used for each viewer;

a transmission network for distributing each of said specific presentation descriptions to each view location;

a transmission network for distributing said plurality of video signals to each viewer location; and

a set top box located at each viewer location, said set top box adapted to receive said plurality of video signals and said presentation description, said set top box further adapted to create control signals based upon said specific presentation description, said set top box further adapted to create a composite video image based upon said control signals wherein a first portion of at least one of said plurality of video signals is merged with a second portion of at least one other of said plurality of video signals wherein said first portion of said plurality of video signals and said second portion of said plurality of video signals are displayed simultaneously.