Interactive program guide for bidirectional services

• US 20030005447A1
• Filed: 06/29/2001
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synamedia Limited
• Original Assignee: Scientific-Atlanta LLC (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rodriguez, Arturo A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,496,945 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and systems for accessing services in a television system. In one embodiment, a DHCT presents a subscriber an EPG presentation containing a plurality of selectable bi-directional services that are purchasable for a period of time and rendered to a buying subscriber on an individualized basis as offered by the cable television system. The subscriber navigates an EPG menu presentation with an input device such as a remote control device and selects a purchasable service by choosing the visual representation that corresponds to the desired service. The DHCT receives the user input, translates the selected command into an executable program call that queries service availability and, if the service is available, initiates the selected bi-directional audiovisual service on a personalized session.

Claims

1. A method for accessing a plurality of bi-directional services over a cable television network, comprising:

presenting a program guide to at least one subscriber of a cable television network, wherein the program guide displays at least one of a plurality of bi-directional services offered over the cable television network;

populating a bi-directional services database with information related to the bi-directional services displayed in the program guide;

receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service displayed in the program guide;

querying the bi-directional services database to determine whether the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber is available for consumption in a manner requested by the subscriber;

rendering the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber; and

updating the bi-directional services database to reflect that the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber has been rendered.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service comprises a bi-directional communication session between the subscriber and a content provider.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service comprises a bi-directional communication session concurrently between a content provider and a plurality of subscribers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service comprises a bi-directional communication session between the subscriber and at least one other subscriber.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service comprises a real-time bi-directional communication session between the subscriber and a content provider.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service comprises a request of a bi-directional communication service for future consumption.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request from a subscriber for a bi-directional service comprises one of a plurality of instantiations of a bi-directional service offered by a content provider.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein querying the bi-directional services database to determine whether the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber is available comprises querying the bi-directional services database to determine whether an instantiation of the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber is available.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein updating the bi-directional services database to reflect that the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber has been rendered comprises updating the bi-directional services database to reflect that an instantiation of the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber has been rendered.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a denial of service message to the subscriber if the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber is not available.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising prompting the subscriber to request another bi-directional service if the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber is not available.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising prompting the subscriber to reserve the bi-directional service for another time if the bi-directional service requested by the subscriber is not available.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting the updated bi-directional services database to a second subscriber occurs on a scheduled basis.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein populating a bi-directional services database includes populating an availability table of entries, each entry respectively associated with a bi-directional service and each entry indicating whether the associated bi-directional service is available.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein querying the bi-directional services database to determine whether the bi-directional service requested by the first subscriber is available comprises querying an availability table entry in the availability table of entries that is associated with the bi-directional service requested by the first user.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein generating an updated bi-directional services database to reflect that the bi-directional service requested by the first subscriber has been rendered comprises updating the availability table entry in the availability table of entries that is associated with the bi-directional service requested by the first user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein transmitting the updated bi-directional services database to a second subscriber comprises transmitting the availability table of entries to the second subscriber.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein transmitting the updated bi-directional services database to a second subscriber comprises transmitting the availability table entry associated with the bi-directional service requested by the first user.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein populating a bi-directional services database with information related to a plurality of bi-directional services comprises populating the bi-directional services database with at least one of a bi-directional service title, a bi-directional service content description, a bi-directional service category, the identity of the content provider that provides the bi-directional service, a description of the people that fulfill the bi-directional service and bi-directional service rating information.

13. A method for accessing a plurality of bi-directional services over a cable television network, comprising the steps of:

populating a bi-directional services database with information related to a plurality of bi-directional services;

sending the bi-directional services database to a home terminal of a first subscriber of a cable television network;

presenting a program guide to the first subscriber of the cable television network via the home terminal, wherein the program guide displays at least one of a plurality of bi-directional services;

receiving a request from the first subscriber for a bi-directional service displayed in the program guide;

querying the bi-directional services database to determine whether the bi-directional service requested by the first subscriber is available;

rendering the bi-directional service requested by the first subscriber;

generating an updated bi-directional services database to reflect that the bi-directional service requested by the first subscriber has been rendered; and

transmitting the updated bi-directional services database to a second subscriber.

21. A system for providing a bi-directional services programming guide over a cable television network, comprising:

a bi-directional services content provider;

a headend in communication with a hybrid fiber-coax network and the bi-directional services content provider;

a bi-directional communications server, configured to establish bi-directional communication between the bi-directional services content provider and the headend;

a home communication terminal in communication with a display device and in communication with the headend via the hybrid fiber-coax network;

a bi-directional services program guide application server in communication with the bi-directional communications server, wherein the bi-directional services program guide application server is configured to establish bi-directional communication between the headend and the home communication terminal; and

a bi-directional services program guide client application residing on the home communication terminal and in communication with the bi-directional services program guide application server, wherein the bi-directional services program guide client application is configured to generate the bi-directional services programming guide on the display device and to establish bi-directional communications between the bi-directional services content provider and the home communications terminal.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the bi-directional communications server resides at the headend.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the bi-directional services program guide application server resides at the headend.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the bi-directional communications server communicates with the bi-directional services content provider through at least one of a router, a satellite receiver, a satellite transceiver, a terrestrial receiver, a terrestrial antenna and a bi-directional gateway connected to a backbone switch.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising a bi-directional services database in communication with the bi-directional services program guide application server and the bi-directional services program guide client application, wherein the bi-directional services database stores information pertaining to bi-directional services for presentation via the display device.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the bi-directional services database resides at the home communications terminal.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the bi-directional services database is external to the home communications terminal.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the bi-directional services database includes an availability table of entries, each entry respectively associated with a bi-directional service and each entry indicating whether the associated bi-directional service is available.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the bi-directional services program guide application server is configured to query the bi-directional services database to determine the availability of a bi-directional service requested by a subscriber.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein the bi-directional services program guide application server is configured to update the bi-directional services database when a bi-directional service is rendered to the subscriber.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the bi-directional services program guide application server is configured to transmit the updated bi-directional services database to the home communications terminal.