Interactive program guide for bidirectional services
First Claim
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.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for accessing a plurality of bi-directional services over a cable television network, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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13. A method for accessing a plurality of bi-directional services over a cable television network, comprising the steps of:
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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.
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21. A system for providing a bi-directional services programming guide over a cable television network, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification