Selection of radio station based on preferred program content
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a radio receiver having an input for receiving radio station identities for specifying radio stations for reception and an output indicating a presently received signal strength;
a memory having stored therein a plurality of radio station identities organized according to program content specifiers; and
a controller coupled to said output and operable to recall, and couple to said input, one of said plurality of radio station identities referenced to the same program content specifier as the presently specified radio station when the presently received signal strength meets a threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for selecting radio stations for reception based on a preferred program content. A list of radio station identifiers is stored in a memory and organized according to program content specifiers. When a presently received signal fades, the memory is searched for an alternate radio station with similar program content. If none is available, a prioritized list of alternative program content preferences is accessed and used to index other preferred radio stations for searching. In one embodiment, radio station geographic location information is stored in the memory, and the searching operation considers both program content preference and geographic proximity. The memory can be manually programmed, pre-programmed, updated by subscription, or programmed over-the-air by radio transmission. In one embodiment, a global positioning system receiver is employed to provide instantaneous radio location information.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a radio receiver having an input for receiving radio station identities for specifying radio stations for reception and an output indicating a presently received signal strength;
a memory having stored therein a plurality of radio station identities organized according to program content specifiers; and
a controller coupled to said output and operable to recall, and couple to said input, one of said plurality of radio station identities referenced to the same program content specifier as the presently specified radio station when the presently received signal strength meets a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of selecting radio stations in a radio receiver having a memory with a plurality of radio station identities organized according to program content specifiers stored therein, comprising the steps of:
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monitoring the signal strength of a present radio station signal;
determining that the signal strength has met a threshold;
selecting a radio station identity from the memory that has the same program content specifier as said present radio station; and
tuning the radio receiver according to said selected radio station identity. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification